Disclaimer: Please find it in your heart to read with an open mind, understanding that I come from a positive place. I’m not asking a lot here, lol.
I sighed. Who knew raising a daughter meant dealing with witch-hunts?
I thought being a parent was supposed to be the most fulfilling thing in the world. Seriously. They talked about “baby’s first steps”, they talked about “rebellious teenage years”, but there was nothing in the manual about “witch-hunts.” Oh well, no matter what Emma’s going through, it’s my job to help however I can.
“Hell-o!? Dad!? You still with me?” Emma had hopped off her stool and stomped around to my side of our kitchen island, until she was inches from my face. “I can’t believe you’re spacing out when my world’s ending!”
“Ah yes, sorry hon, I’m listening even if it doesn’t seem like it, and I understand your feelings. I can help better if you explain what happened --calmly-- from the beginning. Would you do that for me?”
Emma, red-eyed, sniffled then answered “Yeah, ok. So, Mia and I finally convinced Cassie to join Hive.”
“Heyyy, you’ve been trying to do that for ages, well done!”
“No! It’s terrible!”
“What? Why? I thought you loved Hive!”
“I do! And I thought since you explained power dynamics and censorship to me I wouldn’t have any more issues with it… until Cassie joined.”
“Oh my, what has your sister done to you now? Please tell me I don’t have to ground her again, she sulked for months last time I grounded her.”
“No, no, Cassie didn’t do anything, Hive did!”
“Hive can’t do anything, my love, they’re not a corporation, it’s just a bunch of people.”
“Yeah, but the whales have a lot of power, and one in particular --@examplerichwhalegal -- is picking on Cassie!”
“I don’t get it, can’t Cassie just ‘block’ this undesirable whale?”
“Uh, it’s called ‘muting’ on Hive, but the whale and her buddies can still use their vote-power to obliterate most of Cassie’s earning potential on Hive.” Emma sauntered back to her perch to sip her tea.
“Hmmm, I see. If she's rallying her buddies to downvote Cass, we are approaching witch-hunt territory, but before we brand them all as a mob, I should ask…
...Did Cassie do anything to provoke them into doing this?”
“No! Cass was her normal angelic self!”
I knew both my daughters pretty well and I was tempted to believe Emma in this case. Cassie was an extremely kind, nice, patient girl. Emma took up a feather-ruffling career as a glamour-model, while Cassie wanted to design video games. Emma was rebellious, while Cassie ‘played nice’ as long as you didn’t push her buttons excessively. I couldn’t see Cass joining Hive and then randomly stirring the pot. That said, Cass wasn’t my most socially savvy daughter, and I could see her making a faux pas or stepping on a social landmine accidentally, so I had to double check.
“C’mon Em, you know Cassie, are you sure she didn’t even misbehave... accidentally?”
“OK yes, kind of, but it’s total bullshit!”
“Hey! Language, miss!”
“Sorry, I’m just so mad.”
“What happened?”
“Cass posted with the ‘wrong’ tags, in the ‘wrong’ community, and heavily quoted from other content on the internet without citing sources, and now the whales are branding her a ‘plagiarist’ and brigading her posts.”
“I mean, that sounds pretty bad, Em.”
“But that’s my point, it shouldn’t be. Why are these things the end of the damn world? Most of that stuff is total ‘fluff’ mistakes any newbie could make. The worst one is the ‘uncited quotes’, but even that doesn’t seem that bad to me.”
“Well, before we start deciding what’s ‘good’ or ‘bad’, ‘right’ or ‘wrong’, let’s explore each one together and see, ok?”
“Fine, I guess.”
Even through Em’s begrudging and petulant ‘fine,’ I could tell her initial triggered state was slowly fading, which was a good sign for our discussion. “Great, we’ll start with the ‘little’ ones you mentioned.
Why are they upset that Cass used the wrong tags?”
“Because tags are how Hive categorizes and organizes posts. When I search a post topic like ‘skateboards’, I want posts relevant to that, I don’t want to see someone’s covid rant that has nothing to do with skateboards appearing just because they slapped a tag on it.”
“Well that makes sense.”
“Sure, but c’mon, any giant public platform is going to have mis-categorized stuff. Find me one that doesn’t. It’s like trying to create a city where not a single piece of litter or debris exists. People shouldn’t be so crazy about things like that.”
