It’s a good feature that’s only controversial because it was used on a shitty platform
Mastodon is working to add the controversial 'quote posts' feature | TechCrunch
Submitted 2 months ago by throws_lemy@lemmy.nz to fediverse@lemmy.world
https://techcrunch.com/2025/02/14/mastodon-is-working-to-add-the-controversial-quote-posts-feature/
Comments
scripthook@lemmy.world 2 months ago
onlinepersona@programming.dev 2 months ago
It was part of what made the platform shitty…
GoodEye8@lemm.ee 2 months ago
As others have already pointed out, you can literally get the same result by using images as quotes. People could’ve been shitty even without the quotation feature because it’s not the feature on the platform that makes it shitty, it’s the people on the platform who decide to use it for a shitty purpose.
Not implementing a feature because morons may abuse it is not justification for not implementing a feature. It’s like saying we shouldn’t be able to reply to comments because someone might use that feature to directly send you hateful comments. Now, if the features primary purpose is (or primary use case ends up being) to use it negatively, then sure it shouldn’t be implemented. But I don’t see how quotation falls under this exception. In my eyes quotation is a net positive.
It doesn’t turn the platform shitty and if there are good moderators it also prevents assholes from trying to turn the platform shitty.
Mars2k21@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
I’m shocked people are actually against Mastodon adding a common feature. Seems like one of the gripes with it for ages has been the lack of features and polish (I personally stopped using Mastodon in part because of this)
Glad they are going ahead with it…it doesn’t really hurt anything and isn’t any different than just screenshotting posts.
catsrcool@lemmy.world 2 months ago
you can just translate the app though?
sorry, had to
arunshah240@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Much needed feature
cupcakezealot@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 months ago
I’m glad they’re adding it; I also hope that they take Bsky’s ability to detach yourself from the quoted post too.
xnx@slrpnk.net 2 months ago
They will have that it’s in the article
muntedcrocodile@lemm.ee 2 months ago
What’s wrong with quote posts?
breadcat@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
quote dunking I guess?
modifier@lemmy.ca 2 months ago
If I infer from context clues, quote dunking is commenting disparagingly to frame the quoted tweet? I left Twitter in like 2011.
pls@lemmy.plaureano.nohost.me 2 months ago
As much as I love the Fediverse, it’s amazing that Mastodon users see this feature as a threat. By the way, any decent app implemented quoting years ago.
FundMECFSResearch@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 months ago
Bluesky has a feature where you can stop someone from quoting your post if you don’t like what they are saying.
surewhynotlem@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 2 months ago
It seems the solution is to allow a user to choose whether to be quote-posted, perhaps down to a post-level.
That has implementation hurdles, I’m sure, but I think we should try to build it right this time.
breakfastmtn@lemmy.ca 2 months ago
That’s literally what they’re doing:
For starters, Mastodon says it will allow users to control whether their posts can be quoted at all. This would protect people from being the recipient of unwanted attention or hateful replies to some extent. (Though, arguably, people could still screenshot someone’s post to circulate it more broadly if they intended to troll the user.)
In addition, users will be notified if someone quotes them, and they’ll be able to withdraw their post from the quoted context at any time. This latter option could help in the case that someone’s quote post goes viral, and the original poster starts to receive too much attention or even abuse, forcing them to reconsider whether they want their post to be quotable at all.
Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Oh, well then that’s good. Yay Mastodon!
Zaktor@sopuli.xyz 2 months ago
I think you’d need a little more than that to make sure the restriction isn’t used defensively by harassers (one of the reasons people ask for this is to show others bad behavior in their replies). But it does feel like a solvable problem.
And Mastodon having more active moderation (since you can proactively look for an instance that meets your moderation expectations) also means the stuff that can’t be handled mechanically can be managed.
AceFuzzLord@lemm.ee 2 months ago
Okay, I get that they’re gonna add something that allows your posts not to be quoted, but what’s stopping me from just screenshoting a toot from someone that doesn’t wanna be quoted and adding that image to a toot of my own and using it as a quoted toot?
Trumble@sopuli.xyz 2 months ago
Nothing, but the effort might be one the driving forces of how one uses social media. And thus how it’s communities begin to operate and feel.
pseudo@jlai.lu 2 months ago
That could make possible the repost on Lemmy and that’s a big deal!
Today to repost, you boost and you can’t add anything else to the original toot like the mention of a lemmy community to allow fediversion of the content. This new feature might make it possible. I can’t wait!lmmarsano@lemmynsfw.com 2 months ago
what’s stopping me from just screenshoting
Images of text? Accessibility.
So, another sacrifice at the altar of social media to offer a deliberately broken feature at the expense of people who need accessibility.
- ableism +1
- accessibility 0
Social media can be such trash.
steve_awesome@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Atleast mastodon supports image descriptions pretty well, so it would be possible to make the posted screenshot accessible.
BeigeAgenda@lemmy.ca 2 months ago
Then we can finally get people to write
Don’t subtoot me bro
Is that the controversial part?
SorteKanin@feddit.dk 2 months ago
Can someone please tell me what a quote post is? Maybe I’m blind but I don’t see an explanation for what it actually is anywhere.
Gabadabs@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 months ago
It’s like a repost, but it lets you add your own post to it and shows the original post as a quote bubble.
MimicJar@lemmy.world 2 months ago
It’s like a repost, but it lets you add your own post to it and shows the original post as a quote bubble.
So like this?
Or like this?
It’s like a repost, but it lets you add your own post to it and shows the original post as a quote bubble.
SorteKanin@feddit.dk 2 months ago
Is it just that it links back to the original or what? I mean how is it different from just quoting the post like this:
It’s like a repost, but it lets you add your own post to it and shows the original post as a quote bubble.
And then saying something about it?
buddascrayon@lemmy.world 2 months ago
It’s a good way to be pedantic on social media.
Sunshine@lemmy.ca 2 months ago
Submit feedback and pull requests to improve the feature to make it much less controversial.
magnus919@lemmy.brandyapple.com 2 months ago
Other fediverse platforms have had it for awhile. Not sure why so many feel so stuck with Mastodon. There are alternatives.
schizolol9@lemy.lol 2 months ago
based
ZILtoid1991@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Finally, I can make the meme “Who private quote retooted me?”!!!
3dmvr@lemm.ee 2 months ago
90% of interesting tweets are quote tweets they lead to the twitter version of chainthreads
coldsideofyourpillow@lemmy.cafe 2 months ago
Good feature, I don’t see any problems.
Quotes are controversial because Twitter people used it to foster toxicity. However, on Mastodon, we have actually active mods.
Also, it seems very well implemented, much better than on Twitter: Mastodon says it will allow users to control whether their posts can be quoted. Also, users will be notified if someone quotes them, and they’ll be able to withdraw their post from the quoted context at any time.
Most importantly, Mastodon has an active developer who responds to feedback, and PULL REQUESTS, ISSUE TRACKERS, AND GITHUB DISCUSSIONS exist!
If you still completely disagree with this decision, fork the project, create a patch, and start your own server with the patched Mastodon!
Excrubulent@slrpnk.net 2 months ago
I’m curious about how they handle retracting the quote in an open source federated model where the behaviour of other osntances can’tbe ensured. Does the instance hosting the quote simply refuse to honour the quote link?
And I suppose if an instance uses a hostile workaround like simply embedding a copy, that would be seen as a bad mark against the instance which could lead to defederation?
I’m not saying it’s impossible, just interested in the specifics.