I just had my eight anniversary on July 5th. What a ride those past eight years have been! The platform has evolved a lot since the beginning, in good ways and bad. I was lucky enough to be around for that first really lucrative year (2016) and it completely changed my life. I was able to quit my job, write full time, travel, pay off debts. It was a dream come true.
My posts earn very little now, I'm lucky to break $10 (author portion) on most of my posts. I'm not complaining. Even still, this is more than I'm making on any other social media platform, by far. I've stayed here on Hive because I value the people I've met over the years. This is no exaggeration, if I miss more than a few days of interaction I miss it. I try to consistently post high quality content because it's good practice and it's made me a much better writer.
I, personally, think what people do with the proceeds of their posts is their business. So many of us early content creators cashed out huge amounts in the early days and if we were demonized and punished for doing that there would be none of us left here today. I've always believed that people who add real value to the Hive community should be compensated in direct proportion to the value they add. How do we define value? I think each individual has a slightly different definition of value but if each person made it a point to reward the accounts that entertain them and make them think I think it would collectively increase the overall content quality overtime. I think this is the responsibility of each of us who care about Hive to make sure that happens. Sometimes value is added not only from content but from genuine engagement as well. I enjoy interacting with people who I know have really read my content.
On the flip side, there have always been those scammy accounts who are just trying to game the system. These are the ones who damage the Hive community the most, IMHO. Crypto has a bad enough reputation in the eyes of the mainstream as it is but these scammy accounts are only reinforcing those stereotypes and they discourage those who are making an honest effort. About 25% of the comments I received on my posts are from people I can tell haven't even read my posts. This is partially my fault because, early on, I started upvoting comments but from here on out I think I'm going to not do that anymore if I can tell someone hasn't even read what I wrote.
I guess my point is on a decentralized platform without a higher authority directing the evolution, it's up to each of us to enhance and maintain and protect the integrity of this platform. We can do this with our posts but we also do it with each vote and each comment. I really enjoyed this post and I think it's an important conversation not only to have but to keep going!
Oh for those golden years! I just missed that by a hairs breadth.
It does wind me up that some authors here get double at least just for being part of some inner sanctum. There's certainly an argument for fairer reward distribution and I know a few people try to adjust that with DV but never on the inner circle. I try not to pay much attention to that and, like you, appreciate what we do get, with the (very) occasional better upvote (like this post). Remember this massive Curie upvote?
The problem with value s you say is so arbitrary. If the large account holders don't value literature, then every time we write fiction, we know we won't get rewarded as highly, even though it can be relatively more labour intensive. Back in the Natural Medicine days, we found we weren't as well supported because people thought it was woo hoo, though we were trying to support legit complementary medicine like meditation, yoga and herbalism. So yeah, what's valuable has always been problematic here.
Oh man I get SO assy with that, haha. A while ago someone said I didn't need to respond to every comment. Light bulb moment!! I just ignore them now unless I'm in a mood and then I give them a stern talking to hahaha.
Yes, yes, yes. I find that with real life too. You just gotta do the right thing in YOUR corner in the hope other people will do same. There's a solid bunch of people with integrity that keep me here. I'm glad you are one of them. 💖
For once in my life I was in the right place at the right time. I hope you get to experience this. The key usually is being an early adopter. Have you heard of Panjea? It's a new social media platform built on the AlephZero blockchain. It's still in the testing-phase but you can sign up and be amongst the first users. Most of these projects fizzle out but you never know!
Yes, the whale-voting cabals have been a thing since the beginning but I'm sure they've changed throughout the years. It used to be that most whales/witnesses really curated their voting lists and just didn't put them on "autopilot" to be exploited. I'm not sure how it is now though. I haven't gotten consistently substantial payouts since 2018 or so. Every now and then I'll get a few larger upvotes but it doesn't happen much at all anymore. I do remember the Curie vote! There were a few like that and it was exciting when you were chosen.
You're right. I guess the real problem with the "perceived value" proposition I described is only a handful of accounts carry enough voting weight to make a real difference. I see some posts with massive numbers of votes but small payouts and vice versa. I suppose there is the same profound inequality here as there is in the real world. I think the creation of communities were an attempt to help mitigate that inequality but the communities will take time to build up their wallets.
The fake/disingenious comments really irk me, probably more than anything else on the platform right now. They harm the legitimacy of Hive more than most people realize. I guess I've been too nice about it. I always second guess if people have language barriers and are really making an honest effort. I imagine if they're not bots they'll disappear shortly after the comment upvotes stop.
Thanks, I feel the same way. There are a handful of people (you amongst them) who keep me around here. I don't post nearly as often as I used to but if I'm away for more than a handful of days Hive calls me back. Mainstream social media is so ruled by algorithms and ads now that post visibility is almost non-existent unless you pay for outreach or spend most of your waking hours interacting on the platforms so I appreciate that at least our writing is being seen.