I saw a post from the other day that I can't get out of my head. It was a request to stop boosting vague platitudes into their feed (you know the type, "boost if X", "billionaires are policy failures" etc). Originally I thought this was a silly attitude, but lately I've been thinking about the way in which the posts are often a form of digital grandstanding and often a way of racking up interactions on algorithmic social media. This action is a vestige of other environs we've been trained on.
@mcneely I think it is a matter of figuring out whether your boost will help spread the item to new people (are you a bridge for that item) or is it already spreading and does not need you, or it does not matter whether it spreads. In this time of growth, people are creating new networks through these indirect connections and bridges. Newbie here, it's been just a few weeks for me, trying to figure out how the system works and how to cultivate a good experience for myself and others.
@mcneely Also agree about extra boosting for more marginalized communities.
Going forward I think I'll be trying to limit myself to favoriting the types of posts that I agree with instead of boosting them. That's an acknowledgement that doesn't spread them further which feels appropriate to me. My goal here is to be more conscious about what I am promoting here in the #mastosphere.
One exception that I expect to make for this: support for marginalized communities. Human dignity should not be negotiable and neither should our support.