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i remember instagram pre-algorithmic timeline, and it worked well: because everyone knew every post would be seen, there was a cultural norm of not posting more

by dilap 9y ago

i remember instagram pre-algorithmic timeline, and it worked well: because everyone knew every post would be seen, there was a cultural norm of not posting more than ~ 1 time a day. it's not like crazy-amounts-of-posting is some inexorable law; it's a response to the social networks as they now exist. even for too much content to read, a time-based sample is arguably still superior an algorithmic one, because it's _unbiased_. this gives you (1) an accurate impression of mood and content of your timeline and (2) completely short-circuits problems with soft-censorship and manipulative influence. (fb has done various vaguely-evil experiments w/ controlling the emotional content of your timeline one way or the other.) lastly, there's an easy fix that gives you best-of-both worlds: simply allow tagging some sets of people as "close friends" (or any other label!) and allow filtering posts by that label. (and, sure, if you want to, go ahead and include an algorithmic timeline view. or even algorithmic w/ various different criteria for inclusion. the fact that fb/instagram/twitter won't even give you the option of chronological ordering suggests that it's more about maintaining control than about creating a good user experience. /tinfoilhat)

jamesrcole 9y ago
> allow tagging some sets of people as "close friends" (or any other label!) and allow filtering posts by that label. Facebook has this feature. You can tag someone as a close friend, and it will show you posts by close friends first.
- dilap 9y ago
  in my experience, even with tagging and the "chronological" timeline, i still don't get a strictly time-based timeline that shows everything. i just get a "less algorythmic" timeline. (i havent tried recently, tho.)
jclardy 9y ago
My biggest issue with Instagram's algorithm is that it resets on every view. Which is understandable from a product marketers perspective - if a user sees the same post up top they are probably just going to close the app again. The problem is that I open the app, see something interesting (like a friend announcing a baby,) I leave a comment and swipe back to my home screen. I tell someone around me then they want to see and so I reopen the app and that post has been obliterated from my timeline, because it already extracted value from me with the like and comment. And this is literally within 5 seconds of leaving the app (Not even killing it, just going to the home screen.) The true reason for the algorithmic timeline is just to increase engagement, that is all. With a timeline based feed you know where you left off, and you know how far you have to scroll to get back there. With an arbitrarily organized feed you just keep scrolling, thinking you will find something interesting or new. It is the same reason why casino's have no windows and are always the same lighting - so you stay longer and forget about time.

by dilap 9y ago

jamesrcole 9y ago

> allow tagging some sets of people as "close friends" (or any other label!) and allow filtering posts by that label. Facebook has this feature. You can tag someone as a close friend, and it will show you posts by close friends first.

dilap 9y ago
in my experience, even with tagging and the "chronological" timeline, i still don't get a strictly time-based timeline that shows everything. i just get a "less algorythmic" timeline. (i havent tried recently, tho.)

jclardy 9y ago

My biggest issue with Instagram's algorithm is that it resets on every view. Which is understandable from a product marketers perspective - if a user sees the same post up top they are probably just going to close the app again. The problem is that I open the app, see something interesting (like a friend announcing a baby,) I leave a comment and swipe back to my home screen. I tell someone around me then they want to see and so I reopen the app and that post has been obliterated from my timeline, because it already extracted value from me with the like and comment. And this is literally within 5 seconds of leaving the app (Not even killing it, just going to the home screen.) The true reason for the algorithmic timeline is just to increase engagement, that is all. With a timeline based feed you know where you left off, and you know how far you have to scroll to get back there. With an arbitrarily organized feed you just keep scrolling, thinking you will find something interesting or new. It is the same reason why casino's have no windows and are always the same lighting - so you stay longer and forget about time.