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Bluesky is on the verge of overtaking Threads in all the ways that matter

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Re: Bluesky is on the verge of overtaking Threads in all the ways that matter

#71

Post by spamizbad »

Onavo wrote: post #62
spamizbad wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree somewhat. Social media apps are powered by feed algorithms that fall into two camps: The first camp biases toward sprinkling provocative, highly engaged content in your feed even if it falls outside your network of follows or areas of interest. A sort of “forced discovery”. Elon’s Twitter and YouTube during the 2010s follow this model. The second camp does the same thing but requires recommended content to…

The second camp is just artificially creating echo chambers, a virtual "separate and distinct network" for the parts that matter.

I disagree with this: if the only thing you allow to pierce the veil is selected based on engagement metrics you just walk away with a shallow view of your opposition. If anything this may entrench your existing views and give you a false sense of intellectual and/or moral superiority.

You need to “meet people where they are” and the first type of algorithm just doesn’t do that. It just says “conservatives/liberals really like this, so you’re going to be forced to see this too because you show interest in politics”

To give an example: let’s say I’m a small business owner who voted Trump but has some lingering concerns around how tariffs might impact my business. Am I going to be better informed reading some engagement-bait post from liberals talking about how I’m going to get “deservedly” crushed by tariffs or a post from a conservative economist laying out the cold hard facts (both good and bad)?

Re: Bluesky is on the verge of overtaking Threads in all the ways that matter

#72

Post by jowea »

frithsun wrote: post #27

It's inevitable that social media will split up into separate and distinct networks of people who can no longer stand or even undertand the other sociopolitical tribes. All of us sharing a singular global network was an exceptional and ephemeral circumstance.

I don't know, the entire point of the "algorithmic bubble" was to keep the tribes separate but happy, no? And the value of the network still increases with more people on it. Maybe some future social media will figure out how to keep everyone happy at the same time. For example, I think everyone but a couple of hardcore FOSS advocates and the far-right are still using Youtube.

Re: Bluesky is on the verge of overtaking Threads in all the ways that matter

#73

Post by lolinder »

orbat wrote: post #49
ipaddr wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And social media didn't exist

Usenet, BBSs, mailing lists etc. are social media

In most ways they were far more social than modern social media, in that they were about socializing. The distinguishing characteristic that sets modern social media apart from the old school stuff is the performative aspect of it—where everyone is now encouraged to behave as a content producer optimizing for engagement—which is hardly social.

Re: Bluesky is on the verge of overtaking Threads in all the ways that matter

#74

Post by dandellion »

alsetmusic wrote: post #51
frithsun wrote: post #27

It's inevitable that social media will split up into separate and distinct networks of people who can no longer stand or even undertand the other sociopolitical tribes. All of us sharing a singular global network was an exceptional and ephemeral circumstance.

[flagged]

>> It's inevitable…

> Yes and no.

Yes and yes. The right and the left don't even speak the same language. I'm not a native English speaker and half the time I don't even understand what the left are even saying. Examples:

> regress into an id-dominated state of hyper-reality

> what can be, unburdened by what has been

What does that even mean? People keep calling the right stupid, but at least everybody can understand what they're talking about.

Re: Bluesky is on the verge of overtaking Threads in all the ways that matter

#75

Post by paxys »

janalsncm wrote: post #6

Is it all the ways that matter? The author mentions one way, DAU. Sure, that is important but I can think of other things that matter. The number of “creator” accounts matters just as much as the number of lurkers. From my experience Bluesky is way better and has respect for the user’s choice front and center. Lists of users to follow is a first-class citizen feature. Their algorithm is a chronological feed, not boos…

Here's one metric that matters – revenue per user. Bluesky's is, I assume, zero, and soon that will have to change. Threads meanwhile has the largest social media ads and monetization platform in the world behind it ready to make the dollars flow at the push of a button.

Re: Bluesky is on the verge of overtaking Threads in all the ways that matter

#76

Post by Onavo »

spamizbad wrote: post #71
Onavo wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The second camp is just artificially creating echo chambers, a virtual "separate and distinct network" for the parts that matter.

I disagree with this: if the only thing you allow to pierce the veil is selected based on engagement metrics you just walk away with a shallow view of your opposition. If anything this may entrench your existing views and give you a false sense of intellectual and/or moral superiority. You need to “meet people where they are” and the first type of algorithm just doesn’t do that. It just says “conservatives/liberals r…

Your argument is in support of mine. Separate networks are an interesting legal and software engineering detail, but from the POV of the user, as long as they see what they want to see, they will stay with the network.

Re: Bluesky is on the verge of overtaking Threads in all the ways that matter

#77

Post by paxys »

dylan604 wrote: post #16
janalsncm wrote: post #6

Is it all the ways that matter? The author mentions one way, DAU. Sure, that is important but I can think of other things that matter. The number of “creator” accounts matters just as much as the number of lurkers. From my experience Bluesky is way better and has respect for the user’s choice front and center. Lists of users to follow is a first-class citizen feature. Their algorithm is a chronological feed, not boos…

> Their algorithm is a chronological feed Why does a chronological feed get considered and algo? Do we consider SQL queries with WHERE and ORDER BY clauses an algo now?

fun sum(x, y) { return x + y }

Congratulations, you have yourself an algorithm.

Re: Bluesky is on the verge of overtaking Threads in all the ways that matter

#78

Post by the_snooze »

Onavo wrote: post #62
spamizbad wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree somewhat. Social media apps are powered by feed algorithms that fall into two camps: The first camp biases toward sprinkling provocative, highly engaged content in your feed even if it falls outside your network of follows or areas of interest. A sort of “forced discovery”. Elon’s Twitter and YouTube during the 2010s follow this model. The second camp does the same thing but requires recommended content to…

The second camp is just artificially creating echo chambers, a virtual "separate and distinct network" for the parts that matter.

The "echo chamber" argument really doesn't speak to me because all I want is a place where I can get timely updates about: people in my research field, pictures of cute dogs, and municipal government activities. The more a website stays laser-focused on my interests, the better.

Re: Bluesky is on the verge of overtaking Threads in all the ways that matter

#79

Post by madeofpalk »

paxys wrote: post #75
janalsncm wrote: post #6

Is it all the ways that matter? The author mentions one way, DAU. Sure, that is important but I can think of other things that matter. The number of “creator” accounts matters just as much as the number of lurkers. From my experience Bluesky is way better and has respect for the user’s choice front and center. Lists of users to follow is a first-class citizen feature. Their algorithm is a chronological feed, not boos…

Here's one metric that matters – revenue per user. Bluesky's is, I assume, zero, and soon that will have to change. Threads meanwhile has the largest social media ads and monetization platform in the world behind it ready to make the dollars flow at the push of a button.

> largest social media ads and monetization platform in the world behind it ready to make the dollars flow at the push of a button

At the direct cost of making a worse product for users.

I remain hopeful that Bluesky is able to monetise/fund development without succumbing to working against its users.

Re: Bluesky is on the verge of overtaking Threads in all the ways that matter

#80

Post by jrflowers »

dandellion wrote: post #74
alsetmusic wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

>> It's inevitable… > Yes and no. Yes and yes. The right and the left don't even speak the same language. I'm not a native English speaker and half the time I don't even understand what the left are even saying. Examples: > regress into an id-dominated state of hyper-reality > what can be, unburdened by what has been What does that even mean? People keep calling the right stupid, but at least everybody can understand…

I think one example of hyperreality(1) would be a person seeing a phrase that they don’t immediately understand and deciding “this is how ‘the left’, a real and cohesive/consistent group, talks”

1 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperreality

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