3 ms·

This is an odd topic. On the one hand, we do seem to have a problem where attention is hijacked by engagement farming. On the other, we also know of problems

by taeric 5mo ago

This is an odd topic. On the one hand, we do seem to have a problem where attention is hijacked by engagement farming. On the other, we also know of problems from draconian management. I would actually like it if we had something that could say, only promote things on my feeds that are "liked" by people within a geographic radius of me. At the least, mute things that are getting pumped from hostile regions. I just don't know that I see how this can get us there, though? Seems far more likely that it would lead to more abuse.

watwut 5mo ago
Or like, have chronological feed of accounts user follows. Simple. Produces less outrage tho, so it is a no go.
- taeric 5mo ago
  This assumes that most people would choose that feed? Which, I'm less convinced. That is, this sounds like the idea that telling people if bad things happen when you eat too much candy, then people will eat less candy. Just flat not the case at large. Yes, you also have to document the downsides of candy. Such that I'm also all for having that feed. But I don't see it being enough to move the needle much, on its own.
  - chucksmash 5mo ago
    > That is, this sounds like the idea that telling people if bad things happen when you eat too much candy, then people will eat less candy. Just flat not the case at large. Seems like there's an effect but it just takes time. The younger generations are smoking and drinking less. Maybe the trend will be to abstain from social media feeds and chronological feeds will be their Zima.
    - taeric 5mo ago
      This feels wrong, too? Younger generations smoke less because we have made it very hard for them to smoke more. Literally where are they going to do it? And the proliferation of zyn and similar isn't exactly problem free. Alcohol is a trend that is talked about a lot. I'm not entirely clear on what we know of that. So many hot takes that largely seem conflicting with each other.
dylan604 5mo ago
> only promote things on my feeds that are "liked" by people within a geographic radius of me Ugh, really? I live in a part of town where I speak a different language than the vast majority of the people in this "geographic radius of me" which means I'd see very little content that I could understand. Where do people come up with these wild ideas of anything other than show me the content of people I want to see in the order it was posted? If you want a "Feeling Lucky" type of feed, make it available. Otherwise, you're sending people content they don't want and are only too lazy to stop using it.
- ryandrake 5mo ago
  $trillions of global brainpower is spent yearly trying to answer "How do we get people to consume things they didn't ask for?" whether those things are products, services, ads, or online content.
- taeric 5mo ago
  I mean, I don't think it has to be quite so literal that you can't work with it. Translate is also a thing. And if you are building your own list, that is still perfectly fine for how this would work. My suggestion was not to remove the ability to do that. It is to add the ability of ignoring "liked" things where the "likes" are not from people near me. And, I realize that "near" is not necessarily geographic. Similar problems exist with "trending." It is far too influenced by bots to be at all a reliable indicator of what is actually trending.

by taeric 5mo ago

watwut 5mo ago

Or like, have chronological feed of accounts user follows. Simple. Produces less outrage tho, so it is a no go.

taeric 5mo ago
This assumes that most people would choose that feed? Which, I'm less convinced. That is, this sounds like the idea that telling people if bad things happen when you eat too much candy, then people will eat less candy. Just flat not the case at large. Yes, you also have to document the downsides of candy. Such that I'm also all for having that feed. But I don't see it being enough to move the needle much, on its own.
- chucksmash 5mo ago
  > That is, this sounds like the idea that telling people if bad things happen when you eat too much candy, then people will eat less candy. Just flat not the case at large. Seems like there's an effect but it just takes time. The younger generations are smoking and drinking less. Maybe the trend will be to abstain from social media feeds and chronological feeds will be their Zima.
  - taeric 5mo ago
    This feels wrong, too? Younger generations smoke less because we have made it very hard for them to smoke more. Literally where are they going to do it? And the proliferation of zyn and similar isn't exactly problem free. Alcohol is a trend that is talked about a lot. I'm not entirely clear on what we know of that. So many hot takes that largely seem conflicting with each other.

dylan604 5mo ago

> only promote things on my feeds that are "liked" by people within a geographic radius of me Ugh, really? I live in a part of town where I speak a different language than the vast majority of the people in this "geographic radius of me" which means I'd see very little content that I could understand. Where do people come up with these wild ideas of anything other than show me the content of people I want to see in the order it was posted? If you want a "Feeling Lucky" type of feed, make it available. Otherwise, you're sending people content they don't want and are only too lazy to stop using it.

ryandrake 5mo ago
$trillions of global brainpower is spent yearly trying to answer "How do we get people to consume things they didn't ask for?" whether those things are products, services, ads, or online content.
taeric 5mo ago
I mean, I don't think it has to be quite so literal that you can't work with it. Translate is also a thing. And if you are building your own list, that is still perfectly fine for how this would work. My suggestion was not to remove the ability to do that. It is to add the ability of ignoring "liked" things where the "likes" are not from people near me. And, I realize that "near" is not necessarily geographic. Similar problems exist with "trending." It is far too influenced by bots to be at all a reliable indicator of what is actually trending.