[icebraining]

Those questions invite lengthy discussion, which SO is totally not optimized for. A software like Reddit (not necessarily Reddit itself) would be more appropriate, in my opinion.

[Quarrelsome]

Personally I don't see how Reddit really differs. They both have up/down they both support markdown. SO doesn't have a frontpage or specific subreddits (although it does have tags).

[icebraining]

Reddit allows for long, threaded discussions. On SO you just have Answers, and then those limited comments below. There's no space for back-and-forth.

[Quarrelsome]

That's a fair point but I find SO much better indexed. Now when I want an opinion on tech my options are:

* Ancient SO post

* Whoever is kicking around in freenode

* Marketing fluff pieces