“You make a good point. Were Hivers giving Cass a hard time about it?”
“One or two people said stuff, but it was more about the other stuff, especially the…” Em rolled her eyes. “...’plagiarism.’”
“OK, so it sounds like we’d all prefer people on the platform to tag well, but that Hive’s ok with ‘tag litter’ occasionally. What’s next?”
“Cass posted in the wrong community and got muted and reprimanded for it.”
“Thanks Em, but remember, I don’t use Hive, mind elaborating?”
“Oh, my bad. She posted her Hive introduction in the /C/MegaMoney community.”
“Uh, still not getting it, darling.”
“/C/MegaMoney specifically states in their rules posts must be finance-related, but one, Cass didn’t even notice the rules section of the community in all the clutter on her screen, and two, her intro talked a lot about how excited she was to earn crypto and improve her personal finances just for posting content, and MegaMoney is the only community with ‘finance’ in its name, so she made her best guess and posted it there. It was instantly muted, she got reprimanded, and a lot of hate in the comments for her 'abuse' of the MegaMoney community. Cass? Abuse? As if. It’s like they were all sitting on their devices, just waiting for some newbie to make a mistake, so they’d have someone to yell at.”
“Yikes, that does sound unpleasant. How did Cass take it?”
“She cried. She bawled her eyes out. The bullies made her cry and I’m so mad about it. How dare they push my sister to tears when she’s just trying to get the hang of Hive?”
“Now, now, what have I taught you about taking responsibility for our emotions?”
The steam had long stopped rising from our mugs, but I sipped the cold tea just for something to do with my hands, and to give Emma space to express herself.
“I know, I know. Cass is responsible for her tears, I’m responsible for my triggers. But tell that to these low-class Hivers. They see one thing they don’t like, get triggered, and turn into complete animals. Not a single kind word or an ounce of compassion in them. No one taught them to be responsible for their emotions.”
“I understand my love, but the only way to elevate others is to be a shining example ourselves. Nothing else works. Never has. If you want change in others, you absolutely must start with yourself. Remember, chances are they didn’t have parents who raised them to be mature or level-headed. Chances are they had pretty weak role-models growing up.”
“Most. Obnoxious. Dad. Ever. Why do you always have to make so much sense? Ugh.” Emma gave me a light punch in the shoulder to let me know she was just playing, and that she actually appreciated my clear perspectives. “Anyway, eventually they started acting like decent human beings, and unmuted her post, but it was still a pretty traumatic welcome as an early posting experience for Cass. She told me she never wants to post on Hive again and is going back to Twitter. She actually called Twitter a ‘safe space.’ Twitter, Dad!”
“Yes, well, even I know Twitter can be conducive to a lot of negative reactions. Do you think the people who muted and reprimanded Cass realize that their method of communication and policing their platform hurts it’s growth, market appeal, and stock price?”
“I doubt if they realize anything past the nose on their face, Dad. God, I want to be calm about this, I want to still love Hive, but it’s hard when they’re straight up mean in the way they act and talk.”
“Why are you so passionate about this, Em? There are mean people everywhere, no biggie, right?”
“Yeah, but Hive is a fledging community that can’t afford to be mean.”
“Why not?”
“Hive has great tech, it doesn’t need much more right now. Hive is passable on looks, they don’t need a facelift. Instead, Hive’s number one need is to grow, and they desperately need a wake-up call on how to achieve that. Their hearts are in the right place, their intentions are good, but their execution is… uh… sub-optimal.
It’s hard for Hive to reach people because Hive’s marketing is paltry compared to what consumers expect. It’s hard for Hive to onboard people because their user-friendliness is the same. And most relevant to what we’re talking about, it’s hard to keep people because a noticeable percentage of Hivers police primarily through prickliness to outright cruelty, instead of kindly educating newbies and etiquette-breakers.
Just today I came across yet another example of this, and it’s actually a challenge for me to find an instance where a faux pas or breach of etiquette wasn’t met with harshness and judgment. And the worst part is, all these ‘rules’ of Hive etiquette are hidden and buried. No newbie here is gonna be aware of them. They’re all gonna accidentally break an unwritten rule, be met with squinity side-eye, and probably leave.
