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@annie sorry if this is being pedantic but you could have just said,

(REWARD - COST) - (VALUE - PAIN) > 0 for action to occur

In plain English,

action will occur when the net benefit of change (Reward minus Cost) exceeds the net benefit of staying (Current Value minus Pain)

@alxtrnr hey mate, I'm normally not in the business of jumping into an unrelated pedantic comment... But given the context of the piece (not being pedantic), the fact that you clearly read at some decent depth, and I assume commented with good intentions (you seem like a nice fellow from your profile) I'm not sure what you're trying to achieve by commenting on rearranging the "formula".

So there’s a formula (don’t @ me, I’m not a mathematician) that’s something like:

If VALUE - PAIN > REWARD - COST

She said both those things (emphasis mine) and communicated them very clearly "in plain English" already. Your comment neither added clarity nor invited further discussion. I'm sure this wasn't your intent but your comment comes off as mansplaining (to me, not speaking for anyone else). I would have loved to hear what you thought about the piece, any personal experience of how your conversations have gone, what other things might help people join and have a good experience, etc.

I'm not @'ing you to start an argument but genuinely providing external perspective so our little corner of the world is welcoming to everyone sharing their thoughts.

My intent is to be direct but kind, please let me know if I could do that better.

@annie

@shom @annie No upset intended. Irony / satire was the aim. It's a thin line. Lesson learned.

@alxtrnr cheers, no upset taken!
Have you had good experiences with bringing others onboard? Any analogies you find work particularly well?

I have had limited success in saying "it's just like email, you don't all have to have gmail addresses" but it falls short by leaving doubt you have to contact people individually or send a group email (honestly posting to followers only is a BCC group email, no dreaded reply all ).

@annie

@shom @annie None at all but that would be down to never once having tried. Closest was having friends and family start using Signal and ProtonMail.

I just spoke about wanting to stay in touch, and explained why I would not use Google or anything Zuckerberg was involved in to do so. I did not try to convert anyone.

@alxtrnr yeah, I've got 95% of my regular conversations on Signal. Friends and family have been accommodating and some buy in to the benefits.
@annie

@shom @annie Tongue firmly in cheek...

S = Social capital (friends, connections, content)
P = Privacy benefit
L = Learning curve cost
C = Convenience loss
F = Functionality difference

Basic Conditions Preventing Switch

S > P (Social value exceeds privacy gains)
L + C > P (Transition costs exceed benefits)
F < 0 (Loss of functionality)

Combined Decision Formula
Let M = Decision to migrate platforms
where M = 1 means "switch platforms" and M = 0 means "stay"

@annie @shom@gts.shom.dev @shom@fosstodon.org Woo yay! Drinks all round.

@alxtrnr @annie cheers to all. Thank you for taking my comment in the spirit intended. Unfortunately there are a lot of commenters that are reply-guying/sea-lioning/what-abouting and I've taken to voicing instead of silent majoritying to make people feel more supported and welcome.
I promise I'm not devoid of humor, please see my receipts of internationally verbifying nouns while replying to an English major.

@alxtrnr @annie internationally intentionally

@alxtrnr @shom if there's one thing I've learned as an english major/reader/writer, it's that the people using the language get to decide how it works. Verbify those nouns, my friend.