For context: I want the Forum team to be able to do more active crossposting in the future, so it seems reasonable to have a sort of “placeholder” account for when the author of the original piece doesn’t have a Forum account. Personally when I see a linkpost, I generally assume that the author here is also the original author (outside of obvious cases like a NYT article link), and it’s kinda confusing when that’s not the case (I’m more used to this now but it was extra confusing when I was a new user). I also personally feel kinda weird getting karma for just linking to someone else’s work, and probably don’t want my Forum profile to mostly be links to other articles.
On the other hand, I do want users to feel free to linkpost external articles that they didn’t write, especially if they add their own commentary, or even just make some editorial decisions on which parts to quote. (That’s why I was fine with crossposting this using my own account, for example.)
Caveat: I consider these minor issues, I hope I don’t come across as too accusatory.
Interesting, why’s that? :)
It seems that the reason for cross-posting was that you personally found it interesting. If you use the EA forum team account, it sounds a bit like an “official” endorsement, and makes the Forum Team less neutral.
Even if you use another account name (eg “selected linkposts”) that is run by the Forum Team, I think there should be some explanation how those linkposts are selected, otherwise it seems like arbitrarily privileging some stuff over other stuff.
A “LinkpostBot” account would be good if the cross-posting is automated (e.g. every ACX article who mentions Effective Altruism).
I also personally feel kinda weird getting karma for just linking to someone else’s work
I think its fine to gain Karma by virtue of linkposting and being an active forum member, I will not be bothered by it and I think you should not worry about that (although i can understand that it might feel uncomfortable to you). Other people are also allowed to link-post.
Personally when I see a linkpost, I generally assume that the author here is also the original author
I think starting the title with [linkpost] fixes that issue.
Thanks! I basically landed on using my personal account since most people seem to prefer that. I suppose I’ll accept the karma if that’s what everyone else wants! :P
Honestly I think it’s somewhat misleading for me to post with my account because I am posting this in my capacity as part of the Forum Team, even though I’m still an individual making a judgement. It’s like when I get a marketing email signed by “Liz” — probably this is a real person writing the email, but it’s still more the voice of the company than of an individual, so it feels a bit misleading to say it’s from “Liz”. On the other hand, I guess all my Forum content has been in my capacity as part of the Forum Team so no reason to change that now! :)
(I also agree with your points about “LinkpostBot” feeling like it should be an automation, and that having a team account for linkposting runs the risk of making those seem privileged.)
Interesting, why’s that? :)
For context: I want the Forum team to be able to do more active crossposting in the future, so it seems reasonable to have a sort of “placeholder” account for when the author of the original piece doesn’t have a Forum account. Personally when I see a linkpost, I generally assume that the author here is also the original author (outside of obvious cases like a NYT article link), and it’s kinda confusing when that’s not the case (I’m more used to this now but it was extra confusing when I was a new user). I also personally feel kinda weird getting karma for just linking to someone else’s work, and probably don’t want my Forum profile to mostly be links to other articles.
On the other hand, I do want users to feel free to linkpost external articles that they didn’t write, especially if they add their own commentary, or even just make some editorial decisions on which parts to quote. (That’s why I was fine with crossposting this using my own account, for example.)
Caveat: I consider these minor issues, I hope I don’t come across as too accusatory.
It seems that the reason for cross-posting was that you personally found it interesting. If you use the EA forum team account, it sounds a bit like an “official” endorsement, and makes the Forum Team less neutral.
Even if you use another account name (eg “selected linkposts”) that is run by the Forum Team, I think there should be some explanation how those linkposts are selected, otherwise it seems like arbitrarily privileging some stuff over other stuff.
A “LinkpostBot” account would be good if the cross-posting is automated (e.g. every ACX article who mentions Effective Altruism).
I think its fine to gain Karma by virtue of linkposting and being an active forum member, I will not be bothered by it and I think you should not worry about that (although i can understand that it might feel uncomfortable to you). Other people are also allowed to link-post.
I think starting the title with [linkpost] fixes that issue.
Thanks! I basically landed on using my personal account since most people seem to prefer that. I suppose I’ll accept the karma if that’s what everyone else wants! :P
Honestly I think it’s somewhat misleading for me to post with my account because I am posting this in my capacity as part of the Forum Team, even though I’m still an individual making a judgement. It’s like when I get a marketing email signed by “Liz” — probably this is a real person writing the email, but it’s still more the voice of the company than of an individual, so it feels a bit misleading to say it’s from “Liz”. On the other hand, I guess all my Forum content has been in my capacity as part of the Forum Team so no reason to change that now! :)
(I also agree with your points about “LinkpostBot” feeling like it should be an automation, and that having a team account for linkposting runs the risk of making those seem privileged.)