At this point I honestly believe all Hivers are just mean AF.”
“Ahem! So dramatic. And what have I taught you about generalizing large groups of people? Or labelling people based off of one or two experiences?”
“Grr. Can’t you just let me vent without correcting me every five seconds?”
I reached across the marble island and took my daughter's hand. “I’m your Dad, my angel. My job is to correct you, to raise you, to elevate you. And I’m assuming you came to me to help Cass, not to be your punching bag or therapist while you lump all Hivers together as ‘bad people.’ I told you when we started, I’m happy to help, but only if you present yourself calmly and constructively while we explore solutions together.”
Em’s shoulders slumped and she blew air through pursed lips. “OK, you’re right. Hive is great and full of great people, and maybe it’s just a few vocal ones who get triggered easily, or are quick to judge, or are straight-up meanies. But will you concede that there may actually be more users like that on Hive than anyone realizes? Or that even if it’s a few, it might be a few in high places, with huge influence on the platform?”
“Well, I don’t have any solid data on that, so sure, I’ll agree it’s certainly possible, but let’s stay focused on helping Cass...
What would you like to see happen with ‘posts in the wrong community?’”
“I dunno. Something like ‘Hi Cassie! You seem to have made an excellent post here! We appreciate it! I know it may seem like you posted it in the correct community, but Hive is pretty complex with lots going on, and your post is actually a better fit here [insert community]. If you’d like our admins actually have the power to move it for you, or else you can move it on your own. Moving it helps everyone because it keeps Hive organized, and you’ll have a better audience of people who really resonate with what you’re talking about in your post. Also, in the future, here’s some great tips on selecting the best community for your post…’ yadda yadda. I mean, that’s probably not even possible on the blockchain because everything’s so ‘permanent’ and you can’t mess with another person’s post or data short of downvoting them into oblivion, but you get my point right? Is that so hard? Is it so hard to be kind, gentle, and guide others towards better paths?”
“No, it’s easy to be kind, gentle, and guide others, and you’re right to want that for people like Cass. I think you’re on the right track. But if you want Hivers to behave more in this way, whining to me, or Cass, or even Hive admins… simply won’t accomplish your goal.”
“What will?”
“You tell me. Didn’t you learn anything from our conversation on power and censorship?” I tilted my head towards Em and raised my brows, waiting to see if she got it.
“Ohhhhhh! ‘Increase my influence.’”
“Exactly. If you were a bigger whale, with bigger whale buddies who shared your views, wouldn’t it be much easier to influence people’s behavior? Wouldn’t your words carry more weight?”
“Yes! I could even upvote Cass and restore all her rewards. But I’m not even sure I count as a whale, and I definitely don’t have enough big whale friends to counteract @examplerichwhalegal and her crew.”
“Yet.”
“Yes, yet.”
“Anyway, it sounds like Cass’s post eventually got restored in that community, and you have a vision for what you’d like to see happen, so let’s get to what sounds like the biggest issue.”
“Yeah, on Hive, plagiarism makes you the devil.”
“C’mon, it can’t be that bad.”
“Oh it is, it’s worse than school. On Hive you don’t just get punished, sent from the principal's office, or a zero. You get whales tanking your earnings, arming villagers with pitchforks against you, and rallying them to tank your earnings for massive chunks of the foreseeable future. You’d think Cass quoting some people without a byline was basically murdering Hive-Founder's first-borns, when all she did was copy and paste some text from somewhere else-- a behavior that is occurring thousands of times a second, everywhere the internet exists.”
“You make a very good point about the plagiarism and copyright sort of… no mattering these days. There’s a very poignant video series by Kirby Ferguson on this called ‘Everything Is A Remix’ that applies well to the modern era, but there’s been wise sayings about this for a long time regardless.”
“Yeah, Einstein said ‘The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.’”
“Hah, are you sure he didn’t plagiarize that quote? Many people attribute it to Einstein or Coco Chanel, but QuoteInvestigator determined that it was first published by C.E.M. Joad long before Einstein or Coco were quotable, in 1926.”
“What the hell? You know that off the top of your head?”
“Yep! For sure. That’s me, a Jeopardy-level genius who recalls all facts from memory. It’s definitely not my google-fu or knack for using my phone blind that dug up that tidbit.”
