Another thing I've come to really love about the #fediverse...

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Another thing I've come to really love about the #fediverse & #mastodon - people can't really hide behind "other persona" here. If it's organically you? Yeah - you can be that person here. If it's an act for something else - everyone's personal algorithm will sniff you out.

The lack of an algorithm levels the playing field like nothing else. It forces everyone to be more open about who and what they really are. No algorithms to hide behind or use to bamboozle the rest of us.

Long live the #fediverse - social media has become sociable media - what it should have been from the start.

Like 17 Dec 2022 at 17:07 | Open on lor.sh

3 comments

Paranoid Factoid

@Alan

I respectfully disagree on the algorithm point.

The lack of an algorithm is good early on, especially for discoverability and reach. Creators love that.

But.... it will get overwhelming at scale.

Selection and presentation algorithms aren't bad, per se. It's lack of transparency and use by central authorities to gaslight users that's bad.

Several algorithms ought be made. And no algorithm at all. Let users decide. Let them even script their own regex. (Filters)

Opinions?

17 Dec 2022 at 17:30 | Open on mastodon.social

A L Katz

@ParanoidFactoid Algorithms will evolve - but they won't be systemic. Individual servers can have them. But that can't bleed out beyond itself. The only problem with algorithms is who's writing them - and for whose ultimate benefit? If that could be bent to an altruistic purpose - okay. Algorithm on!

17 Dec 2022 at 17:33 | Open on lor.sh

Paranoid Factoid

@Alan

Algorithms: "who writes them and what's their purpose?"

Exactly my point. Algorithms aren't bad, using them to deceive and gaslight is bad. What corporate social media does to maximize profits and engagement is bad. We agree. But FOSS is algorithm transparency.

You're an instance admin, so you see the issue through the lens of server administration. I see it as user choice. Filters and tag follows are the closest Mastodon has to a personal algorithm. That's what I'm talking about.

17 Dec 2022 at 17:42 | Open on mastodon.social