I go to SO for answers. I go to Hashnode for discussions.
SO is not newbie friendly. SO is the largest programming question and answer website on the internet. SO is English/Western centric. SO is the reason a site like Hashnode exists. SO has an established culture, and expects anyone/everyone to inform themselves on how to participate before they start asking questions. If you choose to observe and follow the community norms, it is a great developer resource. One of the primary goals of SO is to be a searchable repository of quality information. SO is a huge community that, for the most part, is run by volunteers - the moderators are all volunteers from the SO community;The reviewers are all volunteers from the community; The editors are all volunteers from the community. Participation in the SO community gains you more privileges and responsibilities.
Hashnode is a discussion board and blogging platform. Hashnode is very newbie friendly.