If Alice makes a followers-only post, and Bob replies to it, to whom should Bob's reply be visible?

@evan Oh, I know. It makes keeping tabs on people wishing to be quiet or unseen more visible. It really breaks the "for followers only" intent a badly broken promise and rather dishonest at the worst and poorly (or not even) thought through at the lightest.

@evan people who follow both Alice and Bob

@evan probably. I don’t see that as an intrinsic problem. The constant broadening of the audience is one of the vices of commercial social media. Maybe Bob has 2 options , Alice’s followers or the (smaller) intersection. But he shouldn’t be able to widen it against Alice’s intent.

@reiver so, like sitting in a room with someone while they talk on the phone, and you only hear their side of the conversation.

If Alice makes a followers-only post, and Bob replies to it, to whom should Bob's reply be visible?

#EvanPoll #poll

@evan
It should be visible to the original set as Alice shared the post with her followers, not followers of followers (light blue segment of set diagram). Any of Bob’s followers that also follow Alice will see the post and replies anyway. See comments on set diagram and post about the set theory maths/model - https://mastodon.social/@dahukanna/116030140984675453

@vanderwal

Private posts let you have intimate conversations with people you know. They are a great way that people share personal updates with their family and friends. They enable connection.

I have never, ever, *ever* seen anyone on Instagram complain about their comments on a private photo being visible to other followers.

@evan Because you haven't seen them doesn't mean they aren't out their in abundance. Doing simple user research you quickly find this model is really problematic for people thinking they were private, it is an amazing tool for stalkers to take advantage of and oh they do. The stories are abundant and can be brutal.

Following bad practices and putting people at risk isn't great. People are looking for a better social platform that has their wishes upheld, not another that breaks them.

@evan
It should be visible to the original set as Alice shared the post with her followers, not followers of followers (light blue segment of set diagram). Any of Bob’s followers that also follow Alice will see the post and replies anyway. See comments on set diagram and post about the set theory maths/model - https://mastodon.social/@dahukanna/116030140984675453

@steely_glint @evan

That's kind of a neat solution.

It's all public in the long run of course, so everybody needs to keep that in mind.

@rayslava @evan

It doesn't seem misleading

Did you try to look at it from end-user's perspective?

I'm writing a reply to someone's followers-only post. The form shows me "Visible for followers only". How isn't it misleading for me?
When I do that as a post from the same form, my followers see that.

Why should I expect anything else when writing a reply with such option enabled?

@dahukanna @evan Yes! This! This has always been the right answer.

The simplicity in this venn diagram is the “yes" is only Alice's followers.

@spraoi @evan true, but this is about etiquette not privacy I feel. Compare it with the old (unspoken) rules about passing on a friend’s phone number.

@vanderwal show me the data.

@reiver so, like sitting in a room with someone while they talk on the phone, and you only hear their side of the conversation.

If Alice makes a followers-only post, and Bob replies to it, to whom should Bob's reply be visible?

#EvanPoll #poll

@steely_glint @evan

So that etiquette would demand that Bob limit the visibility of his reply to just Alice, and let her decide how far it should reach beyond that. There's a certain grace there, but does the etiquette of telephony translate to microblogging?

@spraoi @evan no, I don’t think it does translate exactly, but it is about being faithful to Alice’s intent in marking the conversation followers only. I suppose I am giving her originators’ privileges- but that seems fair.

@evan You've never asked anybody who has a private or follows only account about this have you? There doesn't need to be a massive data, but takes one response and it becomes really difficult to decide to follow the sloppy pattern and keep pushing it forward.

It is an easy path forward to do the right thing.

I’m here to help you.

@evan No matter whether Bob replied as "followers only" or " everyone", Bob's followers should be able to see his reply. They shouldn't be able to scroll up and see Alice's orignal post unless they also follow Alice. But Alice's choice for her own post should not override Bob's choice for his.