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>The thing that holds me to Facebook is that it's become the town square Yep, but most social platforms are not really tuned to being a town square, and instea

by jadbox 7y ago

>The thing that holds me to Facebook is that it's become the town square Yep, but most social platforms are not really tuned to being a town square, and instead are optimized for feeds and stirring emotions. They often rewarding behavior that's counterproductive to finding common ground. We need platforms like DinnerTable.chat [1] that is built around the idea of bringing people together across the spectrum and localities. DTC is an open community-driven live discussion platform that matches you one-on-one with others to playfully challenge perspectives, while unlocking achievements. It's been my passion project for the last two years, and since beta, we've been growing steadily. [1] https://dinnertable.chat/about https://dinnertable.chat/about

CodeCube 7y ago
I'm not disagreeing with you (I've never used this service you linked) ... but what becomes "the town square" has nothing to do with how optimized or tuned it is for that purpose. People are gonna do what people are gonna do, and if you want to be involved with certain people, you gotta go where they are.
- jadbox 7y ago
  Thanks, we're in the process of connecting directly with different communities. There's a few towns in California that we're working with to bring local civil debate topics to the platform. It's actually been a common topic of feedback for many of these towns that it's hard for people to discuss policies in a physical location because of time constraints, as well as traveling across town during after work rush hour traffic. Facebook groups/pages are often used for local community discussion, but they are not in practice 'town halls' where people talk about policies and are able to work through differences of opinion. There's a lot of research out there now that shows that Facebook and Twitter have had very little success in fostering cross-viewpoint discussions, mostly due to the platform mechanics.
spurmboy 7y ago
I say this with respect and for your benefit: this is the most cringe inducing product description I’ve ever read.
- jadbox 7y ago
  Ah, thanks for that feedback. Would you like to try your hand of writing a better summary here? It would be appreciated, as it's hard to improve from just a single word criticism (cringe).
  - misterprime 7y ago
    I'm suspicious that for the cringe might result from the suggestion that alternative points of view might have value.
  - subpixel 7y ago
    "Product abc.xyz is like Facebook, without the suck."
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
    - BioMeditate 7y ago
      "A cure for the common platform"
- misterprime 7y ago
  Can you elaborate on the source of the cringe? I went to read it based on your description, hoping for a dose of cringe. In the end, I did not detect it. To me it seemed like a decent introduction to a tool designed to help get people take a look outside of their bubbles.
  - jolmg 7y ago
    I think it's from > to playfully challenge perspectives, while unlocking achievements Who's looking to "playfully challenge perspectives"? and "[unlock] achievements"? Discussions aren't generally a game, but this seems to pitch it that way. I don't know about you guys, but I think more often than not, discussions are a generally stressful thing that people do because they must. The description might benefit in changing to a somewhat more serious tone. Also, talking of "unlocking achievements" gives the project a manipulative kind of feel. The description states what it offers to people, and in that is the mention of being able to obtain fake internet points in the form of achievements. Is fake internet points supposed to motivate one to join the project? Anyway, I'm just trying to expand on what's probably cringey. It's still good work.
basch 7y ago
that doesnt appear to serve the same function. when I think of a local facebook group for a neighborhood its a bunch of people helping each other or complaining. stuff like "we're those gunshots, road xxx is closed so is taco bell, my cat is missing, hey this event is happening this weekend, im having trouble making rent this month." it works, because everyone is on it. network effect + a lack of baked in structure.
OneFamousGrouse 7y ago
If you ever market your product in France, don't use that acronym.
- jadbox 7y ago
  Explain please?

by jadbox 7y ago

CodeCube 7y ago

I'm not disagreeing with you (I've never used this service you linked) ... but what becomes "the town square" has nothing to do with how optimized or tuned it is for that purpose. People are gonna do what people are gonna do, and if you want to be involved with certain people, you gotta go where they are.

jadbox 7y ago
Thanks, we're in the process of connecting directly with different communities. There's a few towns in California that we're working with to bring local civil debate topics to the platform. It's actually been a common topic of feedback for many of these towns that it's hard for people to discuss policies in a physical location because of time constraints, as well as traveling across town during after work rush hour traffic. Facebook groups/pages are often used for local community discussion, but they are not in practice 'town halls' where people talk about policies and are able to work through differences of opinion. There's a lot of research out there now that shows that Facebook and Twitter have had very little success in fostering cross-viewpoint discussions, mostly due to the platform mechanics.

spurmboy 7y ago

I say this with respect and for your benefit: this is the most cringe inducing product description I’ve ever read.

jadbox 7y ago
Ah, thanks for that feedback. Would you like to try your hand of writing a better summary here? It would be appreciated, as it's hard to improve from just a single word criticism (cringe).
- misterprime 7y ago
  I'm suspicious that for the cringe might result from the suggestion that alternative points of view might have value.
- subpixel 7y ago
  "Product abc.xyz is like Facebook, without the suck."
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  - BioMeditate 7y ago
    "A cure for the common platform"
misterprime 7y ago
Can you elaborate on the source of the cringe? I went to read it based on your description, hoping for a dose of cringe. In the end, I did not detect it. To me it seemed like a decent introduction to a tool designed to help get people take a look outside of their bubbles.
- jolmg 7y ago
  I think it's from > to playfully challenge perspectives, while unlocking achievements Who's looking to "playfully challenge perspectives"? and "[unlock] achievements"? Discussions aren't generally a game, but this seems to pitch it that way. I don't know about you guys, but I think more often than not, discussions are a generally stressful thing that people do because they must. The description might benefit in changing to a somewhat more serious tone. Also, talking of "unlocking achievements" gives the project a manipulative kind of feel. The description states what it offers to people, and in that is the mention of being able to obtain fake internet points in the form of achievements. Is fake internet points supposed to motivate one to join the project? Anyway, I'm just trying to expand on what's probably cringey. It's still good work.

basch 7y ago

that doesnt appear to serve the same function. when I think of a local facebook group for a neighborhood its a bunch of people helping each other or complaining. stuff like "we're those gunshots, road xxx is closed so is taco bell, my cat is missing, hey this event is happening this weekend, im having trouble making rent this month." it works, because everyone is on it. network effect + a lack of baked in structure.

OneFamousGrouse 7y ago

If you ever market your product in France, don't use that acronym.

jadbox 7y ago
Explain please?