Nostr notes by Scott Jenson

I'm now in the habit of running my posts through an LLM just ...

2026-07-06T09:00:00+02:00

I'm now in the habit of running my posts through an LLM just to check for blind spots or ways my words might be misunderstood. It’s actually proving to be helpful.

It feels like once your audience reaches a certain size, someone is guaranteed to misread you, sometimes in bad faith. Some people get upset at subtext that isn't even there. Avoiding ambiguous wording appears to be helping.

But I do appreciate the irony: trying to avoid conflict by using an LLM on the Fediverse is almost certainly going to spark a completely different argument.

My point is simple: this will never work. Why? 1. There are no ...

2026-06-30T23:35:50+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…typ3
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My point is simple: this will never work. Why?
1. There are no sensors so it always fires
2. It happens every ride multiple times a day.
3. By ride #4 the driver has completely ignored it
4. The warning will never be 'seen' by the user again
5. The dialog has lost all power.

This is called "warning fatigue" and has been tested and proven over and over, with decades of examples showing it is a hopelessly useless pattern.

I'm not saying there shouldn't be a solution. I'm saying this solution is bad.

I just had an exchange with a Skota engineer who claims to be ...

2026-06-30T20:32:55+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…dm0a
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I just had an exchange with a Skota engineer who claims to be fixing this very issue. He basically admitted to this being a request from the legal team.

I care about the problem not this solution! UX design is FILLED ...

2026-06-30T15:59:14+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…ejya
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I care about the problem not this solution!

UX design is FILLED with examples of this type of ineffective thinking: take a horrible problem that happens in 0.0001% of all rides. And make a useless dialog that 100% of people see every single time. It's performative. It accomplishes nothing.

It's likely the same number people are killed every year by lightning. Should we post signs on every tree to stay away during a storm? Of course not but does saying that imply I don't care about those deaths? Not at all.

not that many babies are actually left behind so they are over ...

2026-06-30T15:32:31+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…t0d7
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not that many babies are actually left behind so they are over indexing on a problem that isn't that common?

"Oh no! We forgot Timmy!" I know I'm on a tear right ...

2026-06-30T13:23:20+02:00

"Oh no! We forgot Timmy!"

I know I'm on a tear right now with Automobile #UX but messages like this just have me scratching my head? Yes, I know, baby's have been left in cars but two extremely obvious points:

1. It is a statistically insignificant number
2. This message wouldn't help anyway.

Yet another Auto UX video. This time with my Škoda Auto rental. ...

2026-06-29T08:16:43+02:00

Yet another Auto UX video. This time with my Škoda Auto rental. It's a great little car but I had an unsafe #UX experience which could have easily been avoided.

RE: https://me.dm/@anildash/116800815357291336 Agreed. The ...

2026-06-23T21:35:18+02:00

RE: https://me.dm/@anildash/116800815357291336

Agreed. The aggressive enforcement of posting norms on here often does more harm than good, and it drives people away (we have lost SO many to this!). We should absolutely strive to use tools like CWs and Alt text, but policing too aggressively comes at too high a cost.

I always get pushback when I bring this up, but my positive DMs in support shows me it's a conversation we need to have. The Fediverse gives us tools to curate our own feeds. If someone's content isn't for you, unfollowing is the healthiest way to handle it. Live and let live.

quoting
note1j67…xxc4

The biggest reason I don’t use Mastodon nearly as often as I’d like to is because, unlike other platforms, too many of the people who act like asses here are people who *follow me*. It’s really weird, because every platform has assholes or whatever, but usually it’s due to context collapse from strangers. Here, it’s usually a tiny minority that wants to scold or police over (often contrived!) objections, and it’s just… exhausting. Takes the fun out of hanging out online. Not sure how to fix it.

I visited the Helsinki Library and it has a frigg'n ...

2026-06-19T06:14:21+02:00

I visited the Helsinki Library and it has a frigg'n makerspace in the middle of it! Laster cutters, 3D printers, Vinyl cutters, all for nearly free. It also has "video game rooms", general meeting rooms, 2 cafes and a restaurant! It's astounding what you can have if you fund public works.

As far as I can recall, the Pope never issued an encyclical ...

2026-05-25T19:42:59+02:00

As far as I can recall, the Pope never issued an encyclical letter about NFTs or Crypto...
https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/encyclicals/documents/20260515-magnifica-humanitas.html

ah, I see what you mean now. I abstracted the technique for the ...

2026-05-17T01:05:34+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…vg6e
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ah, I see what you mean now. I abstracted the technique for the purposes of the post and forgot it was doordash. I didn't read that example as negatively as you did. If it helps users find the thing they want I see that as a net positive.

However I will totally agree with you that this is a thin wedge and could be used incorrectly. But that's true for and tech

My query rewrite example said nothing about doordash, I ...

2026-05-17T00:39:15+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…pn6f
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My query rewrite example said nothing about doordash, I didn't say where it came from but it was a B2B company that was trying to help users find the the thing they wanted. I don't see how that's negative, it's a classic example from 80s Xerox PARC: DWIM (do what I mean). While that IS on a server I'd still argue it's a perfect example of a hidden low level use of SLMs at it is simply rewriting the query to help the user get better results. Although I hope it goes without saying that the query rewrite can't be exploited. In my example it was not.

