I think the effect of a “this is what I think about something you should think it too” post is likely to be extremely small, and could be slightly negative. This is partly because such posts about other things are incredibly common on social media, but also because there exist misconceptions about EA that are easy to believe and require high fidelity communication to overcome. A couple of ideas with a higher chance of success:
Share a link to a single specific article or podcast episode you liked, along with a detailed recommendation of why you liked it.
If you loved doing good better, post about that, and how it had a significant impact on your life, then offer to send a copy to anyone who asks (because it meant so much to you) on the condition that once they’ve read it, they pass it on to someone else and ask that person to pass it on afterwards etc. Even if each chain is only 1 or 2 people long, this is going to be a great use of money.
If you have a birthday/other occasion where you get bought gifts, ask for donations to a specific charity, explaining how you found out about them, how you know they are cost effective, and why you believe cost effectiveness is important. Set an example by donating yourself, ideally more than you’d expect a typical present to be.
The key theme here is I’ve found that specific things with specific personal recommendations have a bigger effect than general things with a general recommendation.
I absolute agree that talking about your personal experience and how your life has changed makes so much more of a positive impression than telling people what they should do.
Thank you very much for that reply, you have convinced me and I will try all of those things.
Also, I now realise that sharing specific links etc. has the added bonus that it gives you a reason to post many times about EA themed things, instead of just once, so you can hopefully reach more people.
I like the book distribution idea, but would suggest using the updated 10th Anniversary edition of The Life You Can Save. While its focus on global poverty makes it narrower than Doing Good Better, it has several advantages:
I definitely think recommending the TLYCS podcast as a “this is a specific thing I really liked and am recommending” is a brilliant shout. Having said that, I think that seperately there’s value in a post which says “this thing was so important to me I will spend money in order to make sure you get a copy”.
I think the effect of a “this is what I think about something you should think it too” post is likely to be extremely small, and could be slightly negative. This is partly because such posts about other things are incredibly common on social media, but also because there exist misconceptions about EA that are easy to believe and require high fidelity communication to overcome. A couple of ideas with a higher chance of success:
Share a link to a single specific article or podcast episode you liked, along with a detailed recommendation of why you liked it.
If you loved doing good better, post about that, and how it had a significant impact on your life, then offer to send a copy to anyone who asks (because it meant so much to you) on the condition that once they’ve read it, they pass it on to someone else and ask that person to pass it on afterwards etc. Even if each chain is only 1 or 2 people long, this is going to be a great use of money.
If you have a birthday/other occasion where you get bought gifts, ask for donations to a specific charity, explaining how you found out about them, how you know they are cost effective, and why you believe cost effectiveness is important. Set an example by donating yourself, ideally more than you’d expect a typical present to be.
The key theme here is I’ve found that specific things with specific personal recommendations have a bigger effect than general things with a general recommendation.
I absolute agree that talking about your personal experience and how your life has changed makes so much more of a positive impression than telling people what they should do.
Thank you very much for that reply, you have convinced me and I will try all of those things.
Also, I now realise that sharing specific links etc. has the added bonus that it gives you a reason to post many times about EA themed things, instead of just once, so you can hopefully reach more people.
I really like all of these ideas!
Regarding the “passing along copies of Doing Good Better” idea, see this post from someone who organized a book giveaway.
I like the book distribution idea, but would suggest using the updated 10th Anniversary edition of The Life You Can Save. While its focus on global poverty makes it narrower than Doing Good Better, it has several advantages:
· The audiobook and ebook are available for free
· The celebrity narrators (e.g. Kristen Bell and Paul Simon) add credibility
· It’s more up to date
That said, I think it’d be really interesting to do an experiment comparing the efficacy of distributing each book.
Note: I work for TLYCS the organization
I definitely think recommending the TLYCS podcast as a “this is a specific thing I really liked and am recommending” is a brilliant shout. Having said that, I think that seperately there’s value in a post which says “this thing was so important to me I will spend money in order to make sure you get a copy”.
Luckily, doing both is possible.