Hackers' Pub

Syntax	Description	Examples
`"` keyword `"`	Finds the string within quotes, including spaces. Case-insensitive. (Escape quotes inside with `\"`)	`"Hackers' Pub"`
`from:` handle	Finds content written by the specified user.	`from:hongminhee` `from:hongminhee@hollo.social`
`lang:` ISO 639-1	Finds content written in the specified language.	`lang:en`
`#` tag	Finds content with the specified tag. Case-insensitive.	`#HackersPub`
condition condition	Finds content that satisfies both conditions on either side of the space (logical AND).	`"Hackers' Pub" lang:en`
condition `OR` condition	Finds content that satisfies at least one of the conditions on either side of the OR operator (logical OR).	`#HackersPub OR "Hackers' Pub" lang:en`
`(` condition `)`	Combines the operators within the parentheses first.	`(#HackersPub OR "Hackers' Pub" OR "Hackers Pub") lang:en`

nixCraft 🐧 @nixCraft@mastodon.social

1/4/2026, 7:39:23 AM

Public

This chart shows the total number of Stack Overflow questions asked each month. As you can see, AI summaries in Google and AI coding tools have nearly killed the site. It is only a matter of time before the site shuts down completely. The golden age of independent news, blogs, forums, and specialized sites like Stack Overflow is over. Whether this is good or bad, only time will tell. Personally, I think we are now restricting all internet traffic to just a few Gen AI apps https://data.stackexchange.com/stackoverflow/query/1926661#graph

This result shows s the total number of Stack Overflow questions asked each month. THE SQL query is https://data.stackexchange.com/stackoverflow/query/1926661#graph:
```
SELECT
DATEFROMPARTS(YEAR(CreationDate), MONTH(CreationDate), 1) AS [Month],
COUNT(*) AS [Questions]
FROM Posts
WHERE
PostTypeId = 1
GROUP BY
DATEFROMPARTS(YEAR(CreationDate), MONTH(CreationDate), 1)
ORDER BY
[Month] ASC
```

The graph shows the number of questions asked on StackOverflow over time, from the site's launch in 2009 until now, the start of 2026.
Initially there is a steady increase until 2014, when the number hits an all-time peak at over 200 000 questions. Then begins a slow decline. This might be correlated with StackOverflow's change of moderator policies at the time.
In early 2020 there is a sudden steep increase, which coincides with the start of the Covid-lockdown, but shortly afterwards the decline continues, faster than before. This might be related to the fact that in mid-2021, StackOverflow was sold to a private equity investor.
In late-2022 begins a very steep decline, which is when ChatGPT (and Google AI summary later on) came out. Since then the decline has continued and today the number of questions asked is almost 0. (Thanks https://mastodon.social/@lethe@digitalcourage.social for additional alt text)

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