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Updates on Community Health Survey Results
webAuthors
David_Moss·Jamie E·Willem Sleegers
Credibility Rating
3/5
Good(3)Good quality. Reputable source with community review or editorial standards, but less rigorous than peer-reviewed venues.
Rating inherited from publication venue: EA Forum
Useful for understanding the sociological and organizational health of the EA community, which overlaps heavily with the AI safety field; relevant to those tracking institutional trust and movement cohesion post-FTX.
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149
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19
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eaforum
Forum Tags
CommunityBuilding effective altruismData on the EA communityEffective Altruism SurveyResearchRethink PrioritiesSurveysCommunity epistemic healthFTX collapse
Metadata
Importance: 38/100organizational reportanalysis
Summary
Rethink Priorities presents findings from a December 2023/January 2024 survey tracking EA community wellbeing post-FTX collapse, revealing declining satisfaction scores and growing disengagement. Key concerns include cause prioritization disputes, leadership gaps, diversity issues, and perceived overemphasis on AI/existential risk, with 46% of respondents wanting more community reform.
Key Points
- •Community satisfaction declined from 6.99 (post-FTX) to 6.77, with 39% of respondents reporting reduced engagement over the past year.
- •41% of respondents perceive a leadership vacuum within EA, and 46% desire more structural change than has occurred.
- •Top dissatisfaction drivers: cause prioritization disagreements, leadership failures, diversity/inclusion concerns, and excessive AI/x-risk focus.
- •Survey provides longitudinal tracking of EA community health, offering a data-driven view of post-FTX institutional trust erosion.
- •Results signal ongoing organizational and cultural challenges for EA as a movement, relevant to AI safety community dynamics.
Cited by 1 page
| Page | Type | Quality |
|---|---|---|
| EA Institutions' Response to the FTX Collapse | -- | 53.0 |
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Updates on Community Health Survey Results — EA Forum
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by David_Moss , Jamie E , Willem Sleegers Mar 20 2024 10 min read 19 149
Community Building effective altruism Data on the EA community Effective Altruism Survey Research Rethink Priorities Surveys Community epistemic health FTX collapse Frontpage Updates on Community Health Survey Results Summary Community satisfaction over time Reasons for dissatisfaction with the EA community Changes in EA engagement Changes in EA-related behaviors Perception of issues in the EA community Leadership vacuum Desire for more community change following FTX Trust in EA-related organizations Appendix Effect sizes for satisfaction over time Email vs non-email referrers Acknowledgments 19 comments Summary
Satisfaction with the EA community Reported satisfaction, from 1 (Very dissatisfied) to 10 (Very satisfied), in December 2023/January 2024 was lower than when we last measured it shortly after the FTX crisis at the end of 2022 (6.77 vs. 6.99, respectively).
However, December 2023/January 2024 satisfaction ratings were higher than what people recalled their satisfaction being “shortly after the FTX collapse” (and their recalled level of satisfaction was lower than what we measured their satisfaction as being at the end of 2022).
We think it’s plausible that satisfaction reached a nadir at some point later than December 2022, but may have improved since that point, while still being lower than pre-FTX.
Reasons for dissatisfaction with EA: A number of factors were cited a similar number of times by respondents as Very important reasons for dissatisfaction, among those who provided a reason: Cause prioritization (22%), Leadership (20%), Justice, Equity, Inclusion and Diversity (JEID, 19%), Scandals (18%) and excessive Focus on AI / x-risk / longtermism (16%).
Including mentions of Important (12%) and Slightly important (7%) factors, JEID was the most commonly mentioned factor overall.
Changes in engagement over the last year 39% of respondents reported getting at least slightly less engaged, while 31% reported no change in engagement, and 29% reported increasing engagement.
Concrete changes in behavior 31% of respondents reported that they had stopped referring to “EA” while still promoting EA projects or ideas, and 15% that they had temporarily stopped promoting EA. Smaller percentages reported other changes such as ceasing to engage with online EA spaces (6.8%), permanently stopping promoting EA ideas or projects (6.3%), stopping attending EA events (5.5%), stopping working on any EA projects (4.3%) and stopping donating (2.5%).
Desire for more community change as a result of the FTX collapse 46% of respondents at least somewhat agreed that they would like to see the EA community change more t
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