“You’re insane.”
“And you’re my daughter.”
“Not by blood.”
“Hey! Low blow. Sheesh. Regardless, there’s also ‘good artists borrow, great artists steal,’ by Picasso, I believe. And ‘What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.’”
“Daaaad, no old quotes from the bible or whatever.”
“It’s Ecclesiastes, and it’s pretty relevant to Cass’s situation. But despite all this, there’s a reason uncited quotes and plagiarism bother people so much, and you’re not exempt from it.”
“What? I don’t care if people copy and paste stuff, it’s whatever. Copypasta.”
“You sure about that? Remember last year when that one girl started a fake instagram account using all your glamshots? Remember how emotional you got about it?”
“Oh. Yeah. Um, that.”
“Mmmhmmm.”
“Well, ok, I admit I over-reacted to that plagiarism kind of like how Hivers over-reacted to Cass.”
“So then, can we put this to bed? Isn’t this whole thing the pot calling the kettle black?”
“No! Well, a bit. But no! Argh! I was immature back then and didn’t understand piracy, or copyright, or plagiarism like I do now. Like there are fake Kanye West accounts all over every platform, do you think he cares about them? Do you see 'Ye out there fighting a war on plagiarism? No, he just gets on with life and art and wealth-building."
"Well, he's seemed in a rough place lately anyway."
"But even if he wasn't, the point stands. And it applies to any successful person. Lady Gaga, whoever. Even me at this point. If someone made a fake account on me now, I’d do the same. I’m way more chill about copycats. And I wish others were more chill too. That's why I'm annoyed at these peep’s immature reaction to Cass's mistake. And the girl who stole from me was doing it maliciously, for money, with intention and knowledge of what she was doing. Cass is just a kid and didn’t realize it was a big deal. I don’t even see what she did as plagiarism, period. It’s just what teen girls do, they copy stuff. Imagine if we ejected every teen from every community every time they copied something.”
“Well, let’s look at plagiarism more closely then.”
“My pleasure, where do you want to start?”
“Well, what’s the difference between plagiarism and a remix?”
“Uh… I’m not sure.”
“Well, that’s the exact thing Kirby Ferguson explores in his incredible documentary that I mentioned earlier. He starts by examining mega-famous rap-song Rapper’s Delight and how it’s beat was ripped from Chic’s song ‘Good Times’ as well as mega-famous band Led Zeppelin, and how their massive contribution to the world was basically founded on uncredited, blatant plagiarism.”
“What? Zep are plagiarists? I mean, seriously? Zep are sublime. Just stunning, revolutionary pioneers of rock and roll. I’d rather Cassie receive the Zep treatment than what she’s been getting lately.”
“Fair enough, but lots of bands sample and remix others and people are fine with it. Many people call Zep ‘ripoff artists’ specifically, for two main reasons. One, they took credit for the ‘stolen’ songs as their own work, intentionally avoiding crediting the original creators, and two, they barely changed the songs or melodies at all. They put ‘no effort’ into their remixed creation, and simply copied the original songwriter’s works directly.”
“Well, whatever. I may not know Zep’s history, and maybe they misbehaved, but I wouldn’t kick them out of my community for it. I wouldn't take all their earnings for months. Plagiarism is less like genocide and more like littering to me. It's yucky, but it's everywhere and people need to get over it, not turn into source-nazis. And besides, I do know that Zep themselves also got sampled by Beastie Boys, Enigma, Dre, Eminem, and more. So even if Zep did plagiarize, peeps just went on to plagiarize them in turn, and succeeded off it too. Or, or, or… Star Wars was basically built off Joseph Campbell’s ‘Hero Of A Thousand Faces’ and Kurosawa’s Sanjuro too. Which is my point, everyone’s copying from everyone else, we should give people way more of a break on this stuff on Hive, or at least be gentler about it, and really... just be happy people are actually posting anything.”
“So it sounds like you believe most plagiarism is an acceptable part of life, yes?”
“I never used to, like back when that chick copycatted my IG account, but yes, I’m way more at peace with it now.”