You don't seem to be discussing in good faith as your quote: ...

2026-05-17T00:22:32+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…wvag
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You don't seem to be discussing in good faith as your quote: "this company was able to suck more money out of its customers" is like NOTHING I said. I would never endorse or even recommend that! I'm reluctant to continue this conversation as I fear you'll just twist my words again.

But in the spirit of proper discussion, what I'm working on is a UX concept where the system logs user events to the disk and uses a SLM to infer user intent. It is 100% private, goes to no company, and is meant entirely for the users benefit. It would need to encrypted and safeguarded but it is 100% under the users control and never leaves their machine. Of course, this concept may not set the world on fire, but I'd argue is an example of a safe, non exploitive use of SLMs.

At very low level analysis tasks, like collating data logs to ...

2026-05-16T23:58:24+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…67q9
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At very low level analysis tasks, like collating data logs to find patterns. I've written about this at https://jenson.org/boring where there are boring things that this tech can do that is predictable and avoids hallucinations. It's when we assume that LLMs need to mimic high level human creative tasks where it completely falls apart. There is power in tedious low level stuff.

https://apertvs.ai/ But let's be clear, there are reasons to ...

2026-05-16T23:44:16+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…y7dc
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https://apertvs.ai/
But let's be clear, there are reasons to quibble over this one as well. I'm not saying there are PERFECT local ethical models, i'm saying people are trying. I'm trying to skate to where the puck will be.

totally reasonable take. There is a lot of backlash against all ...

2026-05-16T21:20:59+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…hzfk
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totally reasonable take. There is a lot of backlash against all big tech and AI is just too easy of a target

You can hold both of these things in your head at the same time: ...

2026-05-16T21:10:46+02:00

You can hold both of these things in your head at the same time:
1. Current frontier models are unethical and environmentally unsustainable.
2. The tech is actually capable of solving *some* real problems.

How? Because there is tremendous improvements happening in local models that are ethically trained and don't require massive data centers.

This doesn't mean you have to like them. You certainly should be skeptical. But there is a middle ground between "I want to marry one" and "Burn it with fire"

If this middle ground approach really bothers you, that is entirely your choice. But I politely ask you then to just unfollow me. We'll both be better off.

At this point I would like to continue what you started in your ...

2026-05-15T06:00:31+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…4q5c
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At this point I would like to continue what you started in your post and talk about what the benefits of of mutuals are versus the benefits of friends I don't think these are fully articulated and so once we know kind of what you get with these it helps motivate the discussion so I'm not going to answer your question but say we should talk more :-)

RE: https://mastodon.social/@bruces/116568165933664229 This was ...

2026-05-13T18:31:31+02:00

RE: https://mastodon.social/@bruces/116568165933664229

This was so funny and spot on. Being "Balanced" about AI gets you nowhere. The Techbros think you have no vision and the "burn it with fire" people think you're a Techbro.
nostr:note17ctlfjgar25307u9uju6acjg7tyq7l5nzavtxscsuqjl87s3lryq7qz2yh

RE: https://stefanbohacek.online/@stefan/116563099730866203 ...

2026-05-12T23:32:05+02:00

RE: https://stefanbohacek.online/@stefan/116563099730866203

I've heard so many stories from the "Great migration of 2022" that people were literally chased off of the Fediverse for these very reasons. I get it, CWs and ALT text are very helpful and I sincerely hope people do use them. But if they don't, then don't follow them. It's really that simple. Anything else has proven to be a net negative.

quoting
note199g…wpuu

Applauding Blorbo Admin Chicken (npub13kq…xd6f) for taking a strong, well-argued stand on this.

Can we get more admins onboard?

#fediverse #FediAdmins #MastoAdmins

I'm assuming you'd like me to propose my "Desktop UX ...

2026-04-25T17:40:49+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…dkxu
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I'm assuming you'd like me to propose my "Desktop UX hasn't changed in 20 years"? I'd likely have to be remote (as a flight from the US would be a bit pricey) but I'm happy to throw my hat into the ring. Thanks!

For the purposes of this discussion, I'd argue it doesn't ...

2026-04-20T21:26:27+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…5qt2
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For the purposes of this discussion, I'd argue it doesn't matter? This is a hypothetical. It could be "good" or "bad", I really don't care. The purpose of this question is to see what YOU would do if I posted something.

Can I assume you'd likely engage with the post and ask these questions?

Limited choices in polls, if there is a better answer, please ...

2026-04-20T20:29:45+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…v8vl
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Limited choices in polls, if there is a better answer, please just reply

If I were to positively reference a government sponsored AI ...

2026-04-20T20:28:26+02:00

If I were to positively reference a government sponsored AI project, open sourced & ethically trained, mean to run locally. How would you respond?

then you clearly don't want new people to feel comfortable ...

2026-04-07T04:49:35+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…jxcu
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then you clearly don't want new people to feel comfortable here either.

Whatever, I don't care what we call it, I'm just saying ...

2026-04-07T04:44:11+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…5v0w
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Whatever, I don't care what we call it, I'm just saying it needs to stop. I'm not hearing you say that.

and you're not going to be persuaded that people are leaving ...

