Brian KungNov 19, 2022
Katerina Marchán

reasons mastodon's "viral dampening effect" is a good thing:

👉🏻 no "main character of the day"
👉🏻 no free text searching for people to get angry at (and harrass)
👉🏻 doomscrolling is *actually bad for you* and not a thing we should be trying to replicate
👉🏻 birdsite's virality is heavily driven by actual paid advertising and bots. You think that "Explore" tab gets its content organically? really? That's not making connections between people, it's about driving sales.

Mastodon is not, and should not be, a 1:1 replacement for Twitter. But it *can* be a new place for you to make valuable connections with other human beings. #twitter #twittermigration

Nov 4, 2022 at 8:54pmWeb
Show threadKaterina MarchánNov 4, 2022
I made the mistake of looking at Twitter and it's just a bunch of people freaking out and lamenting that you can't sic a bunch of angry people on others by QT-dunking
Show threadStephNov 4, 2022
@zkat yes. I have said it before though. There is something compelling about looking at angry, unhinged people.
Show threadSean MillsNov 5, 2022
@steph @zkat so compelling that it's hard to look away
Show threadPeter RobinsonNov 5, 2022
@zkat interesting, we had a nice chatty friendly group in twitter. Occasionally a disrupter would come along but the block function dealt with them quickly and easily. It was possible to have pleasant interactions. It’s not all bad, just like anywhere else really, a mixture of good and bad, complainers and gatekeepers. people are weird.
Show threadKrisztina HirthNov 5, 2022
@peterobi @zkat same here and I hope it can happen here too (otherwise it will be a fail for us 😕)
Show threadPeter RobinsonNov 6, 2022
@yellowbrickc @zkat fingers crossed 🤞
Show threadErwinNov 5, 2022
@zkat Local politicians are active there so I sort of have to. Also IT is very present. As I work in the field it a valuable tool. But oh my, the stuff I have to dodge.
Show threadAris TeonNov 19, 2022
@Erwinvolt @zkat these politicians should get off Twitter, they have fed the monster that's been devouring our public discourse. Are they afraid of losing their followers? Are they afraid of being on a platform made by people who are not wealthy? I just don't get it. If politicians came here then the journalists would come here and Twitter would become like Parler, a bunch of far right nutters talking to themselves.
Show threadErwinNov 20, 2022
@aristeon @zkat They are mainly following each other. I don't react to them because I can see them irl, especially now I'm becoming a commission member. Part of them would not join Mastodon because of their political views.
I mute a lot of accounts on Twitter, from all sides of the political spectrum, when they are too far from local politics. I reflected on my tweets and found I tweet more than I thought so I'll stop that. It doesn't do anything anyway.
Show threadMiakoda Nov 5, 2022
@zkat
QT-dunking?
Show threadKaterina MarchánNov 5, 2022
@hellomiakoda quote-tweeting into your own timeline with some kind of clever dunk on someone else's tweet
Show threadMiakoda Nov 6, 2022
@zkat
Side note - My mind heard "Cutie Dunking"
Show threadsbiNov 6, 2022
@hellomiakoda I was not surprised to find that you might be a programmer. 😁
Show threadMiakoda Nov 6, 2022
@sbi
I'm not a programmer, just a computer nerd. I might become one though
Show threadsbiNov 6, 2022
@hellomiakoda Ah, OK. Well, you seemed to know what Qt is. 😂
Show threadMiakoda Nov 6, 2022

@sbi
Yes. Apps that use it fit better in my distro, and apps that don't often have a bunch of GTK dependencies that make life hell on a low storage laptop running Plasma.

Its why my Manjaro Plasma machines have Kontact and my Linux Lite machine has Evolution.

