I am a bit of a social animal and for interest sake, I like to float from group to group and across many discussion. Overall, I find it enriching but, there are downsides to it also. In this world, people like to judge a lot and one easy way to judge people is to have a look at who they are surrounded by and my circles have been diverse to say the least.
This happens at Steemit too as I like to travel around and talk with a range of people here, read what they have to say, comment, quote and have some discussions if possible. For me, it is part of the beauty of the platform and one that might be somewhat lost when communities add some barriers between.
The thing here is though that there it is a very large place and even though it has only been two years, there is a a lot of history among some users. Some of it I know about, some of it I have an idea about, some of it I have absolutely no clue, including if there is drama history at all.
For the most part, I am pretty much drama free here and in the real world and I think this is because I am generally transparent in my behaviours and words. Even though I am critical of situations at times, I think overall, I am pretty charitable in my views nd willing to listen to those of others.
But, I wonder how much 'association' affect can have here. Of course, there is the glory by association factor where everyone seems to try to 'rub shoulders' with accounts with more status than their own but, what about the reverse? Death by association is being socially condemned for the company one keeps and if the company I keep has people who have past history, how do they judge my position?
I actually don't worry too much about this as no matter their own history together, I think that most are mature enough to not condemn but, it must have an effect at some level as some of the conflicts over the last 24 months of Steemit have created quite a lot of animosity at times.
In the real world, it is somewhat easier to keep 'parties in conflict' separated but at Steemit, the relationships are public. If one sees me supporting the other in some capacity or being supported by the other, does this effect their own thinking and willingness to support? It is hard for me to be objective here for the most part as I myself judge the content on the content for the most part, not by who else has supported it.
Yet, I do have a feed that gets affected by my follower list and I wonder if I judge some contents worth depending on who shared it, rather than the content itself. Impartiality is very difficult in this area as even if I think I am not manipulated, it doesn't mean that I am not.
Again, this doesn't matter too much to me in my experience overall but in a world of judgement it is good to spend some time thinking about these things. Well, for the sake of thinking about things it is good to think about all kinds of things.
When it comes to the conversations I have had and the people I have had them with in my life I have been fortunate to have a pretty eclectic and colourful range. It has been extremely interesting over the years and I am grateful to all as I think it has meant that I have been able to explore ideas I never likely would have otherwise.
Out of curiosity, how diverse have your conversations been?
Taraz
[ a Steemit original ]