No, that's not a clickbait title. No more Hive posts for me. After this, I'm done.
It's been one hell of a ride. I'll miss the easy money, endless views, and the constant swarm of incoming messages that seem to agree with all things said when one writes Hive posts. I'll miss everything, especially appearing to be impressively intelligent in front of all the noobs that don't really know any better and look up to me like I'm some kind of a god.
Time to let go. Time to free myself and begin a new life of never writing about this goddamn platform ever again.
Majority of my content mainly revolves around my own personal take on life, my creative ways, rambles that seem to go on for days, and my own highly recognizable but mostly underground style of outsider art that won't be worth full value or be appreciated until I'm dead and gone (which is all part of the plan).
However, mixed in with all that were the moments I actually cared about something other than myself.
If I write one more post talking about the lack of consumers on this platform, the benefits of having them around, or the missed opportunities...
So what if staking tokens in order to support your favorite content or personality is the best deal in the history of arts, entertainment, and information distribution. It's been established content creators with large followings outside of Hive are not interested in creating solid, consistent, sustainable, and decentralized revenue streams for themselves and consumer base.
Who cares if having an actual audience for all this content leads to things like organic link shares on social media that help content spread or go "viral" and also double as free advertising for the platform without even having to mention or explain Hive.
And so what if billions of people already hit like buttons and leave comments for free while this platform pays a little bit here and there for that exact same behavior, rewarding the people rather than providing them with only a device addiction and unsettling mood swings brought on by algorithms designed to think they know what's best for everyone.
Seriously, I can take a hint. There's no point in onboarding consumers. Content is designed to generate income, not be viewed by actual people, and especially if you're in the alternative news business, since that industry doesn't require views.
I've studied the behavioral patterns for years, I get it, and I'll shut up now.
I'm a slow learner anyway. It took me almost seven years to finally realize why every product on this chain is specifically designed to annoy and confuse the average human.
I think every artist should force people to jump through a million flaming hoops before they can reach the stage to say hello. All street buskers should have a forcefield around them and every time someone tries to throw a dollar down, it gets zapped!
Then only intelligent people who can do fancy tricks and solve puzzles get to pay and enjoy the show.
I'm shocked we discovered this business model before the big corporate mainstream hustlers figured it out. I'm even considering making people go through a maze as part of their job interviews now.
Make it out alive, you're hired!
Get lost on your way to my desk, that's your problem!
Fucking with people and testing their ability to deal with mountains of bullshit before having to deal with the actual bullshit like getting one of those games to work or figuring out why hundreds of people are drawing pictures of lions nonstop, is genius. It's a tolerance building exercise.
Then they're in, smiling ear to ear, happy to be burned by some random shitcoin airdrop promotion that seemed legit while hoping the next time ain't as bad as the first three.
These days, everyone in crypto - from influencers and grifters to famous billionaires and even our bona fide, trusted superiors in government - is doing their best to fuck people over, creating the individuals ready and willing to put up with our shit here on Hive.
Never a better time in history to put seventeen locks on the door and let these people fight to figure stuff out on their own.
New Hive slogan: "We hope you know what you're doing!"
Unfortunately for you and me, clearly I'm not the best at promoting this blockchain and should be nowhere near the welcoming committee or any post talking about the benefits of this platform.
I'm just an artist/entertainer and people like me are only good at selling out things like theaters and stadiums. Sure, the word platform is synonymous with stage and this might be one of the most viewed posts of the day but like everyone else here, I firmly believe investors and developers along with all those fancy words they use will be the driving force behind bringing in the next generation of bullshit handlers ready and willing to take on all the challenges web3 has to deliberately offer in order to be uniquely annoying in this space.
Breathe.
I'm just being sarcastic, offering up a bit of a satirical take on life again because I can be that way. Nothing I wrote is worth taking too seriously and I'm roasting myself as well since I'm the one getting all the dirty looks now.
This is a challenging space to operate in but I have nearly seven years of experience. It's been good to me. I made it good for me since it's not really up to anyone else.
Could be better.
They think NFT is a scam. In some ways I'm happy I never got involved in that scene. Always had a gut feeling it would somehow lead to tarnishing my brand, yet I'm confident if I did take the plunge on this platform and for this particular market, I wouldn't be labelled as some kind of scummy sellout scammer since this crowd is a little more educated and experienced.
