My Fediverse Advice:
* Follow more people. No, even more people than that. Basically, if you find a real person and their posts are good follow 'em
* If you get a good reply to a post boost it. If you make a good reply to a post boost it. Replies are not visible in the feed unless you do this. As long as the post is an OK start to a conversation or interesting boost it.
* Write thoughtful replies. And if you put effort into a reply boost it or probably only the people tagged will see it.
I am still relatively new to the Fediverse. I'm very happy with it, but there's one thing I've noticed re:boosts.
I now follow several people who regularly boost posts from people I already follow, so I may see the post when it's first posted, then see it again two or three times when it's boosted by others. Is there some setting to adjust to avoid that, or do I just bask in the fact that I'm part of a pod of like-minded folk?
@VirginiaHolloway @futurebird I used to notice this all the time when I first joined, and now I don't notice it any more, so I'm also curious to learn the answer!
The only thing I consciously did was mute boosts by a few accounts who boosted very often. Maybe that's why I don't notice the same post boosted multiple times as much.
@semitones @VirginiaHolloway @futurebird which app allows you to do so?
I now have two mastodon apps: the official one with all the boosts, and tusky, where I don't have ANY boosts.
So depending on how much time I want to spend on my phone, I choose one or the other :)
@ineiti @VirginiaHolloway @futurebird I only really like Mastodon for Android. I tried tusky but I didn't really get it. (EDIT: that's awesome that you can curate two unique experiences using 2 separate apps!) The Web interface on desktop is ok, but not as compelling somehow for me.
Once you're following someone, you can use the 3 dots menu to hide boosts from them but still see their OG posts. https://docs.joinmastodon.org/user/moderating/#hide-boosts
@VirginiaHolloway @futurebird Perhaps a more general part of the philosophy is that since there is no algorithm to do the filtering for you, you have to do some of the filtering yourself. As you scroll through the timeline, you simply ignore the stuff that doesn't look interesting or that you've seen already.
This isn't very difficult to do. It just takes a little getting used to if you come from a place that's more algorithmically curated.
@VirginiaHolloway I was looking for that type of filtering when I was first active here. I'm not aware of any way to do exactly what you (and I) want to do. I've found that between increasing the number of accounts I follow, and getting used to the repeated boosts, I don't notice it nearly as much any more.
If you find a way to make the filter we are looking for, please post!
@futurebird there are at least two tactics: Read everything that people you follow post, or just glance over the flood of posts that you can't really consume in the few hours you are awake.
When people who follow over 1,000 accounts start following me, I know they'll probably see less than 1% of my posts.
Let's see if that's true.
@Stefan_S_from_H @futurebird I lean toward the strategy of reading everything that the people I follow post. I curate who I follow and which of my followers I hide boosts. I currently follow 131 accounts. It is working pretty well, I am seeing a good amount of interesting things on my home timeline, although I probably can't read everything.
But I am curious how people do it that follow thousands of accounts? Do they have some kind of algorithms to surface the interesting posts.
@davidruffner @Stefan_S_from_H
The algorithm is other people boosting them.
Although I would love a feed that showed the ONE most recent post from each person I follow. So that I could see something from everyone even those who don't post as often.
@davidruffner @Stefan_S_from_H @futurebird
It's possible to hide boosts. Sometimes I will do that so I can focus on what's been directly written by the people I follow, without the clutter of what they've boosted.
@davidruffner @Stefan_S_from_H @futurebird Not saying this'll work for everyone, but personally I use lists tabs (lists of specific users) and hashtag tabs to separate out topic-specific content.
The latter is different from merely following hashtags so they appear in your main feed. There's a whole separate feed on my screen to which I can add or remove hashtags of interest, a feature on the Tusky app.
@davidruffner @futurebird some of them only follow others to get followed back. To boost the numbers.
Then they use a list to only read the accounts they are truly interested in.
@Stefan_S_from_H @davidruffner
That was what I remember from twitter. But, I've found it to be less of the case here.
