What are your thoughts on Microblogs vs threads?

When I first joined Kbin I posted threads due to being a reddit refugee but have started posting microblogs as time went on. I have also noticed some magazines have more threads while others have more microblog posts. For example kbinmeta has more threads while the most active magazine I moderate has mostly microblogs.

daredevil, (edited )
@daredevil@kbin.social avatar

One of my favorite things about /kbin is that it utilizes threads and microblogs. In my experience thus far, users here seem rather shy. I don't hold it against anyone though, because I totally understand.

Federating content from the likes of Mastodon is very helpful for having discussions trickle in from the fediverse. I think it's also really helpful for establishing an ongoing daily discussion space so the thread feed isn't as cluttered. IMO, there's more potential beyond that, too (Think: drawing everyday for a month, photography-based posting/challenges while using tags for content organization, language-learning exercises, the list goes on...).The combination of threads with microblogs has shown me the power that lies behind content federation. As a result, /kbin is by far my favorite of the fediverse platforms so far.

I still have some minor issues with how it currently works. Currently, I believe the name of a magazine causes hashtags with the exact same string to federate content to that magazine. The magazine that matches the desired hashtag also takes priority, even when the hashtag isn't assigned in the magazine's settings. An issue with this is that if any subsequent magazines try to federate content using that hashtag, it won't be able to do so.

It seems as though microblogs can only federate content to either the magazine that matches the hashtag in question, or the magazine that uses the hashtag first. There's also an issue where a microblog that uses multiple hashtags will only federate content to the magazine with the first available tag. E.g. if someone writes an unused tag for the first, followed by #kbinmeta, then #fediverse third, the post would only go to the kbinmeta microblog section. It would be lovely for microblogs to be federated, or even mirrored across magazines (as in child comments/replies) that implement the same tag. Hopefully, this could also be done without adding excessive overhead to Ernest/the server. Perhaps even offer the ability to have a magazine choose to refuse federating tags that match the magazine's name.

There are also some minor issues with moderation federation, but I don't exactly want to specify here, because I'm worried it could be used maliciously.

That being said, I can't wait to see how /kbin will mature.

Prouvaire,

Agree with all of the above.

Another thing I wish kbin would do, is that while kbin picks up mastodon posts (ie microblogs) - albeit not as seamlessly as would be ideal, as Mr Murdoch points out, it doesn't go the other way. When I post a thread to kbin I always attach relevant hashtags, but my Mastodon account does not pick these up. Mastodon does have the ability to follow kbin users, but not pick up kbin threads based on the thread's hashtags.

ContentConsumer9999,

I really hope magazines get the ability to detach from hashtags since currently @fediverse and @fediverse seem to be picking up all microblogs that use #fediverse even if said hashtag is used to just refer to fediverse users.

daredevil,
@daredevil@kbin.social avatar

I empathize, as I've spent quite some time trying to learn about content federation trying to manage my own magazines. However, /kbin is younger than its Mastodon/Lemmy counterparts, while trying to provide a unique space that allows for both types of content to exist on the same platform. While there are things that need to be resolved, I'm quite satisfied with the recent update, personally.

ContentConsumer9999,

Did the new update change anything about how microblogs get sorted into magazines?

daredevil,
@daredevil@kbin.social avatar

Unfortunately, I don't think so. Attached below is a list of changes that @Pamasich has compiled, for your convenience.

https://kbin.social/m/kbinMeta/t/612526/kbin-social-update#entry-comment-3476317

ContentConsumer9999,

Thanks :)

Deceptichum,
@Deceptichum@kbin.social avatar

Fucking hate it.

Splits communities and Twitter was always a shit format, not something to be emulated.

livus,
@livus@kbin.social avatar

I really love it. Thanks to microblogs sections of magazines, I'm now getting plenty of mastodon content and even following some mastodon people despite not having a mastodon account.

