Just realised that on Mastodon, boosting *is* the algorithm.
There's no code trying to cleverly show me stuff it reckons I'd be into, based on what my contacts are into, instead my contacts are saying "I like this, I bet my contacts would like it too" and that is way smarter than any algorithm.
Thank you, boosters!
So because some people are struggling with too many boosts in their feeds - there are ways to make that easier.
In the vanilla Mastodon web client, there's a little filters button at the top right of the home feed. Open that and you get toggles to show or not show boosts or replies.
Another client I use a lot is called @phanpy - what's great about it is that it groups boosts into carousels that you can easily scroll down past, or swipe sideways to explore.
And if you start to use @phanpy and enjoy it, please support @cheeaun who is doing amazing work building it 🥰
You can sponsor or donate here:
- https://github.com/sponsors/cheeaun
- https://buymeacoffee.com/cheeaun
@sarajw @phanpy You can also set your subscription to a user to show only their original posts, but not their boosts. There's not a middle ground, unfortunately (eg "X% of boosts" or "no more than X boosts per day").
Phanpy's "Catch-up" feature is great for this, though... You can peruse only original posts, separate from boosts, and you can see who is doing a lot of either, and just decide "you know what, no, enough out of you", skip reading, and then easily mute them for a while.
Aye, but the big difference here is you had to CHOOSE to look at Trending! 😁
I often boost things of marginal interest that just seem the sort of thing my followers might really like, and I restrain (somewhat) from too many from the same sources because, if they did like them, they surely would have subscribed by now!
So are hashtags!
I'm awful at tagging my toots (I'm lazy, and mostly replying), but following like 40-50 hashtags is how I found most of my favorite follows.
It makes social media a bit more of a DIY thing, but it also keeps you in control.
@Stefan_S_from_H you can make your account and posts followers only, I think? Then they're not boostable.
I've not seen any such upset, but it could be very likely that they're not in my circles. Hadn't considered that point of view.
@duco I find that's a problem of not following enough people 😅 the ones that are active do fill up the feed more when it's not very busy.
You can mute just their boosts if that helps you?
Otherwise yes, I find you either follow just a few people and want to see everything since your last visit, but the active people feel like they're hogging the feed, OR you follow lots of people which dilutes the heavy posters, and end up comfortable with the idea you won't catch up with everything.
@sarajw also consider what this means for accountability and agency.
You always know *exactly* why a thing got into your timeline: either you are following the author, or someone you follow boosted it, or you're following the hashtag.
Very easy to attribute stuff you might not like. And act upon that attribution.
@rysiek yep!
On twitter I used to laboriously go through and delete all the topics it had decided I was into, to try and kill off the suggestions. Would work for a while and then just start repopulating the list.
And hashtags
@sarajw I'm on a solo instance so I've found boosters to be crucial to me having a good time.
Without boosts, I think it'd feel a lot more quite over here 🥺
I'm really happy with the balance of new things showing up!
Thank you boosters indeed 💚
@sarajw I agree. The ‘what’s trending’ feed on Twitter bugged me and was an important reason for leaving (along with ‘he who shall not be named’). I don’t mind a few boosts in Fedi as I think I have been able to limit the people to those who boost items that interest me. Unfortunately in the early days I have unfollowed a couple of people I should just have muted boosts from, but you live and learn.
Hashtags and lists are great for filtering to topics you like.
The other algorithm is the "Explore" feed, which I use a lot.
It would be cool if there was a version of that for each hashtag. And also for user lists (to see what people in those list are boosting)
@sarajw The most algorithm-y view is the "explore" tab - that's "posts that are getting a lot of boosts, likes, and replies lately on this instance" (i.e., it doesn't matter whether the people interacting are people you follow, just that you share the same instance with them).
Actually I'm not sure if replies are counted, but boosts and likes are.
@sarajw That’s the social networking experience I remember from way back during what I call the ‘Golden Age of Social Networking’. The four short years of 2009 to 2013, from the latter years of elementary school to the first half of high school, were the years in which the utility of social networking sites were at their peak.
It’s all been downhill from there.
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