Let's Agree to Disagree

In the social media sphere in which I travel, I have noticed that many of the tweets and blog comments that I read are rousing duplicates of the previous tweet, or enthusiastic agreement with the blog post being commented upon.  Being more of a ‘lurker’ than a participant, I filed this observation away for future reference.  But, while lurking on Twitter today, I came across a tweet by Conversation Age that caught my attention, and having a hot cup of coffee with me, and nothing of urgency on my agenda, I clicked through to the blog post.

“Can we all stop agreeing with each other and have some arguments please?” echoed many of my earlier thoughts about the inbred nature of some social media!  Edward Boches, the author of the post, mentioned some of the blog biggies that he follows.  Comments beginning with ‘Great Post’, ‘I couldn’t agree more’ and variations on this theme are the norm for these folks.  No real debate, no disagreement, no stimulating conversation. Just follow along and go with the current opinion.

If all your friends jumped off a cliff. . .

Since my coffee was still hot, I clicked through to another post by Seth Simonds with the fascinating title “Twit-R-Done! You Know You Are a Social Media Hillbilly When…” and laughed out loud!  I am not a hillbilly, I am a lurker, I have already confessed to that.  But what he said in his second point about keeping things all in the family and not letting grungy new ideas in to spoil things is so spot on!

In life, as in social media, we have the tendency to surround ourselves with people who think like us, look like us and act like us. That’s why there are anti-discrimination laws. Perhaps we need anti-discrimination laws in social media as well.  For every x number of Tweeple you follow that you agree with, you must follow someone with whom you do not.  For every x positive comments you make on blogs, you must make one insightful, yet oppositional comment and follow through with the resulting discussion.

Okay, I know that the internet is a free area and there will be no legislation for anti-discrimination, but come on people, lets agree to disagree once in a while and get into a lively, friendly, brain stimulating debate! We all have something to offer and something to learn.  Whadda ya think?

photo credit: jatakuck, www.sxc.hu

Regina

Regina Sillitti is Project Coordinator for Dinkum Interactive. She has worked in programming, design, business analysis and quality assurance. Her background in design and data processing give her a unique perspective on client - tech translation. You can reach her at regina@dinkuminteractive.com, or find her on Twitter, @ReginaSillitti.