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comment by Pharnaces
Pharnaces  ·  4334 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The Floodgates

It's a blessing and a curse, really. Hubski's design seems like it will encourage circlejerking, since the best way to get content is to subscribe to users instead of topics and you can ignore users whose opinions you don't like.





matdesigner  ·  4334 days ago  ·  link  ·  

we must have different definitions for circlejerking, clearly.

Pharnaces  ·  4334 days ago  ·  link  ·  

What would you consider it? If you filter out what you don't like then all you are left with are people who like the same thing.

matdesigner  ·  4334 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I don't really see the issue with that or why that should be tainted as a circlejerk? Don't we already aggregate into groups based on similar interests?

A circlejerk is humorous self-deprecating fun-poking or an uber-serious mutual self-patting-on-the-back

steve  ·  4334 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I think I can understand that fear - but I like being in control. I actually follow people I disagree with, by conscious choice. It adds to the discussion. It keeps things fresh and interesting. I could cocoon away with some people that make me feel good about myself. But instead I keep a group of people in my feed that challenge the way I think and disbelieve the things I believe in.

If I miss an intelligent post made by some one I ignore because they usually post pictures of unicorns, cats and narwhals, well, then I miss out. But I also miss all of the noise. (not that there's anything wrong with unicorns, cats, and narwhals).

Pharnaces  ·  4334 days ago  ·  link  ·  

As long as most users think and act like you do then there will be no issue with heavy circlejerking, but I don't have that much faith in the average person on the internet.

steve  ·  4334 days ago  ·  link  ·  

heh... too right. but have faith. this place has a way of making you see the good in people you may not otherwise converse with.

Pharnaces  ·  4334 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Indeed, indeed. I'm having a conversation with Laurelai of all people right now and it isn't as bad as it would have been on Reddit. Hopefully things won't change too much with a larger community.

steve  ·  4334 days ago  ·  link  ·  

it's up to us, right? we get to control the flow.

I've misunderstood people, and I've been misunderstood. I had to control myself and hold back the inner flame-troll and just keep it civil. And in the end, I still don't agree with some people... but I follow a few of them just to keep things interesting.

user-inactivated  ·  4334 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I find it better to ignore tags. That automatically removes those who circle jerk from my feed. Unless they post something worthwhile, more than likely I won't cross paths with them.

Pharnaces  ·  4334 days ago  ·  link  ·  

That's probably the better way to go about it, it's still pretty tedious to ignore all these tags in my feed that I just don't care about or want to avoid. It'd be nice if there was a way to follow a tag, like #history, and have all of the posts with that tag be given more weight in your feed.