Wise Readers,
THANK YOU!
Thanks again for all your feedback, and for helping Love Science to grow. Because you have shared your time, talent, intellect, interest, and have forwarded these posts on and on—Love Science remains the top-ranked blog out of nearly 10,000 carried at Amazon.com.
And it’s now read in not only the USA—but many states in India, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Finland, South Africa, England, and Germany (and those are just some of the ones I know of because of people who’ve written in to tell me so.)
Many thanks to those of you who told me via anonymous survey responses what *you* want more of at Love Science. In addition to letting me know your preferences, some of you had questions about the site and how it works.
Here you’ll find your responses, my answers, and my gratitude to you:
1. For the Wise Readers who haven’t submitted a question—why haven’t they?
Although many survey respondents had written questions before (to Duana@LoveScienceMedia.com)—and a few wrote excellent questions within the survey itself for future columns –about 10% haven’t emailed or commented because they don’t want their email information being tracked.
I’d like to allay any concerns about that. I don’t keep anyone’s email on file, share anyone’s email address, nor track anyone in any way other than via anonymous survey.
The site itself does not track back to people’s emails, either, unless you want to provide that information—so if you leave a comment, you can do so anonymously. Just put a pseudonym in for the name section, leave the url/email section blank, and ask your question.
If you want to ask a question privately and still don’t want to use your real email, it’s easy to set up an email at yahoo or google, and to use a fake name as well.
Whatever address you use in private correspondence with me, though—and whatever name you give in that private email—that information will *never* appear on-site.
All letters used for articles at LS are edited and fake names are used, so that you can write freely and know your cover won’t be blown!
—A few other Wise Readers haven’t written a question because they’re unsure whether their question would be acceptable or okay for the site.
For instance, some wondered if gay/lesbian questions are okay (Yes. LS is for *everyone* who is over age 18, regardless of politics, religion, orientation, gender, sex, etc.).
Others were concerned they might ask a question that science hasn’t addressed—or a question that might be too religious or political.
The answer for this is to please write and ask your question, even if you’re not sure it qualifies. I will write you back privately in any case, whether or not your question is used for the site. And I will take your question seriously.
2. What are the rules for posting a comment on-site?
Although this was not a question in the survey, it’s one that’s been arising of late. The culture of interaction at Love Science from the start has intentionally been one of mutual respect, friendliness, curiosity and fun.
Most are following the guidelines, but they bear repeating:
Per the site FAQ, ““One of the major, repeated research findings about long-term love is that respect is the single most important factor in whether relationships last happily or die an ugly death. For that reason, it’s important to practice respect in all human interactions,” says Duana. “Readers can disagree with me or with those leaving comments, but the disagreements need to be expressed respectfully. Obviously, this rules out hate speech, swearing, and bullying.”
I and 99.9% of the Reader Contributors to our site endeavor to Be Respectful—and their input is valued.
Posters who publish snarky, disrespectful, condescending or generally nasty (in tone if not content) comments will find these comments deleted. Depending on the frequency and nature of the offence, they may find that their comments are barred permanently.
3. What specific topics do Love Science readers want more articles about?
Among the printed choices (dating, commitment, marriage, parenting/teaching sexuality, evolutionary psychology, and Whatever Duana Thinks Is Interesting)—none garnered less than 40% Reader support. The top choice was Whatever Duana Thinks Is Interesting, with 70% voting for that option. Readers also anonymously suggested several fascinating topics that will be covered in future articles, thanks to them.
4. Are there new types of entries Wise Readers would like to see (or see more of) at Love Science?
Although respondents said they like the site as-is, the most-suggested changes were these:
—Have an occasional article that is just Duana’s opinion
—Don’t have an occasional article that is just Duana’s opinion
Response:
LOL! If only intelligence, education or personal experience made a person Right…then there’d be no need for Love Science. The myriad opinion-only columns would handily suit our needs (and my job would be much easier, because I could do it without any call to go beyond my own thoughts).
But a huge part of my motivation in launching Love Science was to save others from avoidable mistakes that I may or may not have avoided. (And no, there won’t be an article on that.)
So…I will stick to the science-based answer format, although when I (rarely!) say something that’s Just My Opinion, I’ll continue to warn you that that’s what I’m doing.
Other suggested changes:
—Do more surveys/ask the readers more questions
—Sometimes, publish just one of the comments and answers as its very own spin-off article, rather than publishing the entire Q&A together
—Publish more about the different mating psychologies of men versus women
—Pick stuff out of the news, and respond to it from a science-based viewpoint
—Interview social scientists sometimes, and turn the interview into an article
Response:
This is all great input. I’ll follow your advice to continue publishing reader surveys, as well as articles on The Differences between men’s and women’s mating mentality.
And I LOVE the interview idea and the idea to respond to what’s hot in the media. (Thank you, Many Wise Readers who send me links to media pieces and ask for my take, and offer theirs. Keep it up!)
Regarding the Q&A’s, this is still a format I’m tweaking. Per your feedback, I will sometimes pick an especially good Q&A question and turn it into its own article—although it won’t replace the Q&A. Additionally, I’ve stopped publishing 100% of the comments from any given column in the Q&A. Now, only the comments most topic-relevant are published, in the order that creates the most cohesive article—although all respectful comments are appreciated and 100% remain published on-site beneath the relevant article.
5. How many Love Science readers are men—how many are women?
Every survey taken at Love Science so far indicates that between 30-40% of the respondents are male, and 60 to 70% are female; it is possible that an even greater percentage of Readers are men who *read* but don’t respond. This makes Love Science uncommon in its appeal to both sexes.
Why? I’ve never asked…but am curious as to your answers. ???
6. What are the ages of LS readers?
Survey respondents are reliably between the ages of 18 and 65, with the greatest number of respondents (about 60%) aged 36-45 years.
Thank you again for your input and interest in Love Science. Please continue the momentum so that *Research-based* relationship advice continues to become available for *everyone*.
Cheers,
Duana
The author wishes to thank Love Science Readers for contributing to this article.
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All material copyrighted by Duana C. Welch, Ph.D. and Love Science Media, 2010
Do you have a question for Duana? Contact her at Duana@LoveScienceMedia.com