I do think the fedi could be subject to the problem some places like tumblr have where older more established accounts stop following new people once they are happy with how active their feed is ... so being new might feel isolating.
I didn't follow anyone new for a few months! I just forgot to do it. And that's not good, correcting it I see I've been missing out.
@futurebird @Stefan_S_from_H @davidruffner
> I've found it to be less of the case here.
oh I dunno about that, whenever something I post gets mildly popular, I get followed by a bunch of accounts that follow like three thousand people and have a hundred followers themselves, it's pretty easy to see what they're trying to achieve.
@noodlejetski @Stefan_S_from_H @davidruffner
I assume those are soon to be very frustrated spammers.
This place is so rough for spammers, the poor things. LOL.
@noodlejetski @futurebird @Stefan_S_from_H @davidruffner
Giving those people the benefit of the doubt, it could be that they are shy, mostly like reading and don't post much or have much to say. Though, if they've been on here six months and have 5000 posts and only a few followers, that's a different story.
@futurebird @Stefan_S_from_H @davidruffner
I tend to follow people in binges. I think when I get home from this trip I'm going to sit down and go through my followers and add a ton more. Simple and unremarkable as it is to follow and unfollow people here, for some reason it feels like an effort I have to think about.
@Mikal @Stefan_S_from_H @davidruffner
Things feel more fresh since I did it though. I would have been happy without doing it but it's nice to see new people and new topics.
@futurebird I basically follow anyone who isn't clearly awful!
With algorithmic feeds we've ceded our control over what we ingest.
The cost of taking back control is bringing people into our feed and that curation.
Oh, I didn't realize that, but that's great. They can mute them!
@Mikal @Eetschrijver I’ve seen boosts of self-promotional posts to the point where the same posts showed up multiple times in my feed as I scrolled. With no algorithm to distribute, it got pretty repetitive.
That said, I may reboost older posts once or twice on a limited basis if I deem it important enough. I have boosted a reply in instances where I didn’t want to boost a post without context (or if it contained an image missing alt text).
" which is honestly greatFor some reason people think "myrmePROPAGANDIST" is a joke. I assure you it is not.
This is wise.
@futurebird A personal variation/improvement on the first rule that I don't often is "follow and filter". There are active accounts that boost a lot or post on multiple topics, some of which might not be interesting. Instead of unfollowing, a first step is to try and install filters to remove uninteresting/unwanted posts. That also helps keep the feed managable.
To help out with this on the other side of the coin, it is useful to tag posts properly and with common hashtags.
Can't be worse that whatever @streetsblognyc keeps doing.
@askesemann @futurebird Is there a firefox thing for this? I specifically don't put social media on my phone...
But otherwise it looks like what I was looking for, yes.
Masto starts to feel pretty bumpin' when you get to about 1000 follows. I recommend getting as close to that as you can.
@futurebird I prefer my home feed to be combination of people I know and favorite hashtags, so if I have a bad day, there's non-overwhelming feed.
On good days I visit Explore and Live feeds tabs and interact there if/when it makes sense.
@futurebird
Thank you for the nice suggestions.
Similar to this post, I also strongly advocate usage of hashtags in posts and also following hashtags.
Write thoughtful posts without caring about reach and visibility. Good posts will find relevant audience.
In this context, I must highlight a quote by John Stuart Mill. This quote encourages individuals to embrace their right to free expression and to engage in respectful and constructive dialogue with others.
I love these suggestions! I'd also say follow hashtags! Lots and lots of hashtags that interest you, and groups! @[email protected] RE: My Fediverse Advice: * Follow more people. No, even more people than that. Basically, if you find a real person and their posts are good follow 'em * If you get a good reply to a post boost it. If you make a good reply to a post boost it. Replies are not visible in the feed unless you do this. As long as the post is an OK start to a conversation or interesting boost it. * Write thoughtful replies. And if you put effort into a reply boost it or probably only the people tagged will see it.
@futurebird
Also, follow hashtags!
If you're interested in cycling, follow #clycling
If you're interested in pomegranates, follow #pomegranates
Make sure to use hashtags in your posts
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