I would say that it is because some of us near the beginning made sure that the starting culture was good. I think I can claim without false modesty that I was one of those people.

It was not always fun. Between some targeted criticism, losing a few who were more interested in social dominance than useful contributions, and a lot of just patiently providing good answers to questions we attracted a critical mass of people who were interested in maintaining that community. And over time that mass has maintained itself.

I imagine that if you wished to create a similar community you would want to have some good seed people near the beginning with a clear idea of what community they wanted to see, and with the patience and skills to encourage that community to form. Assuming that enough people are interested in that community, it will self-maintaining once it is established.

In reply to Re: Why does PerlMonks rock? by tilly
in thread Why does PerlMonks rock? by pileofrogs

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