I want salons, not silos (repost)

Note: this is a post from about a month ago on my “old” blog. Reposting here with some updates at the end due to feedback I had received on the post originally.

I'm starting to understand the feelings of my online friends and acquaintances who are coming to grips with the fact that they're disillusioned by what the Internet is today. Dare I call it the "social web"? Maybe that's a better phrase as my own disillusionment stems from the social platforms out there and more importantly the majority of people who seem to use them.

I keep hoping something will be different and I'm constantly disappointed. That is my fault. My expectations aren't being met but they are mine and nobody need be held to my standards. The thing is my standards really aren't that high. What I want is that the intelligent, rational people who gather on the various social platforms act like intelligent, rational people. It is possible to set aside your biases for a moment and listen to others, even those you might not agree with on everything (or anything). We should be able to discuss ideas. I want salons, not silos.

Unfortunately we have smart people building more and more silos. Nobody wants to discuss, they want to yell at each other. Politics (especially US politics) has invaded almost everything. To be fair I've found some nice artists and photographers sharing their work but that is mostly one way communication. Sports talk can be pretty decent as well if you can find someone who knows how to label/tag their posts properly. But the rest? Good luck.

Update

When I originally posted this back in April the reaction to it was about what I expected. There were those who agreed and some who did not.

One of the misunderstandings was the interpretation of my use of the word “salon” to somehow mean “polite discussion with our pinkies in the air”. I used the words “salon” and “silo” to mean discussion vs. yelling which I thought was obvious. I never said anything about polite discussion. People can have good discussions that get heated. It doesn’t mean we then have to label each other with some of the worst slurs possible because we don’t agree on something and no, I don’t think yelling/shaming/name calling is required. I have never seen it change someone’s mind. Ever. It certainly might make you feel better but it’s not going to change anything.

Another misunderstanding, though totally my fault since I wasn’t specific, was that I was mostly talking about X and Bluesky. That said, Mastodon isn’t any different. They’re all silos. They also aren’t made for real discussion. They are great for pile-ons though.

Lastly, it was a bit amusing that there was an apparent inability to understand that when I said:

It is possible to set aside your biases for a moment and listen to others, even those you might not agree with on everything (or anything).

I wasn’t saying set aside your bias and listen to a white nationalist/transphobe/whatever. Y’all know I didn’t mean that.