I don't feel as strongly about quote posts as I did in 2018. Personally, I am not a fan, but there is clearly a lot of demand for it. We're considering it.
@Gargron TY! It was a very useful feature to be able add to a conversation without feeling like we were spamming ppl's replies. But I can see why you chose not to have it here given the way ppl abuse it.
@Gargron If you do add it, you should make it so people can opt to have their posts “quote posted.” If the setting is on, people can do it. If not, then they can only boost.
You can even have it apply per post settings as well. Just a few suggestions.
If we did do it we'd like to make it something you can opt out of, in a similar way to how we plan to allow disabling replies. It's not entirely trivial.
@Gargron@darnell please for the love of God let us be able to opt out, its one of the reasons I love it here more than twitter. Twitter went bad when they came in
@Gargron opt out as the person being quoted or the person following an account that uses quotes? Also kudos, I personally like (and miss!) Quotes and respect that you are revisiting your position! ?
@Gargron Do you think having quote-replies enable by default or disabled by default would be best? Would it be an account-wide setting that could be changed on a per-post basis as well?
@Gargron I missed it when I first joined back in 2019, but now I get the resistance.
I've been saying for a while now that it's important to think about how the features of an application influence the use of the application.
Quote posts are definitely at this category. I believe they have (unintentionally) promoted a less healthy environment that leads to dog-piling and brigading, and detract from direct conversation.
I feel this would have a seriously negative impact on Mastodon.
@Tattooed_mummy@Gargron I think all this feedback on #Mastodon is awesome! I am sure the team can make it so your timeline only shows boosts & replies. Maybe they could add a filter checkmark that allows you to see quote posts or ignore them.
It could also prevent others from quote posting your posts too.
@Gargron donc l'un des fondateurs/développeurs de Masto revient sur sa pensée initiale et pense mettre en place les citations, comme sur Twitter, mais avec la possibilité de ne pas les autoriser individuellement... Pourquoi pas...
@Gargron Thanks for considering it. #QuoteReply instead of #QuotePost might also be an option. Whether displayed above or below OP, replies won't get forked. Moreover limiting and/or hiding replies would be great.
@Gargron please don't. One of the reasons users came to Mastodon before birdsite exodus was the absence of echo chamber. I read the discussions to add quoting but to my understanding it was requested just to make Mastodon as similar to users' former platform as possible. Mastodon stands out as a social platform of its own strengths. Please let's not drag in baggage of other sites just to make it less diverse.
@Gargron the problem I see is that if someone posts something spiteful or disgusting it gets amplified. Even though lots of people will QT with stuff like 'I can't believe they posted this' it still gets seen by more people than it deserves and the hate poster is happy that they're getting attention.
@Gargron I’m sure you’ve heard this from others, but would love if you considered making them tumblr-style reblogs, where the commentary goes below the original post! Feels a lot more collaborative that way ❤️
@Gargron Shouldn't notification by quote be opt-in rather than opt-out? I've once seen a screenshot by a victim who was bullied through a QT on Twitter by someone who the victim doesn't know. The first notification seemed to be enough to make a big damage to the victim.
@Gargron please, by Default opt Out. Some of us do not need quote posts. Or that the Option is available only to people who activate it on settings. Something like that
By default only posts with hashtags can be quoted (after all, they are intended to be fairly public).
Accounts can change to AlwaysAllow if they are, for instance, a news or campaign organisation or just want their Mastodon experience to be more public.
Accounts can change to AlwaysBlock if they are concerned about abuse or wish their Mastodon experience to be more intimate.
@Gargron Quoting would be a nice feature for various reasons, but it could also be an unnecessary torture. I feel that it's okay to be quoted when someone wants to boost + express their opinion in one post without taking part in the conversation. Not having to be notified, or see, that someone quoted you (at least as an option) would save a lot of mental work and energy to people getting upset, having to block, mute, get back at, etc. And it prevents active misquoting, right?
@Gargron I don’t see any good reason to enable quote posts and some strong reasons not to. I’d go even further and crack down on screencap posts that are used for the same nasty hatchet job.
@Gargron I like mastodon for how it encourages original posting not making remarks on other’s post. Personally not a fan of quote boosts. May make citing easier so people can comment on toots on timelines when needed?
