You have to stand for something
Or
You Will fall for anything
Nothing could be more ture than that comment right there. Now before I get into a discussion about this let me give you a little history.
In the Beginning
Lets see its been just a little over 3 years (boy time sure has flown by) If I remember there where about 5 to 7 of us maybe even close to 10. Just making our way to the big ol world of steem. There was no tag, no community and no Bot. Trust me when I say we where all lost. It did not take us long before we had our own tag. It was cool, you did not have to look for post anymore, just click on the tag. We felt like we where becoming big dogs. The average post value was less than 20 cents and we kicked them out atleast once a day. We manged to recruit some new members and the group started growing.
How do we get more Members!
Lets create a Vote Incentive Bot. See how I used the word incentive, cause thats was the intention of the bot. I do not remember exactly who's idea it was but the community (no longer a group) decided that if you could offer a vote service for precious metals post then we could recruit more members. But the most important reason was this right here.... this group-communitys goal was to expose as many people to precious metals as we possibly could. Therefore we had to get our post on the trending page for this to work. (Reson for the bot) Guess what? It worked before you new it we had well over 100 members and very close to 150 and the majority of them posting about metals. (Goal achieved)
The fall of Crypto
So we where going strong then all of sudden the great crashed happen and half of the group disappeared it seemed over night. We still had a strong core and where moving forward. Steem went from an all time high of $4 to a quick low of less than 50 cents. Then you had bot killers come out, they where against bots. For some reason they did not attacked our group very much, infact it was so few you could say not at all.
The fall and Birth.
Well we saw the fall of steemit and the birth of Hive. Here is where the water gets very muddy. There seemed to be a immediate decline in activity, including myself. But if we fast forward to current time it gets confusing for me. We have a community tag that no longer shows up on my blog if I use it. In fact the only way to see the post is by clicking on the community tab and then look for it. How does the rest of Hive see it? Then I go through the members list just to see that we have a little over 20 active members. Then I start going through ssg, by the way is it ssg, or sgs? I've seen both. Anyways I start to go through ssg-community post votes and I cant help but notice that over half of the post the bot votes on are not any way shape or form related to metals.... now remember the word I used early "incentive". The bot was created to be an incentive to post about metals. What has happened? I have seen all sorts of comments, like I am new stacker, I am busy, my stack is not very big.....etc.....etc..... POSTING ABOUT METAILS does not mean you have to show off your stack. If there is anyone out there that is willing to try and convince me that you cant post about metals. Then I believe my efforts in the past 3 years have failed. Now there is currently a Post out from ssg-community with a very important subject that needs to be voted on and I will live with the outcome of the vote, but I will tell you this.....
WE ARE A PRECIOUS METALS COMMUNITY, THE ORIGINAL PURPOSE OF THE CREATION OF THIS COMMUNITY WAS TO SUPPORT AND EDUCATED PEOPLE ABOUT PRECIOUS METALS. NOT ABOUT ANYTHING ELSE, NOT FARMING, NOT PHOTOGRAPHY, NOT ACTIFIT L, NOT RANT AND NOT CRYPTO.
Here is a link, in case you haven't voted yet
If this vote wins not to make anychanges to the current bot service, then I will put out a vote to change the name of our community. I am not really trying to hurt anyones feelings here, I feel like I have gone above and beyond for this community but I can not support a precious metal bot voting on none precious metals post.
By the way just to make this post about silver, I will ne giving away a hand poured piece of silver to one lucky SSG member for commenting on this post about your thoughts. All members who comment will be entered in to a drawing and a winner will be sleceted randomly. Don't send any hive!!! Just comment.
Thanks for time and understanding
Keep stacking
I'm on your side of the fence too. I know I haven't been around much lately but I don't think my kayak adventures or big tomatoes should get a 'metal' vote.
Thanks for all that you have done from the beginning Ray, I'm not sure any of this would be here without you.
Thanks Ed, I Know you have been here just as long. Thanks for the support.
Absolutely. Behind the scenes he has been an invaluable contributor and you only have to have a look at his donations to the monster raffles we held when we were fundraising for ssg-community to see how much he has put in. To this day his generosity still blows me away.
I couldn’t agree with you more. Although i do believe that an occasional post not related to metals should be allowed but the high percentage of post must be metals related. We do a chat in discord on saturdays at 3:00 pm est. i was very vocal but was shot down by pretty much everyone. I spoke me peace and got shot down.
Thanks for standing up to be counted. It is not easy sometimes to put yourself out there.
Thanks brother, and your right an occasional non metal post is fine. I mean we all have news excitment or anyother life changing events that we may want to share from time to time but everyday.... come on... thanks again brother, always value your opinion.
