Eniko (moved ➡ gamedev.place)

Tbh getting real tired of hearing "QTs were only ever used for dunks" as someone who was part of a community that used them to tell our followers why they should be interested in tweets, ranging from supporting cool creative works to mutual aid

Were they also used for dunks? Absolutely. One would think better moderation on mastodon would take care of most of that by not putting bad dunkable takes in our faces 24/7

Dec 21, 2022 at 9:09pmWeb
Show threadEniko (moved ➡ gamedev.place)Dec 21, 2022
Please don't make this go viral again I had enough last night >_>
Show threadCailín Walsh 🍀Dec 21, 2022
@eniko D:
Show threadEniko (moved ➡ gamedev.place)Dec 21, 2022
@cailinkins it's happening again please make it stop 😫
Show threadCailín Walsh 🍀Dec 21, 2022
@eniko
Show threadBroWrenDec 21, 2022
@eniko tempted to boost this toot instead :P
Show threadEniko (moved ➡ gamedev.place)Dec 21, 2022
@browren contrarian, I can respect it
Show threadManuela MalasañaDec 21, 2022
@eniko yeah I really wish we had QRTs here
Show threadDRAKONICDec 21, 2022
@eniko removing quoting didn't even remove dunks, people just work around by screenshotting the post they're dunking on
Show threadkira :3Dec 21, 2022
@eniko yeah to me it just strikes as a feature that I now miss rather than a solution to a problem, dunkers are gonna dunk no matter what but sometimes I just want to be able to share a post and be like "and here is my input on this!" or something
Show threadMirre Dec 21, 2022
@eniko People will find ways to abuse and harass others with or without QRTs. If mastodon would *ever* enable that function, it should be toggable/optional etc. I used to rant occaisonally on twitter about how i wished i could turn off QRTs on individual tweets, or toggle my tl to not show any of them.
Show threadKaryl  Dec 21, 2022
@eniko Yeah the bit about moderation is a very good point. Addresses a lot of the issues at the root
Show threadGaudipernDec 21, 2022
@eniko I stand by my statement: The conversation about QTs is nuanced by subcultures on Twitter, and folks equating it to negativity never belonged to any collectivist subcultures that relied on that mode of collaborative communication.
Show threadRetro Swan 🏳️‍⚧️Dec 21, 2022
@Gaudipern @eniko they suck for dunks, honestly, because they promote the original tweet
Show thread̶A̶l̶i̶c̶e̶ Bash Dec 21, 2022
@eniko not to mention the general culture of "don't interact if you don't like it" does a pretty good job of avoiding that kind of behavior as well. Some users are still shaking off their Twitter behaviors, so we'll need to be patient with them, but I genuinely think the culture that has formed over the years here in the fediverse is a boon. I would certainly like to be able to boost posts with a note as to why I'm boosting. That would be great.
Show threadEniko (moved ➡ gamedev.place)Dec 21, 2022
@AliceVie if nothing else I wanna at least be able to quote my own posts 😩 like what am I gonna do, dunk on myself?
Show threadantlersDec 21, 2022
@eniko mastodon has historically had a lot of catastrophic moderation problems
I agree that better moderation would fix the issue, but it hasn't happened yet.
Show threadJames 'Care Level Zero' HenleyDec 21, 2022
@eniko My issue with QRTs wasn't so much dunks as it was people essentially hijacking a tweet in an attempt to score engagement off the original content themselves.
Show threadCassandrichDec 21, 2022
@CareLevelZero @eniko I would *rather* they do that, keeping their large audience engagement in their own QRT's replies rather than bringing a bunch of randos to hijack my original thread and blow up my mentions. New context creation is a positive aspect of quoting, not negative.
Show threadEniko (moved ➡ gamedev.place)Dec 21, 2022
@dalias @CareLevelZero yeah having people set up camp in my mentions yesterday and basically start an only semi related thread was actually incredibly irritating XD
Show threadJames 'Care Level Zero' HenleyDec 21, 2022
@dalias @eniko Fair point. I'm happier just seeing them gone entirely, myself.
Show threadDaniel Dec 21, 2022

@eniko I found SO many games through QTs on the bird app and so many other creative works. Along with that, the additional commentary on political subjects was extremely welcome as well.

I think it would enrich Mastodon by quite a lot to have them in here (and maybe allow instances to block them by just showing a link to the toot?)

Show threadJay Dec 21, 2022
@eniko I guess also not having a machine reward people for posting those bad dunkable takes by pushing them into more and more timelines also would make things quite a bit different as well.

