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1. Embed this notice
   Jon (jdp23@blahaj.zone)'s status on Wednesday, 09-Aug-2023 06:16:03 JST Jon

   • Erin Kissane

   @kissane@mas.to have you been following the discussion of when replies are and aren't visible in the home timeline? TL;DR is that it's complicated and unintuitive enough that even experienced people get taken by surprise.
   
   As well as being a problem in its own right, I was thinking of this with respect to the "can't find people or interests" problem that you mentioned as one of the top reasons why people in your informal survey didn't stay. One of the things that people don't generally seem to know is that replies by somebody you follow don't wind up in your home timeline unless they're to (or maybe boosted by?) somebody you follow. On the one hand if you're following a lot of people it's good for keeping your home timeline from being overhelmed, but on the other hand it adds to the discovery challenge.
   
   If I see somebody replying about a topic I'm interested in, the person they're replying to may well also be interested in that topic; repeat enough times, and I've found a bunch of people interested in the topic. But if I _don't_ see the reply, then I can't use this tactic. Of course this isn't the only problem, but it complements the challenges of the lack of search (unless you can guess the hashtag and people are using it) etc.
   
   RE: https://universeodon.com/users/siderea/statuses/110845657548300479

   • Embed this notice
     Jesse Baer 🔥 (misc@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 09-Aug-2023 06:15:43 JST Jesse Baer 🔥

     in reply to

     • FediTips has moved!
     • Boris Mann

     @boris Not sure - just googled a bit, found some side references to it in github issues & convos on Mastodon and Reddit but nothing definitive. Seems like something @feditips might know about?

   • Embed this notice
     FediTips has moved! (feditips@mstdn.social)'s status on Wednesday, 09-Aug-2023 06:15:43 JST FediTips has moved!

     in reply to

     • Jesse Baer 🔥
     • Boris Mann

     @misc @boris

     Replies are visible in the Home timeline if:

     the reply mentions you

     OR

     you wrote the reply

     OR

     the reply mentions someone you follow

   • Embed this notice
     Jesse Baer 🔥 (misc@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 09-Aug-2023 06:15:45 JST Jesse Baer 🔥

     in reply to

     • Boris Mann

     @boris Huh. I am pretty sure that is the ostensible expected/intended behavior. I don't *think* I have ever seen a reply in my timeline to someone I don't follow, unless it was boosted or had a hashtag I subscribe to. I follow a lot of people, including a lot of people Erin talks to, so I see a lot of her replies but I assume I miss a lot too. Maybe your instance is doing something different?

   • Embed this notice
     Boris Mann (boris@cosocial.ca)'s status on Wednesday, 09-Aug-2023 06:15:45 JST Boris Mann

     in reply to

     • Jesse Baer 🔥

     @misc very plain instance. And it could literally be that I misremember and that the “Only followers of both see replies” is being applied.

     (And of course — just browsing a user profile will show the replies if they are public or unlisted)

     I follow a lot of people and will generally follow more based in part on whom they are talking to.

     I haven’t searched, but do you know of a reference for how this is supposed to work?

   • Embed this notice
     Boris Mann (boris@cosocial.ca)'s status on Wednesday, 09-Aug-2023 06:15:51 JST Boris Mann

     in reply to

     • Jesse Baer 🔥

     @misc I’m over here poking at settings and trying stuff. I know I don’t have high confidence that I know what the intended behaviour is supposed to be.

     On Twitter, starting with an @-reply hides from non followers.

     I don’t believe that’s the case on Mastodon?

     So someone following Kissane sees all her replies as well.

     I have not looked at the spec. I do seem to see all replies of people I follow.

     The fact that we are unsure highlights Kissane’s affordances post

   • Embed this notice
     Jesse Baer 🔥 (misc@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 09-Aug-2023 06:15:52 JST Jesse Baer 🔥

     in reply to

     • Boris Mann
     • Erin Kissane

     @boris @kissane @jdp23 Wait - do we have a documented case of someone seeing a reply from her that wasn’t boosted by or sent to someone the person followed? I don’t think I’ve ever seen that happen here, with anyone…

   • Embed this notice
     Erin Kissane (kissane@mas.to)'s status on Wednesday, 09-Aug-2023 06:15:58 JST Erin Kissane

     in reply to

     • Boris Mann

     @boris @jdp23 Default web has this filter option up top to hide replies/boosts. I imagine apps vary widely 😬

   • Embed this notice
     Boris Mann (boris@cosocial.ca)'s status on Wednesday, 09-Aug-2023 06:15:58 JST Boris Mann

     in reply to

     • Erin Kissane

     @kissane @jdp23 I think as evidence from elsewhere shows, many people do in fact see all of your replies. You’re welcome / I’m sorry 🤷

   • Embed this notice
     Boris Mann (boris@cosocial.ca)'s status on Wednesday, 09-Aug-2023 06:16:01 JST Boris Mann

     in reply to

     • Erin Kissane

     @kissane @jdp23 I seem to see a lot of Kissane’s replies to everyone else here (on Ivory).

     Not a setting as far as I know, this may be something with the default Mastodon web interface? (I don’t use the web interface much)

     So put me in the category of “no clue when I do see this vs not”.

     I thought Unlisted made this not happen, but maybe it’s because I follow @jdp23?

   • Embed this notice
     Erin Kissane (kissane@mas.to)'s status on Wednesday, 09-Aug-2023 06:16:02 JST Erin Kissane

     in reply to

     @jdp23 I hadn’t been, but having everyone who follows me on Bluesky see all my replies to everyone else has made me sharply cut back on how much I converse there so that I’m not overwhelming.

     But an “algo” (🤖) that offered a list of people with whom the people I follow frequently chat would be super nice for me.

   • Embed this notice
     FediTips has moved! (feditips@mstdn.social)'s status on Thursday, 10-Aug-2023 04:28:39 JST FediTips has moved!

     in reply to

     • Jesse Baer 🔥
     • Boris Mann

     @boris @misc

     It's not documented as far as I know, it's just from experimenting and observing.

     It does sort of make sense, as otherwise your Home timeline would be overrun with replies to people you have no connection to.

   • Embed this notice
     Boris Mann (boris@cosocial.ca)'s status on Thursday, 10-Aug-2023 04:28:40 JST Boris Mann

     in reply to

     • FediTips has moved!
     • Jesse Baer 🔥

     @feditips @misc awesome, thank you.

     Do you know of a canonical reference for this other than implementation code?

     This feels like convention (which is good!) but also it essentially describes the “algorithm”

     1) A chronological feed of original posts by the people you follow

     2) Boosts by people you follow

     3) Replies where you are mentioned or to mutuals