There have been times in the past (e.g., here) when I’ve wished there were a reaction feature, and I agree with the LessWrong post’s thesis that a reaction feature would positively shape forum culture.
Hi Will, we’re playing with some designs for reactions now. One question we have is whether to introduce reactions at the comment level or the post level. Do you have any gut takes on that?
Some pros and cons to introducing reactions at the post level:
Pros
It’d be nice to see positive reactions to your post from people you respect.
Heightened sense of community(?)
Cons
This’d probably make the EA Forum look less serious.
Some of the epistemic status reactions (from the LessWrong post) only really make sense at the comment level. For example, “Too Harsh” and “Missed the Point”.
I’m guessing this wouldn’t be too hard to fix, though.
It’d seem inconsistent if reactions appear at the post level, whereas agreement karma only exists at the comment level?
Inconsistent, that is, if one views karma as the “core thing” and agreement karma and reactions as additional features. (It’s not inconsistent if one views reactions as a core thing, alongside karma and above agreement karma.)
Having thought about this for five minutes or so, I think that the EA Forum looking less serious is the most important of the above considerations. Thus, my current take is that I’m in favor of reactions being introduced only at the comment level.
Also, zooming out to the meta level: is there a channel for giving feedback and suggestions on Forum design/features? I have some other hot takes that I’d be happy to share.
Interesting, thanks for your takes. One of the pros that we’ve been most excited about is sharing positive feedback beyond karma back with authors (some combination of your pros). The “serious” culture is super valuable, but also has the effect of scaring people away from posting their ideas, so we’re thinking about what the right balance is.
Anyway, thanks for your takes! We’ll probably post some ideas in the next week for more feedback.
Yeah, to clarify why I think some seriousness is important: for a number of people and orgs, this forum is the place they publish their research. Some fraction of this research will be cited outside of the EA Forum, and my guess is that non-EAs may view this research as less credible if there are, for example, smiley face reaccs alongside the title.
Nonetheless, I now think I’m leaning toward post-level reactions. Your point about sharing positive feedback back with authors is salient, in my view, and I also expect that there are viable workarounds to my seriousness objection. For instance, having epistemic status reacts (but not face emoji reacts) at the post level might get the best of both—feedback and seriousness—worlds.
(Of course, I’m just one dude with ~zero UI experience, so feel free to weight my take accordingly.)
I’d heart react if this forum introduced reactions.[1]
There have been times in the past (e.g., here) when I’ve wished there were a reaction feature, and I agree with the LessWrong post’s thesis that a reaction feature would positively shape forum culture.
Hi Will, we’re playing with some designs for reactions now. One question we have is whether to introduce reactions at the comment level or the post level. Do you have any gut takes on that?
That’s great news!
Some pros and cons to introducing reactions at the post level:
Pros
It’d be nice to see positive reactions to your post from people you respect.
Heightened sense of community(?)
Cons
This’d probably make the EA Forum look less serious.
Some of the epistemic status reactions (from the LessWrong post) only really make sense at the comment level. For example, “Too Harsh” and “Missed the Point”.
I’m guessing this wouldn’t be too hard to fix, though.
It’d seem inconsistent if reactions appear at the post level, whereas agreement karma only exists at the comment level?
Inconsistent, that is, if one views karma as the “core thing” and agreement karma and reactions as additional features. (It’s not inconsistent if one views reactions as a core thing, alongside karma and above agreement karma.)
Having thought about this for five minutes or so, I think that the EA Forum looking less serious is the most important of the above considerations. Thus, my current take is that I’m in favor of reactions being introduced only at the comment level.
Also, zooming out to the meta level: is there a channel for giving feedback and suggestions on Forum design/features? I have some other hot takes that I’d be happy to share.
Interesting, thanks for your takes. One of the pros that we’ve been most excited about is sharing positive feedback beyond karma back with authors (some combination of your pros). The “serious” culture is super valuable, but also has the effect of scaring people away from posting their ideas, so we’re thinking about what the right balance is.
Anyway, thanks for your takes! We’ll probably post some ideas in the next week for more feedback.
You can give feature suggestions here any time.
Yeah, to clarify why I think some seriousness is important: for a number of people and orgs, this forum is the place they publish their research. Some fraction of this research will be cited outside of the EA Forum, and my guess is that non-EAs may view this research as less credible if there are, for example, smiley face reaccs alongside the title.
Nonetheless, I now think I’m leaning toward post-level reactions. Your point about sharing positive feedback back with authors is salient, in my view, and I also expect that there are viable workarounds to my seriousness objection. For instance, having epistemic status reacts (but not face emoji reacts) at the post level might get the best of both—feedback and seriousness—worlds.
(Of course, I’m just one dude with ~zero UI experience, so feel free to weight my take accordingly.)
Great, thanks!