I've been thinking about the Fediverse for a looooong time, since before it was called the Fediverse. I'll admit my thinking hasn't evolved much for much of that time. The basic structure of it has been clear for nearly 15 years.
But today (so far - it's only 8:30 AM here!) I've learned *three* new perspectives that have changed/improved the way I think about the Fediverse/Mastodon in subtle but important ways.
So. Much. Gratitude. 🙏❤️
TIL🧵2/3: Many have said it, I'm going to say it, too: I miss Quote Tweets. I appreciate the thoughtful justification for not implementing them, but also disagree. My ideal would be
a quote tweet that points up 😍☝️
rather than Twitter's pointing down 🤬👇
because I think sometimes it's really important to contextualize or emphasize why you're boosting someone's post.
I think Quotations are coming, and I hope and believe that ultimately, the call isn't @Gargron's alone to make. @scottjenson has been advocating for designers & UX folk to take part, and I hope that structures emerge to make that not just possible, but pervasive.
In the meantime, @amirouche pointed me at this lovely pattern:
https://social.hyper.dev/@amirouche/109343002733668741
@[email protected] @[email protected] Quoted toot fork the conversation, and promote individuals instead of... conversation. Boosting a reply does the same, and leads to the interesting context.
Basically, instead of QTing something, on Mastodon it's possible to reply to a post and then boost your reply.
That way, the visibility is the same as a Quote would have been, but with the interesting property that the OP doesn't get silenced/steamrolled, but the original post is still easily visible. More conversational, less adversarial.
Even if/when we get formal QTs, I like this pattern and will be using it where appropriate (it would be great to have a one-click mode and a name for this – does one exist? Any ideas?)
Thanks, @amirouche 🙏
@skry
Also good words for it.
In my new Android app #fedilab there is a function called mention, which creates a link to a post and places a "via @skry" above it and the cursor on top, thus mimicking a QT, but it creates a new thread so to say. I'm not sure I like it though 😅
@Fenriz @blaine @amirouche One of the longstanding complaints about QTs on Twitter was that people used them to hijack someone else's traffic by just quoting and adding a word or emoji. Finally they made it so that QTs would show up in the OP's traffic, which also cut down on secret snark.
OTOH, it is often very helpful for everyone when someone adds context before an RT, and for a long time, QT helped to point out a good thread. I used it a lot for that
@skry
I agree on the hijacking thing and all other arguments against it. Personally I don't miss it. But I understand that for some people it's an essential thing. Not sure how it would impact mastodon if it were introduced here. I'm leaning towards being sceptical about it.
@Fenriz @blaine @amirouche
It might help alleviate the urge to QT if we just had a more articulate range of boosting.
For example:
• This is great
• This is horrible
• This is important
• Some need this but I'm going to add a CW
• This is funny
• This cause needs attention
@skry
I deleted my account there a long time ago, but they introduced alternatives to the like button at some point.
I'm not sure about the idea, sometimes keeping things simple is the best idea. 🤷♂️
blaine
Fenriz
skry