At this moment my wife Maria poked her head through the kitchen doorway, cleared her throat, and closed the door rather firmly, in what one might describe as… a huff. I’d have to apologize to her later. Em and I had been talking long and loud, while Maria, Cassie, and Olive were trying to watch Moana. I’m usually more sensitive to that sort of thing, but Cass’s breach of etiquette on Hive had intrigued me more than I expected.
“Do you believe there are any forms of unacceptable or undesirable plagiarism?”
“Yeah, I’m more ok with inspiration, tributes, and ‘well-hidden’ sources, but I’m not big on people who steal intentionally, or people who plagiarize because they’re lazy, or people who totally have the power to credit their sources but don’t.”
“Hmmm. You have some pretty interesting ‘boxes’ to put different kinds of ‘copying’ in.”
“They make sense to me in my head.”
“I’m sure they do, but would you be willing to explain why some copying is good, and other copying is bad to the people you’re disagreeing with on Hive?”
Emma folded her bottom lip up over her top one as her irises floated up towards her lustrous locks, deep in thought. There was a pause before she answered.
“Sure, to me it all comes down to intent.”
“Er...intent is a bit tricky for most humans to assess correctly, because they don’t even know their own intent behind their actions most of the time, so how could they measure others?”
“Well, for me, I just ask myself questions. Did Led Zeppelin intend to create greatness? Or did they intend to rip people off? Did they intend to do both? Did they make amends years later? Did they hypocritically get mad at everyone who sampled and stole from them over the years? Yadda yadda. As far as I’m concerned, I can tell they generally have good hearts, and have contributed tons of value to the world, and sure they grabbed some stuff from other sources, like all artists, and maybe they were shady about it, but people make mistakes and overall I believe they stopped that practice, and dealt with the consequences.”
“Right, but that’s still speculation, and a sleazy, underhanded person asking the same questions is going to come up with very different answers than you, because we tend to see the world through the lens of ourselves. Liars assume others are lying to them, even when faced with the truth, etc.”
“Well, I don’t know what to tell you, other than it’d be nice if Hive simply erred on the side of kindness, giving people the benefit of the doubt, and didn’t default to shoot-first-ask-questions-later.”
“I hear you. Let’s take a different approach then…
Is paying someone to create content for you plagiarism?”
“Of course not, people have done that since forever. It’s why researchers and beatmakers and stuff exist.”
“What about people who pay to have their books written for them by a ‘ghostwriter’, and then write their own name as the ‘author.’ Is that acceptable plagiarism to you?”
“Depends if the ghostwriter agreed to such a thing.”
“So as long as someone agrees, I can put my name on their work, it’s cool?”
“I mean, it’s a bit weird, and if someone then wants to hire you to write a sequel or something things could fall apart, but yeah, it’s fine.”
“So when I was in school, if I paid someone to take a test for me, and wrote my name on it, would that be cool?”
“Oh. Hmm. Maybe not.”
“How come? They’re the same scenario aren’t they?”
“Yeeeeaaaahh… hmm. OK, I take it back, it’s not cool to put your name on anyone else’s work, even if you paid them.”
“So then you want all ghostwriters to be out of a job?”
“Yikes. I’m not sure.”
“So maybe you haven’t thought as deeply about plagiarism, copyright, credit, and content as you thought if you can’t answer these questions properly, yes?”
“I guess…”
“And take it further-- what if I pay a ghostwriter to write 49% of my book, and I write 51% of my book, is it ok to slap my name on it now? I mean over half is my ‘original’ creation.”
“Uh, I don’t know, maybe like… you’re co-author?”
“I see, so in your world ghostwriters not only can’t accept clients for fully ghost-written books, they can’t even accept ‘partial-ghostwrite’ clients?”
“Geez Dad, I don’t know, OK?”
“OK, but just to bring the point home... What if I hire a ghostwriter in good faith, and they deliver content claiming it’s 100% original, and encourage me to put my name on it. But I don’t do that exactly. Instead I post it on a ‘compilation’ channel I run called @variouspostsforyou with no specific credit attached, other than the fact that it’s on my channel, along with many other posts, some by me, some legally ghostwritten and paid for. Is that good plagiarism or bad? I’ve created jobs, I haven’t taken credit, at least not explicitly.”
