Steemit.chat has been a place that I go to daily for all sorts of things such as to help newbies who DM or try to get some support for authors I think deserving but mostly, to relax and spend time with people I regard as friends. I just tried to log on to Steemit.chat and was confronted by this message:
If you are reading this then @riverhead, and by extension steemit.chat, has been fired.
What?The Steem blockchain is run by paid witnesses. As many know witness positions are highly coveted as pay at current prices is around $200,000 - $500,000+ per year versus around $50k - $90k for the 21st position and dropping sharply after that. There is a HUGE difference between the top 20 and backup witnesses. As @klye mentioned the other day, "These are the rockstars of witnesses".
One should be able to look at each name in the top twenty and understand what value they bring to the ecosystem versus those outside of it.
Most in the top twenty bring a lot of value to the system other than just signing blocks and running a price feed. My (@riverhead) contribution was running this chat service. That has worked out well for about a year or so now but as time passes folks in the top 20 get complacent, and large stakeholders lose interest in keeping track of who does what for the ecosystem.
In my humble opinion this chat service provided a lot of value to the community and worthy of a witness postion. Those with the voting power to shape the witness list disagreed which brings you to this page instead of whatever community you’ve built over the last year or so on steemit.chat.
Don't Panic!
I have found a willing and able team, lead by @followbtcnews, to take it over. That should happen by the end of the week but it's entirely up to him. He'll have the full data set so things will likely just pick up where they left off but on better hardware if that's the direction he wants to go.
In the meantime we can all take the next couple of days to reflect on what it means to vote for witnesses that bring value to the ecosystem.
Have a look at your top twenty witnesses, who votes for them, and try to figure out why. For example @jesta is a strong witness and you can see who supports him here.
I wish @followbtcnews all the best and I hope you show him the same kindness and support you've given me while providing this service to the community.
See you space cowboy...
Riverhead
I don't know what is really happening with this but it brings up a familiar topic, witness voting is an important part of the platform yet, many do not do it. One of the reasons is that many do not understand it. Here is a relatively quick guide, read it.
Many of the witnesses I vote for are also regulars at steemit.chat and I see them regularly helping out in many varied ways. Regulars (off the top of my head) are: @pharesim, @pfunk, @gtg, @nextgencrypto, @reggaemuffin, @patrice, @themarkymark, @ocd-witness, @drakos, @klye, @aggroed and of course @riverhead.
Having some access to some of the most knowledgeable people at Steemit has been an invaluable resource, even if it is a few words here and there or an answer to a basic question. I think many of the new users do not understand who they are really talking to there, which is perhaps a good thing.
Being a part of this community requires understanding how parts of the community work, it isn't good enough to post, comment and sit back waiting for the cash to roll in, you have to be active. If you are unsure about witnesses, while you are learning or can't be bothered, find someone you trust who understands the platform better than you, and give them your proxy vote.
Here is the link to voting.
When it comes to steemit.chat, I hope that @followbtcnews will do a great job when they take it over as it is a place that helps me and many, many others connect with the real people of the steem blockchain in real time.
Thank you @riverhead for all your efforts.
Taraz
[ a Steemit original ]
Well steemitchat was nice....was it worth $500,000? Probably not.
Honestly what I have seen is that witnesses while not only important are actually ESSENTIAL to the steem blockchain. No denying that. With that being said I think they are ALL over paid. For what they do (Steemit chat for example) that is NOT a $500,000 operation...... Nor are ANY of the operations I see witnesses doing....
So Yes i hope chat comes back on but no its not worth $500,000 we can use FB or Discord for FREE........
That's a good point, however it wouldn't always be 500k$ and it would also have to cover the costs generated by the witness running and in this case, running the chat. Not that expensive though.
But the reason I wanted to comment was the use of FB instead of the chat. I wouldn't want to meet random Steemians and chat with them on Facebook :D Discord is ok though!
Yes, when it comes to the blockchain, the witnesses are essential which I think I commented somewhere else. No, chat is not worth 500k, not much is really but this is why the witnesses should be actively working on various projects and ways to improve the platform. Many do of course but some are rather inactive also. I think as the prices increase, the share of Steem should be reduced somehow to bring it under control or, (not technical here so bear with me) the spread of block shared further along the witness list to spread the responsibilities further. I don't know the implications of that.
So if I'm doing the math correctly, @riverhead earns 0.961 SP as a "producer reward" twice an hour. Every Hour. For 365 days per year.
That would be 16,836.72 Steem Power in a year, only for being a witness, not for any of his posts, or comments that he's earning rewards on. As a witness, you're already earning more than the average person in this area because you're more visible to the community and more visible to others with high values of Steem Power.
Anyway.. if Steem is worth $4 USD, on average, for an entire year, that's $67,346.88 in USD, just for being witness #25. That's not so bad...
Agreed. It was different of course when it was 7 cents I guess but it will have to be looked at in the near future.
Yeah .. the platform needs to be adaptable though. Something to consider for growth. Maybe we peg witness payouts to SBD similar to how SBD is meant to be pegged to USD $1? That way prices are stable, payouts are predictable, and life is all good!?
The trouble I could see with this idea is if/when SBD gets manipulated by the market and goes above USD $1 per SBD ... or if Witnesses begin manipulating the price of SBD ... incentivizing them to "cheat" to earn more money...
I just noticed he was at 0.191 SP a while back .. that's about 20% of 0.961. I guess he has received some more witness support after DROPPING steemit.chat... very intresting... Get rid of one of your community-supporting project and get more witness support...
Interesting...
I have been here since November 2017 and came full of enthusiasm and energy excited by what at first seemed a just and egalitarian system ~ a breathe of fresh air.