Show threadaRubesNov 4, 2022
@zkat as to the 2nd point, technically not true. Many instances do include text searches, it's just a hassle to deploy
Show threadKaterina MarchánNov 4, 2022
@aRubes TIL. Does that work across the entire fediverse, though? Can I find someone to yell at 5 instances over who no one I follow follows?
Show threadaRubesNov 4, 2022
@zkat I don't think so. I think the limit is even only people that you follow bit I'm not sure
Show threadKaterina MarchánNov 4, 2022
@aRubes yeah what I'm talking about is people completely disconnected from me word searching and coming at me
Show threadaRubesNov 4, 2022
@zkat I wasn't a follower when I searched
Show threadKaterina MarchánNov 4, 2022
@aRubes interesting. TIL
Show threadaRubesNov 4, 2022
@zkat but two people that I follow are following you, and they're both from my instance
Show threadJamie GaskinsNov 4, 2022
@zkat @aRubes Yeah, it’s just toots the instance you’re on knows about. So you’re effectively searching the federated timeline.
Show threadJamie GaskinsNov 6, 2022

@zkat @aRubes I stand corrected on what it searches. I just installed Elasticsearch on my server and discovered it doesn't search the federated timeline, it's scoped to the person searching and only shows posts they created or are somehow connected to (mentioned, liked/faved, boosted, bookmarked, or voted in a poll on).

I kept thinking search was broken, but it's working exactly as intended.
https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/optional/elasticsearch/ https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/blob/58fc889c6fe697da4f880cb43e75d97d3a604d79/app/models/status.rb#L138-L158

Show threadPatrick O'BeirneNov 5, 2022
@aRubes @zkat I have found people by searching their names but I haven't paid much attention to what server they are on.
Show threadChozari 賈 (she/her)Nov 4, 2022
@zkat THIS IS SO FREAKING REFRESHING.
Show threadAnitranotNov 4, 2022
@zkat no main character of the day - I’m gonna miss that. It was mass bonding - like being in lockdown together - but bad for us I agree. Sigh.
Show threadKaterina MarchánNov 4, 2022
@anitranot it's effectively bullying: everyone does it and delights in it, but then they live in fear of being the next target
Show threadAnitranotNov 4, 2022
@zkat very very true
Show threadAnitranotNov 4, 2022
@zkat lots of realization of what behaviors we have fallen into. For sure.
Show threadfozbaNov 4, 2022
@zkat TIL there is actually a term for keep reading negative stuff over and over. That is what I have been doing for a long time. I guess this place is a safe haven.
Show threadjosephbyNov 4, 2022
@zkat there is something to this; the grit in the system is almost a feature, not a bug.
Show threadon @mas.toNov 4, 2022
@zkat what's the point then 😭
Show threadasadNov 4, 2022
@zkat Super interesting but I wonder how this place will drive internet culture. At the end of the day spaces with longevity are the ones that become key engines of culture. It's part of what set, for example, TikTok (meme-friendly + viral moments ensure people have things to bond over and create community around) apart from Clubhouse (ephemeral and insular communities).
Show threadGodoeNov 5, 2022
@asad @zkat Those places still exist. Mastodon serves a much deeper need to communicate with others on a more local scale. While being able to communicate on a larger one if needed.
Show threadasadNov 5, 2022
@godoeware @zkat My point was that one of those places lost the competition for large-scale global relevance and one won it, so it will be interesting to see how the current Twitter migration to here pans out for those of us Incredibly Online folk who are into global internet culture.
Show threadAdam IerymenkoNov 4, 2022
@zkat Also as I've said many times: I don't think deplatforming is needed here because there's no algorithm (and the other stuff you mention) to artificially inflate toxic content to "drive engagement." If a bunch of pajama Nazis want to form a circle jerk that's fine but you're not going to get things like the Qanon epidemic here (I hope). Structurally different.
Show threadPukabowersNov 5, 2022
@zkat a perfect summary of why we're here.
Show threadCat NewsNov 5, 2022
@Pukabowers @zkat it also looks like an actual conversation happened! Which is a refreshing change from Twitter
Show threadPukabowersNov 5, 2022
@cat_news @zkat Agreed
Show threaddzamie Nov 5, 2022
@zkat Could you explain "viral dampening effect," please? This is the first time I've heard the term.
Show threadKaterina MarchánNov 5, 2022
@dzamie it’s a lot harder for things to explode virally on mastodon. It’s a thing I’ve seen complaints about and how it makes mastodon unviable, but I’m making the point that this is a good feature to have
Show threaddzamie Nov 5, 2022
@zkat Ah. What causes it, do you think? Obviously, the lack of algorithm is a major contributor (as said on tumblr, "there is no algorithm. *We* are the algorithm"), but even tumblr gets famous/infamous posts for awhile.
Show threadMattNov 5, 2022
@zkat @dzamie is that dampening or just a lack of amplification? Haven’t reviewed the relevant code myself.
Show threadKaterina MarchánNov 5, 2022
@mmszk @dzamie it's not "active" dampening. It's intentiona lack of features, like not having full text search, not having trending topics, not having quote toots (which encourage performative dunking instead of engaging like people), etc. All of those things make things more likely to go viral, but they also encourage toxicity.
Show threadEllenor Bjornsdottir   Nov 5, 2022
@zkat @mmszk @dzamie I QRB images that don't have alt text to add alt text (Pleroma has the quote-reblog feature and I use Akkoma which is a fork of Pleroma)
Show threaddzamie Nov 5, 2022
@zkat @mmszk Oh, it never occurred to me that a lack of post-search (aside from your own dash) would have that effect. The QRT thing makes sense, too.
Show threadJenniferNov 5, 2022
@zkat @dzamie so how do you stumble onto new people and topics if you aren’t someone who spends a lot of time on social media or lacks the time to learn all the features of mastodon?
Show threadmkbNov 5, 2022

