Something worth learning from #China. Entities that are too popular pose a danger.

Look at people that you are thinking of interacting with if they have more than 3000 followers and only been on fedi since #Nov2022 then it is *very* likely they are using or have used #botFarms to game the #ExploreTimeline, for followers.

This #PopularityModel was abuse on #BigSocialMedia. Since #Nov22 its come to #fediverse.

Limit interactions with them especially if they post images a lot.

#smallWeb

We predicted #MastodonDevs were going to do it years ago, see #PopularityModel to see our intuition in full effect. #intuitivelyCorrectAlmostEverytime #prolific

#botFarms #socialMedia #misInfo #disInfo #exploreTab #exploreTimeline #mastodon #hostileTakeover #diaspora #zhitomirskiy #gased #sanFrancisco #fediverse #fediMeta #moneyPrinterContinues #moneyPrinterGoDrrr

Does anyone else think the "Explore" timeline on #Mastodon's implementation goes against what made fediverse so great to begin with?

If not, why?

#popularityModel #exploreTab

@demitasse
People don't, largely the purpose of #theMedia attention is to #elevate them, to engineer a perception that theyre interesting and have broad impacts. If people think they're popular, they have power. #popularityModel

We don't believe they're popular, just backed/elevated by moneyPrinters. We ignore 'news' featuring them. If more did we'd be better off.

Step 1) don't use their name. Eg. We say Memecoiner/TwitterBuyer etc. Some say MuskRat, which is hilarious.

We apologise for boosting a turdsite RT. And someone who appears to be abusing the new #PopularityModel as adopted by MastodonDevs.

Reminder: Please don't come on fedi to advertise your #turdSite, people.

Mastodon now betrays #Fediverse ideals by defaulting to an "#Explore" timeline that features popular (read: possibly gamed) toots.

Expect an influx of personas gaming the #PopularityModel, eg. corporates setup say 500 accounts in a #botFarm that post things friendly to their interests, using the other 499 accounts on rotation to Boost and Like the toot so it seems popular.

We saw this coming when #Mastodon started showing Like totals without opening the toot.

We suggest to #ForkMastodon asap!

Report finds that almost half of the #celebrity's #turdsite followers are fake.

#OREALLY

Try 80%.

This is why we say #MastodonApp should **not** show the #popularity of #toots until the user opens them.

#darkPatterns #popularityModel #spam #spamAccounts #abuse #bots #botAccounts #influencerModel #herdMentality #confirmationBias

@dmoonfire

Hi Joel,

We think this quote by you was most salient, validating suspicions expressed on Fedi almost a year ago that #Mastodon is being coopted to serve the #PopularityModel and #influencers with access to #botFarms:

> the "spirit of mastodon" is also to not show boosts and favorites until a toot is fully opened to discourage mob mentality and such, and yet the official app has those... It looks like a Twitter client

It ought to be fixed, asap.

#perverseIncentives

@josias @joel

@strypey
This is why #MastodonApp, pushing the display of the numbers was not only predicted by us last year, but we actively warned people about it.

Showing numbers *is* a (#)darkPattern. Wastes resources and creates (#)perverseIncentives. We are not going to hashtag because we just did a few days ago.

#popularityModel #suggestion #massPsychogenicIllness

We've seen a lot of "let's appease #Fakebook users by just X", lately.

We see it as a sign of success and corruption at the same time.

We sense a dangerous time for #Fedi is approaching. They will try to introduce the gameable "#PopularityModel" into the code so abused by #inflencers and we will need to fight this 'tooth and claw'.

Be prepared to and/or resist forks, #Fedifolk.

Our (#)FediFlyer svg file allows anyone to produce a #FediBugBounty. Let's get eyeballs on code NOW!

Print em!