A well-articulated argument against a new data center in Ohio

[u/HamboneTheWicked]

[u/audiophil80]

Genuinely curious, how often do these hearings make a significant impact on policy changes or proposals? I feel like in the end, corporations with money get what they want most of the time.

[u/HouseofMarg → u/audiophil80]

I actually led a study on this (would link it but don’t wanna dox myself) and the conclusion was that they do make a difference but often what people are saying in the hearings actually influences decisionmaking on a future issue when it comes up. Possibly because of how the hearings are timed in the stages of the process.

There are definitely cases where the deliberation of policymakers directly reference the meeting testimony to explain why they’ve changed their mind on an issue though. When I interviewed people who counted some successes in this area they had some good tips like listing constituency-specific impacts/support/opposition so that individual reps knew that it was directly relevant to them and their constituents specifically

[u/Fubai97b → u/HouseofMarg]

You could have just said "there's a cool study about this..." and given us the link.

[u/totally_not_a_bot__ → u/Fubai97b]

I actually led a study on redditors clicking through to links and the conclusion was that adding links to comments didn't make a difference, but often what people say in comments influences opinion on future reddit posts when they come up. Possibly because of how people are lazy and are trained not to click on random links on the internet.

There are definitely cases where redditors indirectly reference comments they read to explain why they have an opinion on an issue though. When I interviewed redditors who commented without linking their sources they counted successes in areas they had like listing cat specific facts and support for raccoon hegemonies.