Never political I have become aware of many of the strategies and plays for influence within the ecosystem and am a little overwhelmed and, once again, disappointed by human nature.
It surely is a dog eat dog world and whilst a convert to Steemit and grateful for the many honest and true folks here who add immeasurable value to me/many/all I am a little jaded and crestfallen.
Your piece here makes me realise I must either step up or shut up; I must educate myself fully about the backroom diddlings and doings here and participate more fully in a platform that has the true potential to make a valuable difference in our world.
Thanks Taraz.
xox
It really is a must, especially as this site is still in its technical infancy. Being a part of the future of it means understanding what is going on now. Without the witnesses, the blockchain does not operate so it is vital to understand who is there and why. Having the witnesses however is a key part of the design as it keeps the system fast and free.
I just add by reaffirming your perspective, with an additional despair in practically considering the numbers involved for human capital throughout an organization to create/change systems/result.
wikipedia.org/1%25rule
So in being data-driven critical of what's occurring, completely side-stepping the financial motivating incentives of steem as a crypto currency/investment/community, there seem's to be an ever-absent focus around the undefinable good/purpose of a tool like steem for karma/compensation/equalization-of-power in terms of faciliating 'posts', 'comments', 'tags'/curation, 'membership'.... perhaps i'm complaining about such present innovations for their lack of utopian visions/dreams for the future of the internet but as this entity grows in membership & economic influence, increasingly so does the incentive to exploit & manipulate it
Sad eh :(
I am aware of the Pareto Principle and hope to be perceived as part of the 1% who add original content here.
Longterm!
You might appreciate my work, (or not), which is trying to counter manipulation, corruption and greed from a spiritual perspective.
I am an artist/writer/Lightworker
xox
I've noticed already few Steemit.chat related posts. I could have been the first one on my feed to do that, but I thought nobody would be interested.
Now I decided that if I'll write a Steemit.chat being down -post, I'll wait for it to come back online first.
lol.. you should write one in preparation for 'Its UP!!!'
This is more about witness voting I hope :P
Well I noticed that, but I've skipped the witness part as I know that already ;)
on a side note, your bot still votes even when you manually vote earlier but, I can't DM you about it. :P
Oh the dumbass bot. I had to try because I had been wondering how it will do.
You would assume it could be coded that the bot recognizes if the post has been upvoted yet or not :D
@pharesim's bot does... but now it did something weird again :D
It has decided it is only worth 20%
Oh ffs that dumbass bot.
Does pharesim have a bot too? :O
I should try my own written bot if the piston would be working again.
I was sorry to see chat down. Although I didn't participate much, I must compliment you @apsu for the way you handle moderation duties in chat at such speed and still manage to be very entertaining at the same time
Thank you @nikv :) Even though I feel like I'm not doing enough, but I'm glad you feel that way!
Working chat is like herding cats. You do it well
Even though I, now, use Discord more, I’d be sorry to see Steemit Chat go — it’s where I got started & met you, @Tarazkp and other helpful souls who welcomed me to the platform.
Shocked to learn how much it costs & frankly, how much witnesses make — perhaps, these are matters that need revisiting ...
Yes, it doesn't cost so much to run I think but there is time and effort involved too. The witnesses earn so much because it is paid in Steem and the prices have changed significantly over the last year. It isn't paid in US dollars. What 'basically' happens is that as they process all of the transactions on the blockchain, some percentage of the Steem generated gets paid to them. The more they process, the more they get paid. They are like the miners. The top 20 get nearly all of the transactions so they earn a lot more than those below. Perhaps they should spread it wider, but it is it my area.
Very interesting to know, about witnesses. Sounds like a lot of work & involves great technical expertise. I’m still learning how to navigate the basics, here, nearly 3 months in :)
Yes, to run a witness takes some technical knowledge i think but not in my wheelhouse. The beauty of having and paying the witnesses means that the blockchain is very efficient and transactions are free for users as they are paid from the pool to the witnesses transacting.
I had no idea that chat was all witness run. I used it occasionally but a lot of the people I talked to on here was through Discord chats.
I have tried to use the steemit chat but can't seem to understand how it operates so I make do with discord. Maybe you can give me an assist @tarazkp when it comes back online. I feel that there's a whole lot that I am missing.
I have seen the witnesses appear on posts at random interval but I really do not know what it's about. It appears that I need to do my homework.
Thanks for this post @tarazkp.
I am in discord under the same name, find me there :)
That is really, really sad. I think it will, and it should, start a discussion surrounding witnesses. If someone is not doing enough for Steem blockchain, he or she should not be a top 10 or 20 witness. I agree that people who bring value should be higher up the list.
Yes you've really made a point there. The Steemit. Chat is a platform to expand the community the more making friends and also interacting to get known.
Waoh nice post thank you for enlighting me on this i didnt know the meaning with this post am going to tell my friends thanks alot love this post
a very good idea about steemit chat, I will wait for his presence
steemit is amazing community and very informative thing in the world
Is there a special place to chat in steemit?
off-platform steemit.chat(currently down hence the post) and Discord channels. (I don't really use Discord)
Thank you for this information
You are now registered with steemit .chat
Diskord is already available but I have not found any groups to enter it
Nice posting thanks you for sharing @tarazkp
wow excellent pick.
I am still trying to fully understand steemchat. I guess there a lot technical aspects of steemit I need to learn.. Mind explaining more?.
Maybe a post on Steemchat 101 will do for newbies like me.. Lol
well, that would be pointless as it is currently down but, it is an off-site service and is simple to use... if it comes back.