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Comment by medhir | Hacker News Reader

I agree there’s a ton of benefits from fully disconnecting. I’ve had periods completely off social media which were quite blissful, though I’ve always ended up coming back to some extent due the social aspects you described.

Given the choice between apps controlled by large corporations preying on attention vs decentralized protocols, I’d much rather have the latter.

I think having examples of apps that don’t demand one’s attention so fiercely, or provide better options for tailoring “the algorithm,” are an important step towards ending the mass social media addiction society is currently experiencing.

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> provide better options for tailoring “the algorithm,”

Instead of a non-obvious "algorithm" with tailoring, just have a social app with a purpose (or per group purpose), and nothing but absolute direct control.

I.e. follow/link with friends, family or whatever in groups. The feed is time-weighted to recent posts or communications. Any other filtering or prioritization can be done, by selection. I.e. deprioritize reposts by default, except persons A, B and C. Etc.

There could be like/dislikes that accumulate into priorities, for those who think that is convenient, but those priorities are just private settings that can be observed and changed.

No hidden/obscure/unclear algorithms, no third parties, no ads, and no Zuck's with any ability to access/impact/insert into the feed.

A scrapbook group, that is just a scrapbook group. Etc.

When did software products/services start "needing" boogymen?

The right platform will allow users to choose between any of the algorithms you described and more.

This is pretty much exactly what Bluesky / Blacksky offer in the form of custom feeds. Gives users the ability to choose whatever type of feed they want, algorithm curated or not.

And if you’re unhappy with the selection, you’re free to create your own.

The best middle ground I've found is checking social media on a web browser on a computer. On my time, when I decide.

I still check Instagram every few weeks just to see what everyone is up to. And it's honestly really nice. I never think about it until I'm thinking "hmm, what is X up to?"

The best part is I don't burn through all the posts in 5 seconds and then get reels suggested. In a few weeks or a couple months, a lot of stuff happens! There's a bunch of cool posts from my friends from me to see, and no algorithmic BS.

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