Elijah Ravitz-CampbellDec 29, 2022
Nelson Minar

Every morning I load up Mastodon or Tusky and see the newest messages. Then I scroll down and press "load more" 5-20 times to page in all the messages until I see one I remember. Then I slowly scroll back up, reading in time order. It's bad UX.

Every social media feed product is like this (except RSS readers). I want to read everything, in time order. Why is that so hard?

Dec 27, 2022 at 3:16pmWeb
Show threadNelson MinarDec 27, 2022
another UX complaint; having a popular post on Mastodon's web interface is terrible. Page after page of notifications that are copies of my post. They really need to collapse favourites and boosts, or at least not show me 100 copies of my own post.
Show threadSean TilleyDec 27, 2022

@nelson Yeah, I've had to disable favorite and boost notifications a few times because of this.

It would be nice if there was a way to group notifications together if they're for the same activity, kind of like how boosts can be grouped?

Show threadopal hartDec 27, 2022
@nelson yeah your first complaint (resuming from where you were on home tl) its most likely cus many people ended up using microblogging more conversationally and as a transient means of communication. thats why i still keep a separate blog on my site for things i actually want people to see even years later

fav/rt notifs is something twitter did and should definitely be a feature thats brought here
Show threadThe Raccoon Pope Dec 27, 2022

@nelson i know glitch-soc does do that, but I don't remember if it'd by default or not

would be good for a upstream push but if it's not already in there eugen must have some issue with it (whether it's a valid issue or not) and it's annoying to try and get past that point

Show threadAdam Hall 🇳🇿🇺🇸 Dec 27, 2022
@nelson +1 on notifications … just increment the count please
Show threadChuck Taggart, Private EyeDec 27, 2022
@nelson Agreed. Also, the post composition window on the web UX is absurdly tiny, literally the size of a couple of postage stamps.
Show threadJason Parker-Burlingham 🏳️‍🌈Dec 28, 2022

@nelson this is what "no algorithms!" is creating for us. Mastodon devs are gonna have a rough couple months when they finally decide to collapse stuff like this and present threads in, well, threaded form.

(I guess what will actually happen is that someone will make a kick-ass Mastodon client that gets this stuff right. I'd be more or less fine with that.)

Show threadBjörn 🌸 StarkimarmDec 28, 2022
@nelson +1 on both
Show threadJohn GordonDec 28, 2022
@nelson clients could help too.
Show threadMOVED [email protected]Dec 28, 2022
@nelson you totes sorta can!!! if you click the three sliders at the top right and select "show filter bar" and "display all categories," you can filter your notifs by type 😁
Show threadMOVED [email protected]Dec 28, 2022
@nelson this is the only way i've been able to make mastodon usable during the big surges lmao
Show threadRiot Nu (Marcus Reid)Dec 28, 2022
@nelson @_benui this is why I make sure all my posts are mediocre at best
Show threadluddite 🇵🇸 computerDec 28, 2022
@riotnu @nelson that's using your head
Show threadPeter MerholzDec 27, 2022
@nelson heh. whereas i like starting with the most recent, and going backward in time.
some clients enable the interaction you prefer. Metatext does, I know.
Show threadSupposeNotDec 27, 2022
@peterme @nelson no, it doesn’t. It can remember you position, but the order of reading and the order of posts are still in contradiction (the future should be down).
Show threadMartin RundkvistDec 27, 2022
@nelson I used to think that way until I had followed over 1000 accounts. Then I was comfortable in the knowledge that I would read whatever was on at the moment and most of it would just slip past me.
Show threadNelson MinarDec 27, 2022
@mrundkvist honestly an algorithmic timeline is probably a good match for the "I follow a lot of people" use case. I'm careful to only follow as many people as I can keep up with, but then it's just awkward to see them in a sensible order.
Show threadMartin RundkvistDec 27, 2022
@nelson I always sort the timeline by date stamp.
Show threadNelson MinarDec 27, 2022
@mrundkvist what client lets you do that?
Show threadMartin RundkvistDec 27, 2022
@nelson Sorry for the poor phrasing: only *falling* date order is available. I don't like the algorithmic sorting.
Show threadJohn HarroldDec 27, 2022

@nelson @mrundkvist

Lists are good for this. You follow a bunch of people but have lists for specific topics you want to follow daily.

