Hey Hivians!
I've come across posts here and there with curation trails and auto-voting, but I keep telling myself that it's not for me. Yes, it's not for you if you spend all your free time on Hive or don't worry about your Voting Power being below 100%. In other cases, I suggest you consider some of the benefits of using auto-voting, curatorial trails, and fan bases. I'll show you my perspective on all of these things. Let's go!
Prejudice
As I wrote above, I have consistently bypassed curatorial trails and auto-voting. Partly because of a lack of understanding, partly because of complexity or fear, but mostly because I had a ton of time to spend on Hive. As of late, I have some restrictions on access at all times, as I work 12+ hours at a time. I'm still on Hive the rest of the time, but I started to lose Voting Power when it went up to 100% in my absence. The feeling when I could have supported my favorite writers, but didn't, never left me all the time. And that's when I remembered HIVEVOTE again. Prejudice is quickly defeated when there comes a lack of time and a desire to give back regardless of health, time of year, or available energy.
Favorite Writers
I'll start with the main thing, my favorite writers. I've noticed lately that there are quite a few of them, and I don't have time to support everyone. Furthermore, I sometimes skip posts and come back to them after the voting period is over (7 days later). This has always been very frustrating to me, so I finally decided to close this issue by auto-voting. Going back and commenting on an old post that you've already auto-voted is better than missing your favorites' work altogether!
In the left panel HIVEVOTE you can find a FANBASE section where you can add any account for auto-voting, so you don't miss out on supporting your favorite Hive authors.
Perhaps some of my readers have already noticed my continued support, which I do just through this service. My list is small for now, but it will grow and change periodically. But it will still take less time than going through a list of several dozen users every day.
As you can see in the screenshot above, you can adjust the vote weight and frequency. So you can choose your strategy to support others as you want. Or as your HP or voice strength allows you. My settings for now are as in this screenshot. I'm going to change them when I get more HP in the future.
In the DASHBOARD section, you can adjust your voting mana usage threshold. That way, you can always make sure you still have the ability to vote manually when you return after a long absence.
The purpose of this post, not a guide to HiveVote, but to cover the possibilities when you're out of time, like I am. So if you're interested, research it yourself or ask me a question in the comments. And I'll continue.
Voting Power 100% or 0%?
Many people solve the Voting Power problem by dropping to almost 0%, so they don't have to worry about it for 4-5 days. The reward for our curation stays the same for whoever we support, but not for us. This means that at Voting Power of 50%, the user will get the full payout, but we won't. So to blow it to zero or keep it 100% for a few hours or days is equally unreasonable. I hope you knew that?
This is another reason to spend time studying some mechanisms, adjust them and not lose any time or rewards. I'm still experimenting with HIVEVOTE, but I already like what I see.
Ethical issue
We're going to become a social network of bots and auto-voting
This is something that has bothered me all the time. Actually, no! We're not going to turn into one. Most Hive users who are active every day are already using this tool, and it doesn't bother them. On the contrary, it helps. Time is freed up from the haphazard wandering around the chain, which can be used to read a few new users. Or chatting under random users' posts that we haven't noticed before. Or on what you forget to do every day when you go to Hive, staying on the Trending Page. 😅
Communication will replace upvotes.
No, nothing will replace communication. All of Hive's most famous whales communicate under their own and others' posts every day. It also affects their posts and support and the payouts they end up getting. Any auto-voting can be cancelled at any time. No one but you can cancel your daily participation in the community.
The age of paper and pen was a bygone era
To summarize, I would like to remind you that we are at a point in time when everything around us is accelerating faster than a Formula 1 car. Flows of information are so great, and technology is so fast, that time has become the most valuable resource. Many processes simply must be automated. Smart contracts have become famous and attractive for this very thing, even outside of blockchain. Sooner or later, everyone realizes that they need to automate processes to get better results in less time.
Yes, the age of pen and paper was a bygone era. But that doesn't mean I don't use them. I use them every day. There is soul in them, just like there is in communicating with real people. That's why I'd rather spend more time on real things if I can automate my daily routine. At least a little bit. In any area of my business...
That's all. Hive On!
