Sure. I personally wouldn't put SO down as the cause of anything in that I think it's intermediate in the kinds of causal chains I see around software popularity. I almost never hear about a new technology on SO. I'm there because I am already using it, have a question, and see a Google result.

So if I'm looking at technology adoption, SO is in a basket of factors that I think of as supporting. Does this technology have a website? Is it easy to get started? Is there a place where I can chat with people? Is there a meetup? Is there a conference? Are there good docs? Are there good videos? Are there blog posts and books? And, of course, are there good questions and answers?

All of these supporting factors can keep somebody on the road to adoption, in that once somebody has decided to try the technology, they aid the person in getting to a useful result. I don't think they're causal in the sense of initiating anything. But if I squint I could call them causal in the sense that if you invest in them, you see increased adoption. Given their substitutability, though, if I were looking at causality I'd try to find a broader metric than SO alone.

is that helpful?