Show threadJess For A LaughDec 27, 2022
@nelson Maybe to save on bandwidth? Loading fewer messages unless you request them. With tens of thousands or more on an instance and some of us having a slew of people followed, it adds up.
Show threadKevin DavidsonDec 27, 2022
@nelson I use Metatext and it always starts me off exactly where I left off. My memory of using the “official” Mastodon app was that it behaved the same way. I used Echofon for the birdsite and it behaved like that as well (synced between devices). Kind of hoped that (like Tapbots) the developer would switch.
Show threadporatluDec 27, 2022

@MetalSamurai @nelson Exactly: On iOS all my apps (earlier mostly Metatext or Mastodon, now mostly Toot!) remember where I am. So I just scroll upwards to move forward in time. Closing the app doesn’t change that.

I’m looking for if that’s driven by a settings option but I can’t see it.

Show threadKevin DavidsonDec 27, 2022
@nelson @poratlu It’s a preference for Metatext.
Show threadporatluDec 27, 2022
@MetalSamurai @nelson thanks, I was sure I’d seen an option somewhere but I couldn’t find one in Toot! or browser
Show threadKevin DavidsonDec 27, 2022
@poratlu @nelson I’ve had a quick play with Tooot and it seems to always open with most recent posts, not where you left off. I don’t see a way to change that.
For browser, you can use “Slow mode”, as long as you never close that tab.
Show threadSupposeNotDec 27, 2022
@poratlu @MetalSamurai @nelson but why scroll up when we read down? Any clients fix THAT problem?
Show threadKevin DavidsonDec 27, 2022

@nelson @Supposenot @poratlu

so.
think
don’t
I
No,

Show threadlertsenemDec 27, 2022

@nelson That's why I liked #Twidere more: it saves your position and keep loading toots in the background so you can scroll up from where you were when reopening the app.

Unfortunately the app misses some Mastodon features I really enjoy now, like polls, custom emojis, edits, toot alerts, etc. So I'm using Tusky too. :/

Show threadJason Parker-Burlingham 🏳️‍🌈Dec 27, 2022
@nelson I’m sure it can be blamed on top-posting somehow.
Show threadOblomovDec 27, 2022
@nelson
https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/issues/22667
https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/issues/20956
https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/issues/8384
https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/issues/7900
Also relevant:
https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/issues/11079
Actual Chronological Feeds · Issue #22667 · mastodon/mastodon

Pitch The current feed is Reverse Chronological. We scroll down infinitely instead of reading the posts up until we've cleared our feed like rss. Please allow the option for Chronological Feed (bas...

GitHub
Show threadNelson MinarDec 27, 2022
@oblomov thanks this is a really helpful list. I had no idea about the Markers API, it's a good start for at least tracking what's been read.
Show threadjohnadamsDec 27, 2022
@nelson Metatext automatically starts where you left off and shows new posts above.
Show threadJohn HarroldDec 27, 2022
@nelson Yeah I think we should be able to have timeline and list bookmarks. Then we could jump to those bookmarks. On thing I have noticed on Mastodon the feed doesn't randomly just reload. Twitter would do that while I was reading something. Then I'd have to scroll to get back to where I wanted to be.
Show threadnotsoloudDec 27, 2022
@nelson
#fedilab ?
Show threadjphDec 27, 2022

@nelson it helps if you have an app that remembers your position reliably but it definitely isn’t intuitive.

Big part of why I’m keeping an eye out here.

https://mastodon.social/@libei/109522193270914567

Show threadllewellyDec 27, 2022
@nelson
you've entered a strange new dimension where order of events has no meaning
Show threadArnd LayerDec 27, 2022

@nelson yeah ... I was just wondering when the first feed reader are the Madison API. I'd like that. #Reeder for example!

As I'm using multiple devices, the API should offer saving the latest reading position.

