Kit Bashir5d ago
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 .
Show threadKit Bashir

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
May 26 at 11:44pmWeb
Show threadLovesThašŸ„§5d 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 Prodromou3d 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 threadGabe4d ago
@LovesTha @Unixbigot ... or instances with a relatively small intersection of people using a particular language and having particular fields of interest.
Show threadLovesThašŸ„§4d 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 Prodromou3d 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 Tullyality3d ago

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

for most of us, however...

Show threadsuzanne3d 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 Tullyality3d 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 threadsuzanne3d ago
@tully @evan @Unixbigot
Well damn