The Ghost of Émilie@futureisfoss That's something that's unique about fedi... On here, there are both personal and non-personal accounts where the expectations are different.
@futureisfoss For example, I wouldn't expect @ Mojeek to always reply to me (even though they are very good about replying to people) because it's a business account. Other accounts, like @ aral's, exist somewhere in between. They make professional posts about the projects they're working on (not personal) and they also reply to people normally.
@futureisfoss My account os a personal account, which isn't professional at all. It's informal.
@futureisfoss So the expectations are different. I wouldn't expect @ Mojeek to follow me back, either.
@futureisfoss With other personal accounts, it's a lot different. In reality, all a "follow" means is that someone saw your account, and they decided to add your posts to their feed for whatever reason (and add your account to their list of people they follow). It doesn't mean anything more than that.
@futureisfoss At the same time, socially, it does mean more than that. If I follow you, it means "I saw you and and I acknowledge you as a person, and I'm including you in my space so I might be able to interact with you."
@futureisfoss It entails a bit of "maybe we can have a chat or something."
@futureisfoss I wouldn't expect that from a business professional account, but I would expect that from another personal account... so if I'm acknowledging you and all that other stuff, I would ideally want you to do the same for me.
@futureisfoss And that's why I'm generous with the follows... I want to acknowledge other people if they're trying to do it with me.
@futureisfoss I also want to point out the differences between fedi ans RSS and "non-interactive" blogs...
@futureisfoss If you've used RSS, you'll know it's a lot different to following someone on fedi, even though functionally they do pretty much the same thing.
@futureisfoss If you subscribe to someone on RSS, they have no idea you're doing it and there is no social contract there.
@futureisfoss They're not expected to subscribe to your RSS feed because you subscribed to theirs.
@futureisfoss So fedi is more personal in that way because it tells you when someone follows you (instead of being silent and anonymous like it is with RSS).
@futureisfoss Like I was saying, though the expectations are not the same for non-personal accounts.
@futureisfoss Blogs, like my website I sent you, are also not personal. If someone reads it, it's silent and anonymous. There is no pressure for them to leave a like on my blog or "reply" to it.
@futureisfoss And that is the reality... That's the basics of it, you know? fedi is an evolution of that, and it adds that personal "chatty" and "interactive" aspect that RSS and weblogs don't have.
@futureisfoss *I mean that, in reality, we should probably treat fedi like blogs and RSS. None of it is personal, and we don't have as many expectations. Again, like I said, that's not how it is because of how fedi is made and the "social" understanding of how all this works.
@futureisfoss This thing that I've been talking about... this is also the reason you sometimes see people posting things like "F* everyone on here, everyone is ignoring me." You know those posts? It's because of the social interactive aspect that fedi adds.
@futureisfoss Did Frankie go to sleep? I bet he did.
@frankie Oops, I forgot to tag him.
@futureisfoss See, that's one of the benefits of fedi... I can post something now, and he'll see it in the morning. The fedi giveth, and the fedi taketh away.
@futureisfoss Oh, and another difference between fedi and RSS and blogs is that fedi is "live." I'm talking to you now—in real time—the same way instant messaging works. On RSS and blogs, that's more "I post something and then you might read it a week later."
@futureisfoss And that *can be* how fedi works, and that is how fedi works for some people... It's just that because you can "instant message" people on fedi, that means more people do it.
@futureisfoss And it's sort of expected... Like on Mastodon, the character limit is only 500... You can write anything that's worth waiting a whole week for in 500 characters...
@futureisfoss But you can have a live conversation with someone with lots of back and forth 500 character messages... or reply chains, like I'm doing now.
@futureisfoss You sort of can... Like how businesses with post important "short" updates... When Mastodon gets groups, I'm sure their official account will post about it, and that'll be worth waiting for...
@futureisfoss Since fedi is made up of different platforms (like WriteFreely) that's not how it is everywhere though.
@futureisfoss I sure do post a lot, eh?
Rokosun@thebiologist1117
Maybe I should listen to music more often, I think its good for my health and overall well being...... 🤔
Maybe I should listen to music more often, I think its good for my health and overall well being...... 🤔
@futureisfoss Listen to classical! Frankie does this really interesting thing where he'll read my day old posts and like, share, and reply to them... Most people on here don't do that, though, like FediTips was saying. Most people interact with others who are on at the same time as them (using fedi more like ZEPETO to talk to each other in real time and comment on things that are happening in the world, in the form of posts).
@futureisfoss He goes to my profile to do it. I hardly ever do that because I see fedi as more of a "live" experience.
@futureisfoss That's also why I "like" every post I read—you might've noticed me doing that. I do it because it's a quick way to tell you "I'm here, I'm looking at this thread, don't leave because I might be about to say something to you."
@futureisfoss It also tells you that generally, I'm around, and I'm looking at posts on fedi right now (so you could post something and I would probably see it).
@futureisfoss Or you could tag me with something... and I would respond to you in real time...
@futureisfoss What was I gonna say? Oh, on the contrary to this, sometimes I specifically don't interact with people's posts when I'm on (I don't like posts, reply to anyone, or follow anyone) and that gives me the non-interactive kind of experience I like.
@futureisfoss I try to be very consistent with how I interact with people, and I also like to "return the positive interaction" whenever possible. For example, if I like posts, I'll like all of your posts because I don't want you to feel like I missed some of your posts or that I didn't like them... and that's another use for liking... It tells people when you've read their post, which they might not have known otherwise... It also lets other people know you've read their post, since it shows up for them.
@futureisfoss I wonder how much "fedi noise" I'm making right now?
Dr. Percy@thebiologist1117
Anyhoo, I put my notifications in a replies-only mode, so I ain't notified about favo(u)rites, boosts, follow requests, poll results, etc.!
@futureisfoss
Anyhoo, I put my notifications in a replies-only mode, so I ain't notified about favo(u)rites, boosts, follow requests, poll results, etc.!
@futureisfoss