Cory Doctorow
Your periodic reminder that if you: a) Dislike long threads and; b) Follow someone who routinely posts long threads; that is a YOU problem, which you can solve by unfollowing, and, if need be, blocking that user so they don't show up in your federated timeline.  44 comments
paulfreeman
@trantion @pluralistic perfect, not that I have a problem with long threads but I read Cory’s posts via RSS so it’s just duplication 
C.Suthorn :prn:
Or the person posting "long threads" could use an additional bot account for that threads, so that is possible to follow one or both accounts.
Stephen Gower
@Life_is @pluralistic That still sounds like it's solving a problem that YOU have that others may not.
C.Suthorn :prn:
I have mostly solved the problem for myself, but as this "problem" frequently pops up, it doesn't seem to be my personal problem. May be it is a "priviligierter Großaccount der sich Dinge herausnehmen kann, was andere nicht können".
Stephen Gower
@Life_is @pluralistic Don't know what that means but the other thing is that this is the way Cory wants to use Mastodon. It doesn't seem right to tell someone else how to use the platform because it doesn't conform to what they want to see.
C.Suthorn :prn:
Das ist lustig, weil es ja Doctorow selber ist, der anderen Leuten sagt, wie sie Mastodon nutzen sollen. Nur dass Doctorow das aus einer Person der Stärke tut, und dann auch noch Fans hat, die ihm ungefragt beispringen. (einsprachig geschrieben, um Mastodons Übersetzen-Funktion nicht zu verwirren)
David Mitchell :CApride:
@srgower @Life_is @pluralistic Während ich oft sehe, wie Cory anderen erzählt, wie SM eingesetzt werden *kann*, höre ich nicht oft, wie er den Leuten sagt, was sie tun *müssen* Er ist jedoch sehr kritisch gegenüber der Art und Weise, wie Unternehmen Benutzer einschränken, missbrauchen und in die Falle locken. Sie sind nicht verpflichtet, einen einzigen seiner Beiträge zu sehen 🤷♂️
David Mitchell :CApride:
@srgower @Life_is @Peti_is @pluralistic Ich weiß vollkommen, wer Doctorow ist. 
Max Lee :pizzablobcat:
@Life_is @pluralistic 
LonM
@pluralistic I make a list and put long threaders / frequent posters in it. mastodon lets you segregate lists from your home feed, it's really useful and makes the site easier to read
David Mitchell :CApride:
In a place where we have a truly remarkable level of control over our feeds, it boggles my mind how many people want to dictate to others how they should behave.
moggie
The tools are there, yes. But I get the impression most people either are not aware they exist or don't know how to use them. I guess, if you consider that they're not accustomed to software that offers the user any significant level of control, it makes sense that they don't explore the options.
David Mitchell :CApride:
There is that, so regular posts (or patient replies) that remind about the options we have are a good thing. A follow or a pointer to @FediTips is also a good thing. Also a note that making sure people understand community standards, or your own standards, is different than telling people what they must do. 1/
David Mitchell :CApride:
@FediTips @pluralistic @EverydayMoggie For example, I expect that people will use alt text if possible, and might occasionally point out that not doing so excludes people, and potentially also excludes you as many people don’t engage with accounts that don’t #AltText 2/f 
Rupert Reynolds
@EverydayMoggie @DavidM_yeg @pluralistic That's a big part of it, yes! I used to explore websites more, find out what I can do with them. The temptation now is to give up, because useful features have either never been written, or have been blocked to maximise clicks and advert revenue. 
Alan Langford
@DavidM_yeg @pluralistic Seriously. Like make a list "people who don't post long threads" and read that. there are so many tools available and no algorithm overrides them either.
immibis
@DavidM_yeg @pluralistic unfortunately fediverse is not RSS because the mastodon people made some questionable design decisions
malena 👟👟
@pluralistic hey btw I would probably read your threads more if they didn’t have the content warning, tbh. I appreciate the thought but if I don’t know what something’s about I notice I don’t usually click on it
malena 👟👟
@pluralistic maybe a little outdated, most of the apps do threading pretty well now. I like seeing bits of threads show up in my feed, if they’re of interest I can click into the whole thread. plus people are going to boost random parts of the thread anyway (which is what I like about threads as a way to share ideas - they’re modular and the engagement stats show you where the ideas were compelling and where they weren’t!) 
