#algorithmic shit

[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

[mias-back-from-the-dead]

tbh i think the funniest phenomena that's been happening in the last couple years is "youtuber, having gone too deep into the research hole, has been made an investigative journalist against their will"

[toxooz]

also been thinking abt pooki with his cunty scarf💅

if my next drawing post isnt the comic update take me out back and shoot me like a sick dog

[nyaa]

we need to normalize attaching this image to literally every single post on the internet in 2025

[therealcallmekd]

Now THAT'S Thinkin' In 3D!

HHEHEHEE HAH FLATLAND FANART BE UPON YE

[so-i-did-this-thing]

So, I have a big advice post to write, but until I have the spoons, I want to warn everyone now who has legally changed their first name:

Your credit score may be fucked up and you need to:

check *now* that all your financial institutions (credit cards, loans, etc) have your current legal name and update where necessary

check that all 3 credit bureaus, on their respective sites, not via a feed like Credit Karma (so, Trans Union, Equifax, Experian) are collecting that info correctly and generating the right score - you might need to monitor them for a few months if you made any changes in #1

I am about to apply for a mortgage and learned that as of 2 weeks ago:

Experian suddenly thinks I am 2 different people - Legal Name and Dead Name (none of whom have a score)

Equifax has reported my active 25 year old mortgage as closed and deleted one of my older credit cards, hurting my score by 30+ points

Credit scores influence everything from big home/car loans to insurance rates to job and housing applications.

And for whatever reason, the 3 bureaus that have the power to destroy your life are shockingly fragile when it comes to legally changing one's first name.

So, yeah. Once I get this mess cleaned up for myself, I have a big guide in the works if you find yourself in the same predicament. But with the mass trans migration out of oppressive states, odds are there are a lot of newly renamed people who are about to have a nasty shock when applying for new housing.

Take care, folks.

[redwylde]

Aaron Hammerstrom drawing Silver with all of his angles, we are so back (for one issue).

[charliejaneanders]

Platforms likely conflate positioning with popularity, failing to see the self-fulfilling prophecy of an algorithm making stuff popular because said stuff is built to please the algorithm creating more demand for content to please the algorithm. "Viral" content is no longer a result of lots of people deciding that they find something interesting.

Are We Watching The Internet Die?

[bleaksqueak]

It is so unbelievably frustrating how the algorithm timeline keeps defaulting in a place that has been free of algo bullshit for so long. I cannot tell if it’s a glitch or if they’re just pushing it intentionally. It’s at least easy to go back to the following feed, but with bluesky users more and more depending on the discover feed and tumblr defaulting to the algorithm timeline it just feels like ‘be twitter’ is the shitty destiny being pushed everywhere.

Important video anyone should give a watch:

[guerillatifosa]

my tumblr keeps pushing the most disgusting, rabid zionism to my for you and no matter how many people i block it won’t stop. really frustrated by this, not sure why tumblr thinks i’d be interested in anything tagged ‘palifakers’

[sad-endings-suck]

“ew no, 😫 i hate that ship!”

okay?? so go cry about it. tf you want from me?

[fedoraspooky]

Man I haven't been on instagram in a while but HOLY SHIT the search is even more useless than it was the last time I was there

Like the bar is so low it has started tunneling into the earth at this point, folks! I didn't even think it'd be possible for it to be this bad

Forced AI explanation at top describing thing you are searching for (I ALREADY KNOW WHO FELIX THE CAT IS META SHUT UUUP)

Not only is there no way to search by newest, there isn't even a top posts section now, either. There is no way to sort or filter your search at all aside from the tabs at the top.

There is only Reels. There is no normal image post tab AT ALL save for whatever pops up in For You (and For You is also sprinkled with reels)

For You just shows me the same collection of results over and over so if i wanna find new art of something, I'm SOL.

Hashtags are entirely useless. There is a Tags tab in the search, and clicking on any of the relevant ones just leads you right back to the For You tab on the search!

So riddle me this, Batman- How the heck do you find anything new there for specific things you're interested in?? The only option is "For You"! And no, it does not in fact Have It For Me!!

So what are you supposed to do on there if you actively wanna see something? Just sit around and wait, twiddlin your thumbs and hoping that some kinda rng will hand-deliver a crumb of your favorite thing to you every now and then?