Still, I'm uncomfortable putting a price on my work and potentially selling myself short just to have a chance at some archaic measure of success. For me, simply putting it on display, allowing people to support it voluntarily at no cost, all while sharing the revenue my work generates with the actual people willing to support it, as I do, is far more up my alley. It's the exact opposite of becoming a sellout, but I don't expect anyone else in arts and entertainment or even those smart people in news and information to be able to catch on. If I contribute to blazing a trail that only grows back in, so be it.
I'll be fine and continue to demonstrate but I feel like now is the time to shut up about it, keep it to myself, and see if anyone else catches on naturally. In my view, after pounding the pavement for so long, that's the only way it'll ever make sense to anyone else. Trying to show people and explain with evidence has been one of the most draining experiences of my life.
Done.
Established content creators and artists are approached constantly by crypto enthusiasts knocking on their inboxes offering the next great opportunity.
People need to know that shit goes straight to the spam folder now. If you only know crypto and nothing about the business those people are in, you should not be approaching them with your big ideas, since you are now viewed no differently than a door-to-door vacuum dealer or telemarketer.
Crypto in general seems like it has a difficult road ahead, but that's par for the course to someone involved for nearly a decade. The shady fucks who act in ways that eventually ruin things for everyone will never be out of the equation. Same with the suckers consistently falling for bunk and getting burned, since there's a new one of those born every minute. Then, when it comes time to place blame and point a finger, they always forget about the three fingers that point back at themselves.
And sure, the value of the local tokens here fluctuate, but as a content creator and artist using Hive the way I do, I haven't felt the ripples caused by any of the crypto shit storms over the years. All the chaos in crypto and general disgust has not impacted me personally or my own brand. The shop is still lit up, art in the windows, stage remains and the mic is still on.
I feel confident, but I truly do hate writing posts about Hive, and yes I'm aware having a positive outlook or showing signs of success only generates more haters, but that's something I seem to be good at collecting anyway, so why stop now.
Working in a decentralized environment is tough and it becomes even more difficult when one must juggle multiple roles. Hard to focus on my own brand when I have a vested interest in everything else as well, rooting for its success as a whole.
I've actually witnessed the inherent challenges break people (though they'll typically conclude it's everyone else who's broken).
I do find it fascinating I can work at my artist and writing gig, then convert that into a vote that could potentially lead to paying a developer to do their job, which in turn helps me succeed at my job, at no cost to my personal business.
Nearly seven years ago when I started this "web3" shit, I had no way of knowing something like that could even exist. It's a big deal but I think in general, most people wouldn't see how. Or they'll think it's straight up bullshit with a catch.
I'm fine with it.
Spent a lot of years studying this space, learning to adjust on the fly, making calculated decisions and errors.
Never been easy but I feel like I have a firm handle on what's important to me. Plenty of products on chain only confuse me as well but that's their business, so they'll do it their way, which is fine and how it should be. Many can't seem to figure me out either so I guess it's only fair.
Decentralized. We're in charge of ourselves, and that's it.
If you can't manage yourself well, you'll have a hard time here. It's as simple as that.
Moving forward, the plan is to focus on my own thing and roll with the punches. Been thinking about my life a lot lately. Been thinking about retiring for good. Been thinking about vanishing forever.
The main source of my frustration is seeing what I consider wasted potential here, and then discussing how the vital role of the consumer is generally ignored. Some people even seem to reject the word “consumer” as if it were an insult, when in fact it is not a label but an action that every human online has in common. One cannot avoid consuming content while being on the internet.
The experience has been like trying to explain the color red to the blind.
For the benefit of myself and those around me in life, it's time for me to stop giving a fuck and just do my own thing rather than coming here, finding something that alienates me like how the world views crypto every time shit hits the fan, then burning out and going poof.
New Hive slogan: "You either get it, or you don't. Who cares. It doesn't matter. Good luck."
Moving forward, no more posts about Hive. It's a waste of my potential and I have far more to offer by focusing on my own work. Plus thinking about this platform too much only makes my left eyelid start twitching uncontrollably.
Oh, and before I forget, if you don't like reading, here's some new art:
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