• realitista@lemm.ee
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    10 hours ago

    I’m on both and Mastodon is missing (at least in any easy to use way) most of the features that make Bluesky such a good destination:

    • instant add subscribe lists
    • subscribable block lists
    • custom feeds/subscribable algorithms
    • keyword/topic blocks
    • nuclear block where you never see the blocked person again
    • optional discover feed
    • DM preferences

    All these things (and more I’m sure I’m forgetting), make Bluesky very quick to get started with and very powerful for honing your feeds to be exactly how you want and free of harassment and trolling.

    I am still trying with Mastodon, but it’s really slow going and I can fully understand why people wouldn’t bother. After a year I am way behind where I was in a week with Bluesky.

    • FarceOfWill@infosec.pub
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      7 hours ago

      It does have keyword blocking.

      Not sure what nuclear block means but I can’t think of any way a blocked person could be seen again. It even has above nuclear blocking where you block their entire server.

      It has custom feeds but the implementation with lists is very fiddly and I wish it would be improved.

      There is a trending posts section but I think you want a personalised discover feed? Which will never happen of course.

      • realitista@lemm.ee
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        5 hours ago

        Thanks for the update. Yes the recommended feed is personalized. It’s optional. The main feed has no algorithm, just who you follow.

        Keyword blocking is a bit more sophisticated on Bluesky I think as they have a crowdsourced tagging system which allows you to opt in an out also of tagged words regardless of whether they appear in the body of the post.

        • FarceOfWill@infosec.pub
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          5 hours ago

          The tagging sounds great. One of the problems with masto is showing the hashtags in the body making posts that use them look awful, and of course being entirely set by the author

        • wewbull@feddit.uk
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          5 hours ago

          Yes the recommended feed is personalized. It’s optional. The main feed has no algorithm, just who you follow.

          The thing is, a lot of social media sites have or had this. YouTube has the subscriptions feed. Twitter has (I don’t know anymore) a following feed. Reddit used to keep posts on your homepage only being from subscribed subreddits.

          One problem. People don’t use them. They see maintaining subscriptions as work and so want to be fed posts by algorithm.

    • Dicska@lemmy.world
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      9 hours ago

      Thanks for the list! As someone who has never used any Twitter-like site before (I guess microblog is the right term…?), and recently made a profile on Bluesky only to support it (I have used it briefly ~3 times since joining): what are the pros of Mastodon that Bluesky doesn’t have?

      • realitista@lemm.ee
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        9 hours ago

        As far as I can tell, the advantages of Mastodon over Bluesky are:

        • Well implemented federation
        • Dicska@lemmy.world
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          9 hours ago

          Haha, thanks! I know it’s quite important for a good bunch of people here (on a federated site), but I guess I’ll stick with Bluesky then. Thanks for the insights! : )

          • naught101@lemmy.world
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            6 hours ago

            It’s important because, along with the ability to migrate accounts, it prevents/deters enshittification. In betting Bluesky will hit that wall in the next few years (I’m guessing they’ll never properly implement federation).

            • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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              3 hours ago

              Yeah I agree that we will probably happen, but the problem is using Mastodon is such a pain for the vast majority of people, it’s not worth the hassle.

              And I say that to someone who uses both platforms.

            • Dicska@lemmy.world
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              3 hours ago

              I know; as much as I love the concept, I can already see .world soaking up most of the users, which might not be the best thing for federation - but TBF when I came over from Reddit, my main goal was to find something decent and similar, and federation was secondary at best for me; so I’ll see if it gets any worse, but for the moment, the first list definitely overweighs the second “list” for me.

        • moopet@sh.itjust.works
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          8 hours ago
          • No “starter kits” which are just positive-feedback loops for popular accounts
          • No “algorithm” which promotes popularity or engagement over quality or relevance
          • realitista@lemm.ee
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            5 hours ago

            Bluesky’s main feed is totally algorithm free, it’s just the people you follow’s posts in chronological order, same as mastodon.

            Starter kits are optional, but they allow you to get started in hours rather than months. For me, they made the difference between a vibrant and interesting feed well tailored towards my interests, and a very sparse feed that I didn’t use on Mastodon. For me they were the difference between a useful social network and a non-useful one.

      • wewbull@feddit.uk
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        8 hours ago

        Main one is that it doesn’t manipulate your feed with stuff “you might enjoy” so you can’t be easily manipulated by the people setting the algorithm. Of course, this is exactly why people find it hard. People want to be fed stuff and told what to consume.

        • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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          3 hours ago

          That’s not really a fair description of what’s going on.

          There is absolutely nothing wrong with a recommendation algorithm, can you imagine trying to use Netflix if it didn’t tell you about any of the shows and you just have to guess and type in a film in order to see if it existed?

          The problem with algorithms is when they’re the only option, or when they are invisible and you think you are getting a timeline of people you’ve subscribed to, but really you’re getting an algorithm optimizing retention. As long as it’s just recommending stuff there’s nothing wrong with it, in fact as a lot of people point out, it’s kind of necessary.

          • wewbull@feddit.uk
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            37 minutes ago

            The world functioned before recommendation algorithms. Even the internet did. Once upon a time, when Goggle worked, it didn’t modify its results based on your history.

            Netflix could operate fine with classifications, ratings good tagging and search. It doesn’t need to monitor your viewing habits and recommend something based on them.

            • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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              12 minutes ago

              Yes but it would be more irritating to use than without which is my point.

              The world function perfectly well without electricity but I don’t think anyone is seriously suggesting that we go back to a pre-electrified age just because technically it’s possible.

          • wewbull@feddit.uk
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            6 hours ago

            Do you refer to the “Following” Vs “Discover” feed?

            Apparently it’s very noticeable when a post hits the discover feed. The quality of responses dives off a cliff.

            • Natanael@infosec.pub
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              3 hours ago

              There’s a new option available now for reply controls, you can limit it to just people who follow you. While it’s a very low bar, it’s enough of a threshold for most randoms to not bother following just to reply to you

              • ripcord@lemmy.world
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                2 hours ago

                And even without that, I still have felt that the quality of replies doesn’t drop THAT much one it hits Discover - but it may be partly who I follow/am recommended, that block lists are doing a great job of eliminating trolls+spam, and I just automatically ignore any stupid/low effort stuff (“wow you are the best at that thing you posted about”, “that js amazjng i have never seen a linux before” or whatever).

                This option will only help, though.

        • dustyData@lemmy.world
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          7 hours ago

          This one is so important. After a year my mastodon feed is perfectly tailored for me. When I open it I enjoy my time there and the posts I see. I can leave whenever I want, and without a feel of rage or anxiety. But the most important part is that I don’t feel the compulsive need to open it every other second. It’s to liberating in contrast with the algorithm led manipulation.

    • Flic@mstdn.social
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      9 hours ago

      I’ve seen a few larger creators say the reply management is bad at scale, too. The thing I mostly like is that here I am, reading Lemmy from Mastodon.

      • realitista@lemm.ee
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        9 hours ago

        Yeah I’d prefer Mastodon to implement all these features and win, but I understand why it’s not winning ATM.

        • Flic@mstdn.social
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          9 hours ago

          Same. Plus I came back here because Bluesky got too noisy so I’m kind of happy if it stays small!

          • realitista@lemm.ee
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            9 hours ago

            Lemmy is still my favorite, I was never a huge fan of the Twitter model, but I enjoy taking part in the destruction of X.

            • Flic@mstdn.social
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              9 hours ago

              over time I’ll probably end up moving over to Lemmy tbh. I think I’d prefer more of a forum vibe. I was never a Redditor so I didn’t “get” it until I started following Lemmy feeds.