I agree. I think the SA approach is the best I've ever seen. But as I'm flippantly pointing out: it only works if you really only care about fostering quality social interaction.

The mistake SA is making is not fixating on revenue as the chief KPI. ;)

SA is also not the font of internet culture that it once was, either, so clearly the price of admission is not sufficient to make it successful. It seems to me it was, at most, a partial contributor.

I think it's an interesting argument about what SA is now. I hear membership is growing again. It has a dedicated group there. I think that's what's most interesting. That's really not much different than a Reddit board in theory. But Reddit boards seem to come and go constantly and suffer from all sorts of problems. I am not a redditor but SA seems like a better board than a specific sub reddit.

My point is that maybe what SA is now is the best you can hope for on the internet, and it's going strong(?).

Also, SA has "underperformed" as an internet platform- Lowtax notoriously failed to capitalize on the community and grow it into something bigger (and more lucrative). So it remains a large old-school vBulletin-style internet forum instead of a potential Reddit or even greater, albeit with its culture and soul intact.

Not suggesting you meant it this way, but there's an amusing "money person with blinders on" angle to the statement. It's the "what's the point of anything if you're not making money?!"

Perhaps, but it's not even an HN/startup point of view. Goons regularly make fun of Lowtax for squandering the large audience (some of whom included popular Internet personalities who would go on to reach greater success and celebrity) and lead SA had. It all plays into the "loser admin" mythos.

To be fair to Lowtax, he was an insane person.