Just realised that on Mastodon, boosting *is* the algorithm.
There's no code trying to cleverly show me stuff it reckons I'd be into, based on what my contacts are into, instead my contacts are saying "I like this, I bet my contacts would like it too" and that is way smarter than any algorithm.
Thank you, boosters!
Ooookay yep thanking and celebrating boosting gets one somewhat boosted 👋😅
So because some people are struggling with too many boosts in their feeds - there are ways to make that easier.
In the vanilla Mastodon web client, there's a little filters button at the top right of the home feed. Open that and you get toggles to show or not show boosts or replies.
Another client I use a lot is called @phanpy - what's great about it is that it groups boosts into carousels that you can easily scroll down past, or swipe sideways to explore.
And if you start to use @phanpy and enjoy it, please support @cheeaun who is doing amazing work building it 🥰
You can sponsor or donate here:
- https://github.com/sponsors/cheeaun
- https://buymeacoffee.com/cheeaun
@sarajw You are welcome, Sara. :ablobcatheart:
Jul 29, 2024, 5:39 PM@sarajw So clean in such a way isn't it? This is what social should be like
@offnw I do believe the algorithms started with good intentions, but yeah, they ended up skewing stuff or getting in the way
@sarajw In some ways, the federation policy of your instance and other instances is part of the algorithm, because it dictates how many people can even see your post.
Jul 29, 2024, 5:48 PM@sarajw to be fair, I saw this on trending posts. But yes, agreed.
@RichiH haha! Fair. But that's also somewhere you choose to look, not something that is thrust in front of you :)
Jul 29, 2024, 10:53 PMAye, but the big difference here is you had to CHOOSE to look at Trending! 😁
I often boost things of marginal interest that just seem the sort of thing my followers might really like, and I restrain (somewhat) from too many from the same sources because, if they did like them, they surely would have subscribed by now!
@sarajw I feel everything that pops up on Mastodon is so much more relevant for me than X. Also there is a lot more engagement on the posts.
@bronakins @sarajw my only complaint is all the posts that show up in a different language than English
@johndoe @bronakins I see that as a feature, not a bug 😅
Depending on the client you're using, you might get a nice easy translate option on the post.
I see quite a lot of Finnish posts that I have no hope in hell of being able to read, and the auto translation struggles with, hahah. But it's nice to see lots of non-Americans around 💜
So are hashtags!
I'm awful at tagging my toots (I'm lazy, and mostly replying), but following like 40-50 hashtags is how I found most of my favorite follows.
It makes social media a bit more of a DIY thing, but it also keeps you in control.
@sarajw Oh, I hear a little different story:
„You're boosting too much, I have to unfollow.“
[A little later]
„I found a button to mute boosts. Can I follow again?“
😅
@andre ahahah. Yes that can happen too. I have curtailed some heavy boosters in the past too.
Jul 29, 2024, 6:29 PM@sarajw and this is why my feed is almost entirely cats. I love it
@sarajw also; hashtags
@sarajw @lisamelton The tumblr method - and it's working great!
Jul 29, 2024, 7:06 PM@sarajw yup, there's no global algorithm. Boosting will get toots on explore page 😁
@xgebi my instance doesn't appear to have an explore page? 🤔
Jul 29, 2024, 7:14 PM@sarajw this is what I mean
@xgebi yeah I know, oddly front-end.social doesn't seem to have it!
Wait might I have turned it off in my settings?
@sarajw Yes, you create your own algorithm, so to speak.
@sarajw I don't know if it is really smarter. People seem to be upset that their posts leave their bubble.
@Stefan_S_from_H you can make your account and posts followers only, I think? Then they're not boostable.
I've not seen any such upset, but it could be very likely that they're not in my circles. Hadn't considered that point of view.
@sarajw yes. That's a great feature. There is just one problem. There are some people I would like to follow, because they write sometimes interesting things, but they post 20 things every day. I don't have time to check so much posts of multiple people. So I would like to have a filter, that just adds the most important posts of them.
@duco I find that's a problem of not following enough people 😅 the ones that are active do fill up the feed more when it's not very busy.
You can mute just their boosts if that helps you?
