Another issue here is that the EA Forum is used sort of as the EA research journal by many EAs and EA orgs, including my employer, Rethink Priorities. We sometimes post write-ups here that aren’t optimized for the average EA to read at all, but are more for a technical discipline within EA.
I think the centrality of the EA Forum to the overall “EA project” has likely caused a lot of unintended consequences like this. Participating in the Forum is seen as a pretty important “badge” of belonging in EA, but participating in an internet forum is generally not the type of activity that appeals to everyone, much less an internet forum where posts are expected to be lengthy and footnoted.
Participating in the Forum is seen as a pretty important “badge” of belonging in EA,
Why do you believe this is true? I’ve met—online and offline—many higly involved people who never post or comment on the forum. Maybe that’s even the majority of the EA people I know. Some of them even never or seldom read anything here (I guess).
I second this—a lot of prominent EAs don’t look at the Forum. I check the Forum something like once a week on average and rarely post despite this being where my research reports are posted. A lot of EA social engagement happens on facebook and Discord and discourse may take place over more specialized fora like the Alignment Forum or specific Slacks.
Perhaps these posts could start with a note on “assumed context”, similar to the “epistemic status” notes.
(A downside might be if it discourages someone from reading a post that they actually would have got value from, even if they didn’t understand everything. So the choice of wording would be important.)
Another issue here is that the EA Forum is used sort of as the EA research journal by many EAs and EA orgs, including my employer, Rethink Priorities. We sometimes post write-ups here that aren’t optimized for the average EA to read at all, but are more for a technical discipline within EA.
Isn’t that a good thing? I hope it stays like this. Then the forum stays interesting for people who are specialized in certain fields or cause areas.
It’s an issue insofar as people aren’t aware of it
Exactly, it’s an issue if people think the posts on here are all aimed at a general EA audience
Perhaps there could be tags for different ‘levels’ of technicality
I think the centrality of the EA Forum to the overall “EA project” has likely caused a lot of unintended consequences like this. Participating in the Forum is seen as a pretty important “badge” of belonging in EA, but participating in an internet forum is generally not the type of activity that appeals to everyone, much less an internet forum where posts are expected to be lengthy and footnoted.
Why do you believe this is true? I’ve met—online and offline—many higly involved people who never post or comment on the forum. Maybe that’s even the majority of the EA people I know. Some of them even never or seldom read anything here (I guess).
I second this—a lot of prominent EAs don’t look at the Forum. I check the Forum something like once a week on average and rarely post despite this being where my research reports are posted. A lot of EA social engagement happens on facebook and Discord and discourse may take place over more specialized fora like the Alignment Forum or specific Slacks.
(I have a lot of karma because I’ve been on here a long time)
Perhaps these posts could start with a note on “assumed context”, similar to the “epistemic status” notes.
(A downside might be if it discourages someone from reading a post that they actually would have got value from, even if they didn’t understand everything. So the choice of wording would be important.)