Understanding the Usage of Online Forums as Learning Platforms

Online forums provide an excellent platform for learning and connecting participants across the globe. However, only a few of them are suitable for learning. In this paper, we study the usage of StackOverflow (SO) forum through a survey and have presented our findings. The main objective of the study is to understand how satisfied users are with various aspects of the StackOverflow forum and how effective it is as a learning platform. The results reveal that StackOverflow may not support the learning needs of new learners. The specificity also discourages many users from frequently interacting on the forum.