MeWe versus Pluspora: A Refugee Story

Now that the dust has settled and Google+ resides in the graveyard of Google products, I can take a moment to assess some differences between the two landing sites I've been lurking on, MeWe and Pluspora.

I'll be honest with you, at first, I hated MeWe. Politics aside, I hated the eye-candy aspect of it. As a site, it seemed to really focus on looking good, and that just rubbed me the wrong way. Pluspora, on the other hand, was ugly. The layout was clunky. It lacked the ability to edit posts. With some tweaks to the style sheets, both sites became much easier to use. The multi-column layout is much better for me than the native format. It's still not possible to edit posts on Pluspora, but I can live with it.

Each site stands on its own in a different way. If I want to read scholarly material that will make me think, I can find it on Pluspora. Pluspora contributors write their own well-researched pieces as well as links to quality material found elsewhere. MeWe contributors appear to only post lighter fare. Pluspora is a hearty stew. MeWe is a flaky pastry. On neither platform have I found the back-and-forth conversation in the discussion threads that used to happen with great frequency on G+. People don't seem to know how open they should be on these other platforms. Can they be themselves or should they only be a version of themselves? At the same time, I can't help but think there's a lot of sidebar conversation going on, out of the mainstream, that we're all missing out on. In the end, it's left me feeling constrained. I share interesting links with my wife, instead of sharing them to the public on other platforms. I have interesting conversations with my wife, instead of having them with you, my readers and friends. I'm feeling a lot less social.