Does quality matter?

Does quality matter?

It seems like an easy question to answer, but in order to do so, it requires defining what is meant by the term quality. For instance, this photo shot out of the windscreen of my car with my phone this morning, is far from what would be considered a quality photo, yet it captures the moment I was looking to capture. And since there were no other options but the way I did it, is it quality enough?

This isn't a photography post though.

So, where is the quality in this post? For the most part, I see my "job" in life to facilitate thought and perhaps some discussion. I do wish that people would talk more in the comments sections with each other because I feel that builds a better community. But, I also appreciate that on Hive for at least this time, it is pretty cool that we can interact with the original writer directly, and continue the discussion from the article. As I figure, it is nearly impossible to build a sense of digital community without robust conversation, because it is pretty much only through this interaction that relationships can form.

A lot of the social platforms talk about community, but I also think it is interesting to note that the consumer is not often interacting consistently with the same people. It is more random stranger interaction based on a single post, and then interaction with a completely different set of strangers on the next. And for the most part, the more "famous" someone is, the less available they are to actually interact with the follower base. This isn't a community, as much as it is television. People can feel like they "know" the account they follow, but that account has no idea who they are.

It is one way.

It is hard to have a quality conversation if there is only one person talking, and that is what a lot of the social platforms encourage. It isn't about building lasting relationships, it is about people throwing their thoughts out into the digital space and looking for engagement, with no thought to longevity. An "influencer" with even only a few thousand followers doesn't know their audience, nor do they care, as long as they are getting attention for whatever they are spruiking.

spruik
verb
(transitive, Australia) To promote a thing or idea to another person.

How many knew the meaning of that word?

One thing I like about Hive (there are a few things) is that there really isn't too much random selling of crap and the discussion is more around the ideas of things, and for the most part, it is pretty civil. This is likely because the points "scored" on Hive have some real-world value attached to them, not just some emotional sense of feeling superior to others by trying to bash an individual down.

Quality conversation?

I don't know what people consider is important quality these days, but I watch people eat low-taste food for lunch and as long as their belly is full, they think it was good. Others will expect far more from the taste, but not care if they are a little hungry afterward. For me, I value good conversations and I would rather have a short discussion on something interesting with differing opinions, than a lot of smalltalk that never gets any deeper.