mekka okereke Jul 28, 2023

If we pretend that the only options are:

1) Chronological feed
2) Algorithmic feed where a company chooses the algorithm and objective function

And we pretend that "Share of time is a perfect metric for happiness," then this might make sense.

But... time spent isn't a perfect metric for happiness, and there is another option: 3) Algorithmic feed where the user has more control of the algorithm and objective function.

Eg, chronological *is* an algorithmic feed!🙂🙃

https://www.wired.com/story/meta-just-proved-people-hate-chronological-feeds/

Meta Just Proved People Hate Chronological Feeds

Some social media users and lawmakers say chronological feeds are healthier. A new study found that Facebook and Instagram users who were forced to see time-ranked posts turned to TikTok instead.

WIRED
Show threadjmeleskyJul 28, 2023

@mekkaokereke Even collapsing identical repeats/boosts into a single post would help clean up my timeline!

One approach that might work well (in the sense that “work well” means “looks to people like options, not algorithms”) is offer different “sort by”:

  • pure chronological
  • chronological plus boost collapse
  • sort by most boosted in the past (24/48/whatnot) hours
  • same sort, but only for posts originating in people I follow
  • sort by most liked/favorited in the past (24/48….)….
  • …

Those are all algorithms, but they’re both simple enough and with enough precedent in other scenarios that most users will know exactly what they should be doing. Which means they won’t be thought of as magic.

Show threadDinah 🕊🇺🇦

@jmelesky @mekkaokereke In all this, don't forget the big asset Mastodon already has in the ' Advanced Interface' with its multiple columns and their individual controls.

There is already a lot of capability to create fine-tuned feeds of Fediverse posts that we can build on.

Jul 28, 2023 at 4:59pmWeb
Show threadjmeleskyJul 28, 2023
@metagrrrl @mekkaokereke I’m an Akkoma user, and if I had the spare brainspace, a UI that offers stuff like that is definitely on my project list. Until that brainspace appears, though, I’m just gonna keep sharing ideas 😁