[EvilMonkeyMat]

Wow. Thanks for the way you put this out. This is exactly how I was feeling / what I was experiencing. So I went ahead, and installed my own MatterMost instance with friends.

What I realized recently is that Facebook is built in a way that makes it really hard to have a real conversation. People only share links and shout their opinions with no real place for exchange.

[spiritcat]

Turns out people don't always wan't their conversations shared with [ramifications of current privacy settings unknown, assumed to be everyone]

[EvilMonkeyMat]

I understand that. My Facebook profile is mostly empty to an outsider, and even to many of my so-called friends. Hehe!

I said that because the more I think about it, the more I find social media platforms don't really help me stay in touch with anyone. I mean, yeah, I can see they got a third kid or that hunting season was great this year, but nothing near a real conversation around a coffee or a beer.

That's why I started using MatterMost ,an open source Slack clone, or like I tell my less tech-savvy friends: IRC on steroids. (IRC was the go to choice when we were teens)

[crankylinuxuser]

That's why I personally like Twitter.

1. There is no private (there is, but ignore that)

2. Choose a topic to post about. Further that and none else.

3. Post topical discussions only.

4. Don't involve yourself in screeds. There will be a sentence that is taken out of context.

Doing these creates a really cool group over $thing. And that positive attraction pulls more in :)

This is the good side of social media: connecting people with similar interests from around the world.

[EvilMonkeyMat]

I experienced the same with Google+ and D&D over the past years... But they're closing now. :-p