2026-04-07T04:36:25+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…tagn
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and you're not going to be persuaded that people are leaving because reply guys are demoralizing to new arrivals.

Respectfully, we're looking at very different feeds. I assume ...

2026-04-07T04:24:24+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…nvtr
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Respectfully, we're looking at very different feeds. I assume you've heard of the reply guys getting in peoples mentions telling people off for not doing alt text, or content warnings? THAT is why good people are bouncing and that is exactly why it *is* an echo chamber. If you don't conform to these rules, instead of, you know, just not following them, or blocking them, or hell, defederating their server (all of which I would be fine with) people feel so privileged that they get in these new comers face and tell them "you're doing it wrong".

We should be encouraging communities that we don't agree with. This isn't "the nazi bar" story. There ISNT a single bar! It's the "you can't come into MY bar" story. That's what federation was built for. Why is that so hard for people to live with?

OK, this is going even MORE sideways so I need to make a few ...

2026-04-06T16:19:24+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…srp6
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OK, this is going even MORE sideways so I need to make a few things clear:
1. I took a complex point and made it poorly
2. My goal was to ask for more inclusiveness
3. I am sickened by what happend to BlackTwitter and I don't want it recur
4. But I can't speak for BlackTwitter nor should I
5. I apologize to black mastodon users for making such a poor comparison
6. I'm not endorsing "AI Slop" they were a foil to make my point
7. I'm certainly NOT trying to compare AI bros to Black twitter (but, as I said, I can see how people made that connection. I'm trying to correct that here)

Exactly! I tried to point it out on the first 10 but it gets ...

2026-04-06T15:48:01+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…r38k
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Exactly! I tried to point it out on the first 10 but it gets exhausting, ESPECIALLY the ones that assume that mentioning AI and Black Twitter in the same sentence somehow proves 1) I equate the two (I don't obviously) and 2) I endorse AI techbros (I don't)

People that WANT TO HATE so much that they are willing to see things that don't even exist are part of the problem here. Don't get me wrong. They can think anything they want, my point is that they feel compelled to POLICE the culture and create this toxic environment.

But to be clear, I poked the bear, I made the comparison (which was in hindsight unwise) and shouldn't be shocked that "asking for more inclusiveness" on Mastodon is met with such vitriol. Oh wait, I can see the replies now: "you didn't ask for it in the RIGHT WAY"

But my point wasn't specifically about journalists, it was ...

2026-04-06T04:43:14+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…0rek
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But my point wasn't *specifically* about journalists, it was just an example of one person that a) wasn't getting traction and b) the 1% of the deplorables wanted to chase them away.

My point way much more broad, about using this as a wedge example of allowing a much wider array of people into Mastodon. Just because you don't like self promoting morons (I don't either of course) doesn't mean we should be actively chasing them away. Not because I want them! But for a much simpler reason: It's very hard to objectively define what a "promoting moron" is. More importantly, they might do it AND be a really valuable person to the community.

There is so much simplistic black and white thinking about who someone is and so many are willing to say "Begone!" for the flimsiest of reasons.

Too many people thought I was defending the entire AI industry ...

2026-04-06T02:55:17+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…wuhd
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Too many people thought I was *defending* the entire AI industry and worse, comparing it directly to Black Twitter. Hey it's social media, posts are short, it's easy to connect the dots the wrong way.

My poor writing skills aside, my point was what I think you both are saying: it's a slippery slope. It's no secret that black twitter was not made welcome here (it's a very complex topic but there is some truth to it).

My point wasn't that techbros needed support or coddling but the idea that we "allow" people to be here based on some type of ideological purity test is guaranteed to bite us in the ass. Too many people here get holier than thou and feel morally obligated to harass people. It's short sighted.

Two very separate points: 1. Do you (or even many others) want ...

2026-04-06T02:36:16+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…h5jx
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Two very separate points:
1. Do you (or even many others) want journalists here? The is a very personal choice and you can want (or not want) anything you wish. That isn't really what's on the table.
2. Should Journalists be allowed to be here? I think you know where I stand on this. It's a subtle point (one which I was just reminded maybe shouldn't be discussed in Post form) But I do believe that encouraging a wider range of voices is critical to our success in building out a robust social media landscape. We can't gatekeep and only let in "the right folks" that of course is impossible as that definition varies for every person here.

But even in these last two replies, you're perfectly making ...

2026-04-05T18:47:37+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…3j4d
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But even in these last two replies, you're perfectly making my point for me. Do I want AI Grifters? Of course not! But should people be allowed to discuss possible uses of AI? Absolutely! The person I quoted is NOT a grifter but due to our culture, he is seen as one and gleefully shoo'ed away.

That is the slippery slope I'm worried about. We can likely agree on many bad actors that should not be here. What we can't seem to agree on is "what is honest debate"

That is a personal choice and one which I totally respect. But I ...

2026-04-05T17:41:31+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…c2aj
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That is a personal choice and one which I totally respect. But I do think Mastodon should be big enough, and open enough, to allow an "AI community" to form, even thrive.

Too many people in my replies don't seem to agree with that.

As this conversation is spiraling a bit I want to make a few ...