Damaskox,
@Damaskox@kbin.social avatar

I'm from Reddit as well.
(I've been actively around for about three days) I still don't understand what the microblog is and how to use them.

sour,
@sour@kbin.social avatar

the microblog is like twitter

Damaskox,
@Damaskox@kbin.social avatar

Now since I think about it -
I did a few tweets years ago before I deleted my account but I've never read it much. Just a message here there - I never followed full conversations. (And nowadays I rather not go here anymore)

So I'm pretty much out of the loop with how Twitter works as well 😂

sour, (edited )
@sour@kbin.social avatar

is for writing small posts with hashtags

hashtags start with #

microblog posts can have attachments like threads can

if you click on hashtag you can see more posts with same one

daredevil, (edited )
@daredevil@kbin.social avatar

Microblogs on /kbin are essentially short-form posts. There are times where microblogs revolve around a specific topic, but this is not always necessary. On /kbin, they are generally associated with keywords (hashtags) that allow a microblog to be sent to a magazine that targets/accepts the tag, which then appears in the microblog feed. However, on Mastodon/Twitter, you can simply write posts that get grouped with the posts of other users or your own previous posts without replying to a specific original post.

Writing microblogs and utilizing tagged keywords allows people to search for the information the writer deems fundamental to the topic they're writing about. This enhances discoverability and reduces noise, as you are able to quickly browse any and all posts that are specifically tagged with those keywords. Furthermore, microblogs may generally incorporate multiple identifying topics as you group together these keywords/tags.

For example, the @cats magazine will have an influx of posts on Saturdays from Mastodon instances which are tagged with . Writing microblogs in this way makes it so creating a thread every Saturday in @cats isn't necessary. This has a nice side effect of minimizing the need for megathreads that were found on Reddit.

Additionally, you can also search for (and click on) to review exercises that I have completed in the past. There are additional posts in the @learnjapanese magazine that would not include this information. By using this tag, you can access the posts that specifically pertain to my studies.

This is in contrast to /kbin threads, where the content of the thread is the centralizing topic of discussion as opposed to the keywords.

For example: our replies are centered around what the OP has asked instead of any keywords in the original post or subsequent replies. However, /kbin is more unique than typical forums, as we can the comments to achieve a similar functionality to microblogs. Honestly, I would like to see this feature be utilized more, but ç'est la vie.

ContentConsumer9999,

As someone who's never really utilized hashtags, do you have any suggestions?

daredevil,
@daredevil@kbin.social avatar

I might first suggest looking into a magazine/community that you're interested in. Scrolling the microblog section of that magazine might lend some insight on which keywords appear the most frequently or resonate the most with you. Pick one out, then try clicking on it or searching it with either the built in search function in the navigation bar at the top, or by checking out https://kbin.social/tag/cats as an example. Maybe even explore https://kbin.social/tag/hashtag. By replacing the tag in those links, you can check out posts containing tags with a bit more freedom, as some of the federation issues can be mitigated by searching this way. Trying to use some of these hashtags to find out specific information regarding questions or other interests, perhaps. If you have any further questions, you're free to reach out again.

ContentConsumer9999,

Thanks for the insight! I was mainly wondering about how I should use hashtags on my own microblogs and comments but I didn't even think about using them as browsing tools. Could you maybe give more tips about the former?

daredevil,
@daredevil@kbin.social avatar

Sure. I'll try to use your reply as an example.

Thanks for the insight! I was mainly wondering about how I should use #hashtags [...]

As you said so yourself, you are mainly wondering how you should use hashtags. As such, I would use a hashtag to highlight this key point of information. This is so that other users who may have questions regarding how to use hashtags can directly find posts that may have had the same question.

[...] on my own #microblogs and #comments but I didn't even think about using them as browsing tools.

The importance of microblogging will vary from user to user. However, I'd imagine they are/will play a big role in the #fediverse (I chose to tag fediverse here, because it's a large topic that others may seek clarification and perspectives regarding the idea and the number of ways it may pop up in conversation).

Could you maybe give more #tips about the former?

