Thread by @krenarium

The last two discussions in #Albanian #spaces on twitter tackled two key topics, freedom of religion and same sex marriage. There's a lot to say about hours of discussion, but some observations are necessary to note, in this #thread:

1. The community is self-driven, self-managed and gently coordinated and moderated by a group of volunteers who are doing a great job in setting up light rules and enable a great discussion. Thanks @ShkodranHoti @Yllten @leartajvazaj but also @ShpendThaci96 @ArberAjeti et al.

2. The discussants include high profile contributors like @ShpendA and other active and former politicians, as well as people from public sphere and research community, with experts like @abithoxha et al, that are credible speakers of both knowledge and practice. The list is long

3. The Imam of Peja @Gunejs was a substantial contributor and a great discussant. I agreed with him quite a lot on the first topic and disagreed strongly on the second. Preaching aside, he gained my deep respect for his intellectual capacity to listen and converse. More to come.

4. There's a new generation of speakers that are simply brilliant. Well embedded in science and research, equipped with critical thinking, and, with an amazing variety of accents of the language and choices of discourse, people like @AndiHaxhiu1 @lirablakaj @nitaintheLou and ...

many others (I can't remember their names as I was too busy taking notes while they were speaking) are both informative and fascinating discussants. They bring new perspectives not only from specific specialties of their interests but also from the freshness of their viewpoints.

5. There are also many other speakers who contribute by their presence and speaking their minds even when they only represent mainstream ideologies rather than their own ideas. However, the interaction is very inspiring. And the level of discussion, minus a few hiccups, v/high.

6. Women's representation in the discussion remains low. Although many women have been some of the best discussants, it's mainly men who speak and this is the first thing that needs to change immediately. Other issues (probably many) can be let to go with the flow.

7. Tonight there were circa 500 listeners at the same time, while many were rotating given the length of the discussion. There were tens of speakers. The majority of feedback talks of rather remarkable display of a debate culture. I agree. Thank you all and keep going.