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These are all good ideas to try and studies show that “nudges” that can be ignored can make a difference. Hope this comes to web version too and is available to other Fedi apps. techcrunch.com/2023/11/22/mast

TechCrunch · Mastodon tackles the problem of 'reply guys' with its latest feature | TechCrunch
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HistoPol (#HP) 🏴 🇺🇸 🏴

@tchambers

(1/n) on

Interesting approach, but sounds somewhat patronizing...I hate pop-ups in general...

"Mastodon’s latest update is tackling a problem Twitter users know all too well: the scourge of the “reply guys.” A colloquial term for the men who regularly reply to women’s posts in an overly familiar fashion, often to “mansplain,” tone police, offer unsolicited advice or gaslight the original poster, reply guys have been a longtime...

@tchambers

(2/2)

...problem on social media.

Now, starting in the app for , the company is experimenting with a simple reminder that will pop up when someone is about to respond to a stranger. The reminders may also include a bit of context — like if the stranger is an expert in their field, or if the post the user is replying to is old — to head off unnecessary or unhelpful commentary."

//

@HistoPol

So

@Gargron is going to chide us to stay inside our little walled gardens and only talk to people we already know

Is that the plan now?

Wow

Who put a burr under #Gargron's saddle blanket?

Betting it was that dustup a couple days ago about Popehat and Matt Blaze and Kanefield and a couple other people who weren't getting the deference they were used to expecting and were going off to Bluesky in a big pout

#Mastodon #App #Android #Bluesky

cc @tchambers

@FinchHaven @HistoPol @Gargron

Actually I view this as only positive, and not encouraging walled gardens.

Studies show that OPTIONAL "nudges" work to reduce harms etc, while still being entirely non-coercive as you can just opt out and say "never bug me again."

FYI - not directly discussing online or social but good research highlighted in this book on how optional “nudges” are impactful...

This should be applauded as an experiment, and see how it works.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nudge_(b

en.wikipedia.orgNudge (book) - Wikipedia

@tchambers

(1/2)

Hm, I can applaud an experiment.

However, when I think of pop-up windows, there are only four that I find useful:

1) Do you really want to delete...

2) Do you really want to transfer that amount...

3) Do you want to execute this order?

4) You are missing the compulsory input of .... in the mask, etc.

(There might be some more, but usually not in a non-expert context.)

Other than that:
No nanny, please.

And then:
By definition, the...

@FinchHaven @Gargron

@tchambers @FinchHaven @Gargron

(2/2)

..."" seem to be doing what they do intentionally.
So, these pop-up "nudges" will only slow them down, but not deter them.

Besides, "you can't cure stupid," as the saying goes.

I find @Laffy's approach quite useful from time to time:

;)

I have very little practical experience with the issue, however. For me, personally, it is virtually a non-issue.

//

@HistoPol @FinchHaven

On pre-musk Twitter nudges data:

“People who were prompted to reconsider their Replies canceled them 9% of the time and revised them 22% of the time (37% of these were to a less offensive alternative). Overall, those who were prompted posted 6% fewer offensive Tweets.
The team also observed a decrease in both the number of future offensive Tweets written by users who got the nudge, and the number of offensive replies they themselves received. “

@FinchHaven

(1/n)

Hm, I don't have a final opinion on this, but can see your point.

I have had quite some contact with newbies. In particular newbies from the BIPOC community seem to have struggled quite a bit with comments they found offensive. There is an issue.
That said, I'm not sure this is the correct way to address it...

Maybe it would be a tool against people who repeatedly offend others and receive complaints, as an intermediate...

@Gargron @tchambers

@FinchHaven @Gargron @tchambers

(2/n)

...ate step before outright blocking/banning them? IDK.

This definitely needs more thought.

What is sure:
it cannot be a compulsory setting for all.
This is not kindergarten.

But, hey, it is a trial...though I doubt that there will be many who can test it--very few use the original Mastodon app.

//

@HistoPol

I follow #Mastodon quite closely on #Github

That said, on mastodon - mastodon-android I can find no mention of this in either Issues (open or closed) or Pull Requests (open or closed) using any search modifiers I can quickly think of - given the time I'm willing to waste looking

And there don't seem to be any mastodon-android Discussions

Interesting to note that a couple of the techy-bro-news outlets have already picked up on the issue

So this seems to be get-out-in-front-of-the-issue damage control more that anything

Here, have a look: github.com/mastodon/mastodon-a

cc @Gargron @tchambers

Official Android app for Mastodon. Contribute to mastodon/mastodon-android development by creating an account on GitHub.
GitHubGitHub - mastodon/mastodon-android: Official Android app for MastodonOfficial Android app for Mastodon. Contribute to mastodon/mastodon-android development by creating an account on GitHub.

@HistoPol @FinchHaven @Gargron @tchambers It seems one feature of this would be to show me profile info on a poster I reply to, whom I do not follow?

I imagine seeing, for ex. a #blackLivesMatter tag on a profile, or "professor of AI ethics" - which might influence the tone of my reply. I like it!

@deborahh

(1/n)

problem in

Hm, I can someone assuming such a stance, I am somewhat surprised to see it for someone with your profile:

-ADHD
-techie (even if "former").

Pop-ups in the way you describe them would, IMO, entail two things:

a) structured, profiling data for each handle, such as educational background
b) the Platform understanding what is being typed, an LLM integrated into .

In a perfect world where...

@FinchHaven @Gargron @tchambers
@mina

(2/n)

...

pregnant women wanting an abortion would not have to flee their state or women not wearing a veel property being beaten to death by the police, I would agree. These are just 2 examples.
In the world we live in - this kind of seems dangerous to me.

Also, why do I need this? - If a person has a valuable Bio, then I can already read it. If not, it won't help at all.

The only way I could really see...

@deborahh @FinchHaven @Gargron @tchambers @mina

@deborahh @FinchHaven @Gargron @tchambers @mina

(3/3)

...a benefit would be for people with social "specialties" (e.g. neurodiverse) to categorize themselves for their "trigger points". Then, when someone writes to them, the suggested (warning) messages would pop up.

Yet again, in order for this to work, the platform would need to analyse what I am writing (before posting it!) to warn me of any trigger words.
This kind of intrusion is, of course, completely unacceptable, at least for me
//

@HistoPol @FinchHaven @Gargron @tchambers @mina that's not at all what I inferred. Your solution is way overengineered! 😋 ... what I read into it is:
▪ I opt in to the feature
▪ I reply to a post
▪ my client notices I'm not following the poster
▪ and shows me (or offers to show me) the profile of the poster (exactly as published by the poster).

Visualising it reminds me: showing me a no-content profile would warn me that I might be replying to a troll, and I'd investigate before posting! \o/

@deborahh

I see. Sort of like the preview function for websites in a Google search?

Well...maybe. It would make replying a bit more convenient in some cases, however...

many ppl. have no bio,
many ppl. have a relevant introductory post,
quite some people have long and group-specific slang lingo in their bios.

When I reply to touchy subjects, I try not just to screen the bio but also power-read some pertinent posts, to get a better impression.

IDK.

@FinchHaven @Gargron @tchambers @mina

@deborahh @FinchHaven @Gargron @tchambers @mina

...about the remaining usefulness of such a function.

And, yes, having come of age before the current , I still try to design a function that gives maximum usefulness and convenience to the user while concurrently maximizing automation.
If there is no real value added, why even bother?

(As a next step, if the proposed solution proves too costly, I can still scale back and optimize the cost/benefit ratio.)

//