I am tired.
The digital world that many people are so enamoured with, is increasingly becoming a cesspool of the worst behaviours of humanity, which inevitably spill out into physical society. Every space have become the domain of point scoring against others, even if it is not in the collective or even the individual best interest to do so. People have such a need to feel important online, which I believe is reflective of their offline lives, one where many seem to be struggling to find meaning, connection, and people who truly care for them, and they care about. Nothing is made to last these days, and it has driven a mentality of unwillingness to commit, or to build.
I dislike seeing this behaviour on Hive.
But I get it. At least from some. There are people here like myself who are invested and therefore want things to go well. One of the great things about Hive is a single voice actually can have some power, especially if they have some stake, but also if they have built themselves into the community and garnered support. It takes time to do this of course. But, individuals tend to be far more subject to their emotional state, which is why I have said, don't drink and blockchain. However, an individual is free to do as they please, post what they want, as they want, and do what they want with their stake.
This isn't true for projects.
Projects are different, because they are meant to run like businesses in the sense that they have to provide value for their stakeholders. If their stakeholders are a sub-group of the Hive ecosystem, they do what is "best" for them, which might not be what is best for all. But, if the stakeholders are all of Hive, as is the case for any person or project that is getting funding from the Hive Development Fund (HDF), then they have to act in the best interest of Hive, they have to earnestly try to deliver value to the ecosystem, and they have to behave in a way that facilitates the project, especially when talking about the project itself. They have to differentiate between their personal views, and that of what is the right thing to do for the project they are working for.
When project leaders behave badly when talking about or defending their projects, when they become personal, vengeful and attack other stakeholders, even if who they are attacking is wrong, they have undermined their own project, and risk losing the support they have from other stakeholders. In my view, they shouldn't get support from the HDF if trying to attack or belittle normal users, even if they are annoying or trying to attack the project in question.
People can be petty - a business has to be the bigger person.
The problem with a project scoring personal points against other stakeholders on Hive while looking for support from the largest stakeholders on the platform, is that they risk alienating the stakeholders who they need for support. Most of the large stakeholders are pretty reasonable people and they know that on Hive there are a lot of different types, including trolls who spend inordinate amounts of time just looking to poke bears for the reaction. Poking a bear on Hive is different to poking one in the real world though, isn't it? And, this is the problem with the digital point scoring on the internet, as it is done from the safety behind the screen, from an unknown location.
If looking to actually get support from the larger stakeholders, it also isn't good enough to only pander to them, because again, they aren't that silly. However, one must conduct themselves well, and be even-tempered, hold themselves to a higher than average standard, and take responsibility. For a project getting funded, there should be a high level of transparency and accountability, and activities should all be above board. No scam.
I really, really want Hive to do well, and believe it is going to take a strong base-layer to build upon, and then multiple second-layer applications and experiences to attract users. However, the HDF shouldn't be used to just pay the salaries of developers who are maintaining projects, or even building projects that aren't adding value to the chain. Yeah, there is no guarantee on what will work and what will not work, but what is unlikely to do anything except make people like me feel shit, is bicker about nonsense, rather than getting shit done.
One of the major issues that Hive has is that most of the project developers tend not to be people who are project managers, entrepreneurs, business owners, or people who understand what is required for a business to be successful. They are still trying to score points against individual users, rather than build the space in the ecosystem itself.
Wouldn't it be nice to have a space on the internet where people were actually interested and serious about building value into a community for the long-term? Wouldn't it be nice if there was a space like Hive with entrepreneurs who want to make things happen, and are willing to do what it takes to do so, even if it means missing out on scoring internet points?
I am still tired.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
