Quick takes

So, who is this?

How regularly does everyone use this forum? I'm curious whether people tend to set aside time for browsing the forum, check it on-the-go, or just check the forum digest. I'm also wondering how I should approach the forum (examples: set aside one hour every week to stay up to date on the latest posts, check it when I'm on my phone instead of doomscrolling, just read the weekly digest and see if there are any interesting posts, etc.).

I'm trying to set up a mentorship scheme matching up experienced social media creators with exceptional communicators interested in learning how to communicate high-impact ideas and information at scale using the medium of social media. This is as part of a wider effort to get more EAs with a diverse but previously under-utilised range of skills started on their impact journey. What are some neglected, academic ideas / bits of knowledge that would benefit from being widely spread to the general public through the medium of social media? and... Do you know anyone who's extremely skilled at social media whom I could approach? Someone who would either be interested in making the content or coaching aspiring content creators? Thanks in advance for your help!

In community building, we often optimise for "value alignment". This seems to be used to mean lots of different things. One definition that seems reasonably correct, is that one agrees with the basic EA principles. However, I think the trait I look for in budding committee, is not necessarily this. There are members that would self describe as utilitarian, or rationalist, but don't feel excited about the prospect of a highly impactful career.  On the other hand, there are people who are excited about the EA ideas, will read posts if you mention them, have mixed but strong takes and when they're unsure, will be agentic to try things out. I think this is much more predictive of people following through on EA concepts, and isn't frequently correlated with initially agreeing with the values.

I know EA leads to some weird places, but at the same time I think the EA movement is good at not getting too involved in questions of the day where an EA perspective is not needed, and could repel some from the movement. Presumably peace in the Middle East would be very good from an EA perspective, but there is a lot of debate on the Middle East already, no reason to try to inject a formal EA perspective on it. This is not to say that EA-adjacent individuals can't engage in the debate, as a form of personal hobby maybe. 

It might genuinely be the time to boycott Chat GPT and start campaigns targeting corporate partners. But this isn't yet obvious. Even if so, what would be the appropriate concrete and reasonable asks? I think there is a bit of epistemic crisis emerging at the moment. If there's a case to be made, it needs to be made sooner rather than latter. And then we need coordination.

EAGx and Summit events are coming up, and we're looking for organizers for more! Applications for EAGxCDMX (Mexico City, 20–22 March), EAGxNordics (Stockholm, 24–26 April), and EAGxDC (Washington DC, 2–3 May) are all open! These will be the largest regional-focused events in their respective areas, and are aimed at serving those already engaged with EA or doing related professional work. EAGx events are networking-focused conferences designed to foster strong connections within their regional communities. If you’d like to apply to join the organizing team for a 2026 Bay Area EAGx (date and venue to be confirmed, targeting August–September), please apply via this form. Full details can be found here. We also have applications or direct registrations open for EA Summits in Helsinki (28 Feb), Hong Kong (7 March), and Jakarta (19 April), with more to be announced soon. Summits welcome existing EA community members but they also include more introductory content, making them a great way for newer, EA-curious professionals to learn about EA and explore potential opportunities.. Please keep them in mind to recommend to friends and colleagues who you think could benefit from in-person exposure to EA ideas and the real people behind them. If you are interested in hosting an EAGx or Summit in your city, or want to nominate an area for consideration, please fill out this form!

A delightful thing happened a couple weeks ago, and it gives an example for why more people should comment on the forum.  My forum profile is pretty scarce, less than a dozen comments, most of them are along the lines of 'I appreciate the work done here!'. Nevertheless, because I have linked in some social media profiles and set my city in the directory, a student from a nearby university reached out to ask about career advice after finding me on the forum. I gave her a personalised briefing on the local policy space and explained the details of how to enter the UK civil service if she chose to do so.  Some internet activites are like little seeds that take no effort to plant but may lead to something nice, even months later.