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The problem is that communities got replaced by algorithms who think on your behalf. The algorithm is by definition random, and yet for countless years now it

The problem is that communities got replaced by algorithms who think on your behalf. The algorithm is by definition random, and yet for countless years now it is how most social media sites, including popular developer communities, operate. In the era of the feed and timeline, nobody bothers to check “Following” when you have “Recommended” enabled by default. The former requires effort, while the latter gives a false sense of reality. Every refresh it is something new and exciting, every time. A never ending loop of joy and happiness. Who knows… one day the algorithm could even show you in front of the entire world!

boredemployee 2y ago
>> In the era of the feed and timeline, nobody bothers to check “Following” when you have “Recommended” enabled by default. That's something I really hate and I feel pretty dumb that I found just some weeks ago that I can change X's feed to show me the posts people who I follow. I wonder if that's true for instagram as well because I can't stand to see random posts anymore. To be honest, I'm getting tired of it. i.e: I'm really enjoying going to a record shop to listen to music instead of spotify crap. the serendipity is real
- soulofmischief 2y ago
  As a counterpoint, I feel like my experience with platforms such as bandcamp, YouTube, private trackers, etc. replicate much of the serendipity of a record shop, while vastly increasing discoverability. I love going into a record shop as much as the next guy, but I do find that I discover more new things which actually stick via the internet. I also find that I am able to rely more on network-based algorithms for discoverability if the community is well-aligned. Even better if I can navigate myself when the underlying data is exposed via similarity maps, tags and other hypertext. Recommendation algorithms we see on corporate social platforms (Spotify included) generally suck because the underlying data is not exposed to the user. That would be bad for ad revenue. These platforms enjoy the profound level of mind control which they employ towards their users, and are loathe to surrender it.
- immibis 2y ago
  If a chronological feed of everyone you follow is what you want, you'll love the Fediverse because it has so little algorithm that it's actually a flaw. Although, if you follow lots of people, a chronological feed is still just "random posts", because they are the ones that happened to get posted just before you looked at the feed. A customized feed would be better - some way to up-weight insightful posts and down-weight memes.
righthand 2y ago
Isn’t it just automated channel flipping, but instead of isolated display space per channel, instead the channels are conglomerated together into an endless feed? A never ending loop isn’t intended to bring joy and happiness and that’s why it fails. It is however intended to remove control from the controller.

boredemployee 2y ago

>> In the era of the feed and timeline, nobody bothers to check “Following” when you have “Recommended” enabled by default. That's something I really hate and I feel pretty dumb that I found just some weeks ago that I can change X's feed to show me the posts people who I follow. I wonder if that's true for instagram as well because I can't stand to see random posts anymore. To be honest, I'm getting tired of it. i.e: I'm really enjoying going to a record shop to listen to music instead of spotify crap. the serendipity is real

soulofmischief 2y ago
As a counterpoint, I feel like my experience with platforms such as bandcamp, YouTube, private trackers, etc. replicate much of the serendipity of a record shop, while vastly increasing discoverability. I love going into a record shop as much as the next guy, but I do find that I discover more new things which actually stick via the internet. I also find that I am able to rely more on network-based algorithms for discoverability if the community is well-aligned. Even better if I can navigate myself when the underlying data is exposed via similarity maps, tags and other hypertext. Recommendation algorithms we see on corporate social platforms (Spotify included) generally suck because the underlying data is not exposed to the user. That would be bad for ad revenue. These platforms enjoy the profound level of mind control which they employ towards their users, and are loathe to surrender it.
immibis 2y ago
If a chronological feed of everyone you follow is what you want, you'll love the Fediverse because it has so little algorithm that it's actually a flaw. Although, if you follow lots of people, a chronological feed is still just "random posts", because they are the ones that happened to get posted just before you looked at the feed. A customized feed would be better - some way to up-weight insightful posts and down-weight memes.

righthand 2y ago

Isn’t it just automated channel flipping, but instead of isolated display space per channel, instead the channels are conglomerated together into an endless feed? A never ending loop isn’t intended to bring joy and happiness and that’s why it fails. It is however intended to remove control from the controller.