I dont think thats accurate. The problem here is data quality. In SO you likely get few but good answers because the system is designed that way. Thats why its not done here a lot. I tried asking code and sysadmin stuff here. The amount of hate and bs answers you get is shocking. SO is also insanely moderated. Something that isnt really feasible for mainline lemmy.
I think a fork of lemmy would work though. With the karma requirement that SO has to post and the same requirements.
SO is a meritocracy. Its not a nice feeling to not be able to answer a question. But it works. because you have to ask questions first, then comment and then post answers (iirc). this would not work on lemmy. but a special fork together with an instance (or many) could work imo.
Disclaimer: I designed and wrote a couple of programs for a company I created and others. it worked well. Not saying I know everything. Just my ideas.
PS: I made a mastodon fork to recreate linkedin/xing feel free to leave a star)