Back

This is because undirected interaction is key to these companies. And radical content reliably delivers more interaction. Unfortunately that mechanism has also spread to editors of reputable news outlets, leading to more radical and less nuanced content that feature extremely aggressive headlines. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy, fueled by human nature decoupled from actual physical interaction. On the internet we say things we never would say in person.

But that reality also contains the solution. It starts with one self. Only post things you would happily shout out in a public place filled with people you don’t know. That mental image helps at least me a lot. And from that follows to switch to services that do NOT rely on interaction to fuel ad networks and VC (Venture Capitalism) pockets. That’s the tough part. And #activitypub based services could be the basis for that better ecosystem if done right.

(And finally: this is why IMHO #mastodon needs a “hide reply” feature far more than a retoot option. As an OP (Original Poster) or as author of a reply that attracts radical takes, it simply is impossible to engage with each and every (troll, automated, soon “AI”) “evil” reply that tries to radicalise the discussion) cc @Gargron @evan FYI

@jwildeboer @Gargron @evan

Doesn't blocking users and/or instances solve that issue?

Cuz to me that does work quite well...
https://github.com/greyhat-academy/lists.d/blob/main/activitypub.domains.block.list.tsv