Show threadTom BoutellDec 27, 2022
@nelson so ideally you’d always pick up where you left off and read forwards?
Show threadSupposeNotDec 27, 2022
@boutell @nelson yes please!
Show threadThe RudiDec 27, 2022
@nelson there are clients that can handle this a little better. I’m using #metatext on iOS where the „load more“ works either down or up, depending on which direction you scroll. So I can scroll down to the last message I recognize and then, if I scroll up, the load more arrows point upwards… nice feature
Show threadMihai ParparitaDec 27, 2022
@nelson I feel the same way, so I’m working on a tool to read my Mastodon timeline in my feed reader (NetNewsWire). Still a work in progress, but it’s up at https://www.streamspigot.com/masto-feeder/
Stream Spigot : Masto Feeder

Show threadKevin P. FlemingDec 27, 2022
@nelson 1000% this. Even when you do tap 'Load More' the *newest* of the loaded toots is shown instead of the oldest.
Show threadChristopher NeugebauerDec 27, 2022
@nelson
Fedilab has "load more" buttons for both directions, so it supports up-scrolling or down-scrolling. Do recommend. (It's open source, but the Google Play version charges a modest fee to support development work)
@kevin
Show threadNelson MinarDec 27, 2022
@chrisjrn
Oh I'm liking Fedilab so far!
@kevin
Show threadChristopher NeugebauerDec 27, 2022
@nelson @kevin Oh I'm so glad! I hope it continues to work well for you!
Show threadNelson MinarDec 29, 2022
@chrisjrn @kevin sadly, bloom is off the rose with fedliab for me now. Twice now it's had this bug: there's several hours of missing posts and no way to load them. When I first opened the client the 5 hour old post was the last I'd seen. It only loaded some fairly new ones, not the ones 1-5 hours ago.
Show threadDr David GuestDec 27, 2022

@nelson

Unless you have a lot of time how do you know where to start?

Show threadSupposeNotDec 27, 2022
@nelson it’s not much better if you follow someone who has a popular post with people you follow.... makes the “finding where I left off” problem even more irritating. I read top to bottom in every other medium, and posts and threads can be much longer than a single phone screen, so the chronology running opposite the direction of text is super annoying. #HearHear!
Show threadDavidDec 27, 2022
@nelson I believe this is very much a client thing: Mammoth, Ivory, and Mona all remember your place (though none of them use the built-in marker API yet).
Show threadEckes Dec 27, 2022
@nelson it’s especially annoying since mastodon does have a read-cursor api (which allows to sync read state across devices), not sure why it is not used. This even worked in Twitter better (in newest Tweets mode)
Show threadDoctor MemoryDec 27, 2022
@nelson seriously. I like a lot of things about the fediverse but why on earth did mastodon decide to slavishly re-implement twitter's worst feature?
Show threadLunatechDec 27, 2022
@nelson #Mastonaut (a #MacOS #Mastodon client) does the same thing, and also when it displays images it cuts off the top and bottom, I think so it displays at 2:1 ratio, but I am reading it on a Mac desktop, not a phone, and even if I were on a phone I would not want it only displaying parts of images. And that's the best available MacOS client I have found so far. Right now the selection of free Mastodon readers is not great; maybe one of the ones that's still in development will be better.
Show threadSpacewizard! (Ed H)Dec 27, 2022
@nelson toot! on iOS has a subtle feature I love. if you're looking at, for example, tweets ABC...JKL and click "load more tweets," there's this little pointer that changes as you change scroll direction. when it's pointed up, and you load more tweets, you end up with ABC...GHIJKL and can keep reading upwards. If it's pointing down and you load more you get ABCDEF...JKL and can read downwards.
Show threadSpacewizard! (Ed H)Dec 27, 2022

@nelson it's a neat little sublety that allows you to load posts old-to-new or new-to-old, and it's really helpful for catching up in chronological order if that's what you want to do.

Not sure which-all clients can do that but it's sure nice when it's available.

Show threadFranck LeroyDec 27, 2022
@nelson absolutely. We shoumd have something like "lost of unread post" with a counter, that we can cleanup (manually or automatically when we saw them)
Show threadCyborgCabbageDec 28, 2022
@nelson Are you referring to the website or app? On the official app (which I am using), it starts you at the bottom of the new posts so you can scroll up.
Show threadbradfonsecaDec 28, 2022
@nelson
So, you want to pick up where you left off?