Feature use scenario:
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I hover the mouse pointer over a username
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The small box that appears (the one that currently shows basic stats: when they joined, how many posts they have written, etc.) contains also a textarea field
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Whatever I write in that field persists between my logins, until I edit it again (if ever)
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The contents of that field are only visible to me Motivation: As I read LW more, I’m starting to attribute expertise in some subjects to some users. And conversely, I’m noticing specific biases in other users. I would like to privately keep note of that, so that I can more precisely trust/distrust what they write in the future.
Prediction: The two most common notes would be "Note—Not jacobjacob" and "Note—Not Jacobian"
I notice wanting the opposite. I notice prejudging certain posts based on the user, but want to just look at the content instead.
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(I think Marcello made a script for this at some point)
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I believe this is what you are referring to. I have the same preference as you and I use Marcello’s script.
greaterwrong has the anti-kibitzer mode which hides username and karma.
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Yeah but I’m a big fan of LW proper’s aesthetics. I always found myself bouncing back when I try GW.
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Do you feel that way about all the themes? Ideally I’d like it to have something for everyone.
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Yes, I feel this way about all the themes.
Fair enough. Personally I enjoy GW’s pragmatic style.
I see both privacy issues (without pretty strong guarantees, at least site admins will be able to see my notes) and personal-bias issues (it’s likely to make me over-weight opinions that I put into this field). I would likely not use it very much, but I don’t object to others doing so. I wonder if keeping a separate notepad or app would get you 80% of the way there. I also wonder if tagging of users (public, and limited complexity of comment) would be more useful or annoying.
I’d like to use this feature, especially to keep track if I meet a user in the walled garden or IRL but need consistency to remember which user they are. This is a common feature in video games and without it I would have no idea who most of my friends in League of Legends are.
I wouldn’t be that worried about privacy for the notes, since I’d expect few of them to contain sensitive information, though they might contain some awkward information.
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GreaterWrong has the ability to automatically collapse comments from a given user. I could make it hide posts too if there’s a desire for that.
Yes! i like this suggestion, and would probably use the feature if it was implemented. discord has it and i use it, could be quite useful here.