@Gargron I recently read that the lack of this feature is responsible for the other demeanour of people here. You can't toot just to your bubble, everything you toot is visible for all, this makes it harder to rally warriors against others. With that in mind, I think it's better to continue to do without it.
By the way: Thanks for this wonderful platform. I'm amazed about the decent and civilized exchange here. For me, this makes it a place where I like to take part in. ? ? ?
@Gargron I don't know about this specifically, but there is a bias for change. People that are happy with the status quo are less likely to post about it.
@Gargron I'd strongly prefer an opt-*in*. With the fast growth of Mastodon the risk of misuse might be bigger, so switched off as standard seems safest.
@Gargron One benefit is that people see straight off the bat, that the quote really is from the quoted person. Not just propaganda. I see this as an improvement against dis- and misinformation.
@Gargron the lack of quote tweets makes for a calmer and friendlier network, I've found, with less focus on engagement and the negative effects of pile-ons. I hope it's not added.
But if it is added, I also hope there's an option to turn that off, and turn it off in bulk.
@Gargron listening to the consumers is good. But don't listen to their every demand. Especially the ones from #twittermigration. I personally want the ability to follow someone but not see their posts on my feed cause I want to add them to separate lists and only look at them at decided times
@Gargron in some ways it sounds a bit like the weapons debate. People say the tool is not the problem, people are. I am a good person so I should get to have the tool,which is fine arguement. However, if no one has access to the tool, the ‘bad’ people will be less of a problem because they cant abuse the tool. And maybe the ‘good’ people will find a more ingenious tool? footnote: this is just a thought. I do not wish to open a debate on tools of any sort. only table saw vs circular saw.
@Gargron 's plan to modify Mastodon to disable replies strikes me as profoundly misguided and likely to make fighting disinformation and lies more difficult.
No one who makes a public statement should have either the right or means to constrain replies -- whether positive or negative. If it is within one's right to speak, it is certainly within another's right to respond.
@Gargron I wish you wisdom. I do personally not miss the functionality and am, after eight weeks of tooting, quite convinced that your arguments for not implementing it are as valid now as they were then and increase the value of the platform. Just my two cents, mind.
@darkstar I doubt @Gargron can control how other platforms like #Pleroma & #MissKey handle quote posting (the latter two already have this built in). #Mastodon has tremendous influence in the #Fediverse, but at the same time other platforms can ignore Mastond’s suggestions.
@darnell@Gargron Remember that the Fediverse is not just mastodon. So these safeguards have to be implemented in the other elements of the Fediverse too.
@Gargron "One model fits all" approach created some major issues on other social media sites. Considering that features like quote posts have been asked by many, including journalists, having the possibility to opt-out/opt-in will help others to configure Mastodon according to their needs.
@Gargron I'm glad to hear this. People who wish to add a comment to a Boost should have access to such a feature. People who would abuse such a feature should not have access to the system at all.
We aren't just individuals, we are all part of a community.
If the community turns toxic, we all suffer.
Features which encourage toxicity harm all of us, because they affect how people around us behave. Toxicity promotes aggression, suspicion and stress, it makes the world a nastier place to live in.
I do believe that the absence of quote-tweets is something that really makes a conversation healthier here. I still remember Twitter introducing quote-tweets and it starting slam-dunks from all sides of the spectrum.
@Gargron More than just opting in on having your posts quoted, I hope we will be able to opt out of seeing them in our Home timeline. One of the under discussed worst aspects of quote tweets is mutuals using them bring stuff you try to avoid into your timeline. Like popular accounts you don’t necessarily want to block or mute, but don’t follow, but since folks want to add their two cents there they are.
@Gargron I am making good use of the filter to hide bird site links and would really appreciate a tic-box there to opt out of seeing quotes or being (ab)used via quotes. I appreciate that others would see it more positively though.
It might be a nice thing to have as an opt-in, but it’s not the feature we’re missing the most, despite a recent polemic started by journalists silenced by Musk.
While #Mastodon is superior to birdsite on many levels, notably its edit function, 500-character limit, quality of moderation, absence of algorithms and shadow banning, it remains behind with regard to two essential aspects: #discoverability and #search function.
I would also add in the resource usage when your #selfHostingMastodon. I suppose I could move over to #akkoma or #calcKey, but in the case of #akkoma I can't transfer my account, and there aren't really any good calckey apps.
