I said that because the more I think about it, the more I find social media platforms don't really help me stay in touch with anyone. I mean, yeah, I can see they got a third kid or that hunting season was great this year, but nothing near a real conversation around a coffee or a beer.

That's why I started using MatterMost ,an open source Slack clone, or like I tell my less tech-savvy friends: IRC on steroids. (IRC was the go to choice when we were teens)

1. There is no private (there is, but ignore that)

2. Choose a topic to post about. Further that and none else.

3. Post topical discussions only.

4. Don't involve yourself in screeds. There will be a sentence that is taken out of context.

Doing these creates a really cool group over $thing. And that positive attraction pulls more in :)

This is the good side of social media: connecting people with similar interests from around the world.