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Mastodon already has algorithms, but most people don’t think about it in that sense.
There’s Home, Local, and Global feeds—all reverse chronological. However, you can also apply filters to these feeds.
There’s also a “Trending” feed in the Explore section. This is not reverse chronological, but shows popular posts that are recent.
You can also follow hashtags and build lists. These features build algorithmic relevancy.
What people usually mean when they say “algorithms” is a black box algorithm for which the social network decides relevancy for you. I’m not in favour of that kind of algorithm.
RE: https://mastodon.ai8w.ddns.net/users/admin/statuses/110454131347719045
@atomicpoet any idea how Trending works exactly? Are its parameters clearly documented? I’ve always been curious about how a piece of content makes it on there.
I like checking it out to see if I’ve missed anything, but it also seems to have a ‘the popular become more popular’ problem. I’d love to see it feature some posts that are trending on a lower scale as well, that way there’s more new people to be discovered.
@erlend@writing.exchange @atomicpoet@calckey.social I'd love to know as well, please tag me if you figure it out haha.
One thing I did notice is that Mastodon's trending only shows posts that are made on (any) Mastodon server. I've checked a few times if popular calckey posts show up, and they never do, even when they clearly have significantly more engagement than other masto posts that are made at the same time with less engagement.
@laurenshof
That's really interesting! I've never looked at it for long enough to notice that.
@atomicpoet @erlend
@erlend
I'm sure it's documented in the sense that the code is open-source. I realize (& am sort of pointing out) that's not really an adequate answer, but if your question ever gets noticed by a certain kind of tech-macho reply-guy that's what you'll be told.
@atomicpoet