Algorithmic Timelines are Awesome

I just want a feed that I can scroll through and get lots of content that I enjoy without having to adjust tons of different filters and settings only to get posts that are from weeks ago.

I'd love an algorithm setting where anyone can choose an open source recommendation algorithm to scroll through on Mastodon or Lemmy.

Everwhere seems to be hating on it and how Chronological is better but algorithm based feeds can actually be good and they dont all have to be like Twitters

5 comments

I’m not certain where this is too “unpopular”. Personally, I’m not against it either, if they are (1) open source and (2) allow for users control/fine-tune as they please.

I think some of the concerns with the algorithmic feeds with Twitter/Facebook/… involve them being closed-source black box that optimizes for what companies want (engagement, clicks, …) without user’s actual consent, rather than what users want.

And being closed source also makes it hard for researchers and journalists to study/investigate the effects of these algorithms at scale. Being open source and transparent may help establish better understanding which algorithms are better/worse at the societal level. That informs users what to choose and developers on how to improve.
- It's an unpopular opinion on the fediverse but not on centralized social media
No, I don't want an algorithm to dictate what I should see and what I shouldn't. Algorithms are terrible, you interact with a single post positively or negatively and the algorithms assume that you want to see the same type of content for days or even weeks. Filters are cool because they are so flexible, you have a big level of control over the content you want to see.
I'm getting a crapton of junk on my feed this evening. I agree
- I'd love an option to "mark as read" with a swipe/button and disappear threads I'm not interested in or have already read from my feed. If this already exists on Jerboa, I haven't discovered it