At the bottom of the LessWrong post editor, if you have at least 100 global karma, you may have noticed this button.

Many people click the button, and are jumpscared when it starts an Intercom chat with a professional editor (me), asking what sort of feedback they'd like.

So, that's what it does. It's a summon Justis button.

Why summon Justis?

To get feedback on your post, of just about any sort. Typo fixes, grammar checks, sanity checks, clarity checks, fit for LessWrong, the works. If you use the LessWrong editor (as opposed to the Markdown editor) I can leave comments and suggestions directly inline. I also provide detailed narrative feedback (unless you explicitly don't want this) in the Intercom chat itself.

The feedback is totally without pressure. You can throw it all away, or just keep the bits you like. Or use it all!

In any case, I aim to provide feedback within about a day. So you won't have to wait long.

Why Justis in particular?

Here's my editing website, if you want some credentials. The shorter version is that I've been editing in this corner of the internet for about a decade, I have a penchant for giving detailed feedback (indeed, I once ran a literary review that also gave prompt and detailed feedback to every submission), and I'm numerate enough that I can follow and usefully engage with (most) technical submissions.

I think I'm a pretty good editor, too.

Am I doing it right?

Probably! At current margins, users worry too much about this. Most commonly:

How often can I request feedback?

There's no hard limit. We'll tell you if it's getting to be too much, but even if that does happen (in four years, it's happened exactly once), we'll just ask you to slow down.

Relatedly, it's totally normal to use the feature for an entire sequence, either as the posts are drafted or in a batch.

Can I use the feature for linkposts/crossposts?

Yep! As long as you also intend to post the finished product to LessWrong in some form, that's fine. If you have some specific reason not to crosspost, but some piece of writing is very obviously LessWrong relevant (e.g. it's an op ed or formal academic paper), you can also ask, and we'll decide whether to give feedback on a case by case basis.

What if I click the button by mistake?

Happens all the time. Just say so! I won't read your draft.

Should I credit you?

Up to you! If you don't, I won't mention that I provided feedback to that post. It makes me happy when people want to, but it's definitely not a requirement. Most people don't.

Couldn't I just use an LLM?

You could! In fact, I tend to run posts on my blog by multiple LLMs. But they're pretty bad at catching subtler inconsistencies, and their "rewording for clarity" suggestions often change your meaning, and (almost) always steer your prose toward their style. I think good human editors are still better, but I would think that!

Since the LessWrong service is free, if I were you I'd try both, and use whatever combination you end up preferring.

Why does Justis do this?

For money, and also for love of the game. The service is free to users, but subsidized by LessWrong. It is pretty fun to be a (contract) professional blog post critic. Believe in your dreams.

Also, while I have your attention, I'll be at LessOnline 2025. If you've enjoyed my feedback before, I hope to meet you there!