In a comment on a post about writing and posting on Hive earlier, there was a discussion around repetition of post topics as a potential bad thing, but in my view under some circumstances, it is a very positive aspect.
This is not about reposting the same content, it is about the evolution of content, the development of discussion and the increase in understanding. None of us are static, we are all dynamically changing, so if we are exploring this world through thought sharing, it is natural that our thoughts are going to shift over time too. This means that we are always developing and this development is a slow process at times and can take years to shift significantly.
One of the problems with content sharing on the internet is that there is an expectation that everything added has to be new and unique from a single creator, but this is quite impossible. As a result, creators tend to have their fifteen minutes of fame and then disappear, as what they create becomes repetitive, because that is the path they have taken - the one where they are throwing content to the unknown masses.
It is the "unknown" that is the issue, as well as the throwing content into the void, because for the most part, there is very little ongoing thread of thought and development, and almost zero relationship building between creator and the audience.
On Hive, this is different though, as those who engage well as creators, tend to connect with those who engage well as consumers, which builds relationships. This is more important than just getting support, as all content becomes an ongoing conversation between friends. We don't expect that every time we meet our friends they are going to provide us some kind of new experience and a side of them we haven't seen before, we expect them to be familiar.
This doesn't mean they aren't changing though, where for example my friends in Finland who I have known nearing on twenty years, started off as students I would drink with on the weekend, to going through various relationships, buying houses, having kids, getting divorced, remarried, losing family and friends to accident and illness and dealing with the range of ups and down in life, whether it is the economy, employment or messy relationships. When we meet often, not much changes, but looking back in larger chunks of time, we have all changed significantly. We are the same people, but we have developed through or experiences, including our shared experiences.
For those that might read the comments I get often, they might notice that occasionally people are referencing past conversations and if they were to dig, those conversations might have happened several years ago. This is "building a following" not by number, but by relationship. It isn't like the other social medias where it is about how many accounts click follow, it is about developing a following of friends, much like in the real world we do and go out drinking, for coffee or support each other through difficult situations. In order to do this though, there has to be a consistent experience and that includes things like, topics of interest.
While we don't have to continually talk only about the same things, these central topics become "meeting points" for friends to gather and discuss around, often going well off track from the topic at hand, in the same way that happens with friends over a coffee, where the conversation gets shifted through "that reminds me" interjections.
In my opinion, this is far more compelling from both a creator and consumer experience, as it brings in the familiarity of friendships, but also the global possibilities of social media. Just like the evolution of friendships in the real world, there is a whole range of developments that happen as our lives shift independently and together, as people grow closer and, also fall out with each other - sometimes very publicly.
In my opinion, most social medias are not very community orientated regardless of what they claim and label, as they do not build the long-term relationships between users. This is because they incentivize the post and run culture where people deliver for maximum likes, not getting to know each other personally. It is an ad-driven model, not a community growth model.
What this means for content creators though is what I was saying yesterday, that while quality of post matters, the quality is tied to the personality of the account, not each individual post itself. This means that just like with our friends, we understand that people have good and bad days, that not every post is going to be brilliant and at times, some might not live up to standards, but because of the relationships formed, the social capital collected and the trust built, the journey is smother, because every day doesn't depend on a s ingle post, there is a whole history of sharing together already.
Creating content on isn't the purpose of Hive, though that is a big part of the value proposition in regards to immutability and freedom to speak - the purpose is to build a community around blockchain, web 3 and crypto so that it becomes a viable alternative. In order to build a community, discussion is required to form the relationships that hold a community together through thick and thin. For those who have built their group of friends on Hive that they can spend time with, no matter what is happening in life or the markets, being on Hive is easier. For those who have no ties or burn their bridges, they will drift.
Content is the meeting point, the coffee shop, the bar, the supermarket, the gym, the park - they are the places we meet each other to discuss our days and shoot the breeze, sometimes having light conversations around nothing much in particular, sometimes diving into the depths of things that are highly important to us. What is interesting is that because on-chain it is all public, we are able to be part of conversations that we wouldn't be invited to otherwise, which builds more opportunity to engage with each other and add complexity to our set of relationships and expanding our network.
In general though, birds of a feather do tend to flock, so just like a group of friends, there is some kind of consistency, rather than just a group of strangers thrown together. Often this comes through content, or experience, but even very diverse people from different backgrounds can find commonality, once they have been engaging enough. And, these relationships can last for years.
AS said at the start, repetition is not generally a good thing, but familiarity improves the experience for most people. In regards to content, it might be style or the persona embedded, or the continuance of an ongoing discussion that spans years. Hive incentivizes the development of personal relationships in a way that other platforms do not, enriching many people's lives socially, whilst improving opportunity financially also.
Whilst there are hundreds if not thousands of communities on Hive that have built a range of relationships together, what is cool is that they are all tied to the single experience and share resources in very direct ways. This creates challenges, but also strength through diversity and the opportunity to collect as a force when needed, as we have seen in the not too distant past and which led to the birth of Hive as we know it.
There is a lot of emphasis put on engaging on Hive, but a lot of people think this just means commenting a lot. This is not the case - it is about relationship building, which leads to community growth and the benefits of networking effects. To effectively strengthen the network of community, the emphasis needs to shift to the relationships that pull the community to collaborate at a scale that individuals can't do alone. In a distributed network like Hive, there are many communities growing outward in different directions, but due to all being tied to the base layer, they are all adding to the value of the network, improving the opportunity for each individual also.
At least for me, this is a far healthier approach to social content development than any of the other platforms I have ever been involved with. How about you?
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]