I agree. A group of actual (traditional) friends is not the same thing as a bunch of online people that have something in common. For a group of real life friends, online conversations are often/best handled in a chat-like experience. Here in Europe it's mostly WhatsApp.
There's also differences in what you expect from content. When one of my real friends share that they took their family to a zoo and had a great day, that's mildly interesting. I know these people.
When an online stranger (or digital only "friend") shares this same thing, I couldn't care less. I'm happy for them, and it's part of normal conversation, but it's not a very interesting type of information to read in large quantities every single day. There has to be some higher shared purpose, the more specific the better.
" There has to be some higher shared purpose, the more specific the better."
I have no idea if this is true but it's an interesting point that sounds right. I suppose the answer might come down to the individual purpose of group interaction.
I'll definitely give this some thought. Thanks for the input.
To me that has always been the promise of the internet: to connect with people on topics I'm passionate about as such a thing is highly constrained in the real world. It's a brand new capability, a super power.
The opposite is true for generic chitchat online. Instead of more powerful, it is less powerful compared to the real world equivalent. You don't gain anything.
There's also differences in what you expect from content. When one of my real friends share that they took their family to a zoo and had a great day, that's mildly interesting. I know these people.
When an online stranger (or digital only "friend") shares this same thing, I couldn't care less. I'm happy for them, and it's part of normal conversation, but it's not a very interesting type of information to read in large quantities every single day. There has to be some higher shared purpose, the more specific the better.