Among respondents to the EA Survey, in 2020, 38% of respondents were EA Forum members. In 2019 it was 30%. In 2018 it was 20%.
Those numbers are doubtless inflated though, because EA Forum members (a very disproportionately highly engaged group: >80% are levels 4-5 out of 5 in self-reported engagement) are more likely to take the survey. The question is how many less engaged (who are less likely to be on the Forum) there are, which is less easy to estimate, although there is a model in this post.
A useful comparison point might be how many EAs are members of a local group. A priori, one might think that being a member of an in-person group is a higher bar/more demanding than being a member of an EA Forum, but historically that has not been the case.
One other thing that may be of interest is that we don’t see much of difference in the increase in EA group EA forum membership between EAS 2019 and EAS 2020. But, apparently, there’s been a lot more support for groups too, so perhaps that’s not surprising. (One other possible thing of note (not shown) is that the EA Forum also seems to be increasing its share among newer EAs, where previously it had been almost exclusively the preserve of established EAs).
Among respondents to the EA Survey, in 2020, 38% of respondents were EA Forum members. In 2019 it was 30%. In 2018 it was 20%.
Those numbers are doubtless inflated though, because EA Forum members (a very disproportionately highly engaged group: >80% are levels 4-5 out of 5 in self-reported engagement) are more likely to take the survey. The question is how many less engaged (who are less likely to be on the Forum) there are, which is less easy to estimate, although there is a model in this post.
A useful comparison point might be how many EAs are members of a local group. A priori, one might think that being a member of an in-person group is a higher bar/more demanding than being a member of an EA Forum, but historically that has not been the case.
One other thing that may be of interest is that we don’t see much of difference in the increase in EA group EA forum membership between EAS 2019 and EAS 2020. But, apparently, there’s been a lot more support for groups too, so perhaps that’s not surprising. (One other possible thing of note (not shown) is that the EA Forum also seems to be increasing its share among newer EAs, where previously it had been almost exclusively the preserve of established EAs).