this post was submitted on 05 Feb 2025

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The Agora

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[Discussion] I propose that SJW conduct periodic censuses of its userbase (self.agora)

submitted 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) by Kalcifer to c/agora

12 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I think it could be useful to collect this data, both for administrative and research purposes.

I'm unsure, currently, exactly what data should be collected by the censuses (that would be proposed and discussed here). The data that is collected, should be collected anonymously. Furthermore, participation should be entirely voluntary.

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[–] imaqtpie 13 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

My first instinct is that sometimes less information is more. I like the fact that our users are essentially anonymous and we don't really have a set identity as a server, aside from being vaguely Canadian/North American. I feel that anyone can be a part of this server and not worry about fitting into the demographic composition or anything else. Sh.itjust.works, it doesn't matter who you are or why you are here, as long as you treat others with respect.

Also, I am a bit wary about the reliability of an online census in general. It seems fairly likely that we will get a lot of junk data mixed in with the real data, making its usefulness questionable.

But I am also the type who loves to see and analyze statistics. If this idea does prove popular, we should definitely consult u/Otter from lemmy.ca, who has some experience with this already.

https://lemmy.ca/post/15125231

https://lemmy.ca/post/34976449

As you can see, this is not an easy task by any means. The privacy concerns are not easily dismissed. I'm not sure if lemmy.ca has actually done their 2024 survey yet or if they are still working on it.

Good proposal though, definitely worthy for discussion.

[–] Kalcifer 3 points 2 weeks ago

[…] It seems fairly likely that we will get a lot of junk data mixed in with the real data, making its usefulness questionable. […]

I am by no means an expert on the subject, but I presume that there are methods that can be employed to filter out bad-faith respondents.

[–] threelonmusketeers 6 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

I can see how users would be uncomfortable with the idea, but as long as it were voluntary and anonymous, I don't see the harm. I remember enjoying looking through the Lemmy.ca stats which Otter compiled.

[–] southsamurai 5 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Nah, that idea can bugger right off.

Lemmy doesn't need a "corpus of data". Researchers can either request that people contribute, or they can bugger right off and scrape like anyone else.

Admins don't need demographic data at all.

[–] Kalcifer 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

[…] Admins don’t need demographic data at all.

What makes you so certain of that?

[–] southsamurai 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Because it's lemmy, not some corporate bullshit.

They might want it, but they don't need it

[–] Kalcifer 3 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

[…] They might want it, but they don’t need it

For clarity, if admins do want (not necessarily need) the survey data, you would still oppose it? If so, why?

[–] southsamurai 2 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

They can fuck right off.

Why? Because they don't need to know shit about you, me, or the cookie monster as long as we follow the rules.

If I wanted some random stranger to know about me for their own purposes, I'd sign up for Facebook.

Even a voluntary survey is defeating the purpose of avoiding corporate forums. Why are they gathering the data? What are they going to do with it? How can we be assured they're destroying the data even if we are okay with their goal? Nah. It's a step in the wrong direction for lemmy as a whole.

[–] Kalcifer 3 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

[…] Even a voluntary survey is defeating the purpose of avoiding corporate forums. Why are they gathering the data? What are they going to do with it? How can we be assured they’re destroying the data even if we are okay with their goal? Nah. It’s a step in the wrong direction for lemmy as a whole.

I could certainly be misinterpreting, but your statement seems to imply that the census is intended to be non-anonymous and that it won't be publicly released. For clarity, I am proposing a census whose data is anonymously collected, and will be publicly released by the admins once completed. Although, from this statement:

How can we be assured they’re destroying the data even if we are okay with their goal? Nah. It’s a step in the wrong direction for lemmy as a whole.

Perhaps you don't trust that they'll release the data? If so, perhaps there would be a way to publicly host the data live as it comes in?

[–] Kalcifer 3 points 2 weeks ago

[…] Why? Because they don’t need to know shit about you, me, or the cookie monster as long as we follow the rules. […]

You specify that they "don't need to know". I was specifically proposing a hypothetical where they only had some level of desire for the data and not a need.

[–] UniversalMonk 0 points 1 week ago

Well said!

[–] sbv 5 points 2 weeks ago

The lemmy.ca survey was fun to see. It was interesting to see how our age/jobs/etc skew.