-
11 votes
-
European Parliament votes for right to repair
19 votes -
How triangles shrank France and the first modern map | Map Men
8 votes -
"Brilliant" plans to win WW2: How France planned to win the war against Nazi Germany
7 votes -
Google using Core Web Vitals in their search rankings will be a positive change, but developers should be careful not to fixate solely on those three metrics
6 votes -
How Dutch plant breeders built our brussels sprouts boom
7 votes -
Damian Salazar - Still Loving You (Scorpions cover) (2015)
4 votes -
Primary Lemmy instance enables federation
13 votes -
YouTubecore: The old, ambient, largely-Japanese music that's become a smash hit on YouTube with the help of its discoverability algorithms
15 votes -
Tool for adding trigger warnings to links
6 votes -
How can we change the site's structure/mechanics/patterns so that we're not discouraging posting "too much" on particular subjects?
Over the weekend, @skybrian posted a topic about feeling like you're posting "too much" if you submit too many links on the same subjects. As I said in my comment in there, I've definitely felt...
Over the weekend, @skybrian posted a topic about feeling like you're posting "too much" if you submit too many links on the same subjects. As I said in my comment in there, I've definitely felt the same way sometimes, and I think we should try making some changes that can improve on this.
One of the most common complaints about Tildes is that there isn't much content overall, and that most of it's very "general interest". This is largely because of how the site is set up now, where instead of having different communities, we basically just have one community that's lightly categorized by the groups. It's mostly the same users posting and discussing topics, regardless of which group they're posted in. This is totally fine and has worked well in a lot of ways, but it's also limiting in other ways, especially that it basically discourages posting "too much" about any particular subject because that will be annoying to all the users that don't want to see so much of that content.
One of the best ways that Tildes will be able to grow is by being a place that's known for having good content on different topics. When I started /r/Games on Reddit, I was one of the heaviest submitters for quite a while, making sure that the subreddit was always full of the type of high-quality content I wanted to see. There weren't many viewers or commenters initially, but continuing to consistently post a lot of good content attracted more and more people, and eventually it became self-sustaining.
We need to be able to take a similar approach here, but the current structure of the site is preventing it. For example, I'm one of the most frequent submitters to ~games (I've submitted about 1/3 of the topics in the last month), but I usually try to only post 1 or 2 topics there per day. I could easily submit 10-20 most days, but I know that will annoy a lot of users that don't care that much about games. That feeling isn't a good thing—it prevents any group from being able to "take off" individually.
So to improve this, I think we're going to need to make some changes, and/or figure out some new patterns that we can use.
First of all, I think it may be time to switch away from the current "opt-out" setup for groups (where you see everything by default) into an "opt-in" one where you have to specifically choose what you're interested in. This is something I've always planned to do eventually, because I think "forcing" everyone to see things that they're not especially interested in is both harmful to quality and causes a lot of strife. Switching will absolutely have some downsides too though, including that the activity in the more-niche groups will probably drop even more.
It may also be best to switch away from "Activity" being the default sorting method. Again, this is something I didn't really expect to keep as the default forever, but it's been helpful while the site is small. However, having every new topic show up immediately in the most prominent position on the site just makes it even more annoying for people that aren't interested in the subject. For them, the top of the site keeps getting taken over by posts they don't care about. We're seeing this happen with ~music right now, because some users are trying to make it more active—which, again, should be a good thing—but I know that it's annoying some others.
Some other things that might be worth considering include making it easier and more obvious that you can ignore individual topics and tags, adding new options for creating and filtering different "views", adjusting site behavior so it balances how many posts it shows from each group (but that would likely be confusing), etc.
Another related topic I wanted to bring up (which @skybrian mentioned and I think is an interesting idea) is that we might be able to use "megathreads" more extensively somehow. For example, maybe having a megathread on a particular topic is a better way to judge the demand for a group/sub-group on a particular topic. Right now it's hard to do that because there isn't really any dedicated place to post if you're interested in something specific, but we might be able to encourage more activity by using a megathreads as almost a "testing ground".
