Chris TrottierThis is why social discovery on the Fediverse doesn’t work well.
Members of marginalized communities want to find affinity.
Hashtags don’t work.
Hashtags don’t work well for social discovery because:
1. They can refer to multiple things. For example, when you use #apple is it for the fruit or company?
2. They’re unmoderated and can be used by anyone for whatever reason
3. They’re awful for long phrases
4. They can be easily spammed
5. They don’t actually signify “opt-in” but can just as easily signify something meta
The logic of “only use hashtags for discovery” falls apart in that search itself often requires context.
For example, #tea can mean many things.
Is it referring to the beverage or gossip?
Sometimes I want to use hashtags but I can’t because I acknowledge that a community needs to claim it.
Using hashtags in place of groups is a hack, and does not function well for social discovery.
Howlin’ Hobbita community needs to claim it? the LGBTQ+BS community has “claimed” the word queer. according to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first definition of queer is “strange; odd.”
this would include me, even though I’m heterosexual. I mean *really*, I play ukulele. that’s twee at best. queer as fuck would describe me, amirite?