Conversations
A thought occurred to me last night as I had a brief conversation with Veronique on Bluesky last night. She posted a quick thought about a TV show, Archive 81:
twenty min into watching archive 81 and i’m properly hooked December 11, 2024 at 8:00 PM
My first thought was to reply and ask about the show - which I did - and we had a quick back-and-forth about it where she explained the brief premise. I said that sounded interesting, and then when I looked into it further I discovered it was a podcast - we both found that interesting!
Then my thoughts drifted to the idea that I could have just read her post and looked up the information myself, and not said anything. But doesn't that sound like such a weird thing? What if we were in person? Presumably we'd be having a conversation already, she wouldn't just come up to me and say "hey I'm enjoying this show called Archive 81." In reality I would further inquire, as I did, and we'd talk about it some more.
But here's a bizarre scenario: what if, instead of continuing the conversation, I simply pulled out my phone and looked up the information? The conversation would die, and she'd be left standing there awkwardly as I tap out Archive ... 81...search... - if I didn't already just walk away and do something else. That's what I feel it would be like if I had simply read her post, and looked up the show on my own.
That's one reason I like Mastodon - people engage in conversation. I've said it before, places like X, Threads, Bluesky - it's like shouting into the void. Sometimes people will respond (and it's more often that they will, on Bluesky) but other times it's just this weird place where you're posting a note on a bulletin board hoping someone will read it. Maybe you leave your phone number or email on a tearaway strip at the bottom of the page and somebody replies.
I don't have a larger point to make about this, it's just a thought that occurred to me.
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