“I--”
“And, to make things even more interesting, a week later we all discover that the ghostwriter I hired actually plagiarized a few other pieces, taking quotes and excerpts from all over the place, barely writing anything on their own. Oh, and I'm an established leader in the Hive community.”
“Holy. Dad. Enough. My head hurts.”
“Exactly my point, lil miss. If you and I, in an open, honest discussion seeking to get to the heart of what’s OK in plagiarism and copyright, quickly get a headache, what are the chances the self-proclaimed plagiarism-police on Hive have really thought this stuff through? What are the chances they’ll be able to turn out a fair, just decision regarding any plagiarism offense?”
“None! And that’s what I’ve been saying Dad! You just proved my point! They’re clueless!”
“Hush, I wasn’t trying to rile you up, and I wouldn’t say I proved your point at all. What I’m getting at is that neither you, nor the whales you’re angry with, have really thought this stuff through. None of you really know what’s right or wrong.
None of you really know how plagiarism impacts a community.
None of you know what role it plays in the creation of new art or the advancement of society. None of you know whether it’s good or bad, or both. You’re like kids fighting over who deserves the last chocolate bar, Johnny or Vince, but no one has the ‘right’ answer, and there may not even be one.”
“Dang. Pretty harsh, Daddio. But I see your point. I still don’t care though.” Ah yes, discussions with kids. I forgot how rational and sensible they can be. Emma ignored my grimace and continued, “I know innocent copying/homage, from bad plagiarism/thievery.”
“Oh really? How are Hivers to tell the difference between innocent copying and malicious plagiarism?”
“Well, to me it’s not that difficult. I can totally tell if someone’s a kind-hearted soul who plagiarized by innocent mistake, or some malicious scammer looking to harm others. But even if the difference wasn’t clear, my whole problem is these whales didn’t even bother to seek understanding. They just got triggered by the great demon called ‘plagiarism’, grabbed their pitchforks out of knee-jerk reaction, and laid into Cassie. And they know it too. They know they’re not behaving maturely. They know they’re witch-hunting. They know they wake up hungry for some drama and to self-righteously hate on plagiarists, the world’s most dire scourge.”
Uh oh. Em was standing up again. I hoped I could smooth out the conversation before her emotions got too out of control.
“But they probably see it as a public service, making sure low-effort, lazy, scammy, plagiarists don’t make bank off the work of others, especially without giving credit. They probably see it as saving the ‘hive rewards’ pie for other, more deserving members of Hive, so when they downvote and zero out rewards, they’re allowing other non-plagiarizing members of Hive to earn properly. People like you. Imagine they zero out the rewards of 9 truly sleazy plagiarists, plus Cassie as well. And by doing so, they’ve opened up thousands of dollars worth of crypto for posts like your original high-effort photoshoots? Surely that’s a great thing for the community, right?”
“Well, yeah sure, but I’d gladly take a hit on my own earnings if it meant Hive was a nicer, friendlier place that didn’t brigade anyone and everyone who doesn’t live up to --or is even aware of-- their invisible standards or rules of where, when, how, and what to post.”
“That’s fine, but not everyone shares your values. Maybe they value a stricter Hive. Germany and Japan are very different cultures than the Southern U.S. or Hawaii. Maybe long-term Hivers value every single dollar in the hive rewards pool going exactly to people they judge as ‘worthy.’ Maybe they proudly value their anti-plagiarist stance, even if it’s not well-thought out. Maybe their identity is even tied to it.”
“That sounds so militant and gross.”
“Maybe, but you have to realize in any community there are different values held by different people in the community, some of them very influential.”
“Of course, that’s what I’ve been saying. That’s why I’m so mad! I value a friendly Hive that doesn’t knee-jerk at people for their first offense. They, on the other hand, seem to value self-righteousness and finger-pointing and cruelty.”
“Be careful, love, like I said, these whales probably don’t see it that way.”
“Then they need to take a hard look at themselves, because Cassie is a freakin’ saint compared to them. She is so damn nice, goes the extra mile for everybody, and they should be doing everything they can onboard people like her. So she posted in the wrong community, big deal. So, in her excitement to get her work out, she neglected to cite something.
Should her value to Hive seriously be judged on a couple slip-ups?