In all fairness it is my own fault for using a desktop that I built years ago gathering dust that has a 2 core #intel#pentium and 8g of #ram while hosting a number of other servers at the same time...
@Gargron I remember why you did not want the quote posts and I still think you was right.
I understand that Twitter users feel more comfortable to be on a similar "environment" but this is not Twitter and some of us we are here exactly for that.
@Gargron I think if QPs are introduced, it will boil down to whether they are enabled or disabled by default, as that's what most users will have. If off by default, the feature might as well not exist; if on by default, then using it will become the paradigm and users might occasionally have to circumvent the original poster's preference by linking to the post or taking a screenshot. So I think making it optional might clutter the interface for little benefit.
@Gargron I would say stick to no explicit quote tweet behavior but handle it however you handle the preview of links to mastodon posts and potentially allow masking of the preview
@Gargron I think that so.e of the pushback is from people who think qt makes #mastodon "into (the worst version) of twitter" but there's no reason that should be true
As a feature it us useful for providing context to a boost, without obscuring it.
It also could be a client side implementation with a show parent button for any reply
@Gargron I despise quote posts, so I’m definitely not part of the demand. Not looking forward to seeing be used like on the #hellbirdsite. All they’re good for is hate and dogpiling. I hope there’s a way to opt out. I freaking hate them.
@Gargron This helps make Mastodon and the #Fediverse an improvement over the failing bird site. I missed being able to quote-toot when I first arrived but it didn’t take long to realize it was just a habit and adjust. I’ve seen numerous others saying similar. The folks who are the most vociferous on this appear to have not even tried to adjust, they just want the other site without the new order/owner. A very granular (toot-level) opt-in function would be ok, but not just an on/off per account…
For me, it's way to respond to a post in a way that doesn't hijack a conversation. Often times, my replies aren't directly relevant to the primary conversation – mostly a matter for tangential discussion.
@Gargron Just adding a voice to the “I’d really rather we didn’t” category. The experience of browsing mastodon vs ye olde Twitter is night and day in regards to original content.
I think it’s inevitable that QT functionality empowers folks to have endless “takes” on the same posts. Even taking the harassment angle out of it (which is quite seriously imho) it’s not good for post quality.
@Gargron We non-journalists all had to learn new things and adapt our existing social media behaviors to successfully use Mastodon. Journalists have been given far too many “Easy buttons” that they haven’t earned over the past several years. They can learn and adapt to use Mastodon too. There’s currently only one major squeaky wheel here right now, and she’s done nothing but complain since she got here, please don’t bend to her celebrity-like demands.
@Gargron as a refugee from the other place, I’m strongly against it. I think it’s one of the things that lead to such negativity over there. People would constantly use it to lash poorly thought out criticisms. Boosts are boosts: simple positive. Why on earth boost something you hate? If people have a problem with the OP, why not debate with them directly via a thread of responses?
@Gargron It's a standard cost/benefit analysis Popularity aside as witnessed of American society that endorsed much of the hellscape we're all NOW eyebrow deep in
@Gargron I would guess most who want that function have come from Twitter. Over there quote tweets are a huge part of that site's negativity. Also, it's a lot easier to grab someone else's content and repost it than coming up with one's own good content. By not having quote posts here, I would argue, has elevated the content and engagement here over what we see on Twitter.
@Gargron What about a "captioned boost" where the boosters content is below the original? Might discourage the more "look at me and how much better I am than this person" style of quote post while letting people add context to why they are boosting?
@Gargron it adds an extra social dynamic, I can quote repost a journalist or publication’s post linking to their article rather than just a URL that leads elsewhere
@Gargron The only way I'd like to see this happen, especially if you're going to let people opt-out of replies, is tie quotes to replies.
If a reply is boosted it should quote the post it's replying to for context when you see the boosted reply by itself in your feed (without having to click through to see the OP). That would allow people to quote post only by boosting a reply, which would also preserve your original argument against quoting in favor of replying.
@Gargron normally, I'd want to quote this and express to my followers that I'm happy it's being reconsidered and hope that people's concerns about the feature can also be addressed somehow.
@Gargron I think your original 2018 intuition was good and that it would be better not to do it: on Twitter it is mostly only used for insulting, ridiculing or as an egocentric substitute for the Reply option. I just hope that if finally implemented, the opt out will allow us to prevent our toots from being quoted.
