3 ms·

> but the algorithm just works like a slot machine I'm always surprised that people, especially on HN, complain so much about twitter's algorithms that are so

by msravi 4y ago

> but the algorithm just works like a slot machine I'm always surprised that people, especially on HN, complain so much about twitter's algorithms that are so easy to bypass. I use Twidere as a client, and my feed doesn't have any of twitter's algorithms - it's simply a reverse chronological feed. Even the website and twitter's official app have a button right on the feed page that allows you to switch to a reverse chronological feed > In addition it's almost impossible to have a civilized discussion Just don't use it for discussion then. I use it to read opinions of people all across the ideological spectrum and form my own. You don't need to engage if you don't want to! Also, it's very easy to mute/block accounts that you find are being abusive or uncivilized It's an invaluable tool to gather peoples' opinions and what they really think.

mola 4y ago
But then you only get opinions of those ppl that engage in the sort of "discussions" OP talks about. You really aren't exposed to real ppl opinions, only the opinions of the most crazy and or manipulative.
- msravi 4y ago
  Actually I've seen that if you're following accounts that get on average a few hundreds-low thousands of RTs/likes (vs 10s of thousands of RTs/likes), the discussions are pretty good. They're also easy to quickly scan and follow and are most likely real opinions of real people.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
WA 4y ago
Or just use lists. Create list, add people you want to follow. Bam, done. Reverse chronological order with zero ads.
prawn 4y ago
Another option is https://tweetdeck.twitter.com/ https://tweetdeck.twitter.com/ with an ad blocker. No ads, feed in order. I mostly follow people I know and my feed is very decent and for the most part positive. To see the loons, I typically have to find a popular account and read replies, and the Tweetdeck URL even hides most of those (which is fine by me - makes me realising I'm wasting my life reading rubbish).
YurgenJurgensen 4y ago
Even if you're using a different client (which is already a strike against Twitter as a social network, along with the need to manually block users because it has no effective moderation) the content you're reading will have been written by users targeting the default algorithm.
- msravi 4y ago
  > which is already a strike against Twitter as a social network How? The value of the twitter's social network comes from the recommendations of the people I follow, not twitter's recommendation > along with the need to manually block users because it has no effective moderation I wouldn't want it any other way! I want to be in control of who I block - I don't want anyone else deciding that for me > will have been written by users targeting the default algorithm That doesn't matter, since I'm not using their algorithm anyway
  - YurgenJurgensen 4y ago
    > How? The value of the twitter's social network comes from the recommendations of the people I follow, not twitter's recommendation It's an admission that the platform is broken. If you have to rely on workarounds to have an acceptable experience, you should probably just choose a different platform that doesn't have an adversarial relationship with its users. >I wouldn't want it any other way! I want to be in control of who I block - I don't want anyone else deciding that for me Individuals blocking each other does nothing to address problems with the community. >That doesn't matter, since I'm not using their algorithm anyway The content will be worse for targeting their algorithm regardless of how you access it.
teekert 4y ago
"It's an invaluable tool to gather peoples' opinions and what they really think." Or, is it a tool to get the most knee-jerk reactions out of people as fast as possible? How much thought did actually go into that tweet?
- msravi 4y ago
  See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33503943 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33503943

by msravi 4y ago

mola 4y ago

But then you only get opinions of those ppl that engage in the sort of "discussions" OP talks about. You really aren't exposed to real ppl opinions, only the opinions of the most crazy and or manipulative.

msravi 4y ago
Actually I've seen that if you're following accounts that get on average a few hundreds-low thousands of RTs/likes (vs 10s of thousands of RTs/likes), the discussions are pretty good. They're also easy to quickly scan and follow and are most likely real opinions of real people.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

WA 4y ago

Or just use lists. Create list, add people you want to follow. Bam, done. Reverse chronological order with zero ads.

prawn 4y ago

Another option is https://tweetdeck.twitter.com/ https://tweetdeck.twitter.com/ with an ad blocker. No ads, feed in order. I mostly follow people I know and my feed is very decent and for the most part positive. To see the loons, I typically have to find a popular account and read replies, and the Tweetdeck URL even hides most of those (which is fine by me - makes me realising I'm wasting my life reading rubbish).

YurgenJurgensen 4y ago

Even if you're using a different client (which is already a strike against Twitter as a social network, along with the need to manually block users because it has no effective moderation) the content you're reading will have been written by users targeting the default algorithm.

msravi 4y ago
> which is already a strike against Twitter as a social network How? The value of the twitter's social network comes from the recommendations of the people I follow, not twitter's recommendation > along with the need to manually block users because it has no effective moderation I wouldn't want it any other way! I want to be in control of who I block - I don't want anyone else deciding that for me > will have been written by users targeting the default algorithm That doesn't matter, since I'm not using their algorithm anyway
- YurgenJurgensen 4y ago
  > How? The value of the twitter's social network comes from the recommendations of the people I follow, not twitter's recommendation It's an admission that the platform is broken. If you have to rely on workarounds to have an acceptable experience, you should probably just choose a different platform that doesn't have an adversarial relationship with its users. >I wouldn't want it any other way! I want to be in control of who I block - I don't want anyone else deciding that for me Individuals blocking each other does nothing to address problems with the community. >That doesn't matter, since I'm not using their algorithm anyway The content will be worse for targeting their algorithm regardless of how you access it.

teekert 4y ago

"It's an invaluable tool to gather peoples' opinions and what they really think." Or, is it a tool to get the most knee-jerk reactions out of people as fast as possible? How much thought did actually go into that tweet?

msravi 4y ago
See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33503943 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33503943