Is this how we want to treat awesome people? Cassie would be a blessing and a light to Hive, and help raise their community in major ways. Did you know she has a Facebook group with tens of thousands of girl gamers? She could bring them all to Hive, massively spiking Hive’s stock. And now she wants to boycott the place instead. Every time I turn around all I see from whales is... posts about how great whatever their current project is, or bad vibes reprimanding smaller hivers. It's lame.”
“Well, like I said before, you can change things by changing yourself --elevating your influence-- or you can head to a platform that has a culture and value-system you’re more aligned with. Those are literally the only effective paths towards change.”
“The latter is sounding pretty good right now. Hive deserves to lose Cass, me, and every other talented creator on there, if this is the top level of friendliness Hive can muster. If I go on any other massively successful platform like Twitter, YouTube, or Facebook, there’s rampant plagiarism but those platforms don’t go nuts about it because they know it’s mostly innocent, not malicious, and also not worth shutting huge amounts of people out with militant policing.”
“Yep, those platforms are a lot more inviting for newcomers to hop onto, and they’re definitely a lot more ‘chill’ regarding infractions and etiquette. But again, my dear, I can’t emphasize enough that if you want Hive to embrace certain things that made those platforms succeed, you’ll need to become much more influential. You’ll need to work on yourself, not rage against the machine. Either that, or leave for a platform that shares those values more clearly.”
“So you’re saying I shouldn’t see this one incident with Cassie as a hill to die on or a flag to plant, but as inspiration to raise my influence higher, if I really do want change?”
“Spot on, my oh-so-eloquent progeny.”
“You’re so corny. But what you say makes sense. I still think it’s so much easier just to whine or get into comment-debates with the trolls.”
“It’s actually harder, babydoll.”
“It doesn’t feel harder.”
“Still, it is. Period. Because, like banging your head against a wall, engaging in discussion with closed-minds will actually make your life harder and achieve nothing, while building your influence can be fun and definitely moves you closer to desired results.”
“OK, you just inspired me.”
“Oooh, I’m psyched. What did I inspire you to do?”
“I’m gonna make a post that basically lays out the situation, then polls readers on which approach makes a better Hive.”
“And what approaches will be offered for Hivers to vote on?”
“One, they can have a Hive that heavily polices plagiarism and brings an overall harsh tone towards dealing with offenders. Two, they can have a Hive that still polices plagiarism, but with a lighter touch that brings an overall gentler tone towards dealing with offenders.
I’ll lay out the pros and cons of both approaches, and I’ll do my research and show lots of examples of how Hive currently leans militant on this issue. Finally, I’ll ask them which approach they believe will raise Hive’s price more, onboard more people, and make Hive a better community. I’ll spread my poll far and wide and really get as many Hivers to vote as possible, then I’ll let the numbers speak for me. I even have an idea to create a ‘Hive Etiquette’ mega-guide for newbies so people like Cass can avoid the hundreds of Hive-Etiquette Pitfalls that exist.”
“Wow, brilliant Em! I bet all that will increase your influence on the topic very well, and likely earn you a lot more followers too.”
“Yeah, and it’ll probably filter out anyone who sympathizes with the plagiarism-triggered whales too, I’d be happy if anyone like that unfollowed me.”
“Are you still angry with them, even after I explained they may have been raised differently, grown into different values, thought things through less, and may even be trying to create a totally different Hive than you?”
“Oh, no, no, I’m not mad any more. Even if I disagree with their approach to policing plagiarism, you're right, everyone’s entitled to their own viewpoint. It’s up to me to be more influential than them if I want to create change.
But it’d be nice if they put their pitchforks away.
And it’d be nice if they learned how to communicate more clearly and kindly. It’d be nice if a lot of things were different, but I just meant that I want to be clear on who I am and what I’m about, and I’m happy if my follower-base reflects that as much as possible.”
“Sure, just be careful creating an echo-chamber. Most great things in the world arise out of a clash of viewpoints, differing opinions, and a variety of diverse perspectives, not just followers that agree with us.”
“True. And who knows. I guess I may end up surprised with the majority of Hivers voting to come down hard on plagiarism, but I highly doubt it. And even if they do, I think they’ll still support me on less draconian policing methods.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because despite all my rage, I really do believe Hive is an incredible community, full of beautiful souls.
