#Understanding social media algorithms

[crystlianajohn]

What are the steps of social media analytics?

Explore the essential steps of social media analytics to harness valuable insights and optimize your online presence.

www.quickmetrix.com

[shepherdbarks]

I know this is going to sound narcissistic but I genuinely don’t understand why my art doesn’t receive more interaction. I would understand if it was like, a couple of notes. But I have made MANY pieces throughout numerous social media platforms only to receive zero notes or likes.

I wouldn’t be so mad if my entire livelihood did not depend on commissions right now as Im in between jobs.

like what the hell??!

What am I doing wrong??

[launh]

Oh my god I don't have good and fancy words for it but I'm so tired of the fucking polarisation spiral. The whole 'those people and these people and their stupid barbaric selfish people and our good intelligent kind people'. The fucking separation of it all - "I won't do politics unless that guy stops being a politician, I don't want to play until the playing field is fair, I don't want to vote until those people stop voting". Oh my god!! Who do you think has the power to make the playing field fair!!! That's you baby!!! Are you really truly any better than 'those people' who stereotype and judge others? Of course you can disagree with someone, of course you can dislike a politician and their views and of course you can dislike it when someone agrees with those views. And of course you can dislike spending time with a group of people because of their views! But dismissing an entire group of people as barbaric and stupid and not worth your time and even subhuman (?!) because of their views? Be serious. How will that ever fucking help. Do you think separating the good people from the bad people has ever resulted in anything good at all ever? You know what helps? Talking to each other. Finding common ground. Good, you both like baking. Good, you both live on the same street. Good, you both like the name Ruth. Or fucking whatever. And then go from there. Try to maybe listen and understand each other for once. I'm not talking about forgiving people who plan on taking away your human rights or who would rather see you dead. Obviously. I'm not saying you should find the nearest 'bad person' and befriend them. Obviously. But take a good look at yourself pleasseeeeee. What do you mean 'bad person'? If you believe hatred is taught, have you ever caught yourself believing in the innate evil of a trump supporter, have you ever considered them beyond saving? If you believe empathy is human, have you ever checked if your thoughts still mean the same, does "i hate men" still carry the same value, do you still look at men the same way you did before you started saying that? Do you catch yourself stripping away hobbies and feelings and meaningful relationships from 'those' people, do you consider yourself above them? Do you praise and celebrate when people change for the better or do you hold on to what they used to do and put all your focus on what they still need to learn? A homophobe might meet a gay man and consider him one of the good ones, and that's a good start. That's not the end but it's a good fucking start. If your politics are in-group/out-group politics you are not helping and you do not have the interest of your fellow people at heart. If your beliefs have pushed you to the point you hate a certain group so much you think it's better if they're dead? I'm asking you to think about that a little, okay? Maybe go outside. Talk to people. Jesus christ.

[8-worms-in-a-trenchcoat]

what the fuck why is my animation doing better on instagram than literally anywhere else???

[loser-brain]

This thought is pestering my head and it's annoying me that it won't leave.

So, there's a post goin' around about how you lurk on Tumblr and just reblog. And many people in the replies and reblogs kept saying "It's not really lurking if you are engaging."

I have to say, as someone who has been here since 2012. Lurking on here is waaaaaaaaaaaayyy different than lurking on Twitter and other socials.

So with Twitter, when you lurk you see posts on your feed. Either by people retweeting or Twitter just shoving it into your face.

On Tumblr, it's alllllll and I mean IT'S ALLLLLL user base. Tumblr will not shove it in your face unless you have it switched on for Tumblr to do so.

I have, and mostly every day, mindlessly reblog stuff and just lurk on here. On Twitter when you Retweet/Like you're not really lurking because Twitter sees that and also they have an algorithm to give you stuff.

Tumblr does not have that. It's who you follow or the tags you follow.

So in conclusion, to get this thought out of my head, when lurking on Tumblr, mindlessly reblogging is a type of lurking on here. Because Tumblr does not have an algorithm but it does have a system to see what posts you like... but you can turn that off and I highly encourage you to do so so that way you can see more posts from people or tags you follow.

[imjustaf444keriguess]

btw still waiting for the syscourse against "misinfo" to comment on some obvious misinformation and misunderstandings shared by me. like come on

[bagelbucket]

sometimes I’ll open the trending page to see what’s new and the second I lock eyes with that generic washed out tumblr genre of “raw line” posts I go a little insane. comedy doesn’t mean anything when everyone is trying to be funny.

[sunfloramaria]

When I was a child, I didn't have any friends. The children my age didn't understand me, as much as I didn't understand them. Little me had a hyperactive brain, full of questions, anger, and fears. The adults could barely get a grasp as well, and more than once they had asked me: "aren't you too young to be like this?" Be like what, I couldn't tell. I was just me, weird little me. Asking too many questions, speaking too much of my mind, quick to anger, even quicker to cry, plucking my hair out at the smallest inconvenience. Nobody had the time of day for any of that, at least not the time that I needed. I was a lonely child, and in my loneliness I was an unhappy child.

And then I learned how to read.

