Kit Bashir
What do we think about tags.pub, the fedi node that appears to create a bot to retoot any hashtag that gets an appreciable number of boosts? It's created a bunch of bots off the back of some of my more popular hashtag abuses.
Ill advised
15.1%
Tasteless
11.4%
Evil
7.8%
Nuke the node from orbit
11.4%
Block those assholes
13.3%
Waiting for the scam to drop
18.1%
This is why we can't have nice things
16.3%
Secret Nth thing
6.6%
Poll ended at .
May 26 at 11:42pmWeb
Show threadKit Bashir4d ago

I guess not hating it could have been a poll option, too. #ObviousNinthThing

Edit: a number of people have noted that these bots are an efficient way for a person on a small or single-user instance to follow a hashtag.

Edit 2 Electric Boogaloo: itā€™s not evil, see here https://cosocial.ca/@evan/116654487550494747

Evan Prodromou (@[email protected])

@[email protected] Hi! I'm the main developer of tags.pub. I'm also one of the authors of ActivityPub. I work for the Social Web Foundation, a non-profit created to help make the Fediverse better for everyone. So, no scam. I think tags.pub is great! The whole point is to make it easier for people to connect to topics they care about here on the Fediverse. I've really enjoyed using it for popular Fediverse-wide tags like #monsterdon or #HashTagGames.

CoSocial
Show threadLovesThašŸ„§4d ago
@Unixbigot I don't hate it. It is a pretty reasonable option for how to see more posts on a topic for a single user instance.
Show threadDaniel Carosone4d ago

@LovesTha @Unixbigot what makes a single-user instance special here?

I assume it's up to the server implementation to allow following hashtags, and even a single-user instance can do so. Just that perhaps some of the simpler/smaller servers (that a single-user might choose) don't have that protocol support and feature?

Show threadLovesThašŸ„§4d ago
@uep @Unixbigot they don't have a mass of people followed
Show threadDaniel Carosone4d ago

@LovesTha @Unixbigot hmm.. I had understood that followed tags were shared across servers in the protocol (each server tells others what tags their local users are following). I remember reading some api spec, even.

But .. they don't, so I have no idea what I read that I'm remembering as that.

Followed tags are only handled locally, and are a search over the federated timeline of stuff that arrives anyway because of user follows. So, yeah, hence the bot solution regardless of software.

Show threadEvan Prodromou2d ago

@uep @LovesTha @Unixbigot You can read more about it here: https://tags.pub/#why

But yes, you've got the gist.

tags.pub

Show threadGabe3d ago
@LovesTha @Unixbigot ... or instances with a relatively small intersection of people using a particular language and having particular fields of interest.
Show threadLovesThašŸ„§3d ago
@gabe @Unixbigot yeah, it can be seen at larger instances, the larger the instance the narrow the situations. At single user it's pretty much dominant for every case.
Show threadConsensus Tullyality4d ago
@Unixbigot I'd still vastly prefer a way to prevent the bots from boosting my posts without having to put opt-out hashtags in my bio
Show threadEvan Prodromou2d ago

@tully @Unixbigot You can block the domain, too.

https://tags.pub/#optout

I'm working on getting a patch applied to Mastodon so you can (optionally) filter or ignore notifications from tags.pub and other bots.

tags.pub

Show threadConsensus Tullyality2d ago

@evan @Unixbigot that's great if you happen to be the admin of your instance.

for most of us, however...

Show threadsuzanne2d ago
@tully @evan @Unixbigot
If you go to the profile webpage of one of the accounts on the server, the menu that allows you to block the account also allows you to block the whole server. Down at the bottom under report account.
Show threadConsensus Tullyality2d ago
@cshlan @evan @Unixbigot pretty sure that functions as a mute and not a block, despite how it's worded in Mastodon's UI
Show threadsuzanne2d ago
@tully @evan @Unixbigot
Well damn
Show threadDaniel Carosone4d ago
@Unixbigot i dunno, suspect sketchy, but are there fedi server implementations that don't allow following tags? this might be a workaround?
Show threadCameron4d ago
@uep @Unixbigot Yes, it's the best way to follow hashtags from single user instances without ingesting a full relay for all posts. There are other services like fedibuzz that do the same. However, if it boosts and notifies back to the original author that their post was boosted, that's a bit rude.
Show threadLovesThašŸ„§4d ago
@root @uep @Unixbigot I'm not against that notification, it lets you know it is happening and give you an option to opt out (block the instance)
Show threadPaul Edwin3d ago
@LovesTha @root @uep @Unixbigot Yeah, likewise. I'm not sure how else it would work.
Show threadEvan Prodromou2d ago
@uep @Unixbigot That's right! Most software that isn't Mastodon doesn't let you follow a hashtag. See https://tags.pub/#why
tags.pub

Show threadrdm4d ago

@Unixbigot
I'll allow for "Well intentioned, but poorly thought out", because it is plausible that it is running out of some teenager's bedroom.

