Is your Mastodon timeline too empty or too full? Are you seeing stuff you don't want to, and missing stuff you do want to see? Is your timeline overwhelmed by someone who shares too many posts?
These and lots more timeline problems are solved in the "How to customise your Mastodon timeline" guide:
p.s. Good grief. I'm trying to help people use this place and just got accused of "disinformation" and "causing harm" because they didn't like the way I used the word algorithm in the guide.
Can we please chill out and be a bit more friendly? The Fedi relies on volunteers helping each other and making suggestions in a constructive way.
If I've done something wrong it is brilliant if you point it out, most of the guides rely on people correcting me. But there is no need for personal attacks.
p.p.s. Thank you so much for all the supportive replies! 🙏 It is very motivating if these guides are helping you 😊
Also, thank you to people who disagree with what I write but do so without personal remarks or accusations. Very grateful for you taking the time to make suggestions or corrections or alternative viewpoints.
Thank you
Your tips have what has made it easy for me to navigate the fediverse, there are places i would not have know or tips I would not have read if not for your work. Once again grateful thanks
@FediTips that sucks, I'm sorry to hear that. We should be civil on here 😓
The work you do here is invaluable!
It is by the dictionary definition, it isn't by common usage. What the dictionary says on technical matters often diverges from common usage.
Maybe the clearest example is "computer": Most people use that word to mean a laptop or desktop PC/Mac and not a smartphone. But going by the dictionary definition of "computer", the smartphone ought to be called a computer too.
I'm trying to use common usage as I'm mainly aiming my guides at new and non-technical people.
@FediTips @jannem @arthfach Yeah... I think anyone who takes communication seriously, as you do, has to understand that in some cases it makes sense to be pedantic about what words mean, and in other cases it makes sense to sacrifice precision for ease of understanding. What you're doing is definitely in the latter category.
A fair number of people (some of whom really should know better IMO) don't seem to have ever considered that distinction.
@FediTips asks "Can we please chill out and be a bit more friendly?"
I highly recommend that.
Always.
But also particularly when somebody is trying to help without compensation, just for the sake of the community.
*every* reply in this thread up until yours appears to have latched onto the word algorithm without having bothered reading the article and the very nuanced explanation of why it uses the term algorithm, and what it does, and does not mean.
The article is as near as possible to perfection as an introduction to the fedi verse can be.
@ifixcoinops @bammerlaan @afewbugs thanks for the rofl y'all.
Made this whole thread worth reading 🙇♀️
@FediTips Accusing someone of causing harm for using the non-technical definition of algorithm is kind of darkly funny in a way.
Like it's clear that they understand that words can have expanded and non-literal definitions, but seemingly only for words they want to use to make a fiddly argument about terminology sounds more dire.
Tbh, between the word "algorithm" and the word "harm", it is probably more important to insist on an accurate definition of the word "harm".
When I say #NoAlgorithmsNoMasters, I share your definition of algorithm and I appreciate your work.
@FediTips Hell to the yes.
There are three criteria to making any kind of a public statement apocryphally credited to Socrates, but no less relevant for not having actually said by the man himself:
1. Is it true? Did you check it? are your sources reliable, hopefully more than one?
2. Is it useful? In this case, does it correct an error of fact? or is it simply denigrating the messenger? Which leads directly to
3. Is it kind? Even if it's about bad men, does what you're saying help good people? Or does it make them reconsider their oft-thankless efforts ot make the world better? Does it bring hope, or bitterness?
I invite you to consider these things for yourselves. You don't _have to_, at all... but people with way more reach than me will see what you do, and we will remember.
Credit to Tim Griffin of GriffinEd (WINOMastodon... yet?) for reminding me of that...
@FediTips Well, "There is no algorithm on Mastodon" *is* wrong.
To a techie an "algorithm" is "a procedure which terminates".
In this case we're presumably talking about the algorithm which decides which posts a user sees. Which *does* exist, because the user sees post! - and is described in various places (starting with "you see posts from people you follow" and getting more complicated than that).
This is a fair point and you're not technically wrong.
I've tried to cover this in the guide itself, tl:dr the dictionary definitions of technical things are often veered away from by real world use. If they are different, I err on the side of real world common use as the site is aimed at non-technical people.
Another example I give in the guide is "computer", it technically includes smartphones but that's not what most people mean if they say "computer".
@FediTips Ah yes, the "I've got half a dozen computers in my wallet [chip and pin cards]" answer.
Personally if the context is unclear I say "phone" or "laptop" or "real computer".
@TimWardCam yeah but technically correct is not in fact always the best kind of correct
also
fwiw @FediTips it helps me to remember that there are lots of people for whom it is literally their full time jobs to make things worse online, and there are also a larger fleet of people who have socialised to match those other people's behaviour, even if they don't know they're just giving it away for free. so if you see me handing someone a c-ya, know that that's usually followed by an instance-wide block because i got no time for trollers.
Let's keep it chilled out and friendly? 🙂
Tim is disagreeing with me but he's not making personal remarks or saying anything rude, so there's no need to be personal or rude about him either?
@FediTips
1) Looked to me like you explained yourself fully.
2) I was just thinking this morning about how wonderful you are for helping people.
3) I'm really tired of obnoxious people driving good people away. I'm sorry you have to deal with it.
4) I probably should have sent you thanks earlier. If I had any money, I'd donate to help you out. You are doing an essential work, and you are appreciated.
There is also the possibility of actually hostile participants running down fedi.
@FediTips People accusing you of misinformation apparently cannot read! You did explain how you are using the word algorithm:
«I thought that, at a technical level, “algorithm” can mean any set of computing instructions? So surely all computers and websites use algorithms?
That’s not what most people mean by the word “algorithm”. To most people, especially non-technical people, algorithm means a weird hidden thing that messes up their timeline, often based on what they have previously interacted with.
If algorithm meant any kind of computing instruction, then it would be a useless word when trying to discuss the problems of manipulative black box code.»
Technically, showing exactly the posts and boosts of those you've followed, in chronological order, with no filtering, adjustments, or heuristics *is an algorithm.*
Even when it is *not* the kind of "algorithm" used and criticized by the mainstream sites we criticize.
Our words are often ambiguous. We often need to clarify what *we mean* by them.
…
And hey; I appreciate your good work!
I think many do. 💕
Jesus Christ, some people need to go outside.
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