Fiachra's recent activity
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Comment on How do you build strong online communities? in ~talk
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Comment on How do you build strong online communities? in ~talk
Fiachra Link ParentDoes this also apply to less public things that gamify desirable behaviour, like achievements/badges or (this one is definitely controversial) streaks?Does this also apply to less public things that gamify desirable behaviour, like achievements/badges or (this one is definitely controversial) streaks?
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How do you build strong online communities?
The recent history of social media has made me interested in the factors that make online communities successful/healthy, or toxic etc.. This is one of the appeals of Tildes for me. I'm also...
The recent history of social media has made me interested in the factors that make online communities successful/healthy, or toxic etc.. This is one of the appeals of Tildes for me. I'm also emotionally invested in seeing a healthy future for the Irish language, which has seen some interesting developments in the internet age but remains in a precarious position as a community language in the country. You can see how these two interests dovetail together. At the moment this is a thought experiment, but later, who knows...
Tips I've got so far:
I've heard that some barriers to entry can increase group loyalty by making members feels slightly "invested" by earning a place in the community
I've also noted that some of the most persistant subcultures operate online but also have a strong in-person element (eg: furries)
There's also the common observation that good moderation is crucial to user experience and therefore group cohesion
Then I got some pointers from the Tildes docs:
- Trust by default, punish abusers
- Focus on user experience, not growth metrics
- Favour deep engagement over shallow/clickbait
- Empower members to make choices
- The golden rule (apply charitable interpretations, don't tolerate bad actors)
So, people of Tildes: what factors do you see as crucial to building and maintaining a strong cohesive online community?
25 votes -
Comment on How To Train Your Dragon | Official teaser trailer in ~movies
Fiachra LinkWe're converging on the most market-efficient method of filmmaking possible. From now on all kids' movies will be made simultaneously in CGI and live action using the same storyboards and...We're converging on the most market-efficient method of filmmaking possible. From now on all kids' movies will be made simultaneously in CGI and live action using the same storyboards and production staff, then released two years apart. Instead of wrapping, the production will then immediately pivot to filming the reboot of the film before the first has even hit theaters, using all of the same assets.
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Comment on What does the word "cancelled" mean to you? in ~talk
Fiachra Link ParentYou nailed it. It's a deliberately broad term so that it can tie a wide variety of dissimilar things into a simple endlessly-repeated narrative of "the left are a threat to free speech and to...You nailed it. It's a deliberately broad term so that it can tie a wide variety of dissimilar things into a simple endlessly-repeated narrative of "the left are a threat to free speech and to you". Any incidents that don't serve that narrative are ignored and therefore not labeled as cancel culture.
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Comment on Underrated ways to change the world in ~life
Fiachra Link ParentHonestly in recent years I've been coming to the conclusion that a lack of stuff like this is the reason we see so many burned out or unmotivated workers in recent years. We've lost many...Honestly in recent years I've been coming to the conclusion that a lack of stuff like this is the reason we see so many burned out or unmotivated workers in recent years. We've lost many opportunities for interpersonal forms of learning and instead end up trying to do all that switch boarding from first principles.
Not knowing the right questions to ask has been the root of most of my bad experiences (and performances) on the job in my early career. "Read the docs and ask... someone if you have any problems" is not good enough by any standard, but if the office is short staffed and time is tight, that's often all you get.
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Comment on What does the word "cancelled" mean to you? in ~talk
Fiachra Link(This is all how things have looked from my point of view and I recognise that any one person's perspective is incomplete and subject to bias) Off the top of my head I have seen the following...(This is all how things have looked from my point of view and I recognise that any one person's perspective is incomplete and subject to bias)
Off the top of my head I have seen the following events described as "being cancelled":
- Public pressure literally cancelling a TV show
- A TV show being cancelled because it seemingly caused the death of a guest
- Public pressure forcing a company to fire a person
- Deplatforming from a social media site, either under valid terms of service or by fraudulent mass-reporting
- Doxxing and swatting
- General online harassment
- "Review bombing" of media or business
- Shunning of a person from a community they were involved with
- Product/media boycotts
- A decades-old book containing racial charicatures going out of print without any public pressure whatsoever
I would say to be cancelled is to go viral in a negative way, but the label of "cancelled" is more likely to be used when the people doing the cancelling are perceived as being progressive/left-wing and therefore "social justice warrior" types. Otherwise it's just toxic online behaviour, shrug, what can ya do.
For example, a few years ago a website called Kiwi Farms, which had a notorious reputation for doxxing, swatting, and harassing people (to suicide, in more than one case), received major backlash from a Twitch streamer they swatted. Kiwi Farms is not, as far as I have seen, ever described as "cancelling" these people, in my opinion because the userbase is known for targetting LGBT people and are therefore not seen as progressive. When the backlash from a trans influencer took the site down, I saw people describe that as the site being cancelled, and go on to fret about the free speech implications, seemingly unconcerned about the free speech implications of the years of swattings etc. that had brought things to that point.
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Comment on Underrated ways to change the world in ~life
Fiachra Link ParentIf you think about it that's similar to how a child learns how to talk - most of the words make no sense at first but through repeated contact within a comprehensible context it starts to click...If you think about it that's similar to how a child learns how to talk - most of the words make no sense at first but through repeated contact within a comprehensible context it starts to click with them. So too with technical speak in adults. People you're in community with take meaningless gibberish and connect them with practical outcomes in your own life. Your friend may have picked up a lot of his own knowledge the same way. Quick convenient instructions tailored to fix your exact present situation doesn't have that same dimension to it.
