There's a huge difference. 99 Designs works on the premise that only the best should/will survive, a brutal winner takes all system. None of the participants in 99 designs are contributing their efforts as charity... they hope to get paid. While SO is the exact opposite. Contributions made as pure charity with no money changing hands.

Not sure how you could miss the distinction.

Just to clarify - I'm not passing judgement on 99D one way or the other. The people that participate there are free to do so if they think it is the best use of their time.

Have a read of this article:

http://www.behind-the-enemy-lines.com/2012/04/feedback-unemp...

There's good reasons to believe that the portfolio that designers develop through 99designs is likely to be worth far more to them than the win itself.

I was simply pointing out the obvious difference between SO and 99D. I'm neither for nor against the 99D way of doing things. I'm sure there are many secondary benefits to be had from participating in these kinds of competitions, not least of which would be improving ones skills and (potential) work prospects.

For starters, 99designs is spec-work, and stack overflow isn't. Nobody is making any money from Stack Overflow by contributing.

I wouldn't go as far as saying no one. The quality of ones Stack Overflow answers may result in a better job, similar to how a good portfolio and record on 99designs might result in better opportunities down the track.

Agreed. The glorious irony here is that the age old argument for spec work is that it builds your portfolio- I know that my SO portfolio contributed to landing my current job.