While I understand the intent behind publicly praising well-known contributors, I think we should consider the potential downsides. Heaping more praise on individuals who are already widely celebrated could be net negative, especially when there are many others who contribute valuable work but go largely ignored on the forum. This risks reinforcing a narrow focus on a few voices at the expense of elevating diverse perspectives and recognizing unsung contributors. Perhaps it would be more productive to highlight those who often don’t receive recognition but still make significant contributions.
Also, I believe you meant “compliments,” not “complements.”
I think your argument could go through if the person being praised was Holden, or Will MacAskill, or some other big name in EA. However, Michael seems pretty under the radar given the size of his contributions, so I don’t think your concerns check out in this case (and in fact this case might even align with your point about recognizing unsung contributors).
I personally am a fan of the “both/and” approach to praise :)
I like it when people celebrate their favorite contributors, I think this is a great thing about the Forum! This also genuinely feels pretty rare for an online community IMO!
I think leaving a quick positive comment on posts you like, e.g. “I enjoyed reading this post, thanks!”, is an underrated move (even if you have nothing substantive to say) :) — as a post author, I’ve really appreciated these.
I would also love for people to highlight folks they think are going under-recognized & are making significant contributions.
While I understand the intent behind publicly praising well-known contributors, I think we should consider the potential downsides. Heaping more praise on individuals who are already widely celebrated could be net negative, especially when there are many others who contribute valuable work but go largely ignored on the forum. This risks reinforcing a narrow focus on a few voices at the expense of elevating diverse perspectives and recognizing unsung contributors. Perhaps it would be more productive to highlight those who often don’t receive recognition but still make significant contributions.
Also, I believe you meant “compliments,” not “complements.”
I think your argument could go through if the person being praised was Holden, or Will MacAskill, or some other big name in EA. However, Michael seems pretty under the radar given the size of his contributions, so I don’t think your concerns check out in this case (and in fact this case might even align with your point about recognizing unsung contributors).
I personally am a fan of the “both/and” approach to praise :)
I like it when people celebrate their favorite contributors, I think this is a great thing about the Forum! This also genuinely feels pretty rare for an online community IMO!
I think leaving a quick positive comment on posts you like, e.g. “I enjoyed reading this post, thanks!”, is an underrated move (even if you have nothing substantive to say) :) — as a post author, I’ve really appreciated these.
I would also love for people to highlight folks they think are going under-recognized & are making significant contributions.