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Content warning: extended thoughts about searchability on the fediverse
Meme I quickly made about responses to the ongoing discussion about #searchability on the #fediverse. As a #contentCreator and #activist for #toplessEquality--which gets me banned repeatedly on all mainstream platforms even when I DO censor out my heinous female nipples (see https://www.toplesstopics.org/banned for receipts!), a primary motivator for me to use platforms like #mastodon is to be able to spread the word about #GenderEquality anti- #censorship among more potential supporters. But the lack of #searchability on Masto makes this very hard. I'm dependent on existing followers to boost my posts so others following -them- can see it, etc, but for whatever reason very few of my existing followers do. I also can't really find posts by other people outside of my instance and the people I'm following--like I've never seen another post about #vidcon besides my own, so I have no idea if anyone else on the fediverse is even messaging about it.
#Consent is of course a cornerstone of the fediverse experience, including someone consenting to whether or not they want a certain kind of content to pop up in their feeds. And having #contentWarnings and #altText encouraged if not required by most instances makes this place leagues more of a safe space for marginalized and/or traumatized people in a way that they cannot experience on mainstream platforms. But this can be very time-consuming and cumbersome, both remembering to add CWs and Alt Text to everything, coming up with custom text every time, and also on the end of it--when you follow enough people (or check out the public timelines) pressing "show content" over and over and over on each post gets REALLY annoying. But again, I'd rather have that tedium then have to subject myself to content that I find really triggering (for me, it's pretty much anything to do with kids and #gunViolence...I live in America where my kids are at risk of getting shot every day they go to school, and while I want to stay informed, I also need some mental prep before I look/read too much about it). And I know for others who have even more triggers, especially around things that the majority of people wouldn't find triggering (like pictures of food), then again, the fediverse is leagues better than the "normal" sites.
But back to searchability, as a veteran Twitter user (I cold-turkey quit in November, don't worry) I am well versed in how dealing with reactionary bullies who can take a tweet out of context and share it with their thousands if not millions of followers to dunk on you all at once. It can also open you up to a lot of haters in general, who will search out content like yours to leave hateful comments (like the comment sections of my Tiktok/Instagram/Youtube posts any time I mention #gunControl ...) BUT, even for content that I WANT people to find--primarily my topless equality content--again, it only shows up if followers of mine boost it to their own followers, and that's a very small niche. The only way we can ever hope to normalize gender-equal topless rights is if there are enough people putting pressure on social media sites and lawmakers to change their policies, and that requires a groundswell of support that's just not possible in isolated communities like Masto currently is. So I would LOVE some more methods for searchability, for people outside of my instance to find my content--and for me to find theirs.
I'm not a programmer, so I don't know how difficult this would be in reality. But the solution seems to me to be creating a searchable index, but making it opt-in only--accoounts like mine can opt-in to be found by people searching for #topless (who thereby might be influenced to think about topless equality, not just searching for porn), while others who want to keep their content protected (maybe searchable among their followers who they already trust, but not to the world wide web) can stay in the default opt-out status until they choose otherwise.
I've seen a few mentions of projects in the works LIKE this, but haven't seen one that's all the way working yet. If there's one that's mostly in working order, please recommend it! I'd love to give it a try.
#Consent is of course a cornerstone of the fediverse experience, including someone consenting to whether or not they want a certain kind of content to pop up in their feeds. And having #contentWarnings and #altText encouraged if not required by most instances makes this place leagues more of a safe space for marginalized and/or traumatized people in a way that they cannot experience on mainstream platforms. But this can be very time-consuming and cumbersome, both remembering to add CWs and Alt Text to everything, coming up with custom text every time, and also on the end of it--when you follow enough people (or check out the public timelines) pressing "show content" over and over and over on each post gets REALLY annoying. But again, I'd rather have that tedium then have to subject myself to content that I find really triggering (for me, it's pretty much anything to do with kids and #gunViolence...I live in America where my kids are at risk of getting shot every day they go to school, and while I want to stay informed, I also need some mental prep before I look/read too much about it). And I know for others who have even more triggers, especially around things that the majority of people wouldn't find triggering (like pictures of food), then again, the fediverse is leagues better than the "normal" sites.
But back to searchability, as a veteran Twitter user (I cold-turkey quit in November, don't worry) I am well versed in how dealing with reactionary bullies who can take a tweet out of context and share it with their thousands if not millions of followers to dunk on you all at once. It can also open you up to a lot of haters in general, who will search out content like yours to leave hateful comments (like the comment sections of my Tiktok/Instagram/Youtube posts any time I mention #gunControl ...) BUT, even for content that I WANT people to find--primarily my topless equality content--again, it only shows up if followers of mine boost it to their own followers, and that's a very small niche. The only way we can ever hope to normalize gender-equal topless rights is if there are enough people putting pressure on social media sites and lawmakers to change their policies, and that requires a groundswell of support that's just not possible in isolated communities like Masto currently is. So I would LOVE some more methods for searchability, for people outside of my instance to find my content--and for me to find theirs.
I'm not a programmer, so I don't know how difficult this would be in reality. But the solution seems to me to be creating a searchable index, but making it opt-in only--accoounts like mine can opt-in to be found by people searching for #topless (who thereby might be influenced to think about topless equality, not just searching for porn), while others who want to keep their content protected (maybe searchable among their followers who they already trust, but not to the world wide web) can stay in the default opt-out status until they choose otherwise.
I've seen a few mentions of projects in the works LIKE this, but haven't seen one that's all the way working yet. If there's one that's mostly in working order, please recommend it! I'd love to give it a try.
