So, with the results in mind, I'd say Mastodon could use better searchability and maybe improved notifications to make it more accessible and usable for people who cannot check in several times each day.

#mastodon #poll #algorithms #algorithmictimeline #search

I've been trying to build a personal #AlgorithmicTimeline for #Mastodon for myself for some time and I've got a basic version working. Here's how it works:

1. Fetch posts in my home timeline for last 24 hours.
2. Apply my Mastodon filters on them to remove unwanted posts.
3. Remove private posts.
4. Remove posts that I have liked, boosted or replied to.
5. Remove foreign language posts.
6. Fetch like, boost and reply counts for the posts from their origin server.
7. Partition posts into boosts and non-boosts, and apply next steps for each partition separately.
8. Assign scores to posts using this formula:
`score = geometric_mean(like_count, boost_count, reply_count) / square_root(follower_count_of_poster)`
9. If a post contains any of my specified favourite tags, increase its score by multiplying it by a constant factor (I use 1.2).
10. If a post is from any of my specified favourite accounts, increase its score by a constant factor (I use 1.2).

1/2

@J12t I'm saying that #search is important enough a use case that the majority of users will use Twitter instead of #fediverse apps until there is a solution for it. It's the #1 missing feature, followed by #algorithmicTimeline and #quoteToots

@BootsChantilly @DataDrivenMD

Here's.some anecdotal evidence..

¹ Check your 🆓🐦 feed.

² Compare the #refreshrate of the #algorithmictimeline 🐦💨 vs. #chronologicaltimeline 🐘💨

😆🧐

This needs a new #anecdotalpoll!

This article came out in 2018 but it's as true as ever, and I've been saying it for years. #rss readers are just a superior way to get your news than #AlgorithmicTimeline from social media feeds.

https://www.wired.com/story/rss-readers-feedly-inoreader-old-reader/

A lot of people adopted #Twitter around the same time that #GoogleReader died, looking at #socialmedia as the new and shiny alternative to #RSS readers. Since then people have learned the hard way that getting your #news from an #AlgorithmicTimeline puts you at the mercy of the services you use (and their business objectives).
It's great that news providers are finding #Mastodon, but you should get your news from an RSS reader like @Feedly so you alone control what you see in your feeds.

Way back on Usenet, I used Emacs' Gnus, which has a concept of "scoring". Authors and subjects I read got a small automatic boost. I could "react" with a keybinding to make heavier adjustments. In time, the sort was pretty good. Above all, I could fix it when it wasn't. Might work here.

https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/gnus/Scoring.html

#Gnus #AlgorithmicTimeline