I rarely take the time to celebrate the child I was, because I used to hate her so much. Couldn't give her the time of day. While others would talk about the good old days, I'd call mine "the moment everything went downhill". But truth be told, I was a curious child. I was bold and cared about others' wellbeing when nobody would. I had a mind full of fears, but also full of courage. And, more than anything, I learned early that nobody is truly lonely with a book in their hands.

[astyrra]

suggestion for improving tumblr

tl;dr: allow users to add “tags” to their blog as a whole, then make those searchable, so it’s easier to find people to follow who post/reblog about what you’re interested in

so, tumblr corporate wants to get new users/get occasional tumblr users to make an account and use it. as far as im concerned, that’s fine, as long as they don’t wreck the things existing tumblr users like about tumblr.

because all other social media is algorithmic garbage, it seems like a lot of new users join, don’t understand that they have to find people to follow themselves and/or don’t know where to start looking for people to follow, so they leave.

this is my proposed solution to that. basically, as well as having a url, icon, header image, etc, users can also add “tags” to their blog, describing what they post about. adding tags would be completely optional, and what they contain would be entirely written by blog owners with no algorithms involved.

either include in current search or make a new search for just this (and also just like. have a functional search lol). for new users have a thing pointing out that this exists and they should use it to find people to follow

this would also be useful for older users in that like. when i get into a new fandom i want to follow people who post about it frequently, but current search only shows me original posts about it - i also want to follow people who reblog a lot even if they don’t make original content

potential issues/solutions:

scammers and spammers: make it so u can’t add “tags” to ur blog until it reaches a certain age, or has a certain number of posts, or something, so they cant just create 100000 blogs at once and “tag” them all

people “tag” literally anything theyve ever been interested in even if they never really post about it: limit it to like, 5 “tags” total. possibly still some issues with people who forget to update theirs over time but id prefer that to algorithmic bullshit

people deliberately tagging themselves to trick others into following them for malicious reasons (eg someone who posts racist shit tags themselves as BLM or something bc they wanna hurt people): bannable offense. also tumblr fix moderation pls

[dodgebolts]

Do we think he’s going to get cancelled for paying Elon or…? He’s going to get the “payed for twitter” memes at least now and I can’t even laugh 😭😭

I don’t think he’s going to get cancelled for it but I will say I also have half a mind to clown on him for using Twitter Blue just based on my morals and the fact that he waited so long for it 😭

[orcelito]

Genuinely wondering how many Twitter users r actually coming to tumblr. Like is tumblr the de facto alternative to twitter?? I know there's been a lot of overlap in fandom communities, + a large number of former tumblr users that migrated over to Twitter back when the porn ban started (which notably marked the decrease in average insufferableness here & increase over there, but I digress).

Do Twitter users propose going to other places, or do they default to bringing up tumblr? I can't tell if I'm seeing that just bc ppl on tumblr naturally will talk about people talking about tumblr, or if it's genuinely that widespread.

[continuedparadox]

instagram has become so weird recently. i haven't logged into my account in what feels like seven years but is probably only like 2 months, and my recommendations are either greek standup comedy or tiktoks of people reviewing the historical accuracy of the music featured in bridgerton, which is apparently a popular netflix show.

[grunge-mermaid]

you don't need to censor the word "abortions" on reddit. it's not tiktok. you can use your grownup words.

[tenth-sentence]

If users are to have even a remote chance of understanding when their content is being amplified, recommended or filtered, higher levels of algorithmic transparency and accountability will be needed.

"Going Dark: The Secret Social Lives of Extremists" - Julia Ebner

[paganinpurple]

AO3 Etiquette -UPDATED

Based on both decent and not so decent replies, I have made some changes to my original post below.

It would seem a whole new kind of AO3 reader/writer is emerging and it is becoming clear not everyone quite understands how the website community works. Here is some basic guidance on how most people expect you to go about using AO3 to keep this a fun community archive that funtions correctly:

As well as likes, kudos is for when the story was interesting enough to make you finish reading. If it sucked or was badly written, you probably left. If you finished it, you liked it - so kudos.

If you really liked it, you should try to comment. It can be long and detailed or a literal keysmash. Writers don't care, we just love comments.

No critisism unless the author has specifically asked or agreed to hear it (so use your notes to say if you want some constructive feedback). Even constructive critisism is a no-no unless an author note tells you it's okay. No, posting it online is not an open invitation for that. Many people write as a fun hobby or a way to cope with, among other things, insecurity and just want to share. Don't ruin that for them. I've seen so many authors just stop writing coz they can't handle the negative emotions the critism brings, and it's only meant to be a fun thing shared for free (pointing out tagging errors is not included in this).

Do not comment to ask the author to write/update something else. It's tacky and off-putting and will probably have the opposite effect than the one you want.

There is no algorithm, it's an archive. Use the search and filter function to add/remove the pairings/characters/tropes etc. you want to read about and it will find you the fics that fit the bill.

For this to work, writers must tag and rate stories. This avoids readers finding the wrong things and missing the stuff they want. I don't care how cringy that trope is in your eyes - it gets tagged.

