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I'm mostly addressing the last half of your comment. I agree that polarization is very bad (about trolls vs. yes men in comments). It prevents real discussion.

I'm mostly addressing the last half of your comment. I agree that polarization is very bad (about trolls vs. yes men in comments). It prevents real discussion. Perhaps, but consider the following, which will be a reason to encourage off-topic conversations. You have multiple 'similar-interest groups' that you belong to that are orthogonal - my work buddies have different religious views and my fellow congregational members have different occupations than I. IIRC, Facebook edits what they show you in the feed based on what you click a lot - so what you are provided with tends to be what you agree with. And other non-interactive material make it harder to have conversation. Lastly, I think things done online usually happen in the context of an online community that tends to anchor the conversation there - not necessarily bad, but potentially if the conversation/community is homogenous. Really the solution is to try and talk about things we disagree about - and with children, it probably happens rarely unless we consciously try to do so.

Nadya 11y ago
>IIRC, Facebook edits what they show you in the feed based on what you click a lot - so what you are provided with tends to be what you agree with. And other non-interactive material make it harder to have conversation. Lastly, I think things done online usually happen in the context of an online community that tends to anchor the conversation there - not necessarily bad, but potentially if the conversation/community is homogenous. This depends entirely on what sort of sites you visit. I agree that sites like FB and Twitter that do that are harmful and promote homogeneity. >Perhaps, but consider the following, which will be a reason to encourage off-topic conversations. You have multiple 'similar-interest groups' that you belong to that are orthogonal - my work buddies have different religious views and my fellow congregational members have different occupations than I. My friend from Australia whom I play video games with is studying to become a geophysicists. While a lot of what he learns is a bit over my head, I enjoy discussing what he is learning with him to the best of my ability. I'd consider that orthogonal. Just like you can ask your congregational members about their occupations - you can ask your online friends about theirs as well! Perhaps its a part of "internet etiquette" that people don't go off-topic as often as they might offline? I don't deny that the internet might promote homogeneous communities more-so than offline, but by no means is it a limit or barrier that cannot be passed once someone becomes aware of it and desires to change the behavior.

Nadya 11y ago

>IIRC, Facebook edits what they show you in the feed based on what you click a lot - so what you are provided with tends to be what you agree with. And other non-interactive material make it harder to have conversation. Lastly, I think things done online usually happen in the context of an online community that tends to anchor the conversation there - not necessarily bad, but potentially if the conversation/community is homogenous. This depends entirely on what sort of sites you visit. I agree that sites like FB and Twitter that do that are harmful and promote homogeneity. >Perhaps, but consider the following, which will be a reason to encourage off-topic conversations. You have multiple 'similar-interest groups' that you belong to that are orthogonal - my work buddies have different religious views and my fellow congregational members have different occupations than I. My friend from Australia whom I play video games with is studying to become a geophysicists. While a lot of what he learns is a bit over my head, I enjoy discussing what he is learning with him to the best of my ability. I'd consider that orthogonal. Just like you can ask your congregational members about their occupations - you can ask your online friends about theirs as well! Perhaps its a part of "internet etiquette" that people don't go off-topic as often as they might offline? I don't deny that the internet might promote homogeneous communities more-so than offline, but by no means is it a limit or barrier that cannot be passed once someone becomes aware of it and desires to change the behavior.