I would like to caution against a Media Thread since the assumption of there being one in the first place is that it is desirable for particular videos, or essays etc… to be read by most EA’s. Media is very time consuming. Frequently people would post out of excitement with this new idea that is either old for others, or irrelevant.
On the other hand, I find the Bragging thread on Lesswrong a very commendable and fruitful endeavour for the EA forum. It puts feeling good about yourself, motivated, and being public about your giving all in one bucket. So I’d suggest perhaps changing the “What are you working on” for “bragging thread”. Later if the need is still there, then reinstate a “What are you working on”
I very much agree with your second point. I think it would be especially useful to encourage EAs to announce recent donations they have made, so we can celebrate those donations, evoke warm fuzzies, and maybe even get some subtly competitive giving going.
That would be great, but I feel as if a thread isn’t the best venue for it—it would get samey, and people would feel inhibited by the bragginess of it.
Where do you think would be a good place? The points you brought up are concerning, but I think it works decently on LW (although the samey-ness potential is higher here...) and I’m not sure where a better place for it would be.
For threads like that it might also be helpful to have “sort by new” as the default option. Right now I don’t believe there is an option to change default sorting on a per-thread basis.
I agree on both counts. I hadn’t thought of that, re: media threads. Really, if individual effective altruists want updates on media, there are plenty of organizations, and webpages, such as THINK, and the Centre for Effective Altruism, that regularly share news updates relevant to effective altruists. So, some of us can just follow those.
I would like to caution against a Media Thread since the assumption of there being one in the first place is that it is desirable for particular videos, or essays etc… to be read by most EA’s. Media is very time consuming. Frequently people would post out of excitement with this new idea that is either old for others, or irrelevant.
On the other hand, I find the Bragging thread on Lesswrong a very commendable and fruitful endeavour for the EA forum. It puts feeling good about yourself, motivated, and being public about your giving all in one bucket. So I’d suggest perhaps changing the “What are you working on” for “bragging thread”. Later if the need is still there, then reinstate a “What are you working on”
I very much agree with your second point. I think it would be especially useful to encourage EAs to announce recent donations they have made, so we can celebrate those donations, evoke warm fuzzies, and maybe even get some subtly competitive giving going.
That would be great, but I feel as if a thread isn’t the best venue for it—it would get samey, and people would feel inhibited by the bragginess of it.
Where do you think would be a good place? The points you brought up are concerning, but I think it works decently on LW (although the samey-ness potential is higher here...) and I’m not sure where a better place for it would be.
I don’t have any good suggestions in particular, so maybe donation-announcement threads would work. Can you think of any possible alternatives?
People are creative, they’ll find new, non-same things to brag about. Trust them.
For threads like that it might also be helpful to have “sort by new” as the default option. Right now I don’t believe there is an option to change default sorting on a per-thread basis.
I agree on both counts. I hadn’t thought of that, re: media threads. Really, if individual effective altruists want updates on media, there are plenty of organizations, and webpages, such as THINK, and the Centre for Effective Altruism, that regularly share news updates relevant to effective altruists. So, some of us can just follow those.