Actually, Medium has achieved some of the kind of social network that is mentioned at the end: one that is thoughtful and where people are generally respectful; one that is not based on sound bites, but on articles that lay out an entire cohesive set of ideas.

All the sound-bite exchange of ideas that one finds prevalent in most social media is worthless. It is no better than grunts from troglodytes.

What we need is full length articles, and respectful discussion. The forces that work against this are the struggling hyper-competitive media, which wants to have as many followers as possible, and the path to that is through stirring up emotion — not respectful discourse.

The best we can do is boycott media that is sound bite oriented; and be willing to pay for quality social media. (I am a Medium paying subscriber: I recommend you become one as well — support quality platforms.)