Fuck off with that lol

[shinesurge]

everybody's fighting god in a parking lot until god's pr team invents a cute enough mascot i guess

[blairdii]

dare i say, apart from the usual suspects who rot in their own echo chamber, the f1 community is more excited for the williams pairing than ferrari's

[qilingxiong]

*sniffles* you are all so fucking stupid

[tribow]

Ah yes let me listen to

While I get some work done mmm I wonder what's going on here.

"...This stuff is also happening on music platforms like Spotify too, so it's not like using another musical platform is really an option."

HUH!??!?!?! WHAT!??!?!?

"And even if it was, that shouldn't be the solution."

NO. NO! NOOO!!!

You can't, you can't just dismiss the competition! Youtube and Spotify are not the only places to listen to music are you kidding me!??!?! Both Youtube and Spotify are music platforms that heavily rely on algorithms to deliver music to you. Of course bots and AI slop are going to take advantage of that! This video talks a lot about how Youtube playlists and recommendations are getting ruined by the slop. That's a shame, really, but consider what you're saying here!

There are options!!!!

Bandcamp and Soundcloud are right there!!! They're right there!!!!!

I go to the first page of Bandcamp and what do I get??? Featured Artists being promoted by Bandcamp, a list of current top selling albums on the platform, new and notable albums that were released on the platform recently, and encouragement to explore the tags.

What do I get on Soundcloud??? Music I recently played, Recommendations based on songs I previously liked, Other recommendations based on who I follow and listen to, Soundcloud's featured artists that get promoted.

Both platforms use tags that are set by whatever musician uploaded the music. They both encourage you to curate your music yourself or explore what others have curated. Yes, there's some algorithm stuff on their front pages, but these algorithms are properly built to promote real people and not just bots taking advantage of the system. Soundcloud has a feed just like other social media platforms, and that feed is only for what YOU follow.

Heck, you could even use Audius! I don't personally use the platform myself, but it functions like an alternative to Soundcloud. It has much of the same appeal. Its front page shows what music is currently trending, but guess what, it has a feed and it encourages you to curate it!

I get it, a lot of artists don't use these platforms, but what ties them all together is that they're doing what we want them to do: Actually support musicians. Artists aren't incentivized to use the platforms strictly because they're less popular, but it doesn't mean these platforms are worse than Youtube or Spotify.

Spotify sucks ass! They're literally infamous for being infested with bots, fake genres, and barely paying artists. You can buy an artists album for $5 and you would be paying them more money than they would get if you listened to them on Spotify for 5 months total.

Youtube pays a bit better, but they don't give a flying fuck about music! They're trying to have the whole cake and eat it too with movies, games, and other social media interaction. (text posts, polls, pictures, and the such.) They want people to be using their platforms and ONLY their platforms for everything. Your eyes must be glued to their screens at all times, so what if the algorithm hands you slop? You'll watch it right? It'll promote whatever keeps you there no matter who or what it is! (as long as its legal)

Don't sit around waiting for these platforms to change for the better. LEAVE. If you want to support artists then support them on other platforms if they're available on there!

And I know, I know Soundcloud had a whole exodus some years ago because whoever makes the decisions at Soundcloud is some out of touch buffoon who's getting desperate and doesn't know how to make the platform profitable, but you know what happened with almost every stupid decision Soundcloud made? They rolled it back or it didn't follow through with it. They're at the mercy of the userbase. The platform has issues, but I'd never give it up for the lack of respect and slop Spotify and Youtube have. Soundcloud's my musical hellsite (affectionate)

Bandcamp, as far as I know, has 0 controversy outside of the big companies who bought them and laid off half the Bandcamp staff. That wasn't Bandcamp's fault! They just got fucked over by Epic, otherwise they're still doing great! Bandcamp just needs to modernize their platform a little bit. (HOW IS THERE STILL NO VOLUME SLIDER)

Again, no comment on Audius, but hell maybe I'll start using that too.

And if you're SO INSISTENT on using Youtube for music, don't rely on the algorithm for your content! You can curate what you see on there you know! Subscribe to people, actually look at your subscription feed! If you want to use recommendations, you can adjust that too! Every time you see some AI bullshit click on those 3 little dots and either click "Not Interested" or "Don't recommend channel". I hate Youtube's guts when it comes to music, but they at least gave you options to if you hate what the algorithm is showing you. Use them!

Fuck!

Sorry that video got under my skin, it's not a bad video all things considered, but that one point got me heated.