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> Ask yourself: in what year did it become difficult to ask questions on Stack Overflow? 2014? 2016? 2018? 2020?

The year that Google made "open source contribution" a checkbox on your annual review. That's when almost ALL these types of sites went to dogshit. And then everybody followed Google which then weaponized it even more.

Once Google made Fake Internet Points(tm) worth actual money via your annual review, all holy hell broke loose over the sites.

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You’re actually on to something here, and it’s a phenomenon beyond Google that has engendered tons of blogspam and AIslop and manual LinkedIn slop.

Many professional certifications require bearers to earn CEUs. One way these may be earned is by blogging or doing demonstrations. So if you see a bunch of entry-level techbros doing really boring blog entries or posting to LinkedIn, you should know that they intend to earn CEUs for their particular professional certifications, such as CompTIA, et. al.

It’s not their fault... but Lord, how insufferable it can be!

Some school somewhere made participation required or heavily encouraged - understandably perhaps; it was a great signal before it got eternal Septembered into worthlessness.

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