This is a common support question that we get. It's great that our platforms let users customize their feed to the extent that they can, but all this customizability can lead to confusion. Content can be hidden based on

domain blocks
instance, community, or user blocks
language settings
"seen" post settings
bot post settings
hidden post settings

Instead of reducing the customizability, I think we can fix this by fixing visibility. A little optional UI counter, enabled by default, could let users see if some content is being filtered out and narrow down which filter is causing it.

What are the technical challenges to something like this? I imagine it would need updates to the APIs to expose that information

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[–] otter@lemmy.ca 1 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

Ah, ok that makes sense. That would be wasteful for something that is only useful on the rare occasion.

In that case, a troubleshooting mode might work better, where the user can run tests somewhere in the user settings. Or a button somewhere on the feed that the user can click on to run the analysis on demand.

[–] rimu@piefed.social 3 points 15 hours ago

Yes, good idea.