I'm noticing folks leaving this place or 'taking a break'. Like it's noticeable. I'm not really sure what has been going on here the last few days, it's fragmented and confusing. I don't actually know what I need to do to fix this problem.

You are allowed to have disagreements here and there are tools for you to curate your experience here. What is going wrong this last couple of days?

Help me help us solve the problem. Whatever it is.

@th3j35t3r
You probably have an emergent situation underway or still ongoing.
That means a few factors are in confluence.
I think one is the time of year. Many are on vacation or swamped with getting kids back to school or college.

Nevertheless, maybe its time to design a "sentiment" dial on a profile? Those that are more rambunctious are filtered out by those that set their threshold high. Then allow users to see who/what was filtered out so they know the consequences.

@jurban @th3j35t3r

Sounds a bit algorithm-y. Personally, I want to filter out individuals - not entire swaths.

@Agatha @th3j35t3r
Yes, definitely an algorithm.
But J needs solutions that scale using tech and not just more time from J.

It would report what was filtered if you want to see that.
If you don't like how it's working, then just don't use it.

Maybe there is an even better idea besides hiring an army of analysts?

@jurban @th3j35t3r

And that'll be up to him. But one of the main draws of CoSo - literally a staple - is no algorithms. There are many reasons why companies use them, or unpaid moderators like on Reddit (which is a whole other issue with pros and cons), but if that door is opened many of us who find this place a welcome refuge from typical SM will flee. And, no, that's not any kind of threat. I'm not telling him what to do. It'd simply be a consequence. But, it's his baby at the end of the day.

@Agatha @jurban @th3j35t3r
I will chime in only to say I would be very much against a sentiment or any kind of meter applied to a profile. Bouzy try that whole thing and it was wildly inconsistent.

I also firmly believe that we need to learn to talk to each other as humans, to be open-minded, and look past labels. Applying such a thing on profiles would go directly counter to that line of thinking.

Also as @jurban referenced generalizations:

While I didn't see the most recent part of this, I saw the beginnings of it and one group in this conversation clearly felt they were being unfairly gathered under some negative generalizations. So we definitely don't want anything that would further that, be it real or perceived.

@Agatha
@th3j35t3r

@voltronic @jurban @th3j35t3r

If they are not part of the problem, then they don't need to basically go "not all white people", yes? Getting defensive when someone expresses there is a problem is literally part of the problem. Reminds me of when I suggested to my hus that he should refer to co-workers as "women" & not "girls" - esp when they're 20 yrs older than him. (He doesn't refer to the others as "boys".) He got *hostile* w/me thinking I was calling him sexist. But he calmed & grew.

@voltronic @jurban @th3j35t3r

But I also took issue with another actor who was overly hostile, and seemed to just want to stir up 💩. The result was they were basically yelling over, past, and around the original posters. So muting them both helped *me* - but my muting them didn't help the original posters.

@Agatha @voltronic @th3j35t3r
Sounds like we're trying to engineer good manners when communicating with our fellow humans.

That's a tough journey.

But, I do have ideas! 🙂

I do like the idea of being in control of tools that help you make sense out of what is happening. If an "algorithm" provides an indicator that this guy/gal is being a jerk and it confirms my opinion, I might feel less of a need to put him/her into their place with further arguments.

@jurban @voltronic @th3j35t3r

I absolutely do not trust algorithms - and one on CoSo would be no exception. But I don't need one to confirm my bias or opinion or decision.

NOT having it has made me challenge my motives & reactions - I examine them - and that has been overwhelmingly positive.

But I'm also not trying to put anyone in their place. I left the other places for good reason. My opinion is that particular urge is a big reason why SM becomes crap. 🤷🏻‍♀️

@Agatha @jurban @voltronic @th3j35t3r maybe a private downvote or upvote to help remember your own feelings about someone 6 mos down the line?

@hallmarc
Those things already exist. Following, muting, and blocking.

@Agatha @jurban @th3j35t3r

@voltronic @Agatha @jurban @th3j35t3r perhaps they're not fine grained enough. Maybe I straddle the fence on someone. They're interesting enough that I want to hear from them from time to time but "edgy" or "mean" enough that I want to mute them frequently. Just thinking out loud.

@hallmarc @voltronic @jurban @th3j35t3r

That's when I use the soft mute. I don't see their posts unless I go to their timeline, but if they @ me, I see them. If they piss me off from there, it goes to hard mute or block.

@Agatha @voltronic @jurban @th3j35t3r I didn't know there are two different mutes.

@hallmarc

When you mute, you can uncheck this and you'll still get notifications if they @ you. Super handy.

@Agatha @hallmarc
Fun observation, those few I've soft blocked never comment on anythinbg I post.

@Krysdammit @hallmarc

There's a couple who comment on my posts. I'm not naming names, but I'll soft mute people who keep posting puzzle scores & sports stuff without any hashtags I can use to filter them out (if they use one at all, it's hyper specific and I'm tired of adding them to my filters).

@Agatha @Krysdammit it's interesting. I have zero filters and I spend a lot of time just scrolling through the firehouse. Occasionally something strikes my fancy and I either click on the person's profile and go down a few posts to see if I'd like to follow or I comment. That's it!