One advantage of Open Thread over a Shortform is that of periodical reset; an Open Thread may contain hundreds of comments (used to happen in the past) but then a new one is created and the debate starts anew.
When some Shortforms get hundreds of comments, using them may become inconvenient. Maybe at some moment, a mechanism to reset Shortform will be needed—basically, just create a new one, and make it so that the “new shortform” button writes into the new one. Could happen automatically, e.g. when the total number of comments exceeds some predefined threshold.
But… returning to my meta point… I also could have written this in my Shortform. Is there any advantage of writing it here?
Shortform posts currently feel more like they are your personal space with your own norms, that someone could visit. The Open Thread feels more like a town plaza where you are acting on shared norms, where you expect things to get a bit more visibility, but also are generally acting in a more shared social and intellectual context.
It’s not obvious that this distinction is worth having both of them, but both features seem to continue getting usage, and I personally often have a sense that a specific comment/post is more shortform or more Open Thread shaped.
Shortform posts show up on the frontpage in the recent discussion section, and can be visited from people’s profiles if they’ve created at least one shortform post. All shortform posts are listed as just one post in their post-list.
Aren’t Open Threads made obsolete by Shortforms?
One advantage of Open Thread over a Shortform is that of periodical reset; an Open Thread may contain hundreds of comments (used to happen in the past) but then a new one is created and the debate starts anew.
When some Shortforms get hundreds of comments, using them may become inconvenient. Maybe at some moment, a mechanism to reset Shortform will be needed—basically, just create a new one, and make it so that the “new shortform” button writes into the new one. Could happen automatically, e.g. when the total number of comments exceeds some predefined threshold.
But… returning to my meta point… I also could have written this in my Shortform. Is there any advantage of writing it here?
I doubt that the introduction posts that get regularly written in this thread would be written at all if the thread wouldn’t exist.
Shortform posts currently feel more like they are your personal space with your own norms, that someone could visit. The Open Thread feels more like a town plaza where you are acting on shared norms, where you expect things to get a bit more visibility, but also are generally acting in a more shared social and intellectual context.
It’s not obvious that this distinction is worth having both of them, but both features seem to continue getting usage, and I personally often have a sense that a specific comment/post is more shortform or more Open Thread shaped.
Maybe a stupid question but how do I access other people’s shortforms? First time I’m hearing of this
If you go to their pofiles, you might see their “X’s shortform post”. Alternatively, go to www.lesswrong.com/shortform
Shortform posts show up on the frontpage in the recent discussion section, and can be visited from people’s profiles if they’ve created at least one shortform post. All shortform posts are listed as just one post in their post-list.
They are also visible in the All-Posts page.
You probably use your shortform more, so it might get more attention as a comment here.