Lastly, I might consider tagging tips here. Say someone is looking up information regarding how to use a #hashtag. Well, if they stumble upon this post, they might be inclined to do a subsequent search by combining any number of the tags you/I have mentioned. This will allow them to either join keywords to perform more refined searches, or incentivize them to delve into related topics they might not have otherwise considered. For example, they might combine #fediverse #tips to find more information about, well, fediverse tips. They might also now search #fediverse #microblog #tips as well.

ContentConsumer9999,

Thanks for the #hashtag #tips! I'll try and use them to enrich my contributions to the #fediverse.

Prouvaire,

they might be inclined to do a subsequent search by combining any number of the tags you/I have mentioned

I use hashtags to see if an article/story has already been submitted, but how do you search on multiple hashtags? eg #broadway AND #sondheim

daredevil,
@daredevil@kbin.social avatar

Entering both tags with whitespace to separate them is what I had in mind. Using the tags you asked about together brings up your post as the first result, for example.

Prouvaire,

That doesn't work for me though. Entering

https://kbin.social/tag/sondheim broadway

produces zero results. What am I doing wrong?

daredevil, (edited )
@daredevil@kbin.social avatar

Apologies, I misunderstood your earlier question. My previous response had the search bar at the top in mind, not by browsing through https://kbin.social/tag/*. At the moment, I'm not aware of a way to search multiple tags using that specific method. While I did make some proposals for searches, I hope there will be ways to add further granularity to searches. Making information easily accessible regarding search syntax would also be very handy. Some examples would be Duckduckgo's bangs, Discord's search syntax, and Duckduckgo/Google's ability to search within specific sites (as in, site:reddit.com). I would hope that this could translate to /kbin's search via targeting specific magazines, users, microblogs, comments, etc. Perhaps one day.

Prouvaire,

Thanks Daredevil. Hmm. While the following search:

https://kbin.social/search?q=broadway+sondheim

does produce my post, the search query seems to act as a logical OR rather than a logical AND. Ie, it returns posts with tag #broadway OR #sondheim. Is there a way of constructing a search with a logical AND?

Further, this search:

https://kbin.social/search?q=broadway+lesmis

should produce any number of posts, but returns nil results.

Eg, this post is tagged with both #broadway AND #lesmis, but does not appear:

https://kbin.social/m/Musicals/t/553845/Have-There-Ever-Been-Two-Productions-of-the-Same-Show

And there are a number of posts tagged with #lesmis: https://kbin.social/tag/lesmis which, one would assume, should also appear in the search results.

So searching for single tag queries seems to work well, but searching for text queries is inconsistent.

Unless... using the search bar ONLY searches the body of the post, rather than also the associated tags? Whereas searching for tags ONLY searches for tags attached to a post, but not the text of the post itself? If so, then it would be great if kbin had the ability to do logical AND searches on tags to help narrow down results.

daredevil,
@daredevil@kbin.social avatar

Yeah, #search #functionality and #syntax on #kbin has room to grow, I completely agree. While I've tried getting familiar with it in the past, I am by no means an authority on the subject. In fact, this back-and-forth was already helpful for teaching me a bit more. If you feel strongly about this, I might suggest bringing it up here, so that Ernest can look into it when he has time. However, if you'd rather not, then I may find some time to try putting something together later.

Prouvaire,

Thanks DD - will raise a Codeberg issue in the next day or so (just in the middle of work right now).

originalucifer,
@originalucifer@moist.catsweat.com avatar

i like kbin because it had both. i want a piece of federating software that implements as much of the activitypub protocol as possible, and then maybe lets server admins decide what they want to actually federate.

i see a lot of talk about upvotes/downvotes what should or should not be pushed in or out. i dont think thats really a devs decision.
if its part of the protocol, it should be implemented and configurable.

bluGill,

I wish peertube would federate with kbin as well. One place to see everything would be nice. (There are probably more fediverse things i'm not aware of to add to the list)

Of course each demands different things from instances.

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