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With chronological timelines you either "run out" of content (because you've already refreshed like 15 times this hour and read everything the people you follow

With chronological timelines you either "run out" of content (because you've already refreshed like 15 times this hour and read everything the people you follow have said), or you get buried in content you don't want (because you're following people for hairdressing tips and they're all tweeting 20-page threads about why Putin is actually in the right somehow). Eventually you burn out and churn out. With algorithmic timelines the system is deliberately optimizing for "what keeps you on the site", even if it's not new or not something you follow. Hence, you stay on longer and view more ads. There's nothing about chrono that makes advertising less effective; algorithmic timelines just keep people on site and thus keep them as part of your ad inventory.

vba616 5y ago
I think seeing everything from people you know and seeing things in chronological order are separate. Just because you select the latter doesn't mean you get the former. Simple experiment: Go to Facebook and use ?sk=h_chr scroll until you "run out" of material, and then check to see if you actually saw all of the recent stuff from a particular friend.
tehbeard 5y ago
That is, not my experience with algorithmic at all... Algorithmic digs up days old posts I saw, commented and liked and slaps them at the front.. the new stuff, the stuff I'd want to see and interact with, just disappears. But then maybe that's my fault for curating my timeline to show creators and not influencers/talking heads...
- Nextgrid 5y ago
  That's the point - algorithmic artificially lengthens the time you need to actually see new posts by making you scroll through lots of old bullshit - and you guessed it - ads in between and never giving you a clear indicator of when you've all caught up. By contrast, chronological will by default give you the latest stuff (which in case of news is what you want, and might even remove the need for you to see earlier stuff) and makes it super clear to tell when you've reached the end of the new stuff.
bluefirebrand 5y ago
> Hence, you stay on longer and view more ads. Jokes on them. I block every account that shows promoted tweets and it keeps my timeline ad-free. I'm actually surprised they don't have promoted tweets override blocklists but hey, if it works.
- thestepafter 5y ago
  Shhh, careful or they will catch on and my 10,385 blocks so far will be in vain.

vba616 5y ago

I think seeing everything from people you know and seeing things in chronological order are separate. Just because you select the latter doesn't mean you get the former. Simple experiment: Go to Facebook and use ?sk=h_chr scroll until you "run out" of material, and then check to see if you actually saw all of the recent stuff from a particular friend.

tehbeard 5y ago

That is, not my experience with algorithmic at all... Algorithmic digs up days old posts I saw, commented and liked and slaps them at the front.. the new stuff, the stuff I'd want to see and interact with, just disappears. But then maybe that's my fault for curating my timeline to show creators and not influencers/talking heads...

Nextgrid 5y ago
That's the point - algorithmic artificially lengthens the time you need to actually see new posts by making you scroll through lots of old bullshit - and you guessed it - ads in between and never giving you a clear indicator of when you've all caught up. By contrast, chronological will by default give you the latest stuff (which in case of news is what you want, and might even remove the need for you to see earlier stuff) and makes it super clear to tell when you've reached the end of the new stuff.

bluefirebrand 5y ago

> Hence, you stay on longer and view more ads. Jokes on them. I block every account that shows promoted tweets and it keeps my timeline ad-free. I'm actually surprised they don't have promoted tweets override blocklists but hey, if it works.

thestepafter 5y ago
Shhh, careful or they will catch on and my 10,385 blocks so far will be in vain.