For example, if someone's particularly interested in woodworking, it would feel awkward to post a bunch about it in ~hobbies and effectively take over the group with woodworking content. But if there was a "woodworking megathread", it would be both more encouraging and contained (and easily ignored by other users), and if that thread started getting consistent activity from multiple users it would be a good indication that a ~hobbies.woodworking group would probably be able to stand on its own.
I don't really have any particular plans for that kind of thing yet, but I think it's a possibility with a lot of potential, and we might even be able to find some ways to improve how megathreads work to support it. I'm definitely interested in hearing thoughts about how we could enhance threads to make them work especially well for that, including better ways for users to find and know about megathreads they'd want to read and participate in.
I feel like this was a fairly scattered post with a lot of different thoughts in it, but overall I'm just looking for feedback or other ideas for ways we can adjust so that the site can keep growing and increasing in activity smoothly. This is important to figure out, and I think we're reaching the point where it's starting to become more urgent to do it soon. Let me know what you think.
66 votes -
It ain't easy being Sonic
7 votes -
Nominations for the 2020 Steam Awards are now open
9 votes -
How do we avoid future authoritarians? Winning back the working class is key.
16 votes -
Dan Marino never won a Super Bowl. Here's what left him empty-handed.
3 votes -
Games from my inbox: Apocalypse 2020 edition
4 votes -
Protect domains that don’t send email
13 votes -
Amazon's reported surveillance of workers could break Australian law, union says
7 votes -
Grouper - Heavy Water/I'd Rather Be Sleeping (2008)
4 votes -
A visit from The Great Internet Migratory Box of Electronics Junk
14 votes -
What programming/technical projects have you been working on?
This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's...
This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's interesting about it? Are you having trouble with anything?
9 votes -
Videos on anthropology?
A friend of mine asked me for good videos on anthropology. I'm at a complete loss. I have several good youtube channels for history, but finding anthropology-related content is surprisingly...
A friend of mine asked me for good videos on anthropology. I'm at a complete loss. I have several good youtube channels for history, but finding anthropology-related content is surprisingly difficult.
Any recommendations?
6 votes -
How Readup knows whether or not you've read an article
7 votes -
Why China's largest volcano is so unusual
9 votes -
Redesigning the intubation box to better protect first responders
4 votes -
Visa wants to buy Plaid, and with it, transaction data for millions of people
12 votes -
Patrick Collison's bookshelf
4 votes -
IMO the text used for formatting/markdown shouldn't count towards the character limit in user bios
I made a new bio recently and here been tweaking it for a while and hit the 2000 character cap and messed with some of the formatting and wording for it to fit in. Thing is, you don't read...
I made a new bio recently and here been tweaking it for a while and hit the 2000 character cap and messed with some of the formatting and wording for it to fit in.
Thing is, you don't read markdown formatting. My bio has quite a bit of formatting and the text with the formatting is ~1960 characters, but the text you read is only ~885 characters (according to word counter), or less than half that. I feel like that's not how it should work.
8 votes -
US President Donald Trump pardons Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about Russia contact
22 votes -
The universal geometry of geology
10 votes -
How Nintendo has hurt the Smash community
11 votes -
Xbox Series X/S vs. PlayStation 5 - A direct comparison and the Ars launch-month verdict
13 votes -
‘Deadpool 3’: Marvel Studios and Ryan Reynolds tap the Molyneux Sisters to pen the sequel
5 votes -
Penguin Random House to buy Simon & Schuster
5 votes -
Diego Maradona: Argentina legend dies aged 60
13 votes -
What have you been watching / reading this week? (Anime/Manga)
What have you been watching and reading this week? You don't need to give us a whole essay if you don't want to, but please write something! Feel free to talk about something you saw that was...
What have you been watching and reading this week? You don't need to give us a whole essay if you don't want to, but please write something! Feel free to talk about something you saw that was cool, something that was bad, ask for recommendations, or anything else you can think of.
If you want to, feel free to find the thing you're talking about and link to its pages on Anilist, MAL, or any other database you use!
