Quality, engagement, popularity, and professionalism appear to be pillars of the Hive blockchain. I've learned it's an incredibly flexible system with the goals of decentralization and financial benefits for its users. Like any system, however, there are benefits and disadvantages. The intent of this article isn't to touch on the blockchain in general.
Quality and the Eye
I see someone's article as a presentation of themselves. You are putting your time and effort into something, and you want to display it to the world. If it follows some basic rules, and I see the article, I'll curate it accordingly. I will rarely if at all now, give a 100% vote.
I'm hesitant to write what I find to be high quality because I understand that not everyone sees things the way I do.
- What I'll do, instead, is to write down what I find to be the baseline.
- What is the minimum I look for that drives me to upvote a post?
- What drives me to downvote a post?
Before I get into this topic, I'd like to write about the support I receive.
Voting Trails and Delegation
I rarely vote at 100% because I see people in the Hive community working to improve their standing. Sometimes community members get support; other times, they don't. By reducing my voting power per article, I'm reaching a wider audience. It makes curation for a very long day, but I feel it's worth it. Doing this feels right to me.
Proofofbrain granted me a delegation to provide funding for managing the Word of the Week (WOTW) contest created by @Calumam. The competition is unique in its evaluation of articles and transparency. The community gets to see exactly how we evaluate and how the rewards and curation get issued.
Another reason for reducing my VP per article is because I've learned that I have people following my voting trail. It adds additional strength to my vote, and I must use this responsibly. The intent of the people following my votes and the delegation I have is to spread the wealth to those responsibly that I can reach.
When I use what I've been given, I have a set and repeatable pattern of curating that I follow. If I can't follow it, I ask for it to be removed as I have in the past. Voting trails and delegations are for people who intend to use them for the betterment of the platform. At least, that's how I'm handling mine.
On Moderating
I support the use of downvotes and upvotes on the Hive blockchain. However, my view on these actions does not necessarily align with others.
Upvotes
In my opinion, upvotes can be as bad as downvotes. If you consistently vote high on an article that doesn't deserve it, you reduce the value of the produced content. How would we feel if something we've worked hard to create has a fraction of what it's worth?
My employers ascribe a high value for my work in the real world and pay me accordingly. If they paid me a fraction of this value, my world would be a different place.
When upvoting, the Hive community and the POB tribe appear to have mixed feelings.
- Point #1: If an article receives an upvote, then the perception is that people like it and encourage you to produce the same Content.
- Point #2: If YOUR article receives an upvote, then Point #1 applies for various reasons.
- Point #3: If YOUR article DOES NOT receive an upvote, then Point #1 may NOT apply for various reasons.
Remember that just because you do not receive an upvote, it doesn't mean your article isn't worthy of it. There are a lot of factors in play. It's essential to bring up your concerns if you don't receive the support you feel you deserve. Some solid reasons may apply:
- Engagement
- Topic of writing
- Tag use
- Following
We can talk about these in the comments. Please remember, though, that I'm not an expert on Hive or POB by any means. I'll answer honestly and seek help if I can't respond intelligently.
Downvotes
Again, in my opinion, downvotes can have the same impact as an upvote. A difference is that there is a negative stigma attached to it. On my end, I use downvotes against certain behaviors like plagiarism. I have also used it as a disagreement with rewards.
However, I won't apply a downvote without explaining the reason for it. The reasoning is crucial because:
- It lets the user know about the reason for the downvote.
- The user can challenge the downvote or accept it and change the behavior that led to the downvote.
- Both people can agree to disagree and move on.
If both parties do not agree on the downvote, the Freeze Peach option is available, but I don't know much about it personally. You can apply for a counter to a DV and, if they approve, counter a downvote you feel is not justified.
If you disagree with a DV in the POB tribe, you can bring it up to my @scholaris.pob account, @trostparadox, or @proofofbrainio. I don't know that we've countered a DV before, but we'll look into it. None of us like downvotes, but we have an understanding of them.
I could probably write indefinitely about the pros/cons of voting. However, I'll keep this topic short for now. Don't forget to share your views on the topic.
