This One Trick Will Revolutionize Your Use of Social Media: Block fuckwits.
On social media, the advantage is that a large userbase and participation. The disadvantage: it's 99.9999% crap.
What's working for me is to filter ruthlessly. If someone is disruptive, ideological, insane, or crazy-making, I'll block them without thought (I used to agonize over that, I don't any more).
High signal is rare, but odds of missing out by blocking idiots are low.
A lot of it arrives at my stream because other users simply hit like on those and tbh I don't know how to solve it. FOMO is probably part of the problem, but more and more it seems the resulting signal/noise ratio and aggravation is hardly worth it, and maybe I need to just get over it and start pruning my contacts list more aggressively.
@jec Yes, this is very much what I'm getting at.
There are some Mastodon tools you can use, more on that in a follow-up.
On the concept itself, earlier writings:
Cheap Rejection as a Feature
Builds the idea that cheap and fast no-gregats information rejection is a feature in an information-rich world:
[M]ental models are not simply modeling devices, but information rejection tools. Borrowing from Clay Shirkey’s “It’s not information overload, it’s filter failure”, the world is a surprisingly information-rich space, and humans (or any other information-processing system, biological or otherwise) simply aren’t equipped to deal with more than a minuscule fraction of it. We aim for a useful fraction. It paints an incomplete, but useful picture.
Even a bad model has utility if it rejects information cheaply.
<https://diaspora.glasswings.com/posts/ab83b940180801391b0d002590d8e506
Refutation of Metcalfe's Law revisited: network effects meet Sturgeon's Law
https://old.reddit.com/r/dredmorbius/comments/1yzvh3/refutation_of_metcalfes_law_revisited_network/
On bullshit, S/N, craft, respect, and originality
https://old.reddit.com/r/dredmorbius/comments/1sdvma/on_bullshit_sn_craft_respect_and_originality/
#SignalNoise #Information #InformationOverload #CheapRejection #Models #Satisficing #InformationTheory
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> Disable boosts if necessary.
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> Lists can also be limited.
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I'm using Friendica, which its aim is more about supporting several protocols to server as kind of a central hub, so I'm not 100% it supports every AP feature - but I'll check.
> Unfollow / unlist noisy profiles: Often it's only a small set of profiles which generate a lot of traffic. Their good stuff will tend to get boosted by others, or turn up otherwise.
Yes! I realized that as well and it has helped a lot.
@jec Right, the featureset there is one that Mastodon and/or #GlitchSoc (my daily driver) offer.
@jec I've covered my Mastodon tips before but:
Use lists. Have a "high-priority" or "high-signal" list that's just a small number (10--20) of profiles who post consistently interesting stuff, at low-to-moderate volume. Extend that with another 1--2 lists of moderate to lower interest profiles. Prune and reorganise aggressively.
Disable boosts if necessary. You can limit boosts for a profile. If their posts are interesting but boosts aren't, then dump the boosts.
Lists can also be limited. You can restrict what replies are shown: non, list members, or any followed user.
Unfollow / unlist noisy profiles: Often it's only a small set of profiles which generate a lot of traffic. Their good stuff will tend to get boosted by others, or turn up otherwise. Drama and outrage lose me really fast. Vagueness takes a few seconds longer.
FOMO is overrated. Someone came up with an alternate term that's something like "fear of losing attention" or "fear of lost focus", which is a good counter.
Time-box your usage. Allocating 20--30 minutes at the end of your day is far better than doomscrolling social media first thing in the morning. (Though this is hard to do.)
#MastoTips