Marco Frasca :ironman:
@pluralistic I’m using the @IceCubesApp, there is a filter on threads, so I can see only the first post 
TeflonTrout
@pluralistic right? To misquote XKCD about people saying they love science, "You don't really love infosec, you just like to check out its ass as it walks by" 
`Da Elf
@TeflonTrout @pluralistic Well, that was some hot coffee to clear the sinuses. I will bet right now that this is the best thing I read all week, Bravo. 
Mark Saltveit
@pluralistic When I make long threads, I feel like it's courteous to set the 2nd and subsequent toots to "unlisted" instead of public, so that people who choose not to read that one thread don't have to scroll through a bunch of CW toots. Anyone who does read the long thread by clicking on the first toot will still see the whole thing. Others see only the first.
Cory Doctorow
@taoish If only that was how unlisted worked! It's a natural assumption, but it's wrong (and a widespread misconception): https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/16/how-to-make-the-least-worst-mastodon-threads/
Dinand Mentink
@pluralistic This reminds me of @TechConnectify explaining the federated/mastodon experience is completely different for a 55k vs a 200 follower account. https://mastodon.online/@TechConnectify@mas.to/111511736053906080 I thought it was a worthwhile read and highlighted the moderation difficulties for larger accounts mastodon/federation has at the moment. 
Jack William Bell
@dinandmentink @pluralistic @TechConnectify Unpopular opinion here: Perhaps making life harder for people at the far end of the power-law curve is a just and right thing. I find the very idea of Social Media 'stars' a bit problematic to begin with and Mastodon does provide a way to keep from having too many followers – Preferences/Public Profile/Privacy and Reach/Uncheck 'Automatically accept new followers'. Why not see this as a way to encourage people to not build enormous follow lists?
Dinand Mentink
@jackwilliambell @pluralistic @TechConnectify I mean sure. Yet I really enjoy following Cory and Alec here.
Jack William Bell
@dinandmentink @pluralistic @TechConnectify RSS. ETA: I should expand on this to point out using RSS to follow an account makes you a 'consumer' and not a 'participant' – which runs counter to Social Media ethos, but does fit into how people at the far end of the power-law curve often want to use Social Media; I.E. as a broadcast mechanism, sans the time sink of 'participating' with thousands. NOTE: Cory is an exception, in that he dives into the participation deep end.
Dinand Mentink
@jackwilliambell @pluralistic @TechConnectify I support designing technology for the least powerful of those affected. Eg accessibility. But as a guideline, not a straitjacket. Over here I have interactions with quite some mutuals ánd there are quite some larger accounts that I just follow. I enjoy engaging with both at a different level and see absolutely no issue. Fwiw I see quite some larger accounts here engaging a lot as well.
Jack William Bell
> Fwiw I see quite some larger accounts here engaging a lot as well. That was my point about Cory. And, no, he isn't the only one. But the main point I'm making is: the Fedi is Social Media and Social Media is BY DEFINITION conversational. When someone is popular on Social Media the time-cost of participating in the conversation goes up rapidly. I believe that is a good thing, because there should be a cost to popularity. Anything else is tantamount to a form of oligarchy. 
eyrea
@pluralistic I feel obliged to mention: it is much, much easier to control how I encounter your threads on Mastodon than it was on Twitter. (Personally I just want to find the pluralistic link to read in article format most of the time, but I get other people have different preferences.) 
Noah Kennedy
@pluralistic honestly i think it's an issue with the ui of mastodon and it's competitors which was inherited from twitter threads should be one entry in the timeline under which everything appears folks really shouldn't be taking the issue out on you and other threaders - you don't control how this appears on their ui!  
Jorge Candeias
@pluralistic following you and complaining about long threads is just silly. That being said, I don't do threads, unless each toot works individually (or the stuff I add is an afterthought). Otherwise, whenever I feel like writing longer stuff, I write it on the friendica account I opened just for that and then boost it here. I find it much neater that way. 
Александр
@pluralistic ... or switch to software which displays threads as, well, threads and not many separate individual posts.
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Gregory's Server
@pluralistic I have a filter set to block anything with "Long Thread/" in it from my feeds but not when viewing the actual post. That way I can see the start of the thread and choose to read it (usually on your website), and I also see your boosts and other stuff. Win/win