This original-content post is certified plagiarism-free* by the Proof of Blind team (see below for what that means).
Creating for Engagement:
How often have we heard of the importance of engagement here in the Hive ecosystem? Indeed there are communities and projects specifically focused on this issue however, in my nsho (not so humble opinion), despite our best efforts so far I believe that we have fallen short of the real potential open to us.
For my own part I have a degree in computer science (amongst 3) and yet almost a year into my sojourn here I have barely scratched the surface of what Hive is and how things work. More importantly with very little in the way of funds to invest it is a struggle to build on the wealth potential. In saying that last I must first admit that I am horrible at self promotion particularly as it rubs my ethical sensibilities the wrong way (in a traditional social contextÖbut this is a new social construct). Also, I must admit that I do not currently have a strong need for financial benefit from my time and efforts here on Hive. Unfortunately this last cannot be said of so many others in the world.
Hive has grown marvelously over the short time of its existence and I believe the time has come for a new stage in the evolution of the ecosystem. Our reach is now global and I think we are now at a point where the fiscal potential can truly blossom, particularly for the vastly impoverished portion of the world. In order to facilitate this I am convinced two significant changes in the ecosystem need to occur.
- Broader direct social interaction and,
- Simplification of the onboarding and cryptocurrency utilization functions.
These are all function matters and working solutions either already exist (albeit many are outside the ecosystem) or are under development within the system or could be developed fairly quickly. But let me clarify.
As for broader direct social interaction I am comparing various hive interfaces such as PeakD and 3Speak to (dare I say it?) Facebook. Aside from being much older, FB has a significant advantage in its ease of use. It also has very appealing features such as direct messaging and the ëFriendsî list just to list a couple points. Although these exist to some degree on Hive, it requires a higher degree of technical ability to figure out how to use them and they arenít as versatile in their function. As far as I have yet determined there is no DMíing and I have seen posts in the past that seem to oppose itís development.
Although I have some thoughts and ideas I will leave that for a later conversation. My reason for making this comparison is mainly focused on helping Hive have a significantly larger appeal to a broader audience. By simplifying the onboarding process and significantly decreasing the technical skills needed to work with Hive we make it a much better competitor to centralized social networking systems. This is particularly true when added to the income generating potential of blockchain. Also by increasing the useful functionality and enabling direct communications between users (this would have to include allowing users to block out some or all direct communication as a privacy matter) the system gains significantly in its ability to promote ëabundanceí and change.
One suggestion might be an ëacquaintanceí list for follows and casual contacts (limited DM function) and a ëfriendsí list with a limited number of members (with PM function). The second would be mainly for family and close friends who have earned more trust. Although making these additions would go a long way to ramping up engagement, what will help even more is simplifying interaction with the mechanisms for earning and working with crypto.
If the Hive ecosystem is technically challenging, working with the larger crypto metaverse is nearly a MENSA level maze challenge. More importantly the current state of affairs is such that only a small percentage of the world have the financial wear-with-all to participate in a significant way.
@taskmaster4450 often speaks of the abundance potential of crypto and Hive and he is right. The potential is staggering, unfortunately it is also out of reach of most people at this time.
From one perspective the current state of crypto looks suspiciously like traditional fiat system investing (I know this is inaccurate but for many outsiders this is what they see). The bottom line being that it takes money to make money. The genuinely marvelous potential of Hive is the ability to EARN crypto. This takes advantage of ëtime is moneyí and allows some to spend time and effort and earn income for it. Unfortunately the Posting and Curating approach is really the only active method (and not everyone will be able to use this approach for income for various reasons) although a few new ones (such as Posh and tweeting) are emerging. And of course there are the technical challenges of storing, moving and utilizing crypto once it is earned.
It is my conviction that a number of existing systems could be linked with hive to greatly simplify working with crypto. Adding these functionalities to various Hive interfaces would also add appeal helping to build engagement. In addition we need to improve or create (sub?)systems that make it easier for people in developing nations to get involved and start earning. This is where we truly begin to change the world.
At present the median income in the third world is about $2/day. What functions can we create and implement that would allow anyone to earn say $5 - 10/day without a major financial input to get started. Can we establish a community or communities here that can fund real world businesses (maybe with its own token?), like a micro-loan program? How about staking pools that can really help jump start good content creators, especially if they are presenting news about how crypto is making positive change in developing regions? I say the potential is ready to blossom now, the question is do we have the collective will to make it happen?
I have found a few such as @arcange and @tarazkp who present awesome content and a considerable amount of work in the background helping to build and grow the Hive ecosystem, and there are many others. Another is @trostparadox and his students in blockchain entrepreneurship who are actively working to create the kind of projects mentioned here, Proof of Blind being one such. My hope is that greater direct communication will become a reality on Hive soon because this will facilitate easier organization of groups and projects. In conjunction with simplified utility functions for crypto the pace of growth and engagement on hive as well as positive change in the world will accelerate.
Upvotes are great but comments, counterpoints and even well thought out disagreements are preferred. Sound, logical debate and conversation are what I value most. Hoping you find this useful or inspiring.
Blessed be.
"This submission represents original content, created by me, that has never been published before, on Hive or elsewhere."
About this post
This post was submitted by an up-and-coming original-content creator to the Proof of Blind project, has been reviewed for plagiarism, and is certified plagiarism-free*.
How can I submit original content to the Proof of Blind project?
First and foremost, go to the latest "Request for Submissions" post and follow the instructions.
Second, follow @blind.submit so you will receive all future "Request for Submissions" posts.
Third, follow @blind.stats so you can follow the leaderboard and see how your content compares to all the other content being submitted via the Proof of Blind project (and see whether you have been granted permission to post to the project more than once a week).
How can I curate for the Proof of Blind project?
Simply follow @proofofblind and vote for the best content you find there.
Also, if you are interested in photography-only and art-only posts, follow @proofofblind.pix and @proofofblind.art.
*What does certified plagiarism-free mean?
As a result of our plagiarism review, we are confident that this post represents original unpublished creative work.
We are backing that confidence with a 150% curation-reward guarantee.
If you vote for this post and it is found to have been plagiarized (prior to the close of the voting period), we will coordinate efforts to zero out all presumed author rewards. However, that also zeros out all curator rewards. To protect our curators, we will fully reimburse any would-be curation rewards that were zeroed as a result of the plagiarism enforcement, and we will add 50% to it.
This guarantee applies to any curation rewards that would have been worth at least $1 at the time the payout would have occurred. For example, if your upvote was worth $2 in HIVE and $2 in POB, but was zeroed out due to plagiarism-enforcement, then we would reimburse you $1.50 worth of HIVE and $1.50 worth of POB.
What is Proof of Blind and how does it work?
Here is a quick overview:
Content creators submit their original content (following the procedure detailed at the end of the "Request for Submissions" post).
Submitted content is checked for plagiarism.
Plagiarism-free content is posted via the @proofofblind account* (typically within 24 hours after submission), with
- the original author as 85% beneficiary,
- the person who coordinated the plagiarism review and finalized the @proofofblind post as 10% beneficiary,
- @proofofblind retaining 5%.
Thanks for you interest in the Proof of Blind project!