You leave unsaid that a meaty and genuine discussion would remain, but I expect that’s approximately what you implicitly envision. I’m not so sure that’s what would actually happen. Many of the fruitful discussions here are borne out of initially minor disagreements (Indeed, caring about burdensome details is a longstanding lesswrong tradition!). If you picked all the weeds, would a vibrant garden or a barren wasteland remain?
You are one of the most popular writers on lesswrong, so perhaps it is difficult for you to imagine, but if I wrote something substantial and effortful I would be more worried that it would be simply ignored; far more than I would worry about criticism that does not get to the heart of what I wrote.
You’re pointing out that part of what makes criticism so frustrating for Duncan is that, as a popular writer, he gets so many nitpicks that it becomes overwhelming. A less-popular writer might welcome any attention at all, even brief and critical, as long as it wasn’t overtly hostile. Fear of posting and receiving no response might inhibit new writers finding their voice as much as the fear of overwhelming nitpickiness might inhibit more established writers.
It’s interesting to consider the dynamic this would create if it’s a pattern. Newer writers eventually find the confidence to post anyway. They get a bit of attention, probably fairly negative, because they’re new and figuring out how to express themselves. But they appreciate it and hopefully keep writing. If they get too successful, though, they get overwhelmed by the nitpicks, and eventually leave. This could also happen if they find they have less of a sustained capacity for dealing with 1-2 comments that are consistently negative and nitpicky if there’s little else that’s positive or more engaged.
This would tend to generate an evaporative cooling dynamic for writers, of the kind Duncan describes.
I increasingly think that established writers who are bothered by negative comments should use the tools at their disposal to insulate themselves—returning the burden onto the nitpicker, downvotes, or user-specific bans from commenting on their posts. That seems to mostly solve the problem of overwhelm that Duncan describes, provided he’s right that the problem is a gang of Socrati rather than a problem among the entire user base, without impacting the experience of anybody else, including the Socrati. After all, if the choice is between not posting or banning Socrati from commenting, the Socrati face the same set of options either way.
You’re pointing out that part of what makes criticism so frustrating for Duncan is that, as a popular writer, he gets so many nitpicks that it becomes overwhelming. A less-popular writer might welcome any attention at all, even brief and critical, as long as it wasn’t overtly hostile. Fear of posting and receiving no response might inhibit new writers finding their voice as much as the fear of overwhelming nitpickiness might inhibit more established writers.
It’s interesting to consider the dynamic this would create if it’s a pattern. Newer writers eventually find the confidence to post anyway. They get a bit of attention, probably fairly negative, because they’re new and figuring out how to express themselves. But they appreciate it and hopefully keep writing. If they get too successful, though, they get overwhelmed by the nitpicks, and eventually leave. This could also happen if they find they have less of a sustained capacity for dealing with 1-2 comments that are consistently negative and nitpicky if there’s little else that’s positive or more engaged.
This would tend to generate an evaporative cooling dynamic for writers, of the kind Duncan describes.
I increasingly think that established writers who are bothered by negative comments should use the tools at their disposal to insulate themselves—returning the burden onto the nitpicker, downvotes, or user-specific bans from commenting on their posts. That seems to mostly solve the problem of overwhelm that Duncan describes, provided he’s right that the problem is a gang of Socrati rather than a problem among the entire user base, without impacting the experience of anybody else, including the Socrati. After all, if the choice is between not posting or banning Socrati from commenting, the Socrati face the same set of options either way.
If the fame is the problem, why not post under a pseudonym?
It’s not fame that’s the problem—its the attention your post gets, whether you’re writing pseudonymously or not.