Stack Overflow launches sub-communities for developer engagement and data
Developer-focused Q&A platform Stack Overflow has launched a new product called Collectives, branded communities where companies can organize and centralize discussions around broad topics, interact directly with developers who use their technologies, and glean data and insights around engagement and common questions.
Collectives are a little like subreddits, Reddit’s community-focused boards dedicated to a single topic. For Google and other Stack Overflow customers, Collectives enable control of the conversation around their tools, technologies, and products.
Two Collectives are available at launch — one for Google Cloud and one for Go, a programming language developed internally at Google more than a decade ago. While there is no charge to join Collectives or participate, which is also true of Stack Overflow, the company works closely with paying customers to determine which topics and technologies would benefit from a standalone sub-community based on the volume of existing content and engagement on Stack Overflow.
On the broader Stack Overflow platform, content is organized by tags, which — while helpful — are often focused on small niche topics and might not surface answers quickly. Collectives, on the other hand, centralize everything around a specific technology, which might include myriad subtopics, and include long-form content and recommendations from people close to the technology.