2026-04-05T17:27:20+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…srp6
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As this conversation is spiraling a bit I want to make a few things clear:
1. I'd like Mastodon to be MORE inclusive and bring in more voices
2. Some people don't seem to want that
3. This is core problem to solve: How do we let more in, but not "pollute" your feed?
4. The solution is NOT "gatekeeping", revelling in the fact that AI journalists aren't welcome
5. This is the same reason we lost "Black Twitter" when it came over in 2022

Yes, a lot of you don't want AI posts in your feed (or pick any other topic) but the solution isn't to keep "AI People" from joining Mastodon, any more than it is keeping marginalized communities off of Mastodon.

The metrics are clear, people are leaving mastodon, our daily ...

2026-04-05T17:02:35+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…djgy
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The metrics are clear, people are leaving mastodon, our daily actives are going down. I agree that pursing follower count is not what Mastodon should be about, we likely agree on many points here. I'm just trying to say 'being more welcoming of other points of view' shouldn't be controvertial. Yet so many replies have been "we don't want them here!" which feels very head-in-the-sand to me.

So is the only alternative "number go DOWN" metrics? ...

2026-04-05T16:47:15+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…rzkg
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So is the only alternative "number go DOWN" metrics? I'm not trying to be snarky, I'm trying to find a way to have both be possible: how can we keep our soul but still have a diverse community.

My concern is that your comment uses the "we don't want a number go up mentality" argument to hide the fact that our community is a mono culture.

Is #mastodon becoming an echo chamber? This post from ...

2026-04-05T16:16:34+02:00

Is #mastodon becoming an echo chamber? This post from Dare Obasanjo (npub1t7r…dsf2) has me questioning our community. The Mastodon team is finally getting some traction, the product improvements are increasing, The #UX is improving, yet people posting on multiple platforms are making comments like this. It's confusing.

I *know* people here don't want this to be a classic social media-clone but we'd *like* journalists to be here right? They aren't coming with examples like this!

FOSSism · /ˈfɔːʃɪzəm/ or fawsh-iz-um · noun A militant ...

2026-04-02T01:29:56+02:00

FOSSism · /ˈfɔːʃɪzəm/ or fawsh-iz-um · noun
A militant branch of the open source movement that delights in telling absolutely anyone that 'they are doing it wrong'. One of the fundamental social problems holding the Fediverse back. Nearly always a white dude.

I'm using alpaca.blue, a combined bluesky and mastodon client ...

2026-03-31T04:44:32+02:00

I'm using alpaca.blue, a combined bluesky and mastodon client and this is a test message, sent once and posted to both. If 1-2 of you could "like" this, i'd like to see how the app rolls this up. (thanks in advance)

I'm in Big Sur, CA (a beautiful natural area on the ...

2026-03-23T04:02:28+01:00

I'm in Big Sur, CA (a beautiful natural area on the California coast. I'm staying at a small upscale motel and in the parking lot is a Black CyberTruck with the plates "DrkMAGA".

Of *course* I'll do nothing but I really don't want to run into the owner. I expect he (of course it's a he) is some 30ish techbro. Any suggestions to help me through this?

When I see a really good post and want to quote post it, I'm ...

2026-03-08T17:06:59+01:00

When I see a really good post and want to quote post it, I'm sad when quoting is disabled. I get it, it's their choice and I respect that.

But the ux designer in me can't help but to wonder if they didnt get the setting right and are missing out on positive engagement.

#mastondon Friends! There is a TON of improvements we could make ...

2026-02-19T23:04:00+01:00

#mastondon Friends!

There is a TON of improvements we could make to Private Mentions (often called DMs on other platforms) e.g.
* getting them out of the public timeline
* Having a stronger notification tied to the Private Mention tab
* (amount other things)

But here is my MAIN question: How critical is it that these message are encrypted? I'm not against encryption! It's just complex and will take time. If we were to make some UX changes as a first pass WITHOUT encryption would you be OK with that (at least for now?)

If you MUST have encryption, that's fine, please do me the favor of replying explaining why you need it.

I'm just brainstorming here. I actually love the simplicity ...

2026-02-14T06:34:45+01:00

In reply to nevent1q…40hg
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I'm just brainstorming here. I actually love the simplicity of [@_elena](https://mastodon.social/@_elena ) 's idea: Have an option in the notifications view to filter by followers. It's a partial match for 'people that I think more important'.

Is it fully what I originally asked for? no. But it's a strong start and doesn't require any additional user work (other than picking the option)

For Phanpy, a dumb idea is to have "only Followers" under the "only Mentions" checkbox in the notifications view. It's clunky, and I think there is a better way to do it but I'm "kicking the can down the road" to give you idea of how Elena's idea could be shown. If there is a better approach, please suggest.

It helps to "talk it through" to make sure we're ...

2026-02-13T07:30:04+01:00

In reply to nevent1q…rnu2
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It helps to "talk it through" to make sure we're clear WHAT is really needed:

* There are cases were you get >100 notifications
* Grouping helps, mostly for favs and boosts, but not mentions
* reading many dozens of replies is fragmented, especially if you've got >1 popular post! (good problem to have right?)
* High level: I just want to follow the mentions more easily

I'd love to build an exploratory web page that take a post URL, parses all replies and provides a better way to browse the many replies but Same Origin Policy (which is a good thing!) makes that hard.

some ideas: 1. Sort/filter notifications by post 2. Filter ...

