Piero Bosio Social Web Site Personale

Some suggestions for fighting bigotry on the Fediverse:

- Challenge and report bigotry even if you're not the target, don't leave it to victims
- Listen to victims, don't question their honesty or demand a solution from them
- Don't remain neutral, take a stand
- If you're an admin, defederate servers that knowingly tolerate bigotry
- If you're comfortable using Microsoft Github, give thumbs up for reply controls (https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/issues/8565) & keyword flagging (https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/issues/21306) on Mastodon

@TimWardCam

This is a fair point and you're not technically wrong.

I've tried to cover this in the guide itself, tl:dr the dictionary definitions of technical things are often veered away from by real world use. If they are different, I err on the side of real world common use as the site is aimed at non-technical people.

Another example I give in the guide is "computer", it technically includes smartphones but that's not what most people mean if they say "computer".

@CoolerPseudonym

Oh wow! 😲

Thank you so much! You didn't have to but it is very greatly appreciated! 🙏

That's very kind and generous of you, it helps a lot with keeping the accounts and sites going!

@jannem @arthfach

It is by the dictionary definition, it isn't by common usage. What the dictionary says on technical matters often diverges from common usage.

Maybe the clearest example is "computer": Most people use that word to mean a laptop or desktop PC/Mac and not a smartphone. But going by the dictionary definition of "computer", the smartphone ought to be called a computer too.

I'm trying to use common usage as I'm mainly aiming my guides at new and non-technical people.

p.s. Good grief. I'm trying to help people use this place and just got accused of "disinformation" and "causing harm" because they didn't like the way I used the word algorithm in the guide.

Can we please chill out and be a bit more friendly? The Fedi relies on volunteers helping each other and making suggestions in a constructive way.

If I've done something wrong it is brilliant if you point it out, most of the guides rely on people correcting me. But there is no need for personal attacks.

@FinchHaven

"Or do you think I don't know what I'm talking about?"

Absolutely not! I am the one who doesn't understand, I am trying to get a better picture of what is going on by asking for details 🙂

I'm trying to help.

@FinchHaven

Are you seeing a "translate" button below remote posts you are viewing within your own instance's website?

If you are, what happens when you click it? (Not on the origin instance but when viewed within your own instance's interface.)

@BlameDutchie @gotofritz

"The most common definition of an algorithm is: a finite, step-by-step sequence of precise instructions"

I'm not talking about a technical dictionary definition, I mean the way non-technical people actually use that word in the real world.

They'll typically say something like "the algorithm is showing me stuff" or "the algorithm has hidden my post".

My accounts and websites are largely aimed at non-technical people, so I try to use non-technical meanings and words.

@FinchHaven

Are you attempting to use translate on a different server's website?

@klu9

Weird! Is it doing the "read more" when it goes over a certain length, or is it just random?

If you don't mind me asking, what are you using to view Mastodon?

@gotofritz

it's not disinformation, it's just everyday language vs technical language. There are lots of words which have slightly different meanings in different contexts.

For example, if someone uses the word "computer" they will probably mean a laptop or a desktop. They will not mean a smartphone or a tablet even though both of these are technically computers as well.

"ironically just for engagement"

Absolutely not. I am trying to use ordinary language to make this place easier to use.

@FinchHaven @klu9

Many servers have a translation service in your Home feed, and if your server has it you'll see "translate" below posts in other languages.

However, the admin has to pay the translation service provider a monthly fee to have such a service. Not all admins can afford this, so they don't activate the translation feature. (The reason translations are "free" on commercial platforms is they're paying for the translations by selling your data etc).

@AdrianRiskin @klu9

Yup, this is the problem, people are using the wrong settings on their posts.

There is an automatic language detector but it isn't reliable enough on short posts to have it override the user. It does suggest to them when it thinks they've got it wrong though.

@gotofritz

If you read the guide I linked to, it addresses exactly this discussion of definitions.

What you say is not what most people mean by "algorithm". I'm using the word in its common meaning of an opaque mechanism that messes around with your timeline.

@klu9

Hmm... in that case, I'm not sure what else could be done directly there 🤔

One workaround might be to use the "filters" feature to try to filter out posts containing German word(s) that appear in the posts you don't want to see ( https://fedi.tips/filtering-your-timeline-to-hide-posts-on-mastodon ).

About the long posts, some interfaces and apps shorten them automatically with a "read more" link. Are you seeing the posts full length?

@klu9

Are you sure you've selected the option to filter languages, rather than just setting your own interface language? (More info at https://fedi.tips/setting-your-language-preferences-on-mastodon-and-filtering-out-posts-in-other-languages )

The language filter should help at least somewhat, but by definition you won't notice the posts it is successfully hiding.

There is also an automatic language detector, and it tells people when they've got the wrong post language setting, but it's not reliable for short posts so that's why it doesn't override the person's setting.

Is your Mastodon timeline too empty or too full? Are you seeing stuff you don't want to, and missing stuff you do want to see? Is your timeline overwhelmed by someone who shares too many posts?

These and lots more timeline problems are solved in the "How to customise your Mastodon timeline" guide:

➡️ https://fedi.tips/does-mastodon-and-the-fediverse-use-algorithms-does-it-start-pushing-stuff-at-me-based-on-my-interactions

#FediTips #Mastodon

@anna

Thank you! 👍

p.p.s. To make even clearer: this is *NOT* a list of important hashtags, it's just a list of widely-used tags that people might not know about because they're spelt in a weird way or they use a difficult-to-guess arbitrary phrase or portmanteau.

I'm just doing this to help people discover tags they might not discover otherwise. It's *NOT* meant to be some list of significant or cool things or anything like that.

@ainmosni

There's #Catstodon ?

If I listed every hashtag for cats it would take up half the list 😁