The tag exception is if you don't want to tag a million things or spoil your story, you can rate it as "chose not to use warnings," and maybe tag the bare minimum.

Don't censor tags. How can someone exclude a tag if the word isn't typed out correctly? There are no content bans for terms so don't censor them.

If the tags are mostly content/trigger warnings, especially if they are things considered very fucked up or graphic, you might want to use "dead dove - do not eat" to ensure people know that you're not messing around with tags and what they get is exactly what you've warned them about.

Character A/Character B means a ROMANTIC or SEXUAL relationship of some kind. Character A&Character B is PLATONIC, like friendship or family.

Nothing is banned. This is an rule because banning one thing is a slipperly slope to banning another and another, until nothing is allowed anymore. Do not expect anyone to censor for you. Because of the tags system, you are responsible for your own reading experience.

People can create new chapters and sequels/fic series any time after they "complete" a story. So it's considered perfectly normal to subscribe, even to a finished story. You can even subscribe to the author instead just to cover your bases.

Do not repost stories or change the publishing date without an extremely good reason (like a complete top to bottom rewrite or an exchange youve written for going public). It's an archive, not social media. No one cares what's the most recent, only what fits their tag needs.

Instead of deleting a story you wrote if you hate it - consider making it anonymous or orphaning it so others can still enjoy it, without it being connected to your name anymore. If you still want to delete it, fair enough.

It's come to my attention that metaworks ARE allowed on AO3, which is something I wasn't aware of. So if you do post an essay or theory, please tag it as such so others can choose to search for it or exclude it. Art is also allowed.

The only reason this archive works is because NON ONE PROFITS. Do not link to your ko-fi or patreon or mention monetary gain in any way or you violate the terms and risk having your account removed. If anyone does link, it leaves the archive open to people claiming it's for profit and having the whole thing removed.

I KNOW there's plenty more I missed but I'm trying to cover most of the basics that people seem to be struggling with.

I invite anyone to add to this, but please explain, don't berate.

[anaquariusfox]

I spent the evening looking into this AI shit and made a wee informative post of the information I found and thought all artists would be interested and maybe help yall?

edit: forgot to mention Glaze and Nightshade to alter/disrupt AI from taking your work into their machines. You can use these and post and it will apparently mess up the AI and it wont take your content into it's machine!

edit: ArtStation is not AI free! So make sure to read that when signing up if you do! (this post is also on twt)

[Image descriptions: A series of infographics titled: “Opt Out AI: [Social Media] and what I found.” The title image shows a drawing of a person holding up a stack of papers where the first says, ‘Terms of Service’ and the rest have logos for various social media sites and are falling onto the floor. Long transcriptions follow.

Instagram/Meta (I have to assume Facebook).

Hard for all users to locate the “opt out” options. The option has been known to move locations.

You have to click the opt out link to submit a request to opt out of the AI scraping. *You have to submit screenshots of your work/face/content you posted to the app, is curretnly being used in AI. If you do not have this, they will deny you.

Users are saying after being rejected, are being “meta blocked”

People’s requests are being accepted but they still have doubts that their content won’t be taken anyways.

Twitter/X

As of August 2023, Twitter’s ToS update:

“Twitter has the right to use any content that users post on its platform to train its AI models, and that users grant Twitter a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to do so.”

There isn’t much to say. They’re doing the same thing Instagram is doing (to my understanding) and we can’t even opt out.

Tumblr

They also take your data and content and sell it to AI models.

But you’re in luck!

It is very simply to opt out (Wow. Thank Gods)

Opt out on Desktop: click on your blog > blog settings > scroll til you see visibility options and it’ll be the last option to toggle

Out out of Mobile: click your blog > scroll then click visibility > toggle opt out option

TikTok

I took time skim their ToS and under “How We Use Your Information” and towards the end of the long list: “To train and improve our technology, such as our machine learning models and algorithms.”

Regarding data collected; they will only not sell your data when “where restricted by applicable law”. That is not many countries. You can refuse/disable some cookies by going into settings > ads > turn off targeted ads.

I couldn’t find much in AI besides “our machine learning models” which I think is the same thing.

What to do?

In this age of the internet, it’s scary! But you have options and can pick which are best for you!

Accepting these platforms collection of not only your artwork, but your face! And not only your faces but the faces of those in your photos. Your friends and family. Some of those family members are children! Some of those faces are minors! I shudder to think what darker purposes those faces could be used for.

Opt out where you can! Be mindful and know the content you are posting is at risk of being loaded to AI if unable to opt out.

Fully delete (not archive) your content/accounts with these platforms. I know it takes up to 90 days for instagram to “delete” your information. And even keep it for “legal” purposes like legal prevention.

Use lesser known social media platforms! Some examples are; Signal, Mastodon, Diaspora, et. As well as art platforms: Artfol, Cara, ArtStation, etc.

The last drawing shows the same person as the title saying, ‘I am, by no means, a ToS autistic! So feel free to share any relatable information to these topics via reply or qrt!

I just wanted to share the information I found while searching for my own answers cause I’m sure people have the same questions as me.’ \End description] (thank you @a-captions-blog!)