The Basics
When I read an article, I avoid voting on articles that have the following:
| Criteria | Reasoning |
|---|---|
| Plagiarism | Images are not referenced with a link to the source. |
| Content is not referenced where applicable with a link to the source. | |
| Content appears to be spun or rephrased. | |
| Content Writing | Trolling, singling out people, abusive or violent language. |
| Spam in the article. | |
| NSFW in the article. (I've got kids, and I'll get fired at work) |
I hang on use of markdown, referencing, and citations because of my work in STEM in the real world. It would be best if you used it. I have seen careers end because of someone's inability to use it. I have seen worlds rocked because something so simple to understand got compromised by a moment of fraudulent behavior. If I find fraud, I will downvote.
As far as NSFW, I can't read that stuff as I have kids, and they're nosy. At work, most of everything I do gets monitored. I'm not losing my job, lol.
I haven't been notifying people that I can't curate their work for any of the above reasons. I should do that, and I will, but only for those articles that aren't earning. I won't do that for pieces that have made a reasonable amount of POB. People have the right to vote on what they like. It's not for me to downvote an article because I don't like the content.
Take Splinterlands, for example. I don't know a lot about the game, but I am fascinated by the lore, and I'm reading more on it. When I see some articles about stats and what they earn sometimes, I disagree with it. However, I won't negatively affect the rewards either. It's not my place unless it becomes fraudulent. I'll learn plenty about it in time, and I do not doubt that my disagreement will go away.
My position on content creation and quality are very similar to that of @nonsowrites who stated very clearly:
There is more to becoming a top creator on hive than creating quality content. For example, your stake, reputation, and contribution are important aspects to your growth/patronage/support on the blockchain. These things are all currencies and add value to your account over time.
It takes time to earn what you want. Let's work together to get there.
In Closing
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Let's continue to build POB into a platform that supports its content creators. I won't define quality for you. We have to do that as a community and then apply it.
I look forward to any discussions in the comments. Please keep them professional so we can use the conversation to build the community we expect.
This article was inspired by @insight.pob and @onealfa in their POB Street series. If you want to talk Proof of Brain, I would recommend starting there if you haven't.
My thoughts on curation:
I am also fortunate to have a sizable stake and delegation which gives me the privilege to distribute the POB token daily. I also recently noticed that my vote is being followed as well.
HOW I CURATE.
Engagement is important to me. Irrespective of your writing style or capacity, I always check for engagement on your piece of content. It is a clear message that your piece resonates with another person which for me equates value*.
I am also big on effort. The total presentation of your idea matters to me. So if you do a sloppy job I can easily spot it. I am trying to be less strict on this matter because I understand that not everyone can come up with top-notch content. However, a little effort will be appreciated.
Recently, I am starting to gauge the author's effort to share their content. Most people assume that this space is for dumping their ideas and getting rewarded. I would like that narrative to change. I will like to see people connect with other people by sharing their content with their communities outside hive.
Lastly, it is a marathon, not a sprint. Be patient and enjoy your growth. No one becomes a top author overnight, it takes time. You will have so many opportunities to prove yourselves, make sure you make do of those opportunities.
I think I'm guilty of this to a large extent. Most of my friends hardly even know that I write. Sometimes the stress of everything gets to us. We just want to quickly post something and wait for the rewards to accumulate, we forget that we're can actually Change some other person's life with what we write and also advertise the Hive on the process. Thank you for mentioning this.
Hey @chicoculbert,
I told you a few times and I thought it many more times. You really have potential as a writer and blogger and have great ideas and follow what is going on. I can also see that your IRL is tough. I don't picture you sitting in an air conditioned office pondering about what topic would be best for humanity. I picture you just lucky enough to have thirty minutes to get to a computer or write something on your cell phone.
I would like to hear more about your daily story. Where do you write your articles? Are you a student? I think the best thing you can contribute to POB is yourself. Tell us abut your daily life from an outsiders point of view so we can understand. I'm sure you can write great articles that inform, entertain and make us think.
One of the problems with the block chain is that we are rewarded for frequency as much as quality so as much as we would like to write quality posts we know that two medium quality posts would pay more than one high quality post and the quality of our writing is compromised. Many times I don't want to write anything but I write the only thing on my mind when I am tired at the end of the day. The strange thing is sometimes this has been my best writing.
Bottom line,
Don't worry too much about rewards. Write for yourself and write for an audience that you can actually picture in your head. What would Mineopoly say if he read this? What would my mom say if she read this? What would my teacher say if she read this? What would my friend say? What would Scholaris say if he read this? Then you are not just running off posts to get rewards, you begin to have some power in your voice and you find real rewards.
