Someone I admire recommended Post.news a couple of months ago, so I joined. I deleted three Twitter accounts in 2020, and have been 100% fine with that decision. Like, Julie Andrews the-hills-are-alive-level fine. But the promise of a platform focused on actual discourse for (mostly) serious adults was too powerful to ignore.
Quality of posts, as always, is up to users. So there are people who post their daily Wordle scores (ugh). There are people who post a lot of cat pics (better). Some people post original content (best). Some post censored stories (interesting and a service to the public).
I haven’t quite got the hang of the site yet, but one thing’s obvious: Team Red vs. Team Blue nonsense is getting plenty of play on what should be a tabula rasa. Lots of users just carried their Twitter-optimized behavior onto Post, spinning the news of the day into We vs. They. This turns half the electorate—voters, not elected officials—into the enemy. OTHER TEAM BAD can whip up a base, but it’s fundamentally about preaching to the choir. It changes zero minds, and reinforces the two-party doom loop.
So what does “civility” mean in this context? Is it just a civility of manners / not crossing lines with profanity? Is civility of morals part of the equation at all?
Of possible interest: The Way Forward Isn’t Through the “Center”
The 2 party doom loop. Hahaha! So true. For the most part, I stay off Twitter and do the loathsome IG/FB. I don't loathsome them right now. I'm not getting into unproductive bickering, mostly just entertaining and getting the best of up-to-dates from the people I "friend" and their spins on themselves and the 🌎. I do follow a lot of animals, their my favorites 😍