I ended up switching my instance to Akkoma which does support quote posts (partially) for that reason, though I was definitely of the mind that we shouldn't have them on Mastodon at all until recently, especially with the above realization.
Show threadBroWrenDec 21, 2022
@eniko S.M.O.P. 🤷
Show threadTiffanyDec 21, 2022
@eniko I'd be open to QRTs only if you don't get notified by whose sharing them so it's more non-invasive like sharing a regular link. It'd be a quick solve if Mastodon had better embedding like with videos. Idk I feel like people deeply downplay how much QRTs are used for harassment/dunking. It's not even a Twitter unique problem, Tumblr's reblogs also fostered harassment a lot. Adding context to something for your audience shouldn't burden the original poster imo
Show threadsnipe ⭑⭒⭒⭒⭒ Dec 21, 2022
@eniko Completely agree. I rarely use QRTs for dunks, more to provide context, add onto the original tweet with my own experiences, etc.
Show threadᛗ🦊ᛟErvoᛟ🦊ᛗ Dec 22, 2022
@eniko everything can be used for harassement at this point
Show threadLaPingvino 🟙 Dec 21, 2022
@eniko historically, Quote Retweet was the only way you could retweet: you wrote a new message RT @username: original tweet and often with commentary. Fun fact, this seemingly became an actual internal implementation of retweets when the retweet functionality was added, and quote retweets was just the option to add your say to the tweet in a fancier way. All original ways of retweeting are still actually supported on Mastodon, both copying the original contents and using a link, but there is no interface support for it: you have to work for it. Which I think is a fair approach, and you probably just can hack a quote retweet function in your own instances anyway, nothing in the protocols prohibits you either. And I suspect some alternatives on the Fediverse other than Mastodon already have that, too... In a way Mastodon has always been a suboptimal federation partner, but it's the most common one through the communities that adopted it. There have been better Fediverse clients before and there will be many more better Fediverse tools.
Show threadA cool crab wearing shadesDec 22, 2022
@eniko I think it should be an account or even post level setting if you want your toots to be quoteable or not. I think that would basically fix the issue.
Show threadSkiriki FyxeDec 22, 2022

@eniko Yeah; my main use for them was to put an emphasis that this is super-important for peeps who follow me to check out. I often RT'ed them first, then QRT'ed to underline the importance.

Or if interaction of some kind was sought out (i.e. 'I know this user and they really need help, please help them' or 'Post your pet pics here to cheer things up'), I tried to put emphasis on that.

Show threaditeration523 Dec 22, 2022

@eniko THIS.

I used them for dunks (and these days almost invariably use them to dunk Musk simps and other fash), but also to add relevant hashtags or context to boost tweets from marginalized people who were new to twitter. I did that A LOT.

I miss the latter use on Mastodon. Basically making a fully visible 2-post "mini-thread" just to annotate the original post or briefly comment on it. Like a footnote in a book or article. // @anneroth

Show threadLuis/Luigi ☭Dec 22, 2022
@eniko I agree and also remember than Pleroma/Akkoma instances do have QRTs, unlike mastodon ones
Show threadShoqDec 26, 2022

@eniko Anything will be used for dunks. Because some people will always be punks. They will find a way to be evil.

Punish the abuse, not the tool.

Show threadChicletDec 26, 2022

@shoq @eniko

Unfortunately nothing is a 100% perfect cure to dunking. Just like the gun control arguments, we also cannot just deregulate the tool in hopes we can just stop all the criminals.

The system is a huge part of the problem. A system with a loophole won't get better by just reacting to the people exploiting it. The loophole must be addressed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RFbahYuBic

Trevor's Axiom

YouTube
Show threadfmc01Dec 26, 2022
@eniko https://www.theringer.com/tech/2018/5/2/17311616/twitter-retweet-quote-endorsement-function-trolls
How Quote Tweets Helped Ruin Twitter. The #quotetweet is a uniquely agile enabler of anger.
How Quote Tweets Helped Ruin Twitter

Please, I beg of you: Stop dunking on idiots and start considering the implications of beaming trolls into everyone else’s feeds

The Ringer
Show threadMark  Dec 26, 2022
@eniko this is a valid point, but as a mod with a family and a business I don’t want to spend my time telling grown ass adults to not dunk on people. You can’t expect us to force our users to be civil. The bad actors will just love to different servers.
Show threadSydneyDec 26, 2022
@eniko What I'm curious to know is if, left without implementing the feature exactly as Twitter does it, there might be some emergent behavior that offers the same positives without the negatives.
Show threadlj·rkDec 26, 2022
@eniko Bbbut... that's not what anyone is seriously claiming? Obviously there's value but also harm in QTs. I think so far almost everyone agrees...
Show threadNatDec 26, 2022
@eniko @amyhoy oh man, clearly none of them were on birdsite during the time of the worst but genuinely useful hashtag #ttrttpRT (this tweet refers to the previous RT). QRT were a blessing just for making that hashtag redundant)
Show threadJack MottDec 26, 2022
@eniko it helps to not use acronyms at the start, more people will know what you are talkin about. ( I do, but because I had to ask previously!)