"Solo poly" means you are not married or otherwise partnered and have no interest in that kind of relationship (solo) but are open to multiple romantic relationships (poly), some of which may grow to be committed to some degree (where it differs from saying you're just single/dating around)
How is this different from just “poly”?
Lots of people who prefer a polyamorous relationship structure are either married/partnered already, or are pursuing that sort of 'primary' relationship, while there are also many who are not In theory "solo poly" was supposed to be a shorthand for the latter to ID themselves
And of course that primary relationship need not be between only 2 people.
I don't know how she meant it (the screenshots are nonsensical), but a common misunderstanding of 'solo poly' is "I date separately from my partner, and I may limit the information I share about my partners with each other" This would accurately be referred to as "parallel"
This may seen like a lot but it's all laid out very straightforwardly in one of a couple books on the topic that you can read in an afternoon, so this is very much a case of the most annoying people you know latching onto something while willfully misunderstanding it
See also the concept of a relationship escalator, which is actually a useful analogy for the assumptions inherent in monogamous relationship progression in american culture, but only really works if you pair it with a staircase, where the steps are taken deliberately based on mutual communication
As to why all the words and definitions, I like many would prefer for relationships to just be something discussed and experienced with the persons involved, but unfortunately american society decided sex and relationships must be highly regimented, so here we are
appreciate the explainer! I had never actually had it broken down and explained as a concept vs an off handed mention (or, often, a punchline)
For further reading, Ethical Slut is.....fine (although not exactly about polyamory per se), Smart Girl's Guide to Polyamory (despite the name) is much better
the reasons are probably as varied as the people involved, but surely for some of them the terminology-chopping is a source of pleasure unto itself. a kink, as it were.
Scheduling is absolutely required to make it work if you're going down that path and also there are definitely people with calendar fetishes