As a communications professional, I believe there is no point front loading an accurate picture of EA, warts and all, early in someone's journey with EA because at this point they do not care about this. They are looking to see whether EA can help them have an impact.
So I don't think the "persuasive vs. informative" framing is the right one, I see CEA's strategy as meeting people where they are, and trying to do this well, which indeed means simplifying the messaging a lot, especially early on, because it is a necessary condition to being heard.
Using 'persuasion' techniques, such as relying on social proof, is usually what it takes to be heard in a crowded information environment too, of course, 'persuasive' communications increases growth.
(I don't like the persuasive framing because it doesn't convey that good communications is about providing value to people, if you provide value, you just need people to see and decide to grab it, which is different from 'persuading'.)
It seems like you are pointing out that the community, steered by CEA's stewardship, is picking the wrong side on some trade-offs, like community size vs. strength of bonds. I wonder if you also see it as a trade-off, or do you think the problems you point at could be solved by investing resources to meet people further in their EA journey.
Thank you for writing this.
As a communications professional, I believe there is no point front loading an accurate picture of EA, warts and all, early in someone's journey with EA because at this point they do not care about this. They are looking to see whether EA can help them have an impact.
So I don't think the "persuasive vs. informative" framing is the right one, I see CEA's strategy as meeting people where they are, and trying to do this well, which indeed means simplifying the messaging a lot, especially early on, because it is a necessary condition to being heard.
Using 'persuasion' techniques, such as relying on social proof, is usually what it takes to be heard in a crowded information environment too, of course, 'persuasive' communications increases growth.
(I don't like the persuasive framing because it doesn't convey that good communications is about providing value to people, if you provide value, you just need people to see and decide to grab it, which is different from 'persuading'.)
It seems like you are pointing out that the community, steered by CEA's stewardship, is picking the wrong side on some trade-offs, like community size vs. strength of bonds. I wonder if you also see it as a trade-off, or do you think the problems you point at could be solved by investing resources to meet people further in their EA journey.