Mastodawn

Tim Chambers Feb 12, 2023

"To understand the future of Mastodon, we have to understand network effects...a product or service that gets more valuable as it attracts new users.

The people who stay...make it a busier, more exciting place...the next surge will find an even higher equilibrium as users who try Mastodon find more fully acclimated users who can hold their hands as they get settled in, and also provide the vibrant community that presents a good reason for doing so."

https://doctorow.medium.com/of-course-mastodon-lost-users-c48ef8102891

Of Course Mastodon Lost Users - Cory Doctorow - Medium

This week (Feb 10–17), I’ll be in Australia, touring my book Chokepoint Capitalism with my co-author, Rebecca Giblin. We’re doing a remote event for NZ on Feb 13. Next are Melbourne (Feb 14), Sydney…

Medium

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Steffen Christensen Feb 12, 2023

@tchambers @pluralistic I'm of the opinion that the killer app in the space will be user-controllable algorithmic timelines. We all like the "no algorithms" feature of Mastodon: it is obviously better than the rage-fuelling and democracy-destroying timelines that attracting eyeballs to advertisers requires of Facebook and Twitter. https://www.wsj.com/podcasts/the-journal/the-facebook-files-part-4-the-outrage-algorithm/e619fbb7-43b0-485b-877f-18a98ffa773f

The Facebook Files, Part 4: The Outrage Algorithm - The Journal. - WSJ Podcasts

In the fourth episode of our investigative series based on an extensive array of internal Facebook documents, we explore the fallout of a major algorithm change the company made in 2018. The documents outline how an emphasis on engagement incentivized the spread of divisive, sensational content and misinformation. WSJ's Keach Hagey and Jeff Horwitz explain how attempts from within the company to undo some of the damage were often thwarted.

Wall Street Journal

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Joanna Bryson, blathering

@Wikisteff @tchambers @pluralistic I've been meaning to write about this for Wired, but haven't found time. Twitter was great when it had no algorithm other than muting tweets that started with an @ if you didn't know at least two people involved. I have to say that I haven't found mastodon as great as twitter was then, at least not yet. Also, Twitter was fine with tapbot & lists, avoiding their apps & algs.