(Example: LessWrong deliberately doesn’t show users the view-count of their posts. We already have the entire internet as the control group for what happens if you give people view-counts – they optimize for views, and you get clickbait. Is this patronizing? Yeah. Am I 100% confident it’s the right call? No. But, I do think if you want to build a strong intellectual culture, it matters what kinds of Internet Points you give [or don’t give] people, and this is at least a judgment call you need to be capable of making)
One could argue that view counts aren’t view counts—they’re click counts.
And people still have a metric they can optimize: the number of comments the post received.
One could argue that view counts aren’t view counts—they’re click counts.
And people still have a metric they can optimize: the number of comments the post received.