I think the popularity of goobster's post goes to show that the pressure to be as "thoughtful" as possible is pretty high, and that pressure can be surprisingly intimidating. It was actually a deterrent to my participation when I first started lurking around here... and I'm sure I'm not the only person who has felt that way on Hubski.

Being able to discuss conflicting viewpoints is what keeps this place interesting, which means the occasional tactless exchange is inevitable. That's not a problem, but being able to approach a sensitive conversation at a different pace can be helpful for someone less familiar with each user's idiosyncrasies. It was nice to have a period during which I could edit my comment or reconsider my perspective without being immediately bludgeoned back into silence by someone like kleinbl00 (obviously, nothing against you, kleinbl00 - your contributions keep things lively, but yours is definitely not a style of discourse I was in a hurry to engage with).

The experiment may not have had any positive impact for the Old Guard, but they've had years to get comfortable with each other, and they can exchange jabs without issue. The delay in visibility actually encouraged me to participate more. It gave me the chance to find my bearings with a smaller subsection of the community, and now I feel comfortable expressing a thought without always feeling like I'm about to defend a dissertation. I might never have participated at all had mk skipped the experiment altogether.

I don't know if there are any other new users who found the same benefit, but I wouldn't mind having the delay as an option I could toggle for my own posts.