2026-02-13T04:54:45+01:00

In reply to nevent1q…27we
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some ideas:
1. Sort/filter notifications by post
2. Filter notifications by list

This really only applies to people that get HEAVY activity to multiple posts. Not for most consumers

Is there a "professional" Mastodon client for high end ...

2026-02-13T04:31:30+01:00

Is there a "professional" Mastodon client for high end users? I'm mostly looking for a tool that helps me sort notifications. When you get a few popular posts it's very hard to track everything.

What I like about the fediverse is that there could be a completely separate tool just for notifications

and that's a good thing or a bad thing?

2026-02-06T04:48:36+01:00

In reply to nevent1q…y4ff
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and that's a good thing or a bad thing?

Oh, I'm afraid to tell you that it is actually VERY broke. ...

2026-02-06T04:45:07+01:00

In reply to nevent1q…9d09
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Oh, I'm afraid to tell you that it is actually VERY broke. That's why I'm exploring this. I appreciate it's not broke for you. But we've got lots of user feedback that this is overly complex and off putting to many new users.

But it's also VERY clear that changing this for EVERYONE forcefully would be a big no-no. I'm not suggesting that. I'm just trying to say if this was an OPTION, would people like it?

That is a fascinating take! I think we'd all like to know ...

2026-02-06T04:35:41+01:00

In reply to nevent1q…apr7
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That is a fascinating take! I think we'd all like to know more, as in, I had no idea Dracula was anti-imperialist! Would you be willing to post a bit more about this? (or maybe a blog post?)

This is a hypothetical. This is for feedback/comment only. Here ...

2026-02-06T04:21:43+01:00

This is a hypothetical. This is for feedback/comment only. Here is a simple layout change to the current web client for #Mastodon. Assume you had a preference so you could choose this or today's existing view. What are your thoughts? A Poll will be posted in a comment.

Hello #UX folk! Some people seem to think that the "craft of ...

2026-01-29T01:24:56+01:00

Hello #UX folk!

Some people seem to think that the "craft of ux" is dead: striving to be polished is naive. E.g. snapchat & Instagram stories, which are horrible UX, are claimed to be "good enough".

I'm writing a blog post exploring this but need links to any examples of this type of good enough thinking?

I'm expecting mostly techbro types will say this

The fediverse is a beautiful, powerful thing. But it's also ...

2026-01-15T01:59:05+01:00

In reply to nevent1q…vg4c
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The fediverse is a beautiful, powerful thing. But it's also very challenging. It took me MONTHS of working with the Mastodon team to appreciate how hard federation makes even simple things. But they are worth solving! It's also why so many companies default to a centralized server. It's a cheat-code to 'move fast and break things'.

Don't be discouraged! I'm trying to do the opposite! Just letting you know why

Leander Lindahl (npub1u2n…0h7f) Henna Virkkunen (npub1k2l…dvmj) Debbie Goldsmith 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈 (npub1mf8…vna9) Mastodon (npub163h…mv0n)

The roadmap is here:https://joinmastodon.org/roadmap There are no ...

2026-01-15T01:06:34+01:00

In reply to nevent1q…63jt
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The roadmap is here:https://joinmastodon.org/roadmap

There are no immediate plans to be clear. What makes community notes easy for Twitter is that they have one server. To make this work with federated servers is unfortunately, a more challenging step.

The first step would be for someone to create a FEP proposal so we could at least discuss the various approaches and agree on what it would take to make it happen.

I agree! A lot of us are here, now, trying to pump a little good ...

2026-01-09T19:40:53+01:00

In reply to nevent1q…prwf
_________________________

I agree! A lot of us are here, now, trying to pump a little good will and positivity into the Mastodon corner of fediverse. There *has* been far too much dunking and harsh interactions. 99% of the people here are nice! It's the 1% that ruin it. We need to:

1. Be more supportive of people so the positive 99% are seen
2. Call out toxic behavior. They don't like that.
3. Write more "agree" posts than "disagree"

Nostr event nevent1qqsrr9f6qt05e5st47hvdufcshx55c77hkrz8muh8dgujdheekejqmgzyrva09m8fn0f0kag3a37qu72q0gmq7crux7d0cfj55h56tp80c64gnc6zhh

2026-01-05T01:10:42+01:00

RE: https://dair-community.social/@emilymbender/115833119822086661

We really have a problem here. Good people are being mansplained/harassed off of the platform. (It's been a problem for years actually)

It just takes just 1% of us to make this place feel overwhelmingly bad. 99% of us are lovely, tolerant people.

We can't let these victims fend for themselves. Call out reply guy/mansplaining/(or worse) behavior. We fix this by supporting each other.

We get the culture we tolerate.

quoting
note1c0s…nafl

Once again feeling like it's almost not worth posting to Mastodon given the degree of mansplaining that everything I put up here attracts.

Why is it so hard to read the whole thread and/or acknowledge with a 'yes and' -- or maybe check who you are replying to/posting at? Gah.

I know lots of people that are tired of Twitter and want a more ...

2025-12-28T17:58:46+01:00

In reply to nevent1q…csma
_________________________

I know lots of people that are tired of Twitter and want a more sane alternative. The Fediverse is a strong alternative, but there are "baddies" out there chasing people away for things like not using CWs properly. I'm saying we just need to be a little more inclusive. This shouldn't be something that needs to be said.

