Can the Internet and Social Media Become Like 18th Century French Salons?

I believe it already is, but only in private groups where ignorant people are excluded.

The Future of Online Civil Discourse

Quite possible. But we have had a solemn reminder with the pandemic that none of us know our future. That is in the hands of our Creator.

The Tension Between Civility and Frankness

The same way that challenge and comfort cannot coexist, neither can frankness and civility. And today, we prize frankness even to the point of meanness above all, relegating civility to at best a quaint anachronism.

Shifts in Online Discourse

We had that until the late 90s. Then, too many students started chatting shit about various social science issues, becoming very militant about recycled 1970s talking points, regardless of how much their daddy paid to get them into college. Coupled with conservatives creating a weird blend of intersectional feminism, post-modernism, and neo-Marxism, arguing that the straight white male is the problem and presenting it as a woke movement the left gobbled up eagerly.

I carry the burden of original sin as a straight and white male. So, if we look to romanticize 1700s French salon culture, it was focused on civility, politeness, and honesty. But to modern minds, it was either an extension of Royal Court culture up until the French Revolution or an extension of egalitarian coffee house culture across Europe.

Dublin once had a similar salon culture, perhaps especially after 1848, taking the baton from Paris like in a relay race. This was emphatically part of the Irish Republican and Gaelic cultural preservation movement, where writers, poets, and Fenian rebels could discuss the world's ideas and problems.

The Present Climate of Online Discourse

We are now facing a time of pushback. In 1997, the lunatics took over the asylum in the UK, much like they did in the US just a month ago. Any time the loony left forms a Western government, two things happen: one, brown people in other countries get attacked; two, taxes go up for the middle classes, not the super-rich. For all of the moronic Trumpists, we are now in a world full of independents who were not Trump fans but were horrified by the intellectual dishonesty of the left as much as the right.

Platforms for Civil Dialogue

We need the right platforms this time. Bitchute is full of amazing content but gets maybe two hundred views for a really thoughtful, well-researched video. Fuck that. Kialo is too clever for its own good, takes a while to navigate, and join a debate. Medium is full of opinionated wankers venting unresearched nonsense, much like Quora but seemingly with even less moderation. Reddit is exhausting to follow all the threads. Tumblr is still full of hairy lesbians reblogging Shibari porn, Studio Ghibli GIFs, and links to Guardian articles with long rants attached. Twitter is a place to discuss what was on telly last night; it's not a place for intelligent discussion.

Find me the right platform, and shoot me an invite. Jordan Peterson's ThinkSpot has potential. I just don't see enough people on it.