Is it just me, or do others hate having their blog-feed filled with seemingly endless random, low quality reblogs? Don't get me wrong, I understand that coming across a good post sometimes makes us want to provide the author a little more exposure. I totally get it. What I don't get is people that blast twenty or so reblogs within a day, (sometimes more) with almost no regard to the actual quality of the post they reblogged.
When it happens on my feed I begin scrolling but generally give up and hit the filter tab and they disappear...so none of those authors get any visibility.
It happens a lot in communities where the community owner simply reblogs anything and everything that comes in. Maybe they feel they're bringing attention to their community? I disagree. It all seems spammy to me repels me from the community. It's their right of course, however I can't help but think that by doing it in such a wholesale manner it devalues those blogs rather than highlighting them.
Scarcity and value
Low supply increases demand forcing an item, service or commodity to increase in value; simple economics. I was wondering if the same could apply on Hive.
All those reblogs coming onto my feed, and me simply ignoring them, provides little to no value for any of them. But if I saw less reblogs maybe I'd take the time to open one or two. Furthermore, if there was a limited supply, would the quality of them increase? Would the person reblogging them work harder to find the best ones?
One per day
Imagine if each Hive user/account had the ability to reblog only one post per day. Do you think the user would select the very best they could find rather than every single post that came into their community or feed?
Imagine looking through your own community or post feed knowing you only had one single opportunity to reblog a post for that day? Would you reblog low-effort/low quality rubbish or would you find a good one that you felt was worthy? I know what I would do. I feel that the quality of what I reblog reflects on me as the user promoting it; I feel I have a responsibility to those who follow me to only offer them what I see as quality.
One per week
What if there was a one post per week reblog maximum? Would the quality increase even further? Would authors increase their quality knowing that only the very best might gain a reblog and additional curation?
I personally would be more inclined to open a few reblogs that appeared on my feed knowing they were carefully selected for their quality or the potential value they presented and not spam-blasted like projectile vomit onto my feed by someone who has probably not even read them, and reblogged simply because they appeared in that users community.
I'm only a small fish here, and don't really understand the whole thing fully. I know people think they're helping by reblogging, but I believe there to be a better and more effective way to do so than projectile-vomit reblogging. I mean, limiting the number of reblogs a person can do.
I curate a lot as a @curangel curator, community owner and Hiver in general. I also vote almost every top-level comment made on my posts. I'm happy to do so. I'm not happy to have my blog feed spammed by random, unqualified posts though. I generally ignore them all and that means potentially great posts get missed and lose the chance for curation as well.
I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed and maybe I'm totally way off base here, but I think a little scarcity on Hive when it comes to reblogging could mean an increase in quality of what's actually reblogged and an increase in vote value for them as they'll have a greater chance of being seen rather than ignored. I feel this scarcity may make authors present better, write, photograph and layout their posts better knowing their chance of a reblog is dependant upon that quality. I also believe communities will be more attractive to people outside of it rather than repelled through multiple random reblogs.
I know quality is subjective. I know that people think they're helping others. I know people think they're promoting their communities. I know people think they are garnering favour from authors with reblogs. But could there be a better way?
What do you think? Am I bonkers?
Are you happy to have your feed filled with posts from people you don't know posting about topics you don't care about? Do you look at them, or filter them out like I do? Do you think you'd take a look at them if there was only a few here and there? Would you be more inclined to add a vote?
Feel free to comment below, and if you think I'm bonkers just say so. I prefer honesty.
Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default - Tomorrow isn't promised so be humble and kind
Any images in this post are my own