My proposed version of the About page is pretty encouraging to new users who wish to contribute: “Got something to say? Register for an account and say it! Or just introduce yourself in our welcome thread.” Another option is to say something like “Less Wrong sets a high standard for contributions, including comments. Please lurk for a while or read at least 9-10 archive posts before contributing, so you know what’s expected.” A third option is to neither discourage nor encourage commenting, just mention the existence of the welcome thread.
Should we encourage or discourage participation, or say nothing? (Results)
My proposed version of the About page is pretty encouraging to new users who wish to contribute: “Got something to say? Register for an account and say it! Or just introduce yourself in our welcome thread.” Another option is to say something like “Less Wrong sets a high standard for contributions, including comments. Please lurk for a while or read at least 9-10 archive posts before contributing, so you know what’s expected.” A third option is to neither discourage nor encourage commenting, just mention the existence of the welcome thread.
Should we encourage or discourage participation, or say nothing? (Results)
Encourage
Say nothing
Discourage
I wrote something very mildly discouraging.
Off topic, but how did you do these polls? This is spiffier (although maybe not as reversable) than the normal upvote downvote polls.