We have all taken part in a million conversations about 'mass adoption', but that's only one aspect along the road to exponential growth for our community.
I recently wrote a post regarding some of my experiences and learnings from day 1 on Hive to where I am today, almost 3 years in. Since doing so I have been thinking a lot about how I started out here and what I could have done so very differently.
It has led me to re-evaluate what I did in those first days and months and how much my actions and interactions here have changed over that time and why.
To many, it may appear that my personal journey has taken me mostly along the slow path, in some ways that is true. In other ways, I have viewed it as an essentially organic natural evolution.
One thing that has remained consistent throughout that time is ME or rather my ethos toward Hive and my integrity toward the journey and my eagerness to always maintain a clean history. Let me explain what I mean by that last bit. I have always viewed my growing status, reputation and stake as something to be built in the correct way.
If you were to scroll through all of my previous posts all the way back to March 2018, you would not find any plagiarism, you would find no cheap tricks to turn a quick profit. You will find no episodes of me being rude, offensive or derogatory to others, there have been times when I could have responded that way to some who maybe warranted it, but that simply is not in my nature.
If you don't need to, don't blot your copybook. That's not just a rule for Hive it's a bloody rule for life!
There's always someone who will dig in to your past to bring your previous misdemeanours in to the sunlight for all to see. If they don't exist, this can never happen. I have also long believed that if you never tell a lie, you don't need to have a long memory or remember what story you told and to whom.
So back on track (I'm digressing again), in remembering my early days I remember the basic principles and actions I used to embrace whilst negotiating this huge community, those actions served me well.
I engaged a lot, I quickly learned the friendly helpful heroes in our community.
I asked a lot of questions of those very people as I knew they were happy to help, I've always been conscious of not taking up too much of someone's time with questions.
I read informational posts and guides to learn what I could although it has often been daunting.
I made friends of the same level (brand new) so we could help each other along the way. I guess you could call us 'newbie buddies' lol. Many, sadly didn't make it past the first few weeks.
My final constant action was to never, EVER get consumed with the number of cents beneath my post. I pretended it didn't exist.
Imagine if I was only here for rewards? We need a far BIGGER reason to go on.
Once I got past the initial hurdles I constantly reached out to brand new people, I thought to myself that if I could only help them get beyond the first few weeks they may stand a chance of growing in to a 'true Hiver' this purpose gave me a greater purpose too.
This was my 5th and 6th posts, immediately after the 4 above... Check out those titles, Directed at those who were new and LOST.
Obviously there was no real rewards likely to come from those posts as the people they were aimed at obviously had no stake yet, but there is a different sort of reward in this, right?
I hope you agree with the above statement as it is the entire basis for what I called my call to action in the title to this post!
So, here it is. It is all well and good that in the drive towards mass adoption we bring thousands and thousands of new users along for the journey of a lifetime BUT if a significant proportion of them disappear into the ether, (no not THAT Ether) then we are wasting growth potential and in turn, potential future investment for Hive.
This has an added downside that could be catastrophic for the future and the potential for mass adoption.
Do you ever use review sites, for restaurants, holiday destinations, hotels or tradesman? Have you ever noticed that slightly pessimistic trait that is unmistakably human? People tend to write in far more detail and with far more passion about a bad experience compared to the often, inane clichéd response if they had an OK experience.
You see where I am going with this, right?
I would hate to think we are not serving the new users here and risk sending out in to cyberspace, disgruntled, disillusioned ex Hivers who tell the whole world, how the community is apathetic to newbies and that Hive doesn't work. When I say it doesn't work, what I am getting at is the fact that many rock up at the Hive front door after being told some people make $100 for posting a picture of their lunch...
So this brings up 2 points.
If you are onboarding new users, that's awesome and you should be commended but let's be careful how we explain the proposition of Hive. If we promise financial reward, let's be clear and precise about just how things work, what it takes and encourage realistic expectation.
This makes sense right? If we exaggerate, no matter how well meaning we are, because we know the person would be great here and bring a unique skillset, but they arrive to find it is not at all that they thought...
Next station - Disillusionment city!
The 2nd point is when we have new members here, we must try and be on hand to signpost them and give them a little info to help them decide what to do next. There are initiatives to help and promote new members here. They absolutely ROCK but they cannot be expected to catch everyone who strolls through the Hive door.
Many of us love the idea of these initiatives but just do not have the time due to work or family commitments to spend several hours per week, working on such an initiative. Well I have good news Dear Reader, you don't need to.
If we began to create a culture change here whereby we ALL looked out for new members when they popped up in our feed, our comments, our community or asking a question on Twitter or in a Discord community channel and offer them some guidance.
You see, I remembered I used to do this a lot in the early days and due to playing catch-up with posting and engaging after blockchain breaks induced by some dire health issues recently and bereavements, I realised I was doing it less and less.
#backtobasics
So what did I do? I doubled down on looking out for people I cross paths with or in the "new post feed" and I said Hi, commented on their post and if relevant based on the content in their post offered some help, advice or opened the door if questions came to mind later, they often do.
Just knowing someone is there to assist with issues as they come up or drop an encouraging comment when interactions and engagement are thin on the ground can make all the difference in the world. It can be the very difference between someone being here 3 years down the line or being gone 3 days down the line.
This doesn't need to take lots of your time. It can be literally a comment that takes a few moments OR (I know we hate cut and paste comments) a pre-written short message opening the door or offering some brief insights.
Always be aware some people will not be seeking advice so if you are giving it unsolicited, be friendly and polite, here is an example. I encountered a nice guy who was reviewing his 1 month achievements which means he is gonna be fine in the long run as he is clearly goal driven and reviewing the data he has produced. but I felt they were missing some key metrics to measure against. The key ones people often assess based on were there, growth, HP etc, but I had a few thoughts,
Now I don't know what sort of start you had on Hive, Dear Reader, but I would have loved a message like that.
Sometimes it can be that simple.
If we create a culture just like that throughout much of the community (and I know many here do exactly that) then those who we nurture may well carry that same spirit forward.
How bloody awesome would that be? Let's not discuss it, pontificate about it, strategise about it, in the words of Nike we should:
Just do it!
Let me reiterate once more that I know many of you operate this way permanently. Kudos to you, I salute you and wish you as many positive vibes to you and yours, from me and mine as I can possibly muster up.
My call to action has the added benefit of you not just being a cool human and Hiver but actually keeping our community in a healthy, high functioning state and laying the groundwork for that mass adoption we often talk, think and dream about.
The future is manifesting right before our eyes. you cannot have failed to notice the crypto story coming in to it's own of late. I am not just talking about BTC or any other cryptocurrency making huge gains.
I am talking about that which we have talked about for so long. The Financial & decentralised revolution, you feel it, right?
Let's complete the preparations, make sure the tables are set, beds are made and the kettle is on.
Thank YOU, for taking the time to read my post and if you're one of those amazing people who like to hit the comments section... Then I doubly thank YOU!
Either way I want you to know that you are appreciated!
Keep taking the time to connect with each-other both here and in the so-called real world and try and look after each-other, because as you already know...