Otherwise yes, I find you either follow just a few people and want to see everything since your last visit, but the active people feel like they're hogging the feed, OR you follow lots of people which dilutes the heavy posters, and end up comfortable with the idea you won't catch up with everything.
@sarajw The fact that I'm seeing this post for the 2nd time bc someone i follow boosted it feels so meta
@laalsaas lol yes. Writing a post not asking for boosts but referencing and thanking boosters apparently gets one somewhat boosted...
@sarajw what bothers me as a former Twitter algorithm user is how favorites are basically pointless; at best they serve as a voluntary "read receipt". I want a machine to learn from what I'm doing, highlight things that appeal to me personally. I need tools to manage all the novelty in the world!
@schizanon they're not at all useless on an interpersonal level :)
Jul 31, 2024, 3:34 AM@sarajw @phanpy You can also set your subscription to a user to show only their original posts, but not their boosts. There's not a middle ground, unfortunately (eg "X% of boosts" or "no more than X boosts per day").
Phanpy's "Catch-up" feature is great for this, though... You can peruse only original posts, separate from boosts, and you can see who is doing a lot of either, and just decide "you know what, no, enough out of you", skip reading, and then easily mute them for a while.
@sarajw
not a game
@GatekeepKen eh, can't I smile and wave at the bonkersness of how many people boosted the thing?
Jul 29, 2024, 8:28 PM@sarajw also consider what this means for accountability and agency.
You always know *exactly* why a thing got into your timeline: either you are following the author, or someone you follow boosted it, or you're following the hashtag.
Very easy to attribute stuff you might not like. And act upon that attribution.
@rysiek yep!
On twitter I used to laboriously go through and delete all the topics it had decided I was into, to try and kill off the suggestions. Would work for a while and then just start repopulating the list.
Jul 29, 2024, 9:12 PM@sarajw It's anarchy or democracy. Using the term algorithm is them winning your brain. Don't fall for it.
And hashtags
@sarajw I'm on a solo instance so I've found boosters to be crucial to me having a good time.
Without boosts, I think it'd feel a lot more quite over here 🥺
I'm really happy with the balance of new things showing up!
Thank you boosters indeed 💚
@christian if it's any help I very rarely look at the local feed! Though of course it's nice when I do.
Jul 29, 2024, 9:29 PM@sarajw
That and following hashtags.
@sarajw I'm happy to be part of your "smart algorithm. 🙂
Jul 29, 2024, 10:03 PM@sarajw I agree. The ‘what’s trending’ feed on Twitter bugged me and was an important reason for leaving (along with ‘he who shall not be named’). I don’t mind a few boosts in Fedi as I think I have been able to limit the people to those who boost items that interest me. Unfortunately in the early days I have unfollowed a couple of people I should just have muted boosts from, but you live and learn.
Hashtags and lists are great for filtering to topics you like.
@sarajw like, alg-your-rithm
Jul 29, 2024, 10:34 PMCan you even call it "the algorithm" if it's so transparent and driven by people you intentionally chose to follow intentionally pushing a button to share something with their followers?
@grishka no not really, I could have put it into "speech marks" too :)
@sarajw it works incredibly well. Really, trying to “outsmart” the simple system genuinely made the outcome worse.
The other algorithm is the "Explore" feed, which I use a lot.
It would be cool if there was a version of that for each hashtag. And also for user lists (to see what people in those list are boosting)
@sarajw The most algorithm-y view is the "explore" tab - that's "posts that are getting a lot of boosts, likes, and replies lately on this instance" (i.e., it doesn't matter whether the people interacting are people you follow, just that you share the same instance with them).
Actually I'm not sure if replies are counted, but boosts and likes are.
@dragonfrog I'm not finding that tab on my instance, it may be we've disabled it for reasons? Not sure.
@sarajw That’s the social networking experience I remember from way back during what I call the ‘Golden Age of Social Networking’. The four short years of 2009 to 2013, from the latter years of elementary school to the first half of high school, were the years in which the utility of social networking sites were at their peak.
It’s all been downhill from there.
Jul 30, 2024, 12:20 AMJust glad to be part of the team!
Jul 30, 2024, 2:38 AM@irth how do you mean? Things boosted into your feed could be about anything.