Convener: Evan Prodromou (@evan@cosocial.ca)

Notes-taker(s): All/most

Participants who chose to record their names here:

• Jaz-Michael King (@jaz@mastodon.iftas.org)
• Shannon Clark (@rycaut@mastodon.social)
• Matthias Pfefferle (@pfefferle@mastodon.social)
• Jayne Samuel-Walker (@tcmuffin@toot.wales)
• Joan Pla (@joanpla@mastodon.social)
• Bob Wyman (@bobwyman@mastodon.social)
• Josh Brown (@jtbrown@mastodon.social)
• Lexicaleigh (@lexicaleigh@toot.wales)
• Hollie Butler (@hollie@social.coop)
• Saskia Welch (@saskia@newsmast.social)
• DrImplausible (@drimplausible@mastodon.online)
• Georgia Mountford-Blake (@georgiagemo@mastodon.social)
• johanna b (johannab@cosocial.ca, @johannab@wandering.shop)
• Darius Dunlap (@dariusdunlap@indieweb.social), https://dariusdunlap.com

Tags / links to resources / technology discussed, related to this session:

https://toot.wales/tags/Defaidodon <- happy times 😎

Discussion notes, key understandings, outstanding questions, observations, and, if appropriate to this discussion: action items, next steps:

• What makes us happy?
• Strong social connections and relationships
• Engagement in activities that lead to flow and fulfillment
• A sense of purpose or meaning in life
• Physical health and well-being through exercise and nutrition
• Positive mindset and practices like gratitude and mindfulness

Shannon: how do we bring happy conversations to the Fediverse? Especially ones that we used to have on other platforms (for me comics fan dom/writing discussions, science fiction reading/writing, ttrpg playing/writing/running - some of which have made it to the Fediverse but many more have migrated to other platforms)

#ThreeGoodThings – gratitude hashtag - #3GoodThings

I wish -> I can

Stressful things (anti-happiness):

• raw data
• pressure to share/publish
• vanity metrics? likes / follows / views
• vulnerability of sharing personal loves (fear having content sucked up and used)
• Interfaces with a lot of anxiety (notifications, popups, fast-moving)

Sometimes we miss posts from people we care about because we’re not online. Could an algorithm focused on happiness help us to catch those posts?

Lists for happy bot accounts like kittens, capybara, other creative endeavors

“Algorithms should implement my values, not those of someone else.” - Bob Wyman

Without an algorithm, people can get there and feel lost, not sure what to do

Sometimes we can be too serious. need to remember to have fun

Note from chat - by Shannon Clark - Decades ago there was a USENET client strn that used “scorefiles” as an early way to rank posts (and to downrank spammers/trolls) which then got shared so you didn’t have to build the score file entirely yourself. I think similar methods might be useful for the fediverse - i.e. have ways to roll your own algorithms but also to share those with others in a way they can then build upon them/customize them for their own opinions

“Slow down and be kind” - great words from a keynote speaker at Futures Forum last year

DrImplausible (from chat): Two things to consider (and ask ourselves) is the architecture and the practices. Basically: “how much of your experience is dictated by the environment you’re in, and how it is constructed.”

When it comes to practices, there’s ways we can check ourselves, and reflect on what we;re putting out into the world. threads implementing a 5 minute cooldown timer before a post goes live could see wide adoption. Or just a in-built “drafts” option Or just adopt the George Costanza principle