I think the intended approach was basically to just edit the top answer to update it. One of SO's issues I think was that it couldn't really decide if it wanted to be a Q/A site or a wiki and so subverted the expectations of both.
I think you're right that that was their expectation/intention. I think it failed because experts don't just randomly go through old questions and make modifications. What prompts knowledgeable people to share their knowledge is new questions asked by new people.
I think you're right that that was their expectation/intention. I think it failed because experts don't just randomly go through old questions and make modifications. What prompts knowledgeable people to share their knowledge is new questions asked by new people.