There was a recent poll here about what Desktop OS you use and ...

2025-12-28T07:26:12+01:00

There was a recent poll here about what Desktop OS you use and Linux was the most popular answer. This proves this community is far more technical than your average consumer.

I'm not critical of that, I'm just saying we need to appreciate we aren't representative of that vast majority of people out there. I can't even get "normies" to *consider* joining the fediverse.

I don't want to "chase numbers" I want my family members to be safe but we're doing a terrible job attracting them.

RE: https://social.coop/@scottjenson/115707071905814326 There are ...

2025-12-24T02:44:37+01:00

RE: https://social.coop/@scottjenson/115707071905814326

There are 300K+ views on Youtube of my talk! I've never had a talk get this amount of traction. I'm a bit in shock.

It's confusing as I've been speaking/writing about this for years. Somehow the stars aligned this time.

Upside is that I've had lots of interesting conversations with folks because of this.

quoting
note1djf…5tzk

My Ubuntu Summit talk is up! Where I talk about:
1. How Desktop UX is effectively dead
2. Why I hate the term UX/UI with the heat of 1000 suns
3. How OSS can actually innovate in #ux

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fZTOjd_bOQ

If we were to consider a filter on your personal timeline so no ...

2025-12-22T19:23:44+01:00

In reply to nevent1q…dghz
_________________________

If we were to consider a filter on your personal timeline so no replies would show up (which could be changed with a setting) Would the need for quiet public be significantly reduced?

thank you this is exactly the type of discussion that opens up ...

2025-12-22T18:54:53+01:00

In reply to nevent1q…vzqv
_________________________

thank you this is exactly the type of discussion that opens up new ideas

So hypothetically, (I'm NOT suggesting this literally, this ...

2025-12-22T17:20:52+01:00

So hypothetically, (I'm NOT suggesting this literally, this is for discussion purposes only!)

Prompt:
if users ONLY had Public/Followers only/Private as 'base' post types, how would they be negatively impacted? *Specifically* what types of posts would fall through the cracks? How limited would Followers only really be?

Goal:
There obviously would be negative impact. By discussing how, we can brainstorm BETTER ways of giving them this functionality

You are proving my point perfectly, thank you. Quiet Public is ...

2025-12-22T17:13:46+01:00

In reply to nevent1q…r90p
_________________________

You are proving my point perfectly, thank you. Quiet Public is *great*, if you understand it (and nearly everyone doesn't understand it)

This is a classic UX design problem. How do we enable this protection but make it easier to control/understand?

No miscommunication. My point isn't that I disagree with you: ...

2025-12-21T20:27:44+01:00

In reply to nevent1q…0ma0
_________________________

No miscommunication. My point isn't that I disagree with you: Quiet Public does *exactly* what you describe, it's just practically useless as most people don't use federated, local, or trending timelines. Worse, I've run into multiple examples of people misunderstanding what it does, giving them a false sense of security.

I'm not against it, I'm saying it is lost on most users.

@npub1ggl…kevu I was replying to your post and it's gone? ...

2025-12-21T19:22:58+01:00

Lety Does Stuff (npub1ggl…kevu) I was replying to your post and it's gone? Did you delete it?

The problem I have with "Quiet Public" is that it is ...

2025-12-21T18:44:38+01:00

The problem I have with "Quiet Public" is that it is nearly useless. If I reply to you resetting my reply to Quiet Public it doesn't practically matter. As a) very few people use federated or local timelines and b) the people that follow me will see it anyway.

My point is that assuming 99% of the time people are just viewing their feed, quiet public doesn't really change anything.

Happy to be corrected of course. If I'm wrong, it just goes to show how easy it is to misunderstand this topic.

My Ubuntu Summit talk is up! Where I talk about: 1. How Desktop ...

2025-12-12T15:30:03+01:00

My Ubuntu Summit talk is up! Where I talk about:
1. How Desktop UX is effectively dead
2. Why I hate the term UX/UI with the heat of 1000 suns
3. How OSS can actually innovate in #ux

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fZTOjd_bOQ

I'm noticing a trend that people aren't signing their ...

2025-11-02T06:43:52+01:00

I'm noticing a trend that people aren't signing their emails as often. It's clearly redundant (and a holdover from snail mail) but it was expected. Do you sign your emails today?

Thoroughly enjoyed speaking at #UbuntuSummit today. Thank you ...

2025-10-24T22:00:59+02:00

Thoroughly enjoyed speaking at #UbuntuSummit today. Thank you organizers! I spoke about the need for new foundational #UX improvements to the Desktop UX. Very lively audience!
https://www.youtube.com/live/WvNgMEumSoA?t=17225s

I appreciate your points, we all want this to be an inclusive, ...

2025-10-21T20:17:16+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…xscm
_________________________

I appreciate your points, we all want this to be an inclusive, safe place.

My only issue is that giving people advice they didn't ask for, is still aggressive. It doesn't matter if you use nice words.

This needs to be solved at the instance level. Police your instance all you want, get the culture you want there. But leave other instances alone. It just doesn't scale to think you can "fix" the other 10000.

