Comment at the RSA: coming full Circle

The RSA’s editorial manager explains the logic for moving to a ‘Circle-first’ approach to comment articles authored by Fellows.

RSA Fellows come from a range of backgrounds, sectors and disciplines. They bring a wide variety of ideas and views that help to stimulate debate on critical issues across the UK and globally.

These views are shared by the RSA through the events that we run, plus the quarterly Journal and the Comment section of the website. Now, however, there is another option – Circle, the RSA’s new community platform, which provides opportunities for Fellows to chat, connect and collaborate.

Given this remit, Circle is the ideal place for Fellows to post Comment articles. Circle offers topicality through a range of benefits:

• faster sharing
• the potential for greater engagement with other Fellows
• the chance to testbed ideas
• the ability to run webinars and other collaborations on issues raised.

Circle provides access to an audience of high-calibre individuals who can engage and spread the word quickly. Launched earlier in 2023, Circle already has more than 2,000 members and is growing by 15% week-on-week.

Circle-first approach

Our plan, at least for the remainder of 2023, is for you to share your Comment articles on Circle first. We have created a Comment space on Circle, and are encouraging Fellows to post Comment pieces themselves, with support available from the Fellowship team where needed.

A selection of Comment pieces from Circle – typically the pieces that have gathered the most interaction and engagement from Fellows – will be published on the RSA website and will be given more active marketing, including social media support and inclusion in the weekly Fellows’ newsletter.

The definition of what constitutes a Comment article remains the same. Our Comment submission guidelines elaborate on this further. The most successful Comments tend to have a clear, strong, central argument developed without jargon and with tangible examples where possible. You should avoid promoting a particular organisation or product, but we encourage you to include other links.

If you would like feedback on your article or help with editing, simply email RSA Comment or send it directly to me; mike.thatcher@rsa.org.uk. Otherwise, upload it onto the Circle space, and I will help spread the message across Circle and moderate any responses.

Coming full Circle

We have launched the Comment space on Circle with an initial batch of articles and are keen for Fellows to engage with the ideas put forward – to like and to comment, and to upload articles in response.

The first batch of articles covers a diverse range of topics including a ten-point plan to improve policing in the UK; how to promote ‘healthier’ AI narratives; using a scoring system to select the best public policy; and whether our systems for structuring time are still fit for purpose.

To find out more about Circle, how to join and how to post articles, take a look at the Circle FAQs. If you need further support on using Circle, please contact me or the Fellowship team at fellowship@rsa.org.uk and we can help.