I don't know about you, but I like to earn. And, I do earn, because I have a job. In fact, I have a couple of jobs. But, I also like to earn on Hive, because, I see this as work too. Sure, it is a different kind of work than what I do for a salary or for my business, but there is plenty of overlap between, because on Hive, I am not a developer, I am a content creator, and my content is based upon my life, skills, and interactions. What this means is that while each post is a "single event", it is also backed by forty-plus years of experience.
And we all create from experience.
However, not all experiences are created equal. Nor is there equality in the quality of fashioning that experience into a consumer experience. This is important to consider, because each post is an opt-in consumer action, at least to read. And, each vote is an opt-in decision on where to add value, or remove it, even when there are trails involved, because following a trail is an opt-in decision also.
Where's the value?
This is always an important question to ask and reflect on in my opinion, because I am of the mind that what we consume should bring value to our lives, meaning that what we create should bring value to those who consume it. While the value of something is very subjective and largely personal, I think as a creator, intention to generate value matters.
As said above, I like to earn on Hive, but just like in the jobs I do in the physical world, in order to earn I have to produce something that is valuable for the consumer, which in the case of my jobs, are the company that pays me. And, just like in real life, there are multiple stakeholders on Hive also. Ultimately, the most important group on the platform are the stakeholders, because they are the owners who have skin in the game - and ownership is the major value proposition of crypto in general.
Ownership and control.
Control. No one wants to be controlled and no one wants to be indebted or beholden to anyone else, however on Hive, if you have no stake and want to earn, you are controlled. And, even if you have stake, you are still limited and affected by the way the platform works and how other people with stake behave too, with most people having a differing opinion somewhere, across the hundreds of points to consider.
If looking to earn as a content creator, you are controlled by the stakeholders, because they are the ones that distribute earnings. So, not only do you likely have to bring value through your content, but you also have to adhere to "the rules" of the community, which are formal, set in stone, or even agreed to at a basic level. But, in order to earn, you have to try. Well, you don't have to adhere, but your earnings might reflect your "non-compliance".
Do not comply! Freedom!
Sure. Freedom is great, but if you are looking to earn from people who own and make decisions on how they use their stake to distribute earnings, you are not free. Just like people hate to be controlled, owners hate to see their value diminished or their work wasted through the actions of others (including other stakeholders) who are doing things that they believe to be value-detracting.
And, regardless of whether there is consensus on the rules, the stakeholder decides what kinds of content deserve their staked vote or, deserves to have the value of their vote taken away from it. If someone believes sourcing images is important, they can not vote or "de-vote" (downvote) any content they feel doesn't meet their standards. A content creator doesn't have to change their behavior, but if they want to earn from that voter, they could. Also, if they want to earn more by not having that voter downvote, they could choose to change also.
If you don't care about earning, you can do what the hell you want.
But, it is in the earnings potential that most of the issues arise, because while people are used to seeing a lot of shared and unsourced content on the internet and other platforms, this is not *other platforms. This is a place where it is possible to earn on that content and when people are paying for content (in this case with staked voting possibility), most expect that it is useful and original.
The reason is that the other content is free already, which is because it is making money for the platform (and in some cases the creator) itself, not for the sharer. On Hive, there is a direct relationship between poster and voter and, there is no backend monetization model to support the platform, other than the stakeholders buying, holding and trading in HIVE, meaning that the value of the monetary content is directly affected by the value of HIVE, which is affected through stakeholder activity, and speculators. If there were no speculative or staking demand on the token on the buy and hold sides, the value of the token would be zero, meaning that it doesn't matter how much vote people give or stake they have, it is all financially meaningless and you may as well be on Instagram counting and trying to sell hearts.
Hive is not Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok or Snapchat - and while some people seem to think that this is a bad thing, if you have a look at those companies, you might realize that their value is down a lot too. Snapchat for example has just fired 20% of their staff to save money and wound down many of their expansion development, citing the low demand and reduction in advertising revenue. This is driven by supply chain issues so companies aren't buying and, that Apple have changed the way advertisements work on their devices. See?
Beholden to...
These platforms rely on stakeholders for their earnings too, and this means that Apple, which is a well staked stakeholder with a massive amount of industry control, can flick a switch and essentially demonetize a unicorn company, in the same way that Google can demonetize a content provider on YouTube if it is in their best interest to do so. They can then divert the consumer attention to where they are able to increase their own revenues.
Hive doesn't do this - which means that while there aren't currently the trillions of dollars flying around the ecosystem, all the value is community derived, which is why development of the community is so important and, people care about what kinds of activities people do. Everyone is still completely free to benefit from the possibilities of the blockchain immutability and protection on their freedom to post what they want, but it is the community stakeholders, the owners of the governance mechanisms, who decide whether that content gets value or not.
Is it fair?
That is a loaded question isn't it? Because like I said at the start, everyone has different experiences and the way they use their resources are going to differ also. And while society is imbalanced globally, what is fair is that anyone is able to buy HIVE, power it up and benefit from the process, putting skin in the game, taking ownership on the platform and reaping some rewards in various ways from the HIVE pool.
And, while we do not start from the same places in society or have access to the same resources and opportunities, we also live in a system where we have equality of decision in the way we act. We can't be the same in our skills or experience, but we are able to hold ourselves to a personal standard, where at the very least, we actively intend to provide something of value for the community. If we want to earn, we essentially have to do this, or face the consequence, which comes in many forms, including being completely ignored by the community.
Ignorance is bliss?
Definitely not - it is the road to pain. Yet, a lot of people seem to want to act from a position of ignorance where they believe that their behaviors shouldn't affect their outcomes. Content creators who think they should be discovered by the community and rewarded, without having to promote themselves through their own activities. People who think that it is okay to steal the work of others that is available for free elsewhere, and post it to Hive for a reward. People who treat people terribly, but expect no repercussions. Those who offer nothing of use to an audience, yet still demand an audience pay for it.
As said, I like to earn on Hive and weirdly, while it is far less than what I will get from my IRL jobs, it is more valuable to me, because it is something I have earned by providing something that at least some people find value in directly. It isn't through me working as a cog in the machine for a company that sells my skills at a high price and gives me less than they are worth back to satisfy their shareholders. It is for people who like me, have taken some ownership in a platform that they believe in time will provide a more equitable opportunity for people to earn, by providing value to the communities they care about directly.
While I am an owner of my content, the value is derived as an employee. But when I vote content of others, for that moment, they are employees of mine. Once that payout happens, they have the decision to become an owner too or, power it down and forever be an employee, reliant on stakeholders like me for their bread.
In my opinion (and that is all I can give), people need to reflect on their own positions, beliefs, and what they want out of their experience, because each of us can only live our own. This applies to Hive too, where people can decide on what they want from the platform and then make all of their own decisions on how to get it. However, not all roads lead to that end, because no one on Hive is an island, every interaction is connected to the economic ecosystem and therefore, the community in some way.
People can play dumb or take zero interest in all of this if they choose, but it is unlikely to lead them to where they want to go and when they meet the resistance from the many parts of the community, they will feel hard done by, without acknowledging the role they played in meeting that end.
If you are aiming for specific results, own your behavior first.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
