Founders@Google Presents: The Cultural Anthropology of Stack Change

Google Tech Talk
September 10, 2012

Presented by Joel Spolsky.

ABSTRACT

Software developers love Stack Overflow and know that it has a … unique culture to it. But what isn’t as well known is how the structure of the software and technology behind Stack Overflow is designed to help shape that community. We’ll discuss some of the unique aspects of the Stack Overflow community, the basics of cultural anthropology, and how we’ve designed the sites to facilitate the community that our users ask for.

Speaker Info: Joel Spolsky is an expert on software development, co-founder of Fog Creek Software, and the co-creator of stackoverflow.com. His website Joel on Software is popular with software developers around the world and has been translated into over thirty languages. He has written four books about software development, including Smart and Gets Things Done: Joel Spolsky’s Concise Guide to Finding the Best Technical Talent (Apress 2007). Joel has worked at Microsoft, where he designed VBA as a member of the Excel team, and at Juno Online Services, developing an Internet client used by millions.

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