@Gargron Hey, Eugen. I think quotes are a nice feature to have, it allows users to speak about topics without losing context. Yeah, quotes could be used to harass someone but having settings to handle them should be a must. Personally, I hate quotes from private accounts where you cannot reply.
@Gargron This environment is different then musketwitter and I like that. QT is not a feature I cared about there really. And frankly made stuff feel disconnected when I think about it.
@Gargron the opt out feature would be great. Although I’m sure this would not be simple either - another modified option would be the ability to quote our own prior posts. It would allow everyone to quickly reference things we have said before that we want to add on to, without imposing the feature on others.
@Gargron as a user who has previously voiced support for quoting, I feel almost obligated to request that it /not/ be implemented. It's one of those little "not here" things that I think has made using Mastodon that much kinder on my brain.
...that said, it would improve my "credit to user XYZ who found this" workflow immensely, which makes up like 90% of my threads on Bird Hell. Dunno if I'd be doing the same here - I've mostly been keeping myself "focused" on rambling :cate:
Until I saw @Gargron's justification for Mastodon banning quote posts I didn't see a problem. I decided, on balance, this decision was correct and was surprised many insisted it impaired journalists' incentive to come here. Like many things quote posting can be used for good or bad. Opting out is a poor idea as you'd miss those using it for balanced debate. The alternative is using copy and paste to provide context. But that risks people saying they've been taken out of context. #QuotePosts
@Gargron You can provide an opt out position on quote posts. But that doesn't address the fact that it can be used to help both the quote poster and the one being quoted. If someone insists they can't be quote posted they'll simply have their words provided without proof the entire meaning was provided. If someone thinks they're not being treated fairly by a quote poster they can complain and if they don't get satisfaction, they can block the offender. That seems a better approach to me.
@Gargron Several times Neil Gaiman quote posted me on the other place and I invariably retweeted it even when he was being critical of me and I felt the need to defend myself from his criticism. My stats went off the scale when this happened but that wasn't the reason I was happy. It helped everybody that both sides of an argument were available to everyone. Opting out of quote posting seems an unwise thing to do. If someone thinks they've been treated unfairly they can block. #QuotePosts
@Gargron they aren't any different to replies and can be reported all the same. ?♂️
I'd like to not see ones of people I blocked.. Like at all. Twitter shows me what the QTer posts.. I don't even want that of I have the original poster blocked. ?
@Gargron It'd be helpful to clarify what "QT" means here.
Twitter #QTs work more as a kind of "alt-reply" function, more "branching off a conversation" than simply linking to a post, with 3 essential attributes:
1. The other post is displayed as if it's a seamless part of ones own 2. The other person is notified just as with a reply or @-mention 3. QTs are listed under "x Quoted Posts" under the original post
When one says "I want QTs", is this what one means? Would anything less be enough?
@Gargron Don’t need or want it. I agree with the reasoning to leave it out. Better cross-instance interactions and performance much more important imho.
@Gargron A fine compromise. My bet? After 6 months, not even 5% will opt-out, and that number will shrink quickly as people realize that much of the "abuse" was never a real issue (the moderation was). But your better reason, imo, that it promoted a lesser kind of engagement, may still prove accurate. I personally doubt it, but it might. Either way, it will be what it will. Time will tell. Thanks for revisiting it.
@Gargron I hope you do allow them. I like to comment on stories as I pass them along. I hesitate to bring things I didn't post myself to people's attention without explaining why.
@Gargron I think any form of quote toot would kneecap the platform's appeal to me. On the one hand you've got the timeline filling up with posts from like, parlor.toot because some well meaning doofus wanted to quote it and get their dunks in, on the other hand if you can toggle it off, you miss good people using it to hype up other good people with glowing reviews or recommendations.
@Gargron Ich bin gegen die Einführung einer Zitierfunktion. Wer es unbedingt möchte, kann ja heute bereits einen Link zu einem Toot teilen und diesen kommentieren. Es ist also eigentlich gar nicht notwendig. Ich empfinde es als ganz angenehm, dass es kommentierte Toots nur ganz selten im Ausnahmefall gibt. Auch ich habe dies in den vier Jahren meiner Mitgliedschaft nur sehr selten benutzt, im Gegensatz zu Twitter, wo es an der Tagesordnung ist, mehr übereinander als miteinander zu reden.