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.worldEnglish
    0·
    2 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.xyzEnglish
      0·
      2 months ago

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

      • Zak@lemmy.worldEnglish
        0·
        2 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.