I think this is mostly just the macro-trend of the internet shifting away from open forums and blogs and towards the “cozy web” of private groupchats etc., not anything specific about LessWrong. If anything, LessWrong seems to be bucking the trend here, since it remains much more active than most other sites that had their heyday in the late 00s.
I don’t have any dog in the Achmiz/Worley debate, but I’m having trouble getting in the headspace of someone who is driven away from posting here because of one specific commenter.
First of all, I don’t think anyone is ever under any obligation to reply to commenters at all—simply dropping out of a conversation thread doesn’t feel rude/confrontational in the way it would be to say IRL “I’m done talking to you now.”
Second, I would find it far more demotivating to just get zero engagement on my posts—if I didn’t think anybody was reading, it’s hard to justify the time and effort of posting. But otherwise, even if some commenters disagree with me, my post is still part of the discourse, which makes it worthwhile.
I think this is mostly just the macro-trend of the internet shifting away from open forums and blogs and towards the “cozy web” of private groupchats etc., not anything specific about LessWrong. If anything, LessWrong seems to be bucking the trend here, since it remains much more active than most other sites that had their heyday in the late 00s.
I don’t have any dog in the Achmiz/Worley debate, but I’m having trouble getting in the headspace of someone who is driven away from posting here because of one specific commenter.
First of all, I don’t think anyone is ever under any obligation to reply to commenters at all—simply dropping out of a conversation thread doesn’t feel rude/confrontational in the way it would be to say IRL “I’m done talking to you now.”
Second, I would find it far more demotivating to just get zero engagement on my posts—if I didn’t think anybody was reading, it’s hard to justify the time and effort of posting. But otherwise, even if some commenters disagree with me, my post is still part of the discourse, which makes it worthwhile.