I have run many personal experiments in regards to my account over the years I have been here and have learned a great deal from the processes. I have played around with all kinds of little metrics to see what did what and what was connected to what. Hive is a dynamic organism and it changes over time, users change, culture moves, trends come and go.
Over the last few months since the Hardfork I have had an opportunity to experiment in ways that I haven't felt able to before and while it has been interesting from some perspectives, I found this last set of experiments the worst to perform - even though the results supported my prior thinking - at least for me.
Shitposting just isn't my thing
The split of the chain meant that I had an account which was very similar, but not my main account and while imperfect, it has been kind of like testing on twins - with the only one at risk of getting hurt is me as the owner.
The start was easy, as there was not only big voters in the pool, there were active users on both chains while things sorted themselves out. I started posting shorter original content and cross-posting my non-chain-specific from Hive to Steem. In general, both did pretty well and while comments did drop off, there was still a fair amount of engagement going on.
However, after the first freezing of accounts, the level of engagement tapered off quite fast in terms of quality, with many of those who have been on and fought for Steem, becoming rightfully, completely disillusioned. At this point, the value on my posts fell dramatically, as some of those supporting me had their accounts frozen - but I was still getting pretty decent votes, because as I predicted, people still wanted something to vote on that wasn't complete crap.
I was no longer posting anything original and instead began reposting old content. This content was generally good by most people's standards and that means, was unlikely to attract downvotes, no matter what votes they got. I was getting downvoted heavily on Hive for posting on Steem though, and while this took more value than I was earning there, I wanted to continue the experiment further.
I do not think posting content on Steem adds any value to Steem, because of one simple reason, the community is gone. I was still getting some engagement and even the odd decent comment from people who still held onto some Hail Mary hope. But, there was very little heart in it or more commonly, ridicule of Steem.
After the latest hardfork, I went from reposting to shitposting, which I have been doing for what seems like an eternity, but is actually only a few days. I have been discussing much of this process with people over the last few months and how it feels, but as I described this shitposting phase to someone today, it feels like I am "kicking myself in my own balls".
It fucking sucks
While it was fun the first few times, it got old real quick. I don't know how some people have managed to keep this kind of nonsense up for years, even with large votes. No matter what votes I got, it feels empty, there is no pleasure, and since there is hardly any engagement - there is no positive feelings from the submissions at all.
Although, I am proud of this one titled, "Statistics"
That post got as many comments as the top 10 in Trending it references - and none of them were automated. In fact, the only thing that has been any kind of light in this whole process has been the odd comments I receive that take the piss out of Steem - from people who were among the most invested and bullish on the future. It has been these moments (as well as some Discord laughs) that has given me the strength to keep it up. But, even that isn't enough with the negative feeling of destroying something I loved.
This is where my Steem account is now.
I have put literally thousands of hours into creating for Steem and I haven't missed a day in around 3 years. This was my hobby, this was my therapy, this was my own hail Mary attempt to a better financial future...
Burned
And even though I have posted 50% more top level posts over the last couple months to Steem, The difference in the totals is telling in regards to engagement.
Steem 33716
Hive 35476
That is a 1760 difference in favor of Hive, or about 25 additional comments a day. For anyone who doesn't consider engagement important, I think that you are mistaken. Without engagement, discussion and the forming of relationships, the experience is terrible. again, at least for me. As said, some people seem to be able to never get bored of shitposting, but I just don't get it.
One shining light from this experiment for me personally was that I had a good reason to go back and unearth past content and it was enjoyable. I think that I have written some pretty damn good stuff, if I do say so myself. If I wanted to keep this up, I could repost 3 times a day for 10 years without repetition and probably half of it would still be relevant to whoever finds it. But my heart isn't in it - the experiment has to end and the outcomes formed into a conclusion.
I learned a lot over the last couple months through this experiment, but I think that the most important aspects can be boiled down into three points that support what I have always thought:
- My content matters to me
- Engagement is vital for retention
- Without community, there is no value
While not everyone will agree on what is right or wrong in regard to posting ever, there are three and bit weeks until my powerdown is complete and I can close the book on Steem for good. It is difficult to do after putting so much of myself onto that blockchain, but on to another I will move. Thankfully, it isn't onward alone, it is forward with the community that made Steem valuable in the first place and will continue along the path for Hive. Will the Hive experiment be able to overcome the challenges that Steem failed to negotiate?
We shall see.
Stay active, stay engaged, stay positive.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]