A poll: how do you feel about the general idea of starter packs (or some equivalent) on fedi?
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Julian Fietkaureplied to Mastodon Migration last edited by
@mastodonmigration @thenexusofprivacy This question makes me ponder the differences between starter packs and opt-in lists (e.g. Academics on Mastodon) again. On https://directory.hci.social I have a bit under 200 people, and it allows for follow CSV import. Maybe if the goal is to network an academic field, that's a use case for longer lists? I certainly wouldn't want to exclude anyone, and have always given the advice (especially to newcomers) to follow liberally and prune when needed.
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The Nexus of Privacyreplied to Julian Fietkau last edited by
It's a great point. For an academic disciplinelimiting the list size is going to be exclusionary -- and apmplify rich-get-richer dynamics (because a shorter list will include the best-known people) and in most cases diversity issues.
And I don't think this is particularly unique to academic disciplines, I see the same dynamics in other scenarios as well. But I also see @mastodonmigration's points, it really is a quandry!
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mav :happy_blob:replied to The Nexus of Privacy last edited by
@thenexusofprivacy
I genuinely don't get the mass appeal of starter packs, why do I want to follow 200 people at once? No. Never.I'm pretty disappointed with their implementation on bsky, being able to use a list as a "starter pack" would be a lot more productive IMO. We already have lists and they're much more productive.
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The Nexus of Privacyreplied to mav :happy_blob: last edited by
@mav I don’t ever do a follow-all but I find them very useful. Oh look, here’s 30 experts in decolonization. Here’s 45 critical AI theorists. Etc. it’s true that it’s not that different from a public list, and the spreadsheets for academics (etc) play a similar role with a very low-tech UI for those who know about them, but I do think it’s a useful concept
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The Nexus of Privacyreplied to The Nexus of Privacy last edited by
@mav also specifically in the Bluesky context people are trying to recover/expand their Twitter networks, and folllow all can make sense for that if it’s a pack from somebody you trust
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@thenexusofprivacy Since the software does not know what's a personal account and what's an organizational account, this could be an option in the user account with multiple states:
1. Never allow
2. Always allow
3. Require confirmationYou should also be able to remove yourself later if you're getting overwhelmed with interactions.
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@thenexusofprivacy There should also be a list in your settings to opt in/out later
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@thenexusofprivacy As a server admin, I can define a list of follow recommendations - this is already a type of starter pack, but with any possibility to opt-out for the accounts listed.
This is of course only a possibility for niche servers.
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@thenexusofprivacy @mastodonmigration @julian Maybe there could be 2 categories of starter packs: A "Starter" pack with a short list of accounts and a "Directory" that aims for a long list.
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GunChleocreplied to The Nexus of Privacy last edited by [email protected]
@thenexusofprivacy @alahmnat That's a great idea - make the starter pack a fedi account
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@thenexusofprivacy @graue I'm against using the nobot hashtag. I have this one in my profile because I want to be able to pick my particular bots. I'd be fine with being added to a starter pack.
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@thenexusofprivacy @mav I think the onboarding issue here is discoverability of the directories themselves. If you've been here for a while, you know where the directories are, but newcomers will benefit from something that gets presented to them by the software itself and that they won't have to go looking for - especially if they're not tech nerds or academics.
