1,000,000+ people on Pixelfed.

[wendinoakland@beige.party]

@Brask @pixelfed Mine is default black. Can’t you do that in your settings?

[hikingdude@mastodon.social]

@pixelfed Woahhh!

[eobet@oldbytes.space]

@pixelfed I was going to show this to a friend but was very surprised I could not find a slideshow mode for my profile anywhere in the app. Moving between photo to photo and viewing it in full screen was very cumbersome!

[laimeskudikis@mastodon.social]

@pixelfed yay, congratulations! 🎉

[tux0r@layer8.space]

@wendinoakland @pixelfed All software is "algos". Precise language is important.

[wendinoakland@beige.party]

@tux0r @pixelfed Colloquial vs technical usage

[tux0r@layer8.space]

@wendinoakland @pixelfed I think it's a massive problem that, after prolonged scaremongering across all media channels, "algorithms" are now misunderstood in common parlance as being "something bad". How are we supposed to help people achieve greater digital literacy when basic technical concepts are reinterpreted in such a tabloid fashion?

[kaffeeringe@social.tchncs.de]

@JakobNitschke Follow Hashtags, mute Accounts that don't really share photos.

[wendinoakland@beige.party]

@tux0r @pixelfed Excellent point, and knowing now that an algorithm is, essentially, a set of rules, it’s unfortunate that the word’s been coopted by the masses to indicate corporate complicity or involuntary influencing when there’s probably another more accurate term. Language is complicated.

[tux0r@layer8.space]

@wendinoakland @pixelfed A more accurate term for biased/manipulative algorithms is probably "biased/manipulative algorithms". While knowing that "algorithms" _can_ have less obvious side effects, it is important to "colloquially" point out that those are a subset of algorithms. I've yet to find a better term myself.

[wendinoakland@beige.party]

@tux0r @pixelfed Independent/unmanipulated…

[wendinoakland@beige.party]

@tux0r @pixelfed Or strictly chronological

[tux0r@layer8.space]

@wendinoakland @pixelfed Given that algorithms are usually man-made "rule sets" which are designed for a certain program flow, I'd argue that there are no "independent" or "neutral" algorithms.

[wendinoakland@beige.party]

@tux0r @pixelfed Anything we touch, indeed, but there are ways to successfully protect ourselves from some built in bias.

[tux0r@layer8.space]

@wendinoakland @pixelfed Chronology is biased as well. What if a random user does NOT want a chronological timeline and would prefer a "for you" feed, filled with whoever pays best?

[wendinoakland@beige.party]

@tux0r @pixelfed Pays them? Satisfies their dopamine needs? Hello, tiktok!

[tux0r@layer8.space]

@wendinoakland @pixelfed Precisely. TikTok would not be anywhere close to its current popularity if they would just have a chronological timeline. There are no "objectively good" algorithms.

[wendinoakland@beige.party]

@tux0r @pixelfed I guess that’s part of the self-filtering of mastodon/fediverse users. A particular taste for curating information, finding familars and needing a modicum of technical capability.

[brask@expressional.social]

@wendinoakland @pixelfed Yes I have set it to black, but that is not default. Try to log out and delete cookies or use an other device where you are not loged in, then you can see that whit is default.

[wendinoakland@beige.party]

@Brask @pixelfed Oh, eew. i live in my own digital silo! Hopefully they’ll get to that as an internal settings option.