Scholaris is really clever. He doesn't give up 100% because he knows we can do better. When he sees us get really close to the mark he gives out that 100% but not often. From another curator I got a lot of 99.8% upvotes. It means "keep it up, but I know you can do better."
Yeah, you kind of figured me out there. The more someone reaches outside of their comfort zone, or goes outside of what I expect, the more I reward.
You've made some really good points I'm just now figuring out. I'll create another post that discusses the finer qualities of baseline curation after my studies this week.
I think the more heterogeneous everyone's voting behaviour is, the better. The individual votes, whether 100 per cent or using the entire range, is precisely the good thing about this matter, you can use the entire space. I don't think much of too strict a set of rules. For example, if I knew someone personally from, let's say, Venezuela, and that someone produced rather mediocre content but had problems making ends meet in their real world, I see no problem in voting 100 per cent.
I am generous with my hundred percent. Firstly, because it's in the cent range anyway, and secondly, I also reward articles that were written with effort and those that even contain only a part of my own opinion. My own voting behaviour, if it were applied to everyone, for example, would certainly not be generally conducive to the pool. If I had a higher stake, I would probably change my voting behaviour. I reject equal treatment among unequals. Different conditions should be treated differently, that's my view.
I feel the same way. That's why when I act on a disagreement for rewards, it's at an extreme level: plagiarism, duplication, and deletion.
The rest of the curating I speak about is my own guidelines for MY behavior.
Thank you for sharing your perspective and views @scholaris, especially with respect to voting. I also spend a lot of time curating articles, mostly because I thoroughly enjoy the experience of reading the diverse works of others and engaging with them when I find something truly meaningful or of personal interest. I try to curate as widely as possible, out of a personal interest to broaden my own growth and learning opportunities, to find new authors across a diverse range of mediums and communities, and to give value to the delegations that I have been blessed with recently. I see those delegations as a responsibility to the community to do the right thing. To read widely and reward diversely. You are so right when you say "quality is in the eye of the beholder" and at @nonsonwrites.pob talks about his personal effort, in this regard, to incorporate a focus on "author's effort". In managing my curation responsibilities I have also reduced the value of each upvote to a large extent, in order to reach more people, although I do give 100% upvotes (but my VP value is not as high as you both). I also use my vote to encourage those who I can see are putting in oodles of time and effort, even if their actual writing and structure are not quite there yet for me. By upvoting and engaging with them, highlighting areas that I enjoyed about their creative piece, and perhaps dropping in some gentle words from a personal perspective on what I would have loved to have seen more of in their work as a reader. It is up to them to find value or not in my feedback. I am curating more in the Inkwell (using my CCC delegation) and trying to read all of the WOTW articles each week. I upvote based on a combination of what I can objectively deem to be quality (in the vein of WOTW grading), and what I can objectively perceive to have required a lot of effort and time (even if the author has struggled with language, presentation, structure etc). I also curate in the Alive tribe as I have a few weeks delegation of Alive tokens left. The bulk of my delegation is however in Hive power and it is this that I hope to distribute as fairly as possible between as many people as possible. To this end, I support the dreemport curation project, the comet ranker project, and regularly support Prof. Trost's Gradnium and Proofofblind projects. I also have my favourite authors whom I follow and curate, my monthly contest for new Hivers where I pick up new people to follow and support each month, and then I do some random curation of creative works, articles, artwork, music etc. The end goal, to give back to the community as fairly and responsibly as possible to give as many people as possible the opportunity to succeed as writers on the blockchain, through both social and financial capital gains. It is quite the balancing act ... and somewhere in amongst all this, I need to find time for my own writing ;-)
Great post @scholaris. I agree with everything you wrote.
Yesterday, I made a post talking about monitoring the growth in POB and mainly focusing on the issue of creating good content, having an audience of people, which leads to being able to get good votes from the curatorship.
Since I received the delegation and realized that there are people following my path, I have also reduced my voting power in your case.
I rarely vote 100% now. In fact, I like to give a 100% vote when it's a post introducing a new person to POB, making them happy and showing that we're open to welcoming everyone.
Otherwise I have voted between 20% to 50% and an average between 35%
That way I can also reach more accounts