CrazyMyra
Quite amazing how completely techbros can fuck up without really trying.
Take BlueSky's new labelling system, released late last month. It allows users to create labels for accounts and individual posts.
So you can warn your pals/subscribers about, for example, transphobic accounts or content.
Sounds good, right?
There's two little catches.
Anyone with a few tech skills can set up a labeller. So the transphobes can target trans people, too. And if you feel you've been mislabelled, you have to subscribe to the labelling account to even report it.
But the real lulu is that you can't block a labeller from seeing - and labelling - your account or your posts. A block merely means YOU can't see them on BlueSky.
Way to go to open a whole new harassment vector, dipshits.
Apr 17, 2024 at 9:26pmWeb
Show threadCrazyMyraApr 17, 2024
Quite ridiculously, the devs are listening to a group of idiots who want to make it impossible to "hide" certain labelled content.
The racists, other assorted fash, misogynists, and antisemites are rubbing their hands in glee.
Show threadCrazyMyraApr 17, 2024
Oh, and you can't even see the labels on your account without going offsite to an app where the single sane person in this meshugas allows you to check.
Show threadCrazyMyraApr 17, 2024
The details only get worse.
The BlueSky account representing a labeller does not have to show its follows or followers. It indicates only "likes". Those who subscribe to its service do not have to like anything to see all the labels.
(It's this account you can "block" - not the labeller itself.)
Show threadBenApr 18, 2024

@OutOnTheMoors I guess it just takes a while to see all those problems with first principle thinking ;)

Also weird though: isn’t this exactly the kind of task AI should be good at? Let people subscribe to different ones if they need to.

Show threadCrazyMyraApr 18, 2024
@b3n The site uses AI in determining its own labels (such as nudity and gore), and it works reasonably well to determine visual issues.
What's a whole lot less easy to determine are when it comes to context and behaviour. AI is pretty useless here.
Any subtlety of analysis runs the risk of an entire account being branded as supporting a cause. This is already happening wrt Palestine.
Show threadCrazyMyraJun 22, 2024
Sometimes I absolutely hate being Cassandra.
Show threadCrazyMyraJun 22, 2024
For the record, I currently have only one label on my Bluesky account. It's "Bluesky elder" - given merely because mine was one of the first 500k accounts on the site.
Most of the labels really are this daft.
Show threadJust BobyJun 22, 2024
@OutOnTheMoors That’s an extra important information to have a label for. Does it also have some pejorative meaning like “boomer 😒”?
Show threadCrazyMyraJun 22, 2024
@boby_biq Not in context. Many of the other Bluesky "elders" are young and trans, as that group was a big early adopter of the app.
Show threadCrazyMyraJun 22, 2024
@boby_biq I feel like it's a bit of stolen valour with me 😂
Show threadbotvolutionJun 22, 2024

@OutOnTheMoors

I find the whole vibe from actual users there increasingly reflexive & febrile.

All the while, Bluesky (the company) hands off any responsibility for doing hard (expensive) things onto the user, dressing it up as "empowering".

Show threadCrazyMyraJun 22, 2024
@botvolution That's exactly what's happening. The labelling saga is by no means their only mistake, but it was the tipping point. They're throwing their core users under the bus.
Show threadMr Lawrence 🇪🇺🇷🇼Jun 22, 2024
@OutOnTheMoors Me too. 😕
Show threadBlack Chic with the Red TruckApr 17, 2024
@OutOnTheMoors
lol
So glad I never even thought about peeking into bluesky.
What a mess.
Show threadCrazyMyraApr 17, 2024
@ReneeWestberry The commercial imperative is hastening some terrible decisions. It's still fun, but I don't think the rest of this US election year will be very enjoyable.
Show threadSpaceLifeFormApr 17, 2024

@OutOnTheMoors

Like Threads, it is not going to go well.

