We in EA Philippines have made 2 posts (and have another upcoming one) already that were specifically for requesting feedback from the global EA community on an external document we wrote, before we post this document for the general public. See here and here as examples from EA PH, and this other example from a different author.
I think it happens quite often that EAs or EA orgs ask for feedback on an external document or on a writeup they have rough thoughts on, so I think it’s worth having this tag.
A potential counterargument to this being a tag is that lots of authors (or most authors) would want feedback on their posts anyway, and it’s hard separating which ones are feedback requests and which ones aren’t. I guess the use of this tag is ideally for posts that authors specifically want answers to a few questions for, or if they want feedback on an external document, rather than just getting general feedback on their article. Would appreciate any thoughts on this!
Another potential argument in favor of having a tag for Feedback Request is it might encourage EAs to share work with each other and get feedback more often, which is likely a good thing.
In my workplace at First Circle, we have a process called “Request for Comment” or “RFC” where we write documents in a specific format and share them on an #rfc slack channel, so that people know we want feedback on a proposal or writeup in order to move forward with our work. This was very effective in getting people to share work, get feedback on work asynchronously rather than via a synchronous meeting, and to streamline and house one place for feedback requests. Maybe a tag for “Feedback Request” could also streamline things?
For example, if an EA wants to see what they could give feedback on, they could click this tag to check out things they could give feedback on.
It could also be good practice for authors of feedback requests to put a deadline on when they need feedback on something by. This is so people backreading know if they should still give feedback if a deadline has passed.
I made a tag for requests, which I think applies here if there is a specific request for feedback with timeframe. I’ll write a short post about it now.
Yeah, I think I’d personally lean towards letting the thing Brian is describing be covered by the Requests (Open) tag. This is partly because, as Brian notes, “lots of authors (or most authors) would want feedback on their posts anyway, and it’s hard separating which ones are feedback requests and which ones aren’t.”
I’m also not really sure I understand the distinction, or the significance of the distinction, between that wanting feedback on an external doc before sharing it more beyond the EA community and wanting feedback on a post before that, or an adapted form of that, is shared beyond the EA community. (One part of my thoughts here is that I think a decent portion of posts may ultimately make their way into things shared beyond the EA community, and sometimes the authors won’t be sure in advance which posts those are. E.g., MacAskill’s hinge of history post is now an academic working paper.)
That said, I’ve also appreciated the existence of Slack channels where people can solicit feedback from colleagues. (I’ve appreciated that both as an author and as a person who enjoys being helpful by giving feedback.) And the EA Editing & Review facebook group seems to demonstrate some degree of demand for this sort of thing in EA. So maybe there’s a stronger case for the tag than I’m currently seeing.
(OTOH, maybe the need could be well-met just by using the Requests (Open) tag and posting in EA Editing & Review?)
Should we have a tag for “Feedback Request”?
We in EA Philippines have made 2 posts (and have another upcoming one) already that were specifically for requesting feedback from the global EA community on an external document we wrote, before we post this document for the general public. See here and here as examples from EA PH, and this other example from a different author.
I think it happens quite often that EAs or EA orgs ask for feedback on an external document or on a writeup they have rough thoughts on, so I think it’s worth having this tag.
A potential counterargument to this being a tag is that lots of authors (or most authors) would want feedback on their posts anyway, and it’s hard separating which ones are feedback requests and which ones aren’t. I guess the use of this tag is ideally for posts that authors specifically want answers to a few questions for, or if they want feedback on an external document, rather than just getting general feedback on their article. Would appreciate any thoughts on this!
Another potential argument in favor of having a tag for Feedback Request is it might encourage EAs to share work with each other and get feedback more often, which is likely a good thing.
In my workplace at First Circle, we have a process called “Request for Comment” or “RFC” where we write documents in a specific format and share them on an #rfc slack channel, so that people know we want feedback on a proposal or writeup in order to move forward with our work. This was very effective in getting people to share work, get feedback on work asynchronously rather than via a synchronous meeting, and to streamline and house one place for feedback requests. Maybe a tag for “Feedback Request” could also streamline things?
For example, if an EA wants to see what they could give feedback on, they could click this tag to check out things they could give feedback on.
It could also be good practice for authors of feedback requests to put a deadline on when they need feedback on something by. This is so people backreading know if they should still give feedback if a deadline has passed.
I made a tag for requests, which I think applies here if there is a specific request for feedback with timeframe. I’ll write a short post about it now.
Yeah, I think I’d personally lean towards letting the thing Brian is describing be covered by the Requests (Open) tag. This is partly because, as Brian notes, “lots of authors (or most authors) would want feedback on their posts anyway, and it’s hard separating which ones are feedback requests and which ones aren’t.”
I’m also not really sure I understand the distinction, or the significance of the distinction, between that wanting feedback on an external doc before sharing it more beyond the EA community and wanting feedback on a post before that, or an adapted form of that, is shared beyond the EA community. (One part of my thoughts here is that I think a decent portion of posts may ultimately make their way into things shared beyond the EA community, and sometimes the authors won’t be sure in advance which posts those are. E.g., MacAskill’s hinge of history post is now an academic working paper.)
That said, I’ve also appreciated the existence of Slack channels where people can solicit feedback from colleagues. (I’ve appreciated that both as an author and as a person who enjoys being helpful by giving feedback.) And the EA Editing & Review facebook group seems to demonstrate some degree of demand for this sort of thing in EA. So maybe there’s a stronger case for the tag than I’m currently seeing.
(OTOH, maybe the need could be well-met just by using the Requests (Open) tag and posting in EA Editing & Review?)
If a Feedback Request tag is made, perhaps it’d be worth linking in the tag description to Giving and receiving feedback, Asking for advice, and/or Discussion Norms?
Oh cool, yeah I guess this works!