@
Jorge Candeias Bad idea. (
Hubzilla user here.)
Hashtags are not only for discoverability (and critically so on Mastodon). They're also the preferred way of triggering the automatic generation of individual reader-side content warnings.
Content warnings that are automatically generated for each user individually based on keyword lists have a long tradition in the Fediverse. Friendica has had them long before Mastodon even existed, much less before Mastodon hijacked the summary field for content warnings. Hubzilla has had them since its own inception which was before Mastodon, too. (streams) has them, Forte has them.
On all four, automated reader-side content warnings are an integral part of their culture. And users of all four (those who are not recent Mastodon converts at least, i.e. those who entered the Fediverse by joining Friendica in the early 2010s) insist in automated reader-side content warnings being
vastly better than Mastodon's poster-side content warnings that are forced upon everyone all the same.
Oh, and by the way, Mastodon has this feature, too. It has only introduced it in October, 2022, and since the re-definition of Mastodon's culture in mid-2022 pre-dates it, it is not part of Mastodon's culture. But Mastodon has this feature.
However, in order for these content warnings to be generated, there needs to be a trigger. The safest way is by hashtags: If you post content that not everyone may want to see, add corresponding hashtags, enough to cover as many people as possible. If you don't want to see certain content right away, add the corresponding hashtags as keywords to NSFW (Friendica, Hubzilla, (streams), Forte) or a CW-generating filter (Mastodon).
In fact, hashtags can also be used to completely filter out content that you don't want to see at all. And they can be used to trigger such filters. This should work everywhere in the Fediverse.
I myself post stuff that some people don't want to see all the time. Hence, I need a whole lot of hashtags.
Let me explain the "hashtag wall" at the bottom of this comment to you.
- #Long, #LongPost
This comment is over 500 characters long. Many Mastodon users don't want to see any content that exceeds 500 characters. They can filter either or both of these hashtags and at least get rid of my content with over 500 characters.
Why two hashtags? Because I can't know beforehand which one of them people will filter. And because I can't know beforehand which of one of them people will search for or follow. - #CWLong, #CWLongPost
The same as above, but making clear that it's supposed to stand in for a content warning ("CW: long (over 8,300 characters)"). Also, filtering these instead of the above has less of a chance of false positives than the above.
Why two hashtags? Because I can't know beforehand which one of them people will filter. And because I can't know beforehand which of one of them people will search for or follow. - #FediMeta, #FediverseMeta
This comment contains Fediverse meta content. Some people don't want to read anything about the Fediverse, not even as by-catch or boosted to them by someone whom they follow or even only on their federated timeline. They can filter either or both of these.
Why two hashtags? Because I can't know beforehand which one of them people will filter. And because I can't know beforehand which of one of them people will search for or follow. - #CWFediMeta, #CWFediverseMeta
The same as above, but making clear that it's supposed to stand in for a content warning ("CW: Fediverse meta" or, in this case, "CW: Fediverse meta, Fediverse-beyond-Mastodon meta").
Why two hashtags? Because I can't know beforehand which one of them people will filter. And because I can't know beforehand which of one of them people will search for or follow. - #Fediverse
This comment is about the Fediverse. If you don't like it, you can filter it out. Otherwise, click it or tap it to find more content on the topic. Also, the hashtag helps people looking for content about the Fediverse find my comment. - #Mastodon
This comment touches Mastodon as a topic. If you don't like it, you can filter it out. Otherwise, click it or tap it to find more content on the topic. Also, the hashtag helps people looking for content about Mastodon find my comment. - #Friendica
This comment touches Friendica as a topic. If you don't like it, you can filter it out. Otherwise, click it or tap it to find more content on the topic, especially if you don't know what the hell Friendica is, but you're curious. Also, the hashtag helps people looking for content about Friendica find my comment. - #Hubzilla
This comment touches Hubzilla as a topic. If you don't like it, you can filter it out. Otherwise, click it or tap it to find more content on the topic, especially if you don't know what the hell Hubzilla is, but you're curious. Also, the hashtag helps people looking for content about Hubzilla find my comment. - #Streams, #(streams)
This comment touches (streams) as a topic. If you don't like it, you can filter it out. Otherwise, click it or tap it to find more content on the topic, especially if you don't know what the hell the streams repository is, but you're curious. Also, the hashtag helps people looking for content about (streams) find my comment.
Why two hashtags if they're the same on Mastodon? Because they are not the same on Friendica, Hubzilla (again, that's where I am), (streams) itself and Forte. If I have to choose between catering to the technologies and cultures of Friendica, Hubzilla, (streams) and Forte and catering to Mastodon's, I will always choose the former. - #Forte
This comment touches Forte as a topic. If you don't like it, you can filter it out. Otherwise, click it or tap it to find more content on the topic, especially if you don't know what the hell Forte is, but you're curious. Also, the hashtag helps people looking for content about Forte find my comment. - #MastodonCulture
This comment touches Mastodon culture as a topic. If you don't like it, you can filter it out. Otherwise, click it or tap it to find more content on the topic, including critical views upon how Mastodon users try to force Mastodon's 2022 culture upon the users of Fediverse server applications that are very different from Mastodon, and that have had their own culture for much longer. Also, the hashtag helps people looking for content about Mastodon culture find my comment. - #Hashtag, #Hashtags
This comment touches hashtags as a topic. If you don't like it, you can filter it out. Otherwise, click it or tap it to find more content on the topic. Also, the hashtag helps people looking for content about hashtags and their implications find my comment.
Why two hashtags? Because I can't know beforehand which one of them people will filter. And because I can't know beforehand which of one of them people will search for or follow. - #HashtagMeta
This comment contains hashtag meta content. Some people don't want to read anything about it, not even as by-catch or boosted to them by someone whom they follow or even only on their federated timeline. They can filter either it. - #CWHashtagMeta
The same as above, but making clear that it's supposed to stand in for a content warning ("CW: hashtag meta").
By the way: Hashtags for triggering filters are even more important on Hubzilla in comments when Mastodon users may see them. That's because Hubzilla cannot add Mastodon-style content warnings to comments (= everything that replies to something else; here on Hubzilla, it's very different from a post that isn't a reply). What's a content warning on Mastodon is still (and justifiedly so) a summary on Hubzilla. But from a traditional blogging point of view (Hubzilla can very much be used for full-fledged long-form blogging with all bells and whistles), a summary for a comment doesn't make sense. Thus, the comment editors have no summary field on Hubzilla. Thus, I can't add Mastodon-style CWs to comments here on Hubzilla.
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