Vicki KyriakakisJan 5, 2023

A reminder that on Mastodon you are the algorithm. If you’re seeing content you don’t want, block or filter it out. Boost things you want more of. You control what you see. It’s better than trying to control others. Focus on curating the kind of feed you’re interested in.

If you don’t want to see politics, unfollow people who post or boost a lot about politics.

The #birdsite is very passive in terms of what it demands from you. Mastodon isn’t. It’s a mind shift but it’s a good one to make.

Show threadCameron PalmerJan 5, 2023
@VickiKyriakakis I’m of the opinion the algorithmic timeline on Twitter was consistently better. Even with many of the same follows the timeline moves glacially and with less relevance
Show threadSarah WJan 5, 2023
@palmerc @VickiKyriakakis
Here, you are the algorithm. Boost toots you like to see. I love the idea that no one else is deciding for me, it's entirely up to me.
Show threadJason Brooks Jan 6, 2023

@Sarahw @palmerc @VickiKyriakakis Boosting toots doesn't do anything to get more of that content into your timeline. You can't control what's in your timeline, beyond the people you follow, so *they* control what's in your timeline.

Following hashtags is one way to fine tune your timeline, but again it relies on others using hashtags.

An algorithm that we could control for ourselves would be vastly superior to the basic follows in strict chrono order timeline we have now.

Show threadSarah W
@jasonbrooks @palmerc @VickiKyriakakis interesting, I understood that boosting did affect your timeline, although liking didn't. I really don't know much about these things, but have seen this said repeatedly. Are you saying this is not the case?
Jan 6, 2023 at 7:32amWeb
Show threadJason Brooks Jan 6, 2023

@Sarahw If boosting things that people you follow have posted encourages them to post more stuff like that, you could say it affects your timeline, but it still depends on them.

The whole thing with the "no algorithms" is you only see posts from people and hashtags you follow, and only ever see them in strict chronological order, minus any mutes or filters you've set up.

Show threadCameron PalmerJan 6, 2023
@Sarahw @jasonbrooks @VickiKyriakakis Boosting is, I assume similar to Twitter. A retweet broadcasts more broadly because it is sent to your followers.