Don't like strangers busting into your mentions to give unsolicited opinions?
This could be solved if the Fediverse had better comment controls.
You should be able to make a read-only post if you want.
And you should be able to make a public post that's only writeable to followers.
You should also be able to lock a thread if it becomes a vector for abuse.
"Just make locked posts" is the worst response to this because that so-called "solution" basically tells people to reduce their visibility.
Many people don't want their visibility to be reduced.
However, they want a reduction in harassment.
In fact, much of the "I don't want search to exist" crowd exists due to lack of comment control.
People don't want to be found on search because they can't control the potential replies that might occur through a search vector.
I know this because plenty of the anti-search crowd wants public visibility -- but they don't want harassment.
No, a public post doesn't mean "talk to me".
Public means "publicly visible".
It's about being *read*.
Reading is different from writing.
Just as there's different settings for visibility, there should be different settings for replying.
On Mastodon, there's different visibility settings. They are:
* Public
* Unlisted
* Follower-only
* Mentioned people only
I think you could largely apply this to reply settings as well.
Except, reply settings could be:
* Public
* Local-only
* Follower-only
* Mentioned people only
If there were a way to prevent comments through search results, that would be good too.
It's funny. Regarding potential comment control on the Fediverse, people who are "pro" and "con" tend to be divided along gender lines.
Dudes tend to not want comment control 🤔
But there's a lot of women who very much want this feature. Many of them are DMing me privately to express support -- and that should tell you everything.
But seriously, the reply guy problem on Mastodon is embarrassing.
And it really puts a dent in the whole argument that Mastodon has got rid of social media toxicity.
Of course, that's not true. People have been complaining about reply guys for years.
It's becoming so bad that "Well, akshually..." has become a Mastodon stereotype.
This is why it's better to have more moderation tools, not less.
@haelos I'm not taking anything out of context. In fact, I screenshot the whole post.
The guy wrote "I'm literally entitled to harass".
@haelos
Either I misunderstand how the function works or we're misunderstanding each other.
Muting a thread stops me from seeing notifications for the thread. Muting an individual means I no longer see their content. It does not stop the user from participating in the conversation and posting further comments that are seen by others.
Hence my analogy of a blindfold and earmuffs that means I and only I stop hearing that person. I'm simply no longer aware of their existence in my house (my thread/discussion), but they're still at the party and able to converse with everyone else there.
@haelos this is the sequence, outside of my particular view (not logged in anywhere), that anybody who drops into the thread sees. Your convo with OP started around https://mastodon.social/@atomicpoet/109972804870877889 (first screenshot), which is the URL visited for everything I'm describing here. There's the chatter between the two of you next. If I join the party there, and follow the conversation, I see the full thread of conversations from there on (third screenshot) which will include this post I'm making here.
If OP mutes the thread or mutes your account, how does that dynamic change? Is there still an avenue for users other than OP to continue to see your further comments coming from the context of the original thread? If so, from a user controls behaviour that's a crap experience.
@Natanael_L @hugo No, I understand FOSS. Fediverse is the dumbest word I've ever heard and the fact you people use it unironically to describe your tech is sad and pathetic. I've never even looked up a single thing about how this place works.
Renaming basic things that already exist to convoluted bullshit is a pretty big problem with every new tech that comes out.
Probably explain why I prefer literally anywhere else and how it took so long for me to get here.
Tldr: cry some fuckin moré, kiddo
@haelos @hugo Tldr I can tell you never looked up a single thing about how this works.
The current activitypub model (fediverse) is essentially a gossip protocol. Muting people or banning them from one server has no effect beyond your local view. If some asshat stalker comments on your posts and you block them, your friends can still see their replies here. That's a problem. If you don't understand why that's a problem, you're part of the problem.
@haelos @hugo you also have a ridiculous view of human interactions, beyond the deep misunderstanding of how federated communication works, so I'm not going to waste much time trying to convince you.
The fact that you call normal interaction with friends "instigation" when some idiot comes searching for posts to reply with hate to makes it blatantly clear that you do not have any interest in healthy online communities.
Chris Trottier
Haelos Dagaz
Hugo Slabbert ⚠️
Natanael ⚠️