Sadly, the cynic in me is waiting for the scam to drop.

Show threadEvan Prodromou2d ago

@rdm @Unixbigot It is not! It's run by the Social Web Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to making the Fediverse better for everyone.

I'm the main author, Evan Prodromou. I'm best known as one of the co-authors of ActivityPub.

The only scam is tricking you into finding more people and topics you enjoy on the Fediverse.

Show threadKit Bashir2d ago
@evan @rdm Thanks, Evan. So pleasantly surprised to encounter another not-evil bot fab. Perhaps some human guidance to dissuade it from creating bot instances for one-off hashtags? I add a unique hashtag to my microfiction toots of the form Title_More_Words_Here and my OP was prompted by noticing that the bot factory had pushed out a bot that will never see another toot with that tag. <3
Show threadEvan Prodromou2d ago
@Unixbigot @rdm so, the good news is that the resource overhead for a single tagbot is extremely low. We expect that most tags will never be re-used. In the 3 months since we went online, we've seen 330K unique hashtags, and only about 112K have been used twice or more.
Show threadrdm2d ago

@evan @Unixbigot

How pleasantly surprising.

Show threadMikeH4d ago
@Unixbigot All of the above.
Show threadKelkyag3d ago

@Unixbigot

My instance moderator seems cool with it: https://wandering.shop/@proprietor/116547159550464537

The service's own write-up: https://tags.pub/

Assuming its opt-outs work as described, I don't have a problem with the service -- hashtags are meant for finding things. Also being able to put a hashtag in a list is interesting. OTOH, I rarely use hashtags, so I'm unlikely to be annoyed by the service.

Managing Barista and Janitor (@[email protected])

Okay, following the caturday aT tags.pub address has made my weekend Mastodon chores a heck of a lot more floofy. I do not mind this service.

The Wandering Shop
Show threadEvan Prodromou2d ago

@Unixbigot Hi! I'm the main developer of tags.pub. I'm also one of the authors of ActivityPub. I work for the Social Web Foundation, a non-profit created to help make the Fediverse better for everyone. So, no scam.

I think tags.pub is great! The whole point is to make it easier for people to connect to topics they care about here on the Fediverse. I've really enjoyed using it for popular Fediverse-wide tags like #monsterdon or #HashTagGames.

Show threadKit Bashir2d ago
@evan I get it now, i didnā€™t realize following a tag only gets one the toots that would already have visited your node. Canā€™t edit the poll post to add a resolution but have boosted a bunch of positive replies. <3
Show threadEvan Prodromou2d ago
@Unixbigot A healthy skepticism is what keeps the Fediverse fun and free.
Show threadPaul Edwin1d ago
@Unixbigot @evan I hadn't previously realised that either. It was reading https://tags.pub/ that gave me the lightbulb moment.
tags.pub

Show threadConsensus Tullyality2d ago

@evan @Unixbigot while it does achieve that, there are certain topics which I do post with hashtags under the expectation that any boosts are being done by individuals, and I was recently surprised to discover that Tagpush had boosted one.

the fragmented ephemerality of fedi is actually something I value greatly. not everyone needs access to everything. not everyone deserves access to everyone.

and honestly, the way that every one of these "discoverability" machines end up getting built on an opt-out basis ā€” a basis, by the way, which guarantees that the majority of individuals' first interaction with it will be an unwelcome surprise ā€” demonstrates the degree to which consent is considered during the design phase.

the emergence of instances like tags.pub and Tagpush, which I have no control over my instance's federation with, are making me seriously consider migrating to a single user instance. and all that, solely to be confident that the things I post are being shown to a group which I can at least conceive of in some abstract sense.

I know you're not about to change your mind after building that instance. that's fine; be proud of your thing. but I think your choice to opt the entire fedi into an algorithmic distribution machine (because that's what it is, even if it's not doing sentiment analysis or relevance ranking) without so much as asking nicely wasā€¦ well, frankly, a bit rude.

Show threadEvan Prodromou1d ago

@tully @Unixbigot we did not opt everyone in. tags.pub is opt-in by server or user.

https://tags.pub/#connect

tags.pub