It's a pipe dream I know, but on the surface social media could be really cool.
I prefer random comments without ranking, because it gives you a more truthful view of public sentiment. The force that aggressively filters comments is the same force that takes away the dislike button. It is all about controlling public opinion. Everything is good all of the time, and everyone is in a controlled demographic where they are insulated from new ideas that might make them difficult to advertise to.
Yeah, it's called the real world. We have millions if not billions of years of experience in dealing with in-person differences, tentative contacts with members of neighbouring tribes and smoothing out conflicts. One will find the risk of getting smacked over the face for being an absolute idiot to be a very effective motivator to remain on our best behaviour with strangers.
On the internet these days, you can only choose between an echo chamber, or all-out culture war.
Doubtful that it would be an improvement.
I probably read more viewpoints I disagree with on Substack than anywhere else.
Granted, we had a huge Imgur user migration, so that's the current flavor of the content, but the OG userbase was aiming for a culture that is perfectly defined by "thoughtful positivity."