Scott Rankin
Taylor LorenzFeatures Mastodon desperately needs imo:
- MUCH better search functionality
- Easier way to find and add people across servers
- Quote posting!
- Link previews
Dave👾@taylorlorenz Ugh, quote posting is extremely cringe. No thanks.
Tim Trautmann 📷@daswickerman @taylorlorenz I 💯 agree with that. Quote posting is toxic.
@tim It is! Though I will say that it's one thing that I didn't realize was toxic until I thought about it and examined my own behavior. It is a great example of how the Mastodon (and larger fediverse) use paradigm forces prosocial interaction. It certainly takes some time to deprogram from the algorithm though.
@daswickerman yes, I did it on the occasion on the other site and also realized how bad it is. It's one of the most passive aggressive things you can do over there.
Levi Strope 🦇🔊
Ryder 🔭🚲 
@daswickerman @tim 100%. QTing turned me into an asshole on the other site, especially when it was in response to someone else being a worse asshole. Whole thing was just awful.
Thornbill9@daswickerman @taylorlorenz you would do well to read this thoughtful thread by @shengokai which highlights the essential role of QTs in call and response in the Black community. While like any tool they can be used for good or bad, they are uniquely suited to presenting content in a format that starts a conversation with followers! The historical discourse is so focused on antidunking that it misses how qts connect marginalized communities and lift their voices https://zirk.us/@shengokai/109346991978893779
@thornbill9 That's a fair take, though Mastodon isn't twitter and never was designed to be a 1:1 replacement for twitter. The open-source nature of the platform means that people can design and implement features that meet their own needs and those of their community. A lot of these recent objections to Mastodon treat it like a company, instead of an open-source project. If anyone has a problem, they are welcome (and encouraged) to help fix it.
@daswickerman I understand its original design history and I’m respectful and supportive of original mastodon instances choosing to retain their preferred settings. I just see people underestimate the tool that twitter was to get access to expertise and information globally while deriding it as pile ons and clout chasing. With twitter compromised, I believe we do need these tools for the next platform. There’s too much focus on bad incentives for big accounts and not enough on ease of curation
Ras Fincher@taylorlorenz I see no quote posting as a feature, not a bug...
Bryan Seitz@taylorlorenz That's the beauty of it, anyone can submit a patch to add these features!
Heather (she/her)@taylorlorenz I definitely miss quote posting.
Sivilian 
@taylorlorenz my mobile client has link previews, but non on the web client
Tris Hussey@taylorlorenz Yes, I'd like to add a little comment with my boost.
Jeroen@taylorlorenz No qoute posting is by design.
@taylorlorenz same for search. Admins can enable full text search on their instance if they want. Cross instance full text search is discouraged bc of harassment.
Jxyzn Sxyzyxn@taylorlorenz I assume you've already read the many regular responses to points one and three. What are your counter-responses?
Ed Suominen@jxyzn @taylorlorenz I would share mine with you, except it’s a bunch of words I already wrote and don’t feel like writing again. If I could just quote it instead, that would be cool.
@edsuom @taylorlorenz ooh sick burn
Carolyn Burt@taylorlorenz it’s a bummer you can only see who people are following if they’re on the same server as you. The main way I’ve been able to find people is through them posting their username on Twitter
Chloë Lum@carolynburt @taylorlorenz agreed, it’s made it so it’s easier for me to find journalists than my actual IRL friends and colleagues on here. (Because the journalists get reposted but Su who I used to be in a band with and Tiffany from my grad cohort aren’t nearly as likely to be reposted. And who knows if they are on here?)
ivory@taylorlorenz elasticssearch is something that can be added to mastodon instances to help improve search functionality. I don't think mastodon.social has it but some smaller instances do.
alice@ioletsgo @taylorlorenz even with elasticsearch i believe it only lets you search for posts you've interacted with, it doesn't let you search for arbitrary posts by design, which is something i think pleroma, misskey or gotosocial have
KyleGoetz@ioletsgo Yeah I was looking at the Docker infrastructure for spinning up a Mastodon server instance, and there’s configuration for elasticsearch
Ferdian@taylorlorenz Quote posting is speaking about, not with A person. But the rest of your options are good.
@ffrericks I wondered about that. Is the idea instead of quote posting, you should either share the same link with your own comments, or you should boost but then respond to the original?
Evan 
@taylorlorenz lack of quote posting is a specific design choice. https://mastodon.social/@Gargron/99662106175542726
Bugattij⚡@taylorlorenz Most importantly it'll need a way to combat the onslaught of spammers that are sure to plague us here!
Mike Riverso@taylorlorenz Quote posting and the hashtag-only search are both by design. Whether or not that's a good thing remains to be seen.
Jeff Jarvis@taylorlorenz As I'm learning, Taylor, there are specific objections to some of these. Some believe that search enables bad guys to find their targets for harassment too easily.
Some--including Eugen--argue that QTs are performative rather than conversational and lead to bad behavior. On the other hand, there is strong argument that QTs are central to call-and-response in Black Twitter and a necessary affordance. I can send you thread links.
As for me, I'm of various minds...
Some--including Eugen--argue that QTs are performative rather than conversational and lead to bad behavior. On the other hand, there is strong argument that QTs are central to call-and-response in Black Twitter and a necessary affordance. I can send you thread links.
