I think the latter half of this thought is faulty. As you go on to point out, Hubski's unique mechanisms seem like they would certainly let a user easily insulate themselves from chaff. That being said, at the same time you're enjoying a high-brow Hubski experience, somebody else could be lording over their hub full of cat memes conceivably, to their followers delight. The two of you could never "run into" each other. As far as comments in your posts or posts you follow, if Hubski wants to avoid the absolute disaster that is traditional moderation (see Reddit), the poster is going to need some sort of curation ability. Incredibly tough challenge as moderation, by implication and in practice often, can do the opposite of promoting real discussion. It is often abused and just used to stifle dissenting opinions. You see this behavior manifest naturally and also in the aggregate by Reddit user's abuse of the down vote. We know what it is intended for, and we know what it is actually used for in reality.During my brief time on Hubski, there's been a lot of touting of how Hubski promotes (or wants to promote) interesting and thoughtful discussions, and that people who don't want that shouldn't be on here.
As far as impacting the quality of Hubksi as a site for users, this little confusion potentially detracts more than any strictly mechanical feature alone. It's a problem of educating the users on a mechanic, and I agree that the problem is real (and comparatively overlooked). Something as simple as a hover-over tool-tip with a little message on the hub wheel might do the trick. The problem is made worse by the fact that the wheel is identical for posts and comments, yet functionally it is completely different. In the comments it really does mean "Here, have an up vote". I love the look and universality of the wheel, but I don't like how users aren't treating it with the gravity it deserves on link side. There are many many many posts I enjoy very much that I don't share, simply because it's not content I particularly want to endorse to my followers. Maybe it's too niche, maybe it's too low-brow (and I'm just enjoying it guilty-pleasure style), or whatever. Do any of the new users understand this difference. Some probably. Most importantly, do the majority? Really, do the vast majority? It really should be the preponderance of users who clearly understand the main mechanic and its implications. I would hate to see a mechanic as central to Hubski's experience be as misunderstood or abused as Reddit's downvote.
It's not just new users that may tend to "share" too much or without enough restraint. I tend to share anything I consume so long as I found it interesting or learned something. mk on the other hand, like you, discriminates more. To each there own, I take absolutely no offense if someone I follow doesn't reciprocate. I share a lot.
Oh gosh, I am guilty of this. I thought it was an upvote! And a share, all at the same time. I didn't realize that I might be flooding people's feeds with some kind of kindness. Food for thought, and thank you for saying this.
A very good point. For that reason, the ability to moderate will be somewhat limited. I don't want to satisfy every use-case, as it could really change the nature of interaction. IMO people often operate under the assumption that if something is a very good idea for a specific use-case, it is justified. However, two good ideas can become one bad one. Every function on Hubski is interconnected, and each contributes to the nature of the site. Some functions can be synergistic, and some can be amplify the negative affects of others.We know what it is intended for, and we know what it is actually used for in reality.
I agree that Hubski doesn't have to be that way, but with the user base I see (and obviously all of this is tainted by the influence of my hub) this is the "ideal" of Hubski. I've run my mouth in a few other posts about how I think that the brilliance of Hubski comes from the ability to host all kinds of diversity without promoting any corner over any other. On the other hand, until it reaches a critical mass of users who enjoy cat pictures, any cat picture person who joins will be disappointed in it unless they also like long comments and discussions about the nature of the site/science/music/whatever else is popular that day.