Hello Hive PH!
This is my first time to post in this community so I think it's just right to start with a formal introduction. I have done a lot of introductions in the past so I have difficulty in drafting post. What should I say this time? Let's see.
You might have encountered this username somewhere, but in case you haven't, I am Kim Ybañez from Cebu. I have been in this space since September 29, 2017 and I was able to witness a lot of drama since then. I guess I already talked so much about myself so I'll just link here all of my "introduction" posts. You can check them out if you want.
Since I specialize in travel, you can just browse through my posts if you want to know more about the Philippines. I think the Philippines is still underrated in Southeast Asia as a travel destination. My goal is to promote my country to the international scene which is the reason why I have Kim's Quest, Kim's Taste, Definitely Cebu, and Philippine Islands. Here's the sample of what Cebu (my home) has to offer:
I don't want to talk about myself anymore as I will end up regurgitating the same words from my previous posts. What I want to talk about are my expectations from this community. Of course, these are just my opinion alone and I don't represent any entity of any form or capacity except myself. Also, I don't see anything for me to gain from this. I just want for this community to flourish as I have envisioned it before in the previous chain, but ultimately failed. I feel that this is our second chance, our redemption from the failure of what this community was supposed to be.
If you'll ask me about my involvement or functions in this community, I guess I couldn't answer in ways that you would like. For starters, I have not been active in the Philippine community in general, but I was involved in the previous community here in Cebu. I was one of the three main organizers of Steem Summit, which I am proud to say that was one of the most successful gatherings here in Cebu. We had a lot of meet ups that served as incubators for newbies at that time, but everything was informal and there's no structure. Those who joined before us became de facto leaders even if their commitment to the community were questionable. For context, you can find my post here:
I often sound pessimistic, but I think I'm just pragmatic about things and I really wanted to see a united community that goes beyond regionalism and colonial mentality. So here's what I wanted to see in this community:
Eliminate Regional Communities under Hive PH
The scheme in the previous chain is that there were regional communities that were all under Steem PH. There was steemph.cebu, steemph.manila, steemph.davao, and other several cluster communities including those who were abroad like steemph.uae. I think this caused that "ija ija, aho aho" mentality. This created a facade of a united front, but in reality, no one really cared about the other cluster communities. The Philippines is an archipelago and we were just like that, divided. If you'll ask me again, these were my observations from the political struggle before.
The problem I see is over-representation and under-representation. Say for example there are more members that are from Manila than in the Visayas, those in Manila would not care to include those from the Visayas and those from the Visayas would not care to engage with those from Manila. This is sad. Everyone should be represent as one Filipino community, regardless of where you're from in the Philippines or even in the world.
Hive should go beyond regional boundaries. It is said that we are like virtual citizens in this virtual nation-state that goes beyond the international borders of the world. That's what we should aspire to be. We don't have to like each other in order to work harmoniously. As long as everyone of us should put the community before our personal interests, it could happen.
As one of the discussion points in our Zoom meeting last week that was organized by @pinoy.viajero was the elimination of regional communities. Thanks to @romeskie for pointing it out and I have the same sentiments. We should be inclusive and welcoming to all members and potential members regardless of their ethnicity and affiliation as long as they embody a true Filipino Hiveian spirit.
Quality Content is King
I'm not saying that you shouldn't post anything that I you wanted to post in this community because that's your right to do so, but my idea on this is that if we wanted to gain support from outside, we should show that the content creators here have the caliber to rival - or even superior - those from other communities. This will create a snowball effect in the future, but for now, quality should be treated with highest regard. You can find in the following posts my thoughts about quality:
Of course we all have different measurements of levels of quality, but I guess we can all agree that the underlying foundation of quality is effort. Always make conscious effort in creating your post for it will definitely reflect on the outcome of your post.
So, how are we going to approach this? Well, since there are curators already that are in place to reward those content creators who will post in this community, I suggest that greater rewards are to be allocated to those who are consistently producing top quality posts and always encourage everyone to produce top quality content. People might be earning a few dollars for now, but once a curator or a whale stumble upon this community and see that the contents are superior in quality, we might gain support and in turn, encourage more people to post. That's the snowball effect.
I suggest also that we should not be lenient to bad actors. Plagiarists and farmers should always be discouraged. When we start to onboard users to this platform and ultimately to our community, always make sure that they understand that this is not the same as before that you just post something and then you'll earn rewards. We should always encourage them to work hard and consistently produce quality content. Rewards will just follow later on.
Always Demand Transparency and Accountability to All Members
One of the common mistakes of people is that they treat a community as a refuge and safe haven. We should go beyond that. There should be no problem with that mentality under normal circumstances, but it becomes problematic when one member's actions could potentially bring down the whole community.
It might be unimportant for now because everyone seems to be doing their own thing, but once structures are put in place, it will be very different. As the community can be treated as a safe haven, everyone has the responsibility to represent the community in an upright manner. As the community grows, leaders will emerge out of necessity. Community moderators are needed in order to keep the community functioning at its best capacity.
Leaders should be accountable to their actions. Any kind of accusation should be treated with highest regard. As they are the ones responsible for the direction of the community, they should be subjected to standards far superior than the members. This might not yet be applicable for now, but this is vital in the future.
Erring members should not be tolerated. If they pose a risk to the reputation of the community due to their actions, they should be also at risk of being downvoted or banned depending on the gravity of their offense. Everyone should be transparent and accountable to their actions. If proven guilty, as actions are recorded in the blockchain and can be retrieved anytime as evidence, leniency should not be allowed.
Establish Mechanisms to be Self-Reliant
This is for the future of this community. If we don't want this community to be a ghost town, we should have ways to encourage our members to post. Since everything in Hive is voluntary, we can't force our members to post this community and not to other communities. When there's an incentive to post, there's no reason why people would not post.
Maybe we can have delegation programs just like how @ocd and @ocdb was run. Of course this would require competent leaders with the right commitment for the community. Also, all funds generated in this community should always be for the community. At least that's how I perceive it should be. The problem with the previous community is that the leaders thought that because they were the first to join and they were the ones who set everything up, they are entitled with the funds of that community even if they promised that they will use the funds for the community. This becomes problematic as it creates animosity between the leaders and the members.
There should be a system to be put in place to discourage anyone from running away with the funds. I know that this is difficult because we are dealing with potential money in future, but the welfare of the community should always come first. There should be harsh punishment like public shaming or what. I don't know how to proceed with the punishment, but since everything is recorded in the blockchain, incriminating someone should not be difficult.
If you're still with me, thank you for bearing with me in this weird introduction post. In this way, you know me by how I see things especially in dealing with politics in this community. It might be insignificant for now, but it will be a problem in the future if we are not careful with how we proceed from here. Trust me, I have observed and experienced all those things I mentioned.
P.S.: To the new members, dropping of links to posts in chat channels don't work and is frowned upon. Also, follow for follow and upvote for upvote doesn't work anymore. The best way to promote yourself and your post is to engage with other members of your chosen community.
By the way, this is my entry to @theycallmedan's #MyCountry Initiative which you can find here. I encourage everyone here to join to show that our community exists.
Kim Ybañez
Welcome to Kim's small corner in Hive. He is a chemical engineer by profession, but a blogger by passion. He is a wanderlust and an adventure seeker. Join his quests as he visits secluded destinations, climbs mountains, tries new and exotic dishes, and explores his country (The Philippines) and the rest of the world even if he's still a poor corporate slave with tons of bills to pay and two siblings to support in college.
If you like my content, don't forget to upvote and leave a comment to show some love. You can also reblog if you want to. Also, don't forget to follow me to be updated with the latest posts.