I know HN likes to berate on SO as if it’s some has-been that nobody uses anymore.
Just the other day I asked a fairly specific question, putting in some effort of writing code examples and add links to relevant documentation and within a day I had a four paragraph, in-depth answer.
No, I did not get any upvotes or smiley-stickers, but I got for free what I wouldn’t even know how to buy.
Moreover, I end up on SO daily when programming.
The utility of SO is second to none and it has been that way for over a decade.
That is pretty amazing in my book.