To ensure the quality of its shared knowledge, Stack Overflow encourages users to revise answers through a badge system, which is based on quantitative measures (e.g., a badge is awarded after revising more than 500 answers). Prior studies show that badges can positively steer the user behavior on Stack Overflow (e.g., increasing user participation). However, little is known whether revision-related badges have a negative impact on the quality of revisions since some studies show that certain users may game incentive systems to gain rewards. In this study, we analyze 3,871,966 revision records that are collected from 2,377,692 Stack Overflow answers. We find that: 1) Users performed a much larger than usual revisions on the badge-awarding days compared to normal days; 25% of the users did not make any more revisions once they received their first revision-related badge. 2) Performing more revisions than usual in a single day increased the likelihood of such revisions being rolled back (e.g., due to undesired or incorrect revisions). 3) Users were more likely to perform text and small revisions if they performed many revisions in a single day. Our findings are concurred by the Stack Overflow community, and they highlight the need for changes to the current badge system in order to provide a better balance between the quality and quantity of revisions.

中文翻译：

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用户如何修改技术问答网站上的答案？堆栈溢出的案例研究

为了保证共享知识的质量，Stack Overflow 鼓励用户通过徽章系统来修改答案，该系统基于定量衡量（例如，在修改超过 500 个答案后授予徽章）。先前的研究表明，徽章可以积极引导用户在 Stack Overflow 上的行为（例如，增加用户参与度）。然而，很少有人知道与修订相关的徽章是否会对修订质量产生负面影响，因为一些研究表明某些用户可能会通过游戏激励系统来获得奖励。在这项研究中，我们分析了从 2,377,692 个 Stack Overflow 答案中收集的 3,871,966 条修订记录。我们发现： 1) 与平时相比，用户在颁发徽章的日子里进行了比平常大得多的修改；25% 的用户在收到第一个与修订相关的徽章后不再进行任何修订。2) 在一天内执行比平常更多的修订增加了此类修订被回滚的可能性（例如，由于不希望的或不正确的修订）。3）如果用户在一天内进行多次修改，他们更有可能进行文本和小修改。我们的发现得到了 Stack Overflow 社区的同意，他们强调了对当前徽章系统进行更改的必要性，以便在修订的质量和数量之间提供更好的平衡。3）如果用户在一天内进行多次修改，他们更有可能进行文本和小修改。我们的发现得到了 Stack Overflow 社区的同意，他们强调了对当前徽章系统进行更改的必要性，以便在修订的质量和数量之间提供更好的平衡。3) 如果用户在一天内进行多次修改，他们更有可能进行文本和小修改。我们的发现得到了 Stack Overflow 社区的同意，他们强调了对当前徽章系统进行更改的必要性，以便在修订的质量和数量之间提供更好的平衡。