Anytime Ray. I was even being nice in the chat and said more then 50% and was getting shit. I gave up and shut up
I certainly appreciate the points you make even if I disagree with them. Honestly I think the token creation aspect is the biggest game changer. People are getting paid in several tokens... maybe you should create a STACK token for the PM front end..don't destroy things already in place but rather build upon the base that's already there but right now it looks like a community divided (vote was 10-10 last I saw) and that doesn't benefit anyone..
@neoxian came through and it's 13-14 in favor of - but I don't think he even delegates to the bot and I've never seen him in the discord so odd to see him weighing in with a few others I never see either. But I totally agree with the token aspect. What's the phrase - "if it ain't broke"?
"If It ain't Broke" @enginewitty, I reapect all the support and everything you do and have done for the community, but.... its broke and I dont think anyone can say that its not. This is not what it was created for. Now if it was a group like thealliance then post what you want as long as its quality. Quality was you'lls requirement right? As I can remember you guys did not budge on that, wich I respected, this is no different.
Many have the view that it IS broke. I know what the vision was when it was created because I was there and so was @raybrockman. It is not serving the purpose it was built for.
As for @neoxian he has been a member for a very long time and he supported us when we were getting this running not just with delegation but with donation too. Just because he isn't "chatty" that doesn't mean his vote and opinion does not count. He is still a member.
But it is still voting on metal posts too so isn't that serving the purpose?
I still think delegating to the bot should get a vote. I still think folks who actively comment AND delegate should get a vote.
I agree we have a LOT of dead weight in the list but I cannot understand why you guys are pushing so hard for this change to happen in such a short period of time.
You know what, I am starting to feel the same way I felt when the whales/witnesses were pushing ssg around a while back and I have a bad feeling about it so I am just going to stop talking now and let you guys save us.
Yes, I know there are still a handful of metals posts getting upvotes but it's a tiny percentage - a fraction of what it used to be. There are a lot more totally unrelated, low-effort posts than there are metal posts that add zero value to the community and because of that there is zero incentive to post about metals.
If we can't get the ship back on course now, then when will we? The answer is probably never. We could have got a proposal like this up easily 2 years ago, but the truth is - we didn't need to back then because people were using the service in the right spirit.
As for ssuk, I know you guys have history. I remember all that. He does rub people the wrong way sometimes but I've worked with him and he generally comes from a good place and works hard even if he says dumb shit from time to time that I don't agree with. Your screenshot is a good example :)
PS - When were the whales/witnesses pushing SSG around?
https://steemit.com/steemit/@ssg-community/2019-steem-silver-round-now-on-sale
#newsteem downvotes
Oh, that thing.
Have a look at the top comment and see who was front and centre sticking up for this community just 11 months ago.
We stood up for whats right and in the end we got a good result. Not just exposure but contributions too. It's just a reminder how quickly people forget. You don't have to be gone long.....
@summertooth, thats a classic insert foot into mouth response from SSUK.
You and I both know that it does not take any extra effort to produce a silver post or better yet include it in the non metal post. I mean instead of posting a walking map on actifit, why cant you post an ASE? this is being made out like its hard, when its not. But to have members not posting at all about silver has got to be unacceptable in the eyes of most. The good thing about our community is we all have opinions, I value yours as I know you value mine but we cant forget this is a precious metal community! Thanks for stopping by brother! Always value your opinion!
Ray, I agree with a lot of what you say on this issue.
I cannot understand why we are slamming through a vote on this without proper discussion.
@buggedout's post was an outline if I read it right, a starting point. Then, before a proper discussion can get rolling, @ssg-community proposes a vote on the outline with a three day window to vote and now we have a lot of pissed off people.
I feel this could have been avoided and I just don't understand the rush.
I never thought my discord comment would have offended anyone. I've been part of the community for over 3 years and thought people understood my tongue and check way of expressing myself. At least you get it Ray
People are easily offered these days and over think things :)
.
I am not necessarily here for tokens as I am for the silver content. If its about getting all you can get then i understand all the differnt tags and posting frontends that are being used, but we should not let that cloud what we are about. Thanks @daviddickeyyall all opinions matter to me!
I get what you are saying for sure. Feels like SSG more or less disappeared though, as you are one of the main voices. Everyone gets busy with life, I gets that.
Right! Its kinda like if you took a break from posting, you wouldn't expect photography post to disappear.
For me, I'd rather read about Metals than post about it. That's just how I roll. I'm the nature/photography guy...but LOVE metals, just don't blog about it. We are all in the tiny % of people that actually get metals, its a unique club. Most would still prefer a chocolate bar over an oz of shiny! Lol
I'm still writing here at a leisurely clip so I'm not here solely for the Crypto otherwise I'd be long outta here.
Writing Teresa D'Mordecai Part 10 for #fiestatuesday
Looking forward to reading that
@kerrisravenhill, thanks for being here, i can say that most of us are not here for the crypto but rather the silver. Its just an added bonus when you can take the little bit of crypto earned and buy metals with it. Thanks for the support! 😎👍
Although I must admit that I have been enjoying the boosts to my posts (even the non-silver ones with the #sgslife tag) because of my delegation, I can certainly understand why only supporting precious metals posts with the #silvergoldstackers tag is desirable and more in-line with the purpose of the community. So, here's to putting on my big-girl-panties and going with the logic!
Through this discussion, too, I have learned a good bit about the history of the Community which I did not know, only having been in SGS for a couple of years. So, this has been an awesome learning experience! 😊
@thekittygirl, 2 years is something to he proud of. Thanks for support! 😎👍
I don't care what change is made with the bot, I don't think I will participate/donate/delegate towards its funding any longer. Its not a community bot, its just a private upvote service focused on precious metals- which is fine I just don't want to participate. It gets all bound up in ROI for everyone and causes too many issues. I have struggled with the few who spend so much time running the bot, and a tiny amount of those who use the bot who actually donate for the monster raffle prizes. While it felt like to me there were a lot who felt entitled to a daily upvote and complained when things didn't work perfectly.
I am all about supporting metals content HIVE - just not this way anymore. I understand those who want to keep it running - its just not for me anymore.
@senstless it most diffently is a community bot. A community bot founded on precious metal content. I have always valued your opinion, and would hate to see you not participate. After all metals is what brought us together, metals should be what keeps us together. Thanks brother!
I am not active on chain much, too tired of all the drama. My feelings are probably half about the bot and half about hive/steem etc. I plan on still being a discord troll, i prefer to chat with people.vs try to create posts.
I think I've made it clear which side I sit on. As an after thought, the #silvergoldstackers community does have an account that upvotes ALL members of the community, regardless of quality or content. That account is called @myprecious and could also be used if people wish to delegate their HP too to get a better daily upvote and not use the @ssg-community service.
Thanks @welshstacker, you are the glue that holds us all together. You have gone above and beyond, it doesn't go unnoticed. Thanks brother!
☝️😁 This
I want what you got big daddy! 😲🤣😂
Left pocket is full of silver, right pocket is full of VET, you already got what I got.🤑🤑🤣😎👍🍺
Well, I am newer to the community but it seems like there are still a few new people coming in. I agree though, I think the purpose of communities is to post about the 1 narrow topic that everyone is here for. If you have a general post about something else that is fine but keep it to your personal blog.
Thanks for the opinion, and your right.
Thanks for the history @raybrockman. Growing pains... part and parcel of life, even for this community.
I hope all is well with you, my friend. Take care 🥰🌺🤙
Thanks @silversaver888, all is good with me, hope with you as well.
Great post Ray and i fully agree with your points.
I have been focused on other things but have always watched the community from afar. Having freed up some time and planning to return to posting from my main account, you've got my support.
Thanks @silverstackeruk, there may not be many who understand what you have done behind the scenes since this thing started 3+ years ago. Appreciate you brother!
I do belive it is time to get back to core values of the group and if you want to post about other subjects that ain't a problem But as ray points out the idea behind it was to promote precious metals. If we continue on this course we will just be adding garbage to our digital stack and nothing precious and if don't add value what is the point at the end of the day.
I commend Ray on his obscure quote from Sucker Punch and his drive to stand for what he believes in.
Thanks @monsterjamgold. I do not necessarily think all of it is garbage, just do not think it should carry a vote from ssg. Appreciate your opinion, keep stacking brother!
You are bang on point once again mate. Thanks for standing up to be counted when the chips are down. It means a lot.
Thanks @buggedout 😎👍🍺
Maybe you do not remember, but I was a very new member of the steemsilvergold community, around two and a half years ago, when I wrote a series of comments about Stax upvoting articles about what I called "Gothic Architecture".
I checked all the articles that had been upvoted by Stax for around two months and noticed that not more than 30% were written about precious metals or crypto. Many members of the community never wrote about these subjects, others wrote about recipes and, once in a while,talked about silver or gold, receiving the daily upvote no matter the subject of the article.
Many argued about this fact, but no solution was created.
Now I see that @buggedout wrote an article and proposed some solutions.
I did not change my mind and I approve everything he said.