Since big part of the web is drowning in AI junk, including Reddit, is there a good search engine to find answers in the fediverse?

  • Zak@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    7 months ago

    Lemmy search works pretty well on larger servers, and they’re indexed by major web search engines.

    The microblog side of things is worse, with Mastodon long having near-useless search because it might “encourage negative social dynamics” or some such. Some other software, such as Akkoma has had better search, and Mastodon has recently improved somewhat for accounts that opt into being searchable. Mastodon directs search engines not to index most pages.

    Some people get very upset about attempts to build general-purpose fediverse search tools.

    • RobotToaster@mander.xyz
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      7 months ago

      At times the mastodon people sound like Alex Jones, only it’s “techbros” instead of “globalists”

      • Zak@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        7 months ago

        I think it’s a small, but very loud minority who have unrealistic expectations about how other people will use data they share in a manner that’s inherently rather public. I kind of see where they’re coming from, but ActivityPub with open federation doesn’t work that way.

        • vamp07@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          6 months ago

          I agree. I also notice a constant push to ban anything that is deemed offensive, which in most cases is just a statement of opinion that someone did not like.