I believe most Hivers really want to bring good to the world, and I don’t believe they truly desire a harsher, more ruthless form of plagiarism-management. I believe they want the benefit of the doubt given to them, and they’re happy to extend that to others, even if it means being taken advantage of here or there.”
“Wow, who are you and what have you done with Emma?”
“C’mon Dad, I’m not that bad. You know I just have to work through my emotions and talk it out.”
“I do, which is why I cancelled my League Of Legends tournament when you texted that you wanted to talk.”
“Say what now?”
“Yep, daughter comes first.”
“Aww, Dad, you’re sweet as honey. Thank you so much. You didn’t have to do that, I could’ve waited, I know you were looking forward to League’ing it up.”
“I was, but there’ll be other tournaments, and it’s not every day I get to help my girls deal with a 'witch-hunt', right? Speaking of which, I'm surprised Cass didn’t come to me with all this.”
“You know little-miss-sunshine, she just wants to paint a happy face on everything, play video-games, and watch Disney flicks.”
“Good point. Well, I hope you’ll keep me posted about all this, and I hope Cassandra isn’t too soured on her Hive experience, and can find a way to navigate all this to a fulfilling conclusion.”
“Yeah, she’ll be alright, I’m gonna bring her in on my poll idea, and even if she never touches Hive again and sticks with her girl-gamer Facebook group, at least it was a great learning experience.”
“Very wise, Em.”
“Thanks, Papa. And you know something?
My biggest takeaway from all this is that being quick to judge creates pain.
My judging Hivers who are harsh on plagiarism just creates more pain. Them judging plagiarism the instant they see it with no thoughtful reflection just creates more pain. Any of us judging what’s ‘good’ or ‘bad’ without soul-searching or knowing our own biases just creates more pain. And all that pain can only lead to more pain, it won’t magically turn into joy, bliss, peace, or harmony. Logically, all this pain-creation simply won’t lead to a happy, inviting community, which I’d really love Hive to be. And although I can’t make the witch-hunters out there drop their ‘forks and torches, I can at least make sure I don’t pour more gas on the fire, and be an example of a ‘better way.’”
“Wow. Beautifully said. I love you, Em.”
“I love you too.”
~Fin.
Note From The Author: As far as I know, this is a completely original work from my own brain. At the same time, I’ve ingested millions of pieces of media in my four decades on earth, and it’s possible I picked up a word to add to my vocabulary from someone here, and a belief, idea, or concept there. It’s possible great writers like Neil Gaiman, or obscure writers like my brother... have influenced me somehow. It’s possible I wouldn’t have chosen the name Cassie, if I hadn’t just played as Cassiopeia in League Of Legends.
Sure, I can happily credit Envato.com for the amazing stock images I use in my doodles (or DreamsTime.com, in this case, another high-value site.) And I can happily tag @wil.metcalfe , @purpinay , @samsmith , @harlowjourney and countless others as the inspiration for this post, but If I wanted to cite all the influences, inspirations, or sources that helped this creation become reality, it’d be virtually impossible. I’d end up thanking my parents for teaching me language and letting me copy their speech patterns, and the credits would be longer than the actual content. So, if someone, somehow finds some tiny turn of phrase that I’ve failed to cite... please have the decency to correct me gently, with a kind heart, and I’ll gladly credit any fellow creators I may have neglected.
Ultimately, this piece is just a fiction, just like others in the Emma series. It’s aimed to spark thought, discussion, progress, and increased understanding on the topics of plagiarism, Hive-culture, and platform moderation, because I believe a hive where members think deeper for themselves is better than one where everyone blindly follows and delegates thinking to others. I love Hive and have contributed a ridiculous amount of words in my short time here, and they’re always written with love, and the goal of encouraging a broader perspective and a bigger picture. I like to think this piece achieves that. Whether you agree or not, if you've anything of value to add to the discussion, please share in the comments. I'd love to read it, and it may help others as well.
Either way, I appreciate you reading, commenting, sharing, or even skimming, and I wish you lots of successful, plagiarism-free(?) experiences in your future.
P.S. Tagging a few passionate hivers who may enjoy this: @meesterboom , @danielvehe , @nonameslefttouse , @mattclarke , @keco , @brittandjosie , @thoughts-in-time , @minismallholding , @crosheille , and @traciyork :D)