Show threadBruce Heerssen Apr 17, 2024
@OutOnTheMoors
Blocking accounts just hides them? Do they not know what block is actually for?
Show threadBruce Heerssen Apr 17, 2024
@OutOnTheMoors
A "hide this account" function would actually be useful, but not if it's disguised as a block function.
Show threadCrazyMyraApr 17, 2024
@bruce BlueSky's block is the best around. You can't see their posts, they can't see yours, and, if they're in your mentions, they're gone - even if it breaks the thread.
The problem is with the labellers themselves, which use Ozone software, not the basic BlueSky system, and are "immune" to blocks.
Show threadBruce Heerssen Apr 17, 2024
@OutOnTheMoors
Thanks for the clarification. Not having used Bsky, I don't know intricacies of the platform.
Show threadSabellaApr 18, 2024
@OutOnTheMoors every new thing I learn about BlueSky makes me wonder, will there ever be a breaking point for all my trans friends that ignored me or snapped when I tried to warn them.
Show threadCrazyMyraApr 18, 2024
@gothodile The trans community is becoming increasingly vulnerable as a result of commercial decisions made by BlueSky-the-company.
The terrible thing is that the devs cannot seem to see this, as they are, personally, very supportive of trans rights.
Show threadSabellaApr 18, 2024
@OutOnTheMoors and I'll believe them at their word when it no longer seems to be the case that every new feature they push out to BlueSky just so happens to hurt trans people. but the rot is at the core, they had to implement the ability just to block people after the service went public.
Show threadCrazyMyraApr 18, 2024
@gothodile Yup. I haven't changed my settings or altered my way of selecting who to follow, but I'm seeing a whole lot more anti-trans posts recently.
That's because (like on Twitter) people are trolling - or accidentally amplifying trolls via quotes - for engagement, not belief.
It's eye-wateringly stupid behaviour, but encouraged by the devs because they look almost exclusively at traffic to decide how well the site's doing.
Show threadgretaredApr 18, 2024
@OutOnTheMoors can none of these people imagine a two sided situation? Like, life is not a fantasy novel/western where good vs bad happens period. The last 4 years ffs!
Show threadJust BobyApr 18, 2024

@OutOnTheMoors 🙋🏻‍♀️I went to see the dumpster fire bc I’m an asshole but all I see so far ppl thanking the feature and being happy about it?

What am I missing (or it’s just that the user interface makes me go bananas too quick)

Show threadCrazyMyraApr 18, 2024
@boby_biq Labelling wouldn't be problematic if everyone used it as intended.
But why I sound off about techbros is because they don't take enough cognisance that people online are often awful and abuse features. Especially as an environment becomes more competitive or confrontational.
It's like leaving a backdoor to your system open and then just shrugging when it's exploited.
Show threadJust BobyApr 18, 2024
@OutOnTheMoors They’re riding on a different vibe: mastodon riding on the “oh so righteous, so pure” vibe 🙄, and Bluesky is the “have a long drag on a joint, inhale, and exhale- I’ve got cool ideas, what can possibly go wrong, man”  vibe, I guess.
Show threadCrazyMyraApr 18, 2024
@boby_biq Yeah. And the engagement is increasingly what I call "t-shirt tagging": people replying to posts with a "zinger" to get noticed.
They aren't responding to the OP at all - they don't bother to like or boost - they're just trying to grab onto the coat-tails of a popular post. It's like those irritating t-shirt spammers on Twitter with their links to dropshipping garbage sites 😂
Show threadAvnerApr 20, 2024
@OutOnTheMoors I would have more sympathy for the devs if people hadn't been pointing out this exact issue beforehand
Show threadCrazyMyraApr 20, 2024
@Avner Me too
Show threadCrazyMyraApr 20, 2024
@Avner You already see "mafias" forming (not criminal organisations, I mean only the structure) as you do in societies where the "police" are ineffectual or corrupt.
Show threadAvnerApr 20, 2024
@OutOnTheMoors I'm not entirely sure I understand what you mean but that sounds interesting! Do you have an example? For context, I'm not actually on bluesky but I have been keeping an eye on the discourse.
Show threadCrazyMyraApr 20, 2024
@Avner As in offline society, vulnerable or underrepresented groups have leaders (usually bigger accounts) that keep the peace within their communities and defend them against outsiders.
There was a group (it's still around, but much less active) of women who took on issues of creepy guys. They'd lead a pack into the guy's mentions and expose the rotten behaviour.
But this kind of community moderation takes time and effort, and so there were some "buy me a coffee" type of set-ups started. Unfortunately, those mods get to rely on such income or love the sense of power, and there's a tendency to start faking trouble to keep the cash/drama flowing if there are no outside issues.
This is the origins of real mafias - communities paying their own for protection, then it getting out of hand. It's been an online issue for a long time, and Bluesky's weak central moderation system and "competitive" environment encourage it.
Show threadAvnerApr 20, 2024
@OutOnTheMoors gotcha, thanks!
Show threadCrazyMyraApr 20, 2024
@Avner Given some label examples in new post
Show threadpaulJun 22, 2024

@OutOnTheMoors

This is the one thing we didn't want to happen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_U-7L1tmBAo

This is the one thing we didn't want to happen.

YouTube
Show threadGirlCreatureJun 22, 2024
@OutOnTheMoors I wish we still valued developing thoughtfully and deliberately, instead, tech values breaking things fast, changing things fast, and tweaking (or not) after the fact as problems identify themselves. Benefits in that change can occur quickly now, but with that speed comes all the unforeseen (or known but ignored) problems and real harm.
Show threadCrazyMyraJun 22, 2024
@margaret_agnes Not understanding crowd behaviour - especially in large numbers - is one of their biggest failings
Show threadGirlCreatureJun 22, 2024
@OutOnTheMoors and not listening to people who do understand and try to advise during the process
Show threadCrazyMyraJun 22, 2024
@margaret_agnes Yeah. I've tried 😂