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Federation is still planned, but by the time it happens, there will be (a) a critical mass of users on the original server, including high-profile accounts (b)

Federation is still planned, but by the time it happens, there will be (a) a critical mass of users on the original server, including high-profile accounts (b) more consideration of UX under a federated model. It may be that the official app defaults to the original instance, perhaps with a de-emphasized way to switch it. It may also ask for favorite topics first and suggest an instance based on that. However the onboarding works, I'm confident the solution will be cleaner than Mastodon's. Lessons will have been learned about how clunky federation can be and how much problems it causes for features like search and recommendations.

vidarh 3y ago
The main reason search and recommendations are clunky on Mastodon is user resistance against being more like Twitter. As someone who'd like it to be more like Twitter that is annoying, but people also need to understand that to a significant number of people not being like Twitter is a major selling point.
- mmahemoff 3y ago
  Yea, there’s a strong resistance because somehow the community thinks algorithms are only there for the benefit of investors and could actually be of benefit to users who don’t want to micromanage who they’re following. As for search, it’s bizarre any community would be against such a basic feature. From TechDirt: “I would talk about some of the cooler Mastodon algorithms I’d been finding, but after a few them then were yelled at by a bunch of Mastodon users, I’ve generally decided it’s not worth promoting those useful tools, for fear that people yell at them to shut them down.” https://www.techdirt.com/2023/04/28/six-months-in-thoughts-on-the-current-post-twitter-diaspora-options/ https://www.techdirt.com/2023/04/28/six-months-in-thoughts-o...
  - vidarh 3y ago
    Personally I 1) want algorithms, and will do some for myself when I get a chance, and I detest reverse chronological, but I get the resistance given that Twitter has kept pushing it (e.g. you can switch to "following" but it doesn't stick - Twitter keeps switching back), 2) would like search. But to search what you need to realise to get why this resistance is there you need to keep in mind that a lot of early refugees from Twitter were marginalised users for whom search was regularly weaponised against them to harass. Search will come - there are regularly new attempts and a lot of the resistance will be less relevant as the userbase change, but to get buy-in it will need to provide a strong degree of opt-in and user control. Any system that fails to provide that will fail to win over those users who see that control as a strong reason to use the Fediverse.

vidarh 3y ago

The main reason search and recommendations are clunky on Mastodon is user resistance against being more like Twitter. As someone who'd like it to be more like Twitter that is annoying, but people also need to understand that to a significant number of people not being like Twitter is a major selling point.

mmahemoff 3y ago
Yea, there’s a strong resistance because somehow the community thinks algorithms are only there for the benefit of investors and could actually be of benefit to users who don’t want to micromanage who they’re following. As for search, it’s bizarre any community would be against such a basic feature. From TechDirt: “I would talk about some of the cooler Mastodon algorithms I’d been finding, but after a few them then were yelled at by a bunch of Mastodon users, I’ve generally decided it’s not worth promoting those useful tools, for fear that people yell at them to shut them down.” https://www.techdirt.com/2023/04/28/six-months-in-thoughts-on-the-current-post-twitter-diaspora-options/ https://www.techdirt.com/2023/04/28/six-months-in-thoughts-o...
- vidarh 3y ago
  Personally I 1) want algorithms, and will do some for myself when I get a chance, and I detest reverse chronological, but I get the resistance given that Twitter has kept pushing it (e.g. you can switch to "following" but it doesn't stick - Twitter keeps switching back), 2) would like search. But to search what you need to realise to get why this resistance is there you need to keep in mind that a lot of early refugees from Twitter were marginalised users for whom search was regularly weaponised against them to harass. Search will come - there are regularly new attempts and a lot of the resistance will be less relevant as the userbase change, but to get buy-in it will need to provide a strong degree of opt-in and user control. Any system that fails to provide that will fail to win over those users who see that control as a strong reason to use the Fediverse.