TIL that Mastodon posts bypass the Micro.blog timeline character limit.
@SimonWoods Yeah, it’s weird. They should either be given the same treatment as all other posts on the Timeline or Micro.blog’s character limit should be upped to 500 to match.
@uncertainquark @SimonWoods A 500 character limit to the posts would be nice. Any reasons not to do it, @manton, other than screwing up cross-posting to Twitter?
@miljko @uncertainquark @manton I like the current limit on Micro.blog, see no reason to change, and do in fact dislike the lack of a limit on replies.
The distinction between micro and full posts is one of the great features of Micro.blog, and I think it is better to improve that with additions such as excerpts for full posts. Replies could also be improved to help the timeline.
@SimonWoods @uncertainquark @manton Being able to set an excerpt for a longer post would be a nice compromise.
@miljko Thanks for the feedback. Nothing is set in stone, but as @SimonWoods said I do want to make reply length consistent before we consider any other changes.
@manton I think it's worth considering the frequency of long replies and the value of them. I feel like I see them used only occasionally, and almost always well. It makes me feel like it truncating them would cause people to miss out on better replies that exist today.
@manton I second @jsonbecker here in that I get a lot of value from long replies. They’re the #1 way I discover new people and topics. I also like how long replies encourage conversation and full thoughts instead of flippant reactions.
@gregmoore @jsonbecker I think there are 2 potential changes: we could implement a limit for replies but make it longer, like 500 characters; or (what I originally wanted) we could build a UI that guides a long reply into a full blog post, but still threads it into the conversation.
@manton How about doing both? For the first one, I think that making reply length longer than the post length will only add confusion. Whatever limit you choose for showing content in full, it’s better if it’s consistent throughout posts, replies and imported posts.
@manton So in the second case, would the long reply end up as post on our blog? since you mentioned threading, as the replies pile up, it would be great to link, in some way, a reply to another reply. Sometime when I encounter a conversation, I have no idea which of the latter replies are to whose and what post.
@pratik Yes, that's the problem I have. I find long replies almost entirely remove context and the nuance therein. Considering how much we like the community here, it's jarring when I see walls of text with no obvious path to follow with regard to the meandering nature of conversations.
Whilst I agree with @gregmoore and @jsonbecker about the quality of replies, unfortunately the structure causes all of that value to go to waste. // @manton
(Edit: changed "nuisance" to "nuance". I need coffee...)
@miljko @simonwoods @uncertainquark @manton Seconding excerpts for long posts, including a way to enable them when posting from external apps (frontmatter or the like).
@SimonWoods @manton Agree that this is a discussion over the structure of replies. In the current system: 1. I open the timeline and spot an interesting, out of context reply from someone I follow 2. Interested in learning more, I swipe left (iOS) or click the conversation link 3. I scroll to the top to read through the entire exchange.
I don’t understand how adding character limit that “squishes” a long reply into a blog link helps that simple 3-step process. I’m far less likely to click through a reply than I am to scan it as I scroll. (Apologies if the above isn’t what you’re really talking about.)
@gregmoore That’s exactly the way I think about it. Rarely do I see a conversation’s first message. I almost always find conversations I want to participate in because of someone’s reply. So I’m happy to keep replies displayed.
@manton So wait, what would that mean for people whose blogs aren't hosted on micro.blog – would we just not be able to make replies of over 280 characters, except via posting on our own sites and sending a webmention?
FWIW I like replies as they are – I don't think I see a lot of really really long replies but I see a lot that are longer than 280 characters (and post them too 😂) and I think those are the ones that contribute to higher-quality conversations. I'd be happy with an increase in character limit to 500, but then I'd be happy if all posts benefited from the same increase.
@gregmoore Jumping in here, as seems to be part of theme of this conversation. I also quite often open up Micro.blog, see a reply which sounds as though it is part of an interesting conversation, and then follow up with reading through the whole conversation.
As @jayeless says, I don’t feel as though I see too many really, really long replies, and when I do I find them adding to the conversation, not distracting from it (not that anyone has made that claim, just saying that I feel as though the read is worth my time).
So while I sense a call for consistency in length, I for one am happy with where things are right now.
@crossingthethreshold Yes, that’s my experience too. I can’t remember the last time I saw a reply that abused the length guidelines to its detriment, and overall longer replies have often led me to interesting discussions.
@manton So thinking about it some more: have you considered hiding larger untitled posts/replies the way @dave does at FeedLand? So instead of having to go to each persons blog you could just expand the post in the app itself?
Anyway, this is all easy for me to write, and I'm sure just keeping the service up is enough work right now, but maybe something to think about once things settle down.
@palousegeo @miljko Good feedback, thanks. The thing I've always wanted to avoid is a timeline that feels cluttered because everything is some truncated summary of something else. In M.b, a less noisy timeline is part of the experience. No ads, no retweets, no inline notifications, and hopefully fewer posts that require you to squint to make sense of.