Conrad Hackett Nov 19, 2022

Adding broad search (beyond hashtags and local search) on Mastodon would be really useful.

But it could be used by bad actors to find users to harass.

Would you like to see expanded search features?

Please boost so we can gather views across the fediverse.

Yes
47.3%
Maybe
23.3%
No
29.3%
Poll ended at .
Show threadThornbill9Nov 19, 2022
@conradhackett to the extent that hashtags are effective in connecting marginalized communities, bad actors will already be able to exploit them to identify targets. Without effective discovery, most new users are unable to find conversations and people to follow that align with their specific interests and aren’t staying active and building the platform. This latter issue should be considered more important if this is to form a new gathering place for ex twitter folks
Show threadahistorical immaterialistNov 20, 2022
@thornbill9 @conradhackett we've all watched a few million new users arrive this week. They seem to be getting along fine, making friends and meeting people. Apart from the complaints from a bunch of people who want to replicate every aspect of Twitter, what has given you the idea new users are struggling with discovery for, like, more than 10 minutes after signing up?
Show threadThornbill9Nov 20, 2022
@jimbob @conradhackett this is called a selection problem. You’re finding the people who settled in and are trying to make the most of the platform rather than all the people who saw how much work that entailed and said no thanks. This is a conversation between some of the brightest minds in progressive journalism who have good faith openness to making most of this opportunity and found it burdensome. Now imagine the hundreds of thousands of regular folks doing same
Show threadahistorical immaterialistNov 20, 2022
@thornbill9 @conradhackett quite excited to be on a platform that journalists struggle to use, but that's probably just me.
Show threadThornbill9Nov 20, 2022
@jimbob @conradhackett yeah I think as I’ve commented to many original mastodoners what I’ve loved about twitter is its ability to curate the types of journalists who offer deep reported insights rather than tribalistic hype of beltway conventional wisdom and then find communities of likeminded folks who follow them. If you believe all journalists are equally bad, then you sound like a fascist
Show threadahistorical immaterialist
@thornbill9 @conradhackett journalists as a class aren't bad, but the echo-chamber/personality cult that can form around them can be very destructive on social media. If journalists have deep insights, then they should probably go publish it in the broadcast channels they are privileged enough to have available to them. If they want to actually be part of a community, as human beings, on an equal footing, then maybe they should try to understand that community.
Nov 20, 2022 at 3:17amWeb
Show threadThornbill9Nov 20, 2022
@jimbob @conradhackett two issues: not all journalists have access to the biggest loudspeakers (oped pages of prestige newspapers, cable news spots) and under 40 crowd consume most of news from social media. The obsession with the large account follower relationship that I see on here (and in Elmo’s misguided $8/month blue check for hire) significantly misunderstands the value proposition for the follower. I want curated, diverse news and opinion from experts to discuss with readership