As for me, I'm of various minds...
TheJenAlso, most of these features demand server space which costs MONEY.
Want more features? Sponsor your instance. :)
@JenWojcik @taylorlorenz I've joined the patreon for mine.
@jeffjarvis Same. :)
Courtney Rosenthal@jeffjarvis @JenWojcik @taylorlorenz The usual rule of thumb is to click the "about" link in the footer on your instance. That's where the host typically will post how to support.
@taylorlorenz @shengokai has been forceful and brilliant on the need for QTs particularly. I've heard similar views from other experts in Black Twitter.
Here is a github proposal for a QT structure: @shengokai
Here is a github proposal for a QT structure: @shengokai
Emelia 👸🏻@shengokai @taylorlorenz @jeffjarvis even if Mastodon doesn't add quote posts, they will still happen.. only you as the OP won't know you've been quoted.
@taylorlorenz I am also eager to hear your own views from your experience as a target of trolls' behavior. Do you think search and QTs have been a factor in that?
As for link (and profile) previews, I'd imagine that's a data/storage/speed cost but I agree.
As for link (and profile) previews, I'd imagine that's a data/storage/speed cost but I agree.
peter_donnellyGotta admit, I'm gonna miss search
That's how you find people talking about stuff your interested in
Only some people, usually at the more zealous end of the spectrum, bother to use hashtags
@taylorlorenz FYI, if you're reporting on this, here's a thread in which Mastodonians debated the merits and demerits of QTs in 2020 https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/issues/12753
Mayee, MD (INACTIVE)@jeffjarvis @taylorlorenz I hope prior to using this thread to report, consent must be asked first to those who posted
@eeyam @taylorlorenz No one said anything about using this thread to report. I am providing a link to an external discussion.
@jeffjarvis @taylorlorenz Full text search can be enabled on an instance. Cross instances search is frowned upon AFAIK. You can use Google site: to search the public TL of an instance, and in the prefs yoiu can opt out of indexing.
@yuroon @taylorlorenz Better technical minds than mine can address the challenges of cross-instance search.
@jeffjarvis @taylorlorenz Not a technical issue, but a cultural issue https://www.hughrundle.net/home-invasion/
drdind@jeffjarvis @taylorlorenz I have not tried it, but DM rooms are terrifically useful for political organizing on Twitter. Can that be done here?
@Drdind @taylorlorenz Organizing is only one function and, yes, DM groups can be useful. But that's not what I was referring to re call-and-response; that is by its nature public.
@jeffjarvis @taylorlorenz Apologies, I was asking a separate question of course.
@jeffjarvis I consider myself an expert on online harassment and I don't think quote tweets lead to bad behavior! QTs were born from organic user behavior on twitter and are essential in discussing and sharing information imho
Alexander Hamizdat 
@taylorlorenz @jeffjarvis but you can still do them here
Clipper Chip 
@taylorlorenz @jeffjarvis The vast majority of QTs that I have seen on my timeline were calling out someone over their tweet - to make sure all their followers will see it instead of just those who follow both.
Andrew Joyce@taylorlorenz @jeffjarvis
Also... any bad behavior QTing can still be accomplished on this site with screenshots
Also... any bad behavior QTing can still be accomplished on this site with screenshots
Aron FischerThis is purely an observation:
In my (mostly political) twitter feed QTs were mostly used to highlight how ridiculous the "other side" is.
Sharing and commenting on the latest FoxNews insanity for example. Similarly an extreme or out of context comment from a BLM protester lived a high life in right wing QT Twitter.
This contributed to polarisation.
So QTs are complex. As is their interaction with the other ranking and highlighting features of the app they are in.
@taylorlorenz
@jeffjarvis
However with a slightly tweaked quoting function, coupled with the absence of the AI ranking that feeds off anger, I'd assume we can make it work. .. and we should try.
@jeffjarvis
However with a slightly tweaked quoting function, coupled with the absence of the AI ranking that feeds off anger, I'd assume we can make it work. .. and we should try.
Shawn Smith Peirce@cobordism @taylorlorenz @jeffjarvis Bingo. Without algos to prioritize conflict, there should be less of it, QTs or not.
@taylorlorenz thanks. Important perspective
@taylorlorenz @jeffjarvis QTs are like any tool & can be abused. Without them, there will be a similar problem as Twitter had before built-in QTs existed, as I believe Taylor noted earlier today. People will just manually build QTs, misquote, & then all the issues that happened on Twitter before built-in QTs will happen here.
AJ Kohn@taylorlorenz @jeffjarvis I'm not sure I agree.
Sometimes quote tweets can contextualize. But too often it seemed like a way to broadcast an argument.
It encouraged a virtual circle of people shouting 'fight, fight, fight'.
You can still reply to a post to provide context or debate without encouraging that behavior.
Feel strongly enough about providing context, write something and post it.
Phillip de Wet@ajkohn @taylorlorenz @jeffjarvis So many things went so horribly wrong on Twitter that it is hard to argue any feature should be imported.
Not that it was definitely RTs. Not that the fear is not generally overblown. But that fear is all but a defining feature of Mastodon.