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Comment on Maybe Bluesky has "won" in ~tech
Fiachra Link ParentI agree with you, but we should keep in mind there is an addictive element to social media that would make at least some fraction use it, even if a third space was just down the street from them....I agree with you, but we should keep in mind there is an addictive element to social media that would make at least some fraction use it, even if a third space was just down the street from them. Even the fact of it being immediate and accessible from anywhere makes it the impulsive choice a lot of the time.
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Comment on Selfishness in AI in ~tech
Fiachra Link ParentThere is a heavy selection bias there though: every company has a website it tries to push customers to; the only ones ignoring that and calling instead are the ones who hate dealing with...There is a heavy selection bias there though: every company has a website it tries to push customers to; the only ones ignoring that and calling instead are the ones who hate dealing with computers or have unique/silly problems that a script can't solve.
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Comment on Selfishness in AI in ~tech
Fiachra Link ParentIs it in the interests of the companies building these AIs to position good acts to be good for the actor? I'm skeptical. It's a chicken and egg sort of problem.Is it in the interests of the companies building these AIs to position good acts to be good for the actor? I'm skeptical. It's a chicken and egg sort of problem.
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Comment on Selfishness in AI in ~tech
Fiachra Link ParentThey haven't been overexposed yet. Many have witnessed something truly tasteless or terrible, but the public at large hasn't grown sick of it yet, which they will because AI's greatest advantage...They haven't been overexposed yet. Many have witnessed something truly tasteless or terrible, but the public at large hasn't grown sick of it yet, which they will because AI's greatest advantage is its rate of output. It's going to rapidly turn into the digital equivalent of injection molded plastic: irreversibly associated with cheapness because of how mass-produced it is. This is inevitable regardless of its potential to be used in high-quality ways, because the mass produced slop will by definition outnumber that many times over.
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Comment on As 4B takes the world by storm, South Korea is grappling with a backlash against feminism in ~life.women
Fiachra LinkI don't really get how the label "backlash" is being used here. There was discrimination and violence against women, the 4B movement formed as a reaction, and now angry men are doing...The movement emerged in the mid-2010s amid growing online feminist activism in South Korea, a country where women face the widest gender pay gap among OECD nations and persistent discrimination.
Several high-profile incidents have galvanised feminist activism in recent years. In 2016, a woman was murdered near Gangnam Station by a male stranger who said he did it because women had “ignored” him.
I don't really get how the label "backlash" is being used here. There was discrimination and violence against women, the 4B movement formed as a reaction, and now angry men are doing discrimination and violence as a reaction to that. Can you really call the discrimination and violence "backlash" when it's been going on the entire time? I'd be more likely to call the 4B movement backlash, personally.
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Comment on OpenAI, Google and Anthropic are struggling to build more advanced AI in ~tech
Fiachra Link ParentI suspect it isn't the boosters exactly - when the supporters have too high a ratio of salesman influencer types you intuitively sense a scam.I suspect it isn't the boosters exactly - when the supporters have too high a ratio of salesman influencer types you intuitively sense a scam.
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Comment on A new rallying cry for the irony-poisoned right. It took less than twenty-four hours after Trump’s re-election for young men to take up a slogan that could define the coming era of gendered regression in ~society
Fiachra LinkI'm not american so this isn't my fight, but I sincerely hope that the next time the Democrats score an electoral win and opinion pieces begin to pop up about how "now is the time to reach out to...I'm not american so this isn't my fight, but I sincerely hope that the next time the Democrats score an electoral win and opinion pieces begin to pop up about how "now is the time to reach out to the right", you all remember stuff like this and tell them to fuck off.
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Comment on How Bluesky, the rival of Elon Musk’s X, is seizing the moment in ~tech
Fiachra Link ParentYeah I agree. My ideal outcome would be for the users to de-consolidate onto multiple non-corporate-run platforms, but if it breaks Musk's ability to influence public opinion I'll take "Twitter...Yeah I agree. My ideal outcome would be for the users to de-consolidate onto multiple non-corporate-run platforms, but if it breaks Musk's ability to influence public opinion I'll take "Twitter minus three years" for now.
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Comment on Why I will always be angry about software engineering in ~comp
Fiachra LinkI'm about to binge this entire blog. Good find.I'm about to binge this entire blog. Good find.
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Comment on Donald Trump expected to try to halt US TikTok ban, allies say in ~society
Fiachra Link ParentMaybe he even just saw how unpopular it was.Maybe he even just saw how unpopular it was.
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Comment on Taylor Swift fans are leaving X for Bluesky after Donald Trump’s US election in ~society
Fiachra LinkMaybe I should worry that this is just the capture stage of the platform lifecycle, and we're doomed to repeat this rigmarole again and again every 5-10 years.“Bluesky literally feels like a social media app again, where I'm just connected with my community or like other interesting posts. I feel like people aren't as geared up to fight you,”
Maybe I should worry that this is just the capture stage of the platform lifecycle, and we're doomed to repeat this rigmarole again and again every 5-10 years.
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Comment on Taylor Swift fans are leaving X for Bluesky after Donald Trump’s US election in ~society
Fiachra Link ParentSometimes there needs to be an event to act as a focal point. Before, you might know your mutuals would move over eventually, but when, and to where? The social momentum to move en masse often...Sometimes there needs to be an event to act as a focal point. Before, you might know your mutuals would move over eventually, but when, and to where? The social momentum to move en masse often isn't there until a big incident draws everyone's attention at once.
I'm reminded of the infamous drama in the atheism subreddit when post thumbnails were disabled to discourage meme posting, which led to the historic comment "Socrates died for this shit and we're taking it too lightly."