this post was submitted on 20 Jan 2025
13 points (100.0% liked)

Fediverse

17957 readers
269 users here now

A community dedicated to fediverse news and discussion.

Fediverse is a portmanteau of "federation" and "universe".

Getting started on Fediverse;

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
 

I've been thinking about how we could potentially enhance the Lemmy experience, and I wonder if anyone else sees potential in incorporating a feature similar to Bluesky's Custom Feeds or Mastodon's Fedialgo?

Here's my thought process:

Why Custom Feeds?

  1. User Empowerment: Custom feeds allow users to tailor their experience, moving beyond the limitations of chronological or "popular" sorting.

  2. Discovery: They can help users find content and communities they might not encounter otherwise.

  3. Flexibility: Users could create feeds based on specific interests, keywords, or even complex criteria.


Bluesky's Approach

Bluesky's implementation of Custom Feeds is particularly interesting:

  • Users can create and share their own algorithm-driven feeds
  • It promotes algorithmic transparency and user choice
  • The feature has been well-received for its innovative approach to content curation

https://bsky.social/about/blog/7-27-2023-custom-feeds

https://bsky.social/about/blog/3-30-2023-algorithmic-choice

https://www.theverge.com/2023/5/26/23739174/bluesky-custom-feeds-algorithms-twitter-alternative


Mastodon's Fedialgo

Alternatively, we could look at Fedialgo, which:

  • Allows for custom feed creation within the Mastodon ecosystem
  • Is open-source and federated, aligning well with Lemmy's principles

https://github.com/ronilaukkarinen/fedialgo


Potential Implementation for Lemmy

  1. User-Created Algorithms: Allow users to define their own feed algorithms using a simple interface.

  2. Shareable Feeds: Enable users to share their custom feeds, fostering community curation.

  3. Integration with Lemmy's Existing Features: Ensure the custom feeds work well with Lemmy's communities and cross-instance functionality.

  4. Open-Source Approach: Keep the feature open-source and possibly federated, in line with Lemmy's ethos.


I, unfortunately, do not have the time, energy, or knowledge to be able to attempt something like this.


What do you all think?

Could this be a valuable addition to Lemmy?

I'd love to hear your thoughts, concerns, or ideas for potential implementation.

top 5 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Let's get manual static user-defined multicommunities, and then let's see for algorithm managed ones

https://piefed.social/ has "Topics" already

[–] donuts 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

A feature like this would be very helpful. Thinking of onboarding new users, you'll want to be able to give them an experience that eases them into things.

A custom feed that allows new members to see a variety of the best that Lemmy has to offer would be a good start. Then, when they are comfortable with the platform and its dynamics, they can customise it further, or swap the newbie feed for their own custom filter (which practically would come down to community subscriptions, I suppose?)

Now instead of making this comment very long, I'll put in an video game anology to make it a bit more digestible:

What we need is a tutorial area that showcases all the different things that the Lemmy endgame has to offer. Creating memes, sharing news, the art of shitposting, being a lurker, actual discussions vs just scrolling to see the funnies: all these things are enjoyed by different types of people, and before they can reclass and enjoy the wild open world of Lemmy, it would be good for them to get comfortable with the controls and settings in a relative safe space.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

i dont get it. i subscribe to a bunch of shit. i browse newest on my subscribed. done.

if i want to be exposed to new (unsubscribed) shit, i browse all/newest

i personally wouldnt benefit from any of your suggestions. maybe others would

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago

I would really appreciate a "meta" feed and a "hobby communities" feed

Also being able to have memes split from the rest