If algorithmically increasing the political division and rage on a social network the most, then 4chan would be the highest revenue generator. It's not.
The most engaging content is *fun content*. By far. It's not close.
https://hachyderm.io/@mekkaokereke/111081046636696300
This is not saying that algorithmic content is good for you, or that growth at all costs is good for society (or even sustainable).
But please, stop trying to say that politically divisive content is the most engaging. It absolutely is not.
1/N
Everyone that understands this, predicted Twitter's revenue drop and valuation drop well in advance. 🙋🏿♂️
If you drive away the people that create disproportionate amounts of fun, engaging content (Women, Black folk, young folk, LGBTQIA), then engagement will go down.
If you increase the people who create politically divisive content (yes, this is a euphemism for racist and transphobic content) then you will also drive away advertisers.
What does this have to do with Mastodon?
2/N
Mastodon doesn't want or need advertising revenue.
It doesn't want or need an algorithmic feed.
But understand what most users are looking for in social media.
They're not looking for political enragement, or to be stressed out 24/7.
People are looking to have fun, be entertained and informed, learn, share, and connect with other good people safely.
Lack of community, safety, and onboarding are keeping people off of Mastodon. Not lack of rage driving algo.
3/3
@mekkaokereke of argue that algorithms are useful to help people expand their network, as most people are not motivated to look for new connections. I'm observing several people around me and I see that only ones that want to expand stay on the fediverse. The others find it empty. This is not because there's no content. It's because no one reaches out.
@benroyce @mapto @mekkaokereke it takes a second to figure it out, but if I’m able to at 70+, I think most people can. But a guide for newbies with suggested accounts to follow would probably cut down on their struggles.
@mapto @mekkaokereke
the "problem" with #mastodon is you need to follow a lot of people or hashtags to get content
people are lazy and used to algorithms
i would like to see something for new users where popular content is simply piped to them until they turn it off, if ever
training wheels, tutorial mode
i know you can seek out trending posts, but even that is too much of a hurdle
they want something delivered to them
so deliver it to them