Amin Hollon 🏳Mar 9, 2024
I have to say, the placeholders @placeholder_bot are a little annoying but it’s really nice to be able to have the timeline history. And it seems to be working great!
Show threadOrbitalMartianMar 10, 2024

@placeholder_bot @amin Could you not do some magic behind the scenes to remove the bot from the feed but the posts still be there?

It is great being able to go through the timeline.

Show threadAmin Hollon 🏳Mar 10, 2024

@orbitalmartian @placeholder_bot

Nope, if it were filtered out the timeline would clear. :P

Same if you mute the account, I think.

Show threadOrbitalMartianMar 10, 2024
@placeholder_bot @amin Right… fair enough.
Show threadAndrás Németh (old account)Mar 11, 2024
@orbitalmartian @placeholder_bot @amin I'm working on the solution in my imaginatively titled project "placeholder" to make the messages more fun and varying. Amin will have to add the executable when he signs off on it that he likes it, until then ideas are welcome on what to include.
Show threadOrbitalMartianMar 11, 2024
@placeholder_bot @sunarch @amin Ooh, an imaginative name… Well I mean anything could go there, literally just a single word like “boop” or something stupid like that XD
Is it using a list of predefined phrases to post?
Show threadAndrás Németh (old account)Mar 13, 2024
@orbitalmartian @placeholder_bot @amin I can add predefined ones, but the original idea was to do madlibs-style combinations for funny effects.
Show threadAndrás Németh (old account)Mar 16, 2024
@orbitalmartian @amin

@placeholder_bot just liked these posts, so there's no need for the project anymore, it became sentient.
Show threadClaytonMar 16, 2024
@sunarch @orbitalmartian @amin @placeholder_bot since were trying to make the bot not boring, I have some jokes too you could through in.
Show threadAndrás Németh (old account)
@cjerrington @orbitalmartian @placeholder_bot I'm for that if @amin agrees.
Mar 16, 2024 at 2:20pmWeb
Show threadAmin Hollon 🏳Mar 16, 2024

@sunarch @cjerrington @orbitalmartian @placeholder_bot

My main concern is that I don’t want the placeholders to be distracting. They need to be easy to ignore if people don’t want to pay attention to them.

Show threadAndrás Németh (old account)Mar 16, 2024
@amin @cjerrington @orbitalmartian @placeholder_bot We could do separate versions and people could block the ones they don't want. Admittedly, this would require action from the users, but I don't think it's too much.
Show threadAmin Hollon 🏳Mar 16, 2024

@sunarch @cjerrington @orbitalmartian @placeholder_bot

Probably not the best path since it means twice as many placeholders in the timeline. :P

Show threadAndrás Németh (old account)Mar 16, 2024
@amin @cjerrington @orbitalmartian Then we can keep just the regular format for the placeholder but I can add a jokes bot account that can be subscribed to on demand, if you guys want.
Show threadClaytonMar 16, 2024
@sunarch @amin @orbitalmartian I understand both sides. Coding a bot might be fun 😁
Show threadOrbitalMartianMar 16, 2024
@cjerrington @sunarch @amin I’d love to code a bot, I’d just need someway to run it XD
Show threadAndrás Németh (old account)Mar 16, 2024
@orbitalmartian @cjerrington @amin I've got a tiny server instance, I'd be happy to use that for this. Just do a FOSS repo with something I can build and run and I'll deploy it for you:)
Show threadAmin Hollon 🏳Mar 16, 2024

@sunarch @orbitalmartian @cjerrington

Ideally I'd rather not have another bot account on this instance; as I wrote in the CoC, I want the focus here to be on personal accounts. Placeholder Bot was only an exception because it's functionally necessary to keep the server running properly.

That said if it's an opt-in bot that people subscribe to instead of showing up on a local timeline, instance of the bot doesn't matter as much so hosting it on botsin.space or some similar instance should work well.