If they're not doing it the way you want, then unfollow them

We need to talk more about reducing "tone policing" here. ...

2025-10-21T14:20:51+02:00

We need to talk more about reducing "tone policing" here. I understand you want people to use content warnings, but guess what? They don't have to! If they don't do it, just unfollow them.

But please, don't harass them. That's what drove away our last big wave.

Do whatever you need to feel safe, but harassing people to your standards doesn't make THEM feel safe. Stop it.

I'm heading to London for #ubuntu Summit this week (Wed-Sat) ...

2025-10-19T14:41:49+02:00

I'm heading to London for #ubuntu Summit this week (Wed-Sat) and looking forward to seeing a range of old friends. If you'll be there at the Summit, let me know.

The new #Mastodon team is starting to hit its stride! We're ...

2025-10-08T01:09:48+02:00

The new #Mastodon team is starting to hit its stride! We're about to ship Quote Posts in 4.5 and our next release (4.6) will have (Starter)Packs (name tdb). It's fun to see our momentum building!

We reviewed the design today at #FediForum and the FEP is available for public feedback.
https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/10/our-ideas-about-packs/

Thoroughly enjoying #hades2 I just got it Thursday afternoon but ...

2025-09-27T17:32:41+02:00

Thoroughly enjoying #hades2 I just got it Thursday afternoon but I've just beat the first boss (twice!) and it's such a fun experience. I'm not really into fighting games that much but it's so well done that I push through.

It's kind of like if Dark Souls were done for casual gamers.

One tiny thing we can do is pay for our news. I've chosen ...

2025-09-23T03:28:55+02:00

One tiny thing we can do is pay for our news. I've chosen Propublica, the Atlantic, and 404media. You'll likely choose others. But choose a few and support them.

We need them now more than ever.

I want to try out a new #Mastodon client but it requires that I ...

2025-09-19T01:52:47+02:00

I want to try out a new #Mastodon client but it requires that I update my Mac to Tahoe 26. I've been told to wait for the .1 release as things are.... not great.

Curious if I'm being over cautious here. Has anyone installed #Tahoe on their #Mac and it's been "basically reasonable"?

A gentle reminder that if someone replies to you in a way that ...

2025-08-24T19:12:14+02:00

A gentle reminder that if someone replies to you in a way that makes you feel uncomfortable, you don't have to reply!

1. Do nothing, you don't *owe* them a reply
2. Block them, you certainly don't owe them an explanation

While the fediverse is almost always a very nice place, a few abuse the rules of social conduct. If someone isn't playing nice, then just don't play back.

#figma folks, any of you switch to Penpot recently? I love the ...

2025-07-02T04:49:19+02:00

#figma folks, any of you switch to Penpot recently? I love the Penpot team and have used it myself personally but curious if any of you are on teams that have migrated to it?

<smacks forehead> I missed his CSS only popup example. I do ...

2025-07-01T20:12:40+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…jrzl
_________________________

<smacks forehead> I missed his CSS only popup example.

I do agree with his "cargo cult" critique of using numbers as teeny click targets. It's why I tried to use something a bit easier, just "more" inline in the text.

Also accept your critique that this needs to be click not hover.

It's clearly dependent on the need, as he points out at the very beginning, parentheses work pretty well! (for short text)

Jake specifically called out the lack of a UX designer in this ...

2025-07-01T19:55:22+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…6r9x
_________________________

Jake specifically called out the lack of a UX designer in this process so, of course I'm just going to but right in... I agree with the semantic HTML arguments made here but both solutions still interrupt the reading process, it's not "visually easy" to ignore the note. So this **experiment** is trying to show how we could use hover (or maybe select instead?) to bring the note forward, but only when needed.

Good riddance. Instant Apps were a VERY poor version of the web. ...

2025-06-13T18:43:35+02:00

Good riddance. Instant Apps were a VERY poor version of the web. So many of us within Google tried to appeal to better instincts. So much time wasted on this silliness.
https://mastodon.social/@arstechnica/114677013202481295

Nostr event nevent1qqsrv3v9uc3yxs8jyd24l0dtz9zlppctjstugcdqkasahq8vm3yf0egzyrva09m8fn0f0kag3a37qu72q0gmq7crux7d0cfj55h56tp80c64g20kulw

2025-06-07T22:19:31+02:00

I was a #FediForumAttendee and would love to connect!

Just a reminder that I have free office hours for any #opensource ...

2025-05-27T19:28:44+02:00

Just a reminder that I have free office hours for any #opensource project that wants #UX help. Please feel free to sign up here: https://cal.com/scottjenson/exchange

Excited to be helping the team on Mastodon! "We’re also ...

2025-05-01T20:35:18+02:00

Excited to be helping the team on Mastodon!

"We’re also very happy to share that Scott Jenson has joined the organisation on a part-time basis, as Product Strategy Adviser."

https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/05/evolving-the-team/

Google's latest layoffs on the Chrome team really hits hard. ...

2025-04-12T00:42:27+02:00

Google's latest layoffs on the Chrome team really hits hard. They are letting go of people that desperately want to keep the web open. You can hate on Google on you want (I'm with you!) but the people on the Chrome team were amazing and only wanted what was best for the web.

This was so incredibly short sighted and stupid (and ultimately counterproductive)

This can't continue. Eventually it's going to implode ...