5 votes -
COVID-19 USA Deaths: Field of Flags - Mask Up, America
7 votes -
How a $17 billion bailout fund intended for Boeing ended up in very different hands
4 votes -
Falcom announces Ys 1 and 2 for Sharp X68000
8 votes -
Russian Mars Colonization Program (comedy)
7 votes -
Hulu available for $2/month for twelve months from November 26th-30th
5 votes -
Scientists discover the first animal that doesn’t breathe oxygen to live
23 votes -
Proving that 1=2, Bob Ross style
6 votes -
What is your favorite game to livestream?
Do you play the game yourself? Do you think there's any reason you like watching that particular game so much?
10 votes -
What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them?
What have you been playing lately? Discussion about video games and board games are both welcome. Please don't just make a list of titles, give some thoughts about the game(s) as well.
18 votes -
Scottish Parliament unanimously passes a bill to provide menstrual products for free across the country
30 votes -
Ready Player Two available now
@Ready Player Two: pic.twitter.com/8zsAmQaZV9
8 votes -
Jamelle Bouie reviews Caramel Apple Jacks cereal
5 votes -
Timasomo 2020 Thread #4: Update Thread 3
Weekly Task Last full week to work on your projects! I'll post the final weekly update next Sunday, and then you'll have Monday the 30th to finish up with the creation part. Do NOT worry about...
Weekly Task
Last full week to work on your projects! I'll post the final weekly update next Sunday, and then you'll have Monday the 30th to finish up with the creation part. Do NOT worry about having everything perfect by the 30th -- a rough cut is enough! You will have the first week of December to polish, edit, configure, tweak, etc. and get your piece(s) ready for the Showcase.
Update us on your progress so far. What did/didn't you get done this week? Anything go according to plan? Anything go off the rails? Any successes or struggles to share?
Next Steps
Just over one week left! We'll discuss Showcase logistics next week.
Timasomo FAQ
What is Timasomo?
Timasomo is "Tildes' Make Something Month": a creative community challenge that takes place in the month of November. It was inspired by NaNoWriMo, the National Novel Writing Month. The first ever Timasomo took place last year. You can see the threads for the previous Timasomo using the timasomo tag, and you can see the final showcase thread of creations here.
What are the rules?
Timasomo is self-driven and its goals are self-selected. On November 1st, participants will commit to a creative project (or projects) that they plan to complete within the month of November. There is no restriction on the methods/products of creativity: writing, painting, code, food, photos, crafts, songs -- if it's creative expression for you, it works for Timasomo!Though most will be participating individually, collaborations are welcome too!
What is the schedule?
Timasomo begins November 1st and ends November 30th. All creative output towards your goal(s) should be confined to this time. This week prior to the start of November is for planning, and there will be a few days at the beginning of December given to "finishing touches" before we have our final thread, which will be a showcase of all the completed works. Below are the dates that I will be posting weekly threads:
Sunday, October 18, 2020: Announcement Thread
Sunday, October 25, 2020: Planning Thread
Sunday, November 1, 2020: Roll Call Thread
Sunday, November 8, 2020: Update Thread #1
Sunday, November 15, 2020: Update Thread #2
Sunday, November 22, 2020: Update Thread #3
Sunday, November 29, 2020: Final Update Thread
Sunday, December 6, 2020: Timasomo Showcase ThreadThis announcement will be posted in ~tildes. All Timasomo process threads will be hosted in ~creative. The final Timasomo Showcase thread will be posted in ~talk.
Can I participate?
Yes! Timasomo is open to anyone on Tildes! The greater Tildes community is also encouraged to participate in discussion threads even if you are not actively working towards a creative goal. This is meant to be an inclusive community event -- all are welcome! If you are interested in participating but do not have a Tildes login, please e-mail the invite request address here for an invite to the community.
Participants will formally announce their plans to enter into Timasomo on Sunday, November 1st, in the Roll Call thread. If you are planning to participate or just want to follow the event, please make sure you are subscribed to ~creative where all of the update threads will be posted.
What if I have ideas for how to run the event?
Please share them here! I am facilitating the event, but I am completely open to feedback and suggestions to make this the best event possible. I want this to be Tildes' event, not kfwyre's!
11 votes -
What exactly is the goop inside a lava lamp?
19 votes