@sim431 @zkat @dzamie

A great way to find what interests you is searching on related #hashtags. If you’re using the Mastodon desktop site you can even create pinned columns with the tags that matter most to you.

Good hashtags to search on are “introduction” and “introductions” (I’m not sure which is in vogue right now). People use those tags to announce themselves and give a little bit of background.

Good luck and have fun!

Show threadJames SlezakNov 5, 2022
@zkat @dzamie ur making a good point. i think though that there’s a “shared experience” that’s can be cool and even unifying when some things can break through across large parts of a network
Show thread🦋Mentally Millennial💅🏻Nov 5, 2022
@zkat great post thank you it’s very helpful I’m new here so just getting to know how to use everything ☺️
Show threadAaron Martin-ColbyNov 5, 2022
@zkat I miss many of these features, but I'm totally open to new dynamics. It is basically the defining feature of social networks: their novel dynamics.
Show threadMiguel de Icaza ᯅ🍉Nov 5, 2022
@zkat text search is incredibly useful
Show threadKaterina MarchánNov 5, 2022

@Migueldeicaza it is, but it's also used heavily for harassment :/

Some instances do have it enabled, but it's nowhere near as powerful as what you'd get on twitter, as it's limited to what you're actively federated with.

Show threadDaniel HernandezNov 5, 2022

@zkat @Migueldeicaza text search has also a problem of privacy. There are good pointers in the thesis of Amy Guy @rhiaro https://rhiaro.github.io/thesis/chapter2#context-collapse

Although posts can be public, there is an imagined audience. Privacy is about context.

Show threadRick Minerich 🔥Nov 5, 2022
@Migueldeicaza this is the saddest thing about mastodon as a replacement for me. I often look for experts in a topic and follow them to learn stuff.
Show threadRick Minerich 🔥Nov 5, 2022
@Migueldeicaza I wish people could at least opt in to search. I would opt in.
Show threadMolly LazarNov 5, 2022
@Rickasaurus @Migueldeicaza I'm staying on Twitter long enough to find my favorite experts' Mastodon handles. A fair amount of them are moving over. Once I find one they tend to link to others in their field.
Show threadProprieteDuSageNov 13, 2022
@Rickasaurus @Migueldeicaza yeah, we have to learn to use hashtag.