2025-04-08T02:17:21+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…wy99
_________________________

This *can't* continue. Eventually it's going to implode and everyone is going to claiming they were leading the charge against it all.

Dear #OpenSource folks, I'd like to offer #UX help to your ...

2025-04-05T18:49:50+02:00

Dear #OpenSource folks, I'd like to offer #UX help to your teams. I've tried "making a small PR" on projects and it turns out that's TERRIBLE advice for a UX designer. The PR is usually misunderstood or ignored. I don't fault the teams for this! It's just the wrong tool for the job.

So I'm trying something different. I'm offering free consulting time to any project that wants it. Sign up here: https://cal.com/scottjenson/exchange

I'm working with Mastodon on building out their UX design ...

2025-03-27T23:22:16+01:00

I'm working with Mastodon on building out their UX design team. I'm so excited they are growing like this. I'll be supporting this person in their role
https://mastodon.social/@MastodonEngineering/114235500948298378

With Android releasing one of my haptics designs recently, I can ...

2025-02-11T17:55:01+01:00

With Android releasing one of my haptics designs recently, I can finally talk more about how powerful "responsive haptics" can be as a #UX design material. I've written up how it works on my blog: https://jenson.org/haptics

Book Lovers! I just joined BookWyrm and am looking forward to ...

2025-01-02T06:36:16+01:00

Book Lovers!

I just joined BookWyrm and am looking forward to learning how to use it. But I have a rather obvious getting started question: How do I manage having two "fediverse addresses"? (the one you're reading and my new Bookwyrm one)

If I post reviews using my BookWyrm account, I'm assuming no one will see my reviews as, not surprisingly, no one is following that account. Am I missing something obvious? For example, if I wanted to share a book review in BookWyrm, do I just share the link?

I've played with Elest.io in the past and loved it. Just ...

2024-12-22T00:49:43+01:00

In reply to nevent1q…3qs2
_________________________

I've played with Elest.io in the past and loved it. Just curious if things have changed much recently

#Cloud #hosting recommendation? The world of cloud hosting is ...

2024-12-22T00:47:40+01:00

#Cloud #hosting recommendation?
The world of cloud hosting is changing so rapidly. What I'd like is a provider where I could "one-click-install" a range of packages. For example, I'd like to try NextCloud or my own instance of PenPot. I realize not all services will provide a 1-click for EVERYTHING but I'd like one that has a robust set that would allow me to play. This does NOT need to be high performance, this is for personal exploration.

One of my earliest UX wins was for Mac System 7. The Finder team ...

2024-12-18T22:43:32+01:00

One of my earliest UX wins was for Mac System 7. The Finder team wanted to truncate files names with '…' if it wouldn’t fit. I argued that too much critical info would be lost and suggested it be in the middle instead. The Finder team loved it and implemented it later that day. They were so easy to work with.

I'd totally forgotten about it until I overheard someone commenting it was an example of Apple's attention to detail. I'd didn't say anything at the time but yeah, that was me ;-)

What does "the system doesn't need them" even mean? ...

2024-12-17T19:51:29+01:00

In reply to nevent1q…muht
_________________________

What does "the system doesn't need them" even mean? Does he really think that normal text search is the same? That completely misunderstands how/why hashtags are used.

For years now, I've offered free consulting to any hardware ...

2024-12-15T16:28:10+01:00

For years now, I've offered free consulting to any hardware company that has a product with buttons. Why? Because most companies don't have a UX department, and bad UX hurts their bottom line. Tiny and inexpensive changes, like a better label or a simple software tweak, could make a substantial difference.

I've written about it here: https://jenson.org/free3/

This isn't a gimmick. I'm lucky to be retired and don't want their money.

This is just me throwing my hat out there one more time...

Rivian’s chief software officer says in-car buttons are ‘an ...

2024-11-02T03:32:43+01:00

Rivian’s chief software officer says in-car buttons are ‘an anomaly’. His basic point is that voice is far better.
<sigh>
We go through these every few years, you'd think we'd have learned by now:
1. Voice isn't enough
Voice is great, and it does have value but it's best when you're alone. There are lots of situations where voice just doesn't work. It's an ADDITIONAL modality, not a REPLACEMENT.

#UX #Voice

Elevators are the #UX gift that keeps giving. I just discovered ...

2024-10-30T12:14:54+01:00

Elevators are the #UX gift that keeps giving. I just discovered this beauty. On top of that, the door closing times are very slow so it's very helpful to push a close button. I just stood and stared...

I'm going door to door in Lacrosse Wisconsin, helping to ...

2024-10-29T15:06:12+01:00

I'm going door to door in Lacrosse Wisconsin, helping to answer any questions they might have to make sure they can vote. It's uplifting work, only talking to registered democrats, who are mostly happy to chat, and are totally supportive. It's a win/win.

The tech is impressive too. There's a app that tells us which house to knock on, who is there, even if they've already voted so we can skip them. (although it SHOULD be a web page... ;-)

I assume you meant 2025, but that's great looking forward to ...

2024-10-25T18:19:04+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…srcy
_________________________

I assume you meant 2025, but that's great looking forward to trying it out (getting temp images running on my MacBook has proven harder than I expected)