I was bored and doomscrolling through hive earlier, about the time my voting power started to run low I discovered that there wasn't much left to do if one wasn't in the mood for reading or writing. I have a bad tendency to get in a mood where I want to do something but none of the available options are satisfactory, that was definitely the case earlier. It did get me thinking though, about alternative means of entertainment and engagement, particularly on here.
I've written in the past about the need to attract and engage non-content creators if hive is to really grow and catch on. As I was attempting to brainstorm alternative ideas it occurred to me that I was essentially wrestling with the same problem but from a slightly different angle. At first I didn't really get anywhere, usually the harder I try to think about something the less successful I am, so after a bit I set the thought aside and turned my attention elsewhere. Later, as I was scrolling through my photos trying to figure out what to do a post on, the photos themselves gave me an idea.
These photos are from the Kentucky State Fair a few years ago and made me realize that games were a possible solution! I'm always down for a game or two of something or other and it's a great way to fight boredom. I know there are things like Splinterlands and some other games that are being built on the second layer that are starting to get going but I'm not really talking about that, those require a degree of knowledge and investment that can be discouraging to the casual user.
How can we make it possible to 'play' on hive? What can we do that is entertaining and accessible to casual users and longtime crypto enthusiasts alike? It doesn't have to be a game in the strictest sense of the word, that's just the closest thing that came to mind, anything that is entertaining and will draw peoples attention, give them something to do and keep them coming back will do.
There's lots of contests on hive but in my experience they largely seem to involve either getting something of yours (be it art/photos/music/writing) selected as the best or else have winners randomly selected. While this is fun and enjoyable it's not the sort of thing I turn to when I'm bored and looking to kill some time. I also feel like this can sometimes be discouraging to casual users who might not feel like they have what it takes to win. What can we do that's fun and requires no special skills or knowledge, that even a newbie to crypto or the platform can easily participate in?
I feel like this is something with relatively simple and easy solutions, we just may need to think outside the box a bit. I suspect that the whole post/comment/upvote routine has us trained to only do certain things on here (with something to be desired in those departments as well at times), so how do we broaden the experience that is hive?
A few final thoughts before I quit rambling; as I was writing this a 'digital scavenger hunt' came to mind as a possible example. I'm not particularly interested in one but I'm sure some might be (someone may already be doing that, I've just not heard of it) and it gives you something of an idea of how I'm thinking of getting people involved/engaged. Sometime in the near future I'm going to make another attempt at starting a contest to give away NFT art on my @hiveart account, in the meantime does anybody have ideas on how to get people interested in contests without giving away HIVE as prizes? Please drop a comment with your ideas or suggestions, let's see if we can make hive a little bit more fun!
How about a chain story?
You start off with the opening sentence . People have to come up with the second sentence to the story. Once you get ten responses, you chose one for your story. Then people have to submit the third sentence and it goes on and on and on...
A collaborative story, I like it! I sometimes have trouble even getting ten responses so the details may have to vary but that could be quite a bit of fun. Thanks, I will have to give this more thought!
The initial engagement might be low, and on second thoughts, a sentence might be too short, maybe something like 30 words. Ping me if/ when you start anything
Yeah, I was thinking a paragraph would be about the right size but we could experiment with that. I will be sure to tag you! If nothing else I can always throw in a few HIVE to incentivize engagement with the first few :)
@tipu curate
Upvoted 👌 (Mana: 135/150) Liquid rewards.
I also felt that same way a week ago and I searched for something fun but couldn't get any, I had the idea of introducing a dance competition which would be really fun but I'm not sure people would be interested in sending a dance video. What do you think
I think you could definitely find people interested in something like that but it may take some time before it gets much in the way of participation. I'm not for sure if there's a community dedicated to dancing but I think it'd catch on much quicker if you could partner that with a community. Lots of times around here it seems like it takes everybody seeing someone else doing something a few times before they catch on and join in.
I say go for it! You don't lose anything by trying and very well may find other people that enjoy it as well.
That's fine but a starting point is to identify the dancers, which will be a bit difficult
True, all I know to do is throw a post up and see what response you get. Maybe mention it for a bit in your other posts and see if you get any positive responses? I tried to start a contest and got zero entrants so I'm by no means an expert on this :)
When you got zero entry what did you do next, would love to know?
I'm still trying to figure that out myself, haven't tried it a second time yet. Will be doing so very soon, will let you know how it turns out.