Honestly I’m just here for the drama

I'm a young twenty-something who got into EA a couple of years ago. Back then I was really into the whole "learning object-level facts about EA” thing. I'd religiously listen to the 80,000 Hours podcast, read in detail about different interventions, both neartermist and longtermist, and generally just try my darndest to improve my understanding of how to do good effectively. Key to this voracious consumption was of course the EA Forum.

Now? Lmao.

It started with the SBF saga. Boy was the EA forum entertaining. The whole front page was full of upset people wildly speculating. So many rumors to sift through, so many spicy arguments to follow. The best parts of any post could be found by scrolling to the very bottom and unfolding highly downvoted comments. So much entertainment. Like reality TV except about my ingroup specifically.

Then, you know the meme. EA has had a scandal of the week TM ever since. Castle? Hilarious watching people who don't understand logistics butt heads with people who don't value optics and frugality. The weird Tegmark neonazi thing? Absolutely incredible watching the comments turn on him and then pull back. Time and Bloomberg articles and the ensuing "I can fix EA in one blog post" follow-ups? Delicious. Bostrom and the fascinating case of the use-mention distinction? Yikes bro. Spicy takes and arguments hidden in the Lightcone closure announcement? Fantastic sequel to "The Vultures Are Coming".

When it was announced the Community posts would appear in a separate section of the Forum, the little drama-hungry goblin in my brain was at first disappointed. Oh no! Maybe I'll accidentally click on a post about malaria instead! Then I realized I can simply upweigh Community posts by +100 and I'll never miss another scandal ever again.

Now, I visit almost daily. I briefly skim the frontpage post titles. Maybe occasionally I'll stop to learn more about some new org or read the executive summary of a high-quality research report. But honestly? Most of the time I just scroll through looking for drama, and if I don't find it, I close the tab and get on with my day.