Re:ActivityPub might be a transitional technology
by ericjmorey on Tuesday May 21, 2024 @07:59PM
(#40435769)
The *keys and derivative services have "antennas" that are the feeds you're looking for use an instance that use a good relay and you have what you're after.
But I agree that there are limitations with using an instance centric approach and the benefits may not appeal to many people.
Re:ActivityPub might be a transitional technology
by Kye on Tuesday May 21, 2024 @11:39PM
(#40437075)
These seem to only filter by tags/keywords. Feeds are a lot more powerful than that.
That's what I meant with:
>> "It's hard to explain because it sounds like tags or saved searches if you're trying to relate it to the more common model of social media."
For example: a feed that's something like a "For You" timeline without the commercial incentives to make it bad (it's empty without an account because it has nothing to work with): https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:tenurhgjptubkk5zf5qhi3og/fe...
It's not just blunt filtering. Feeds can (and do) apply machine learning, take input from your interactions, and generally do all the things a first-party timeline can do.
Re:ActivityPub might be a transitional technology
by fattegourmet on Wednesday May 22, 2024 @06:16AM
(#40439277)
so, a non-black box algorithmic feed?
Feeds are a fundamental part of AT and depend on relays. There's no equivalent in Mastodon. It has relays, but they're more niche and restrictive and there's no standard way to filter, select, order, etc incoming posts.
The firehose used to be easy to get to on Twitter until they realized people would pay for it, and then all the fun mashups went away. The firehose and feeds that filter it are a fundamental aspect on AT.
It makes more sense once you've tried it. What we're seeing with Bluesky feeds is what Twitter could have been if they hadn't tried to turn the firehose into a profit center. It's hard to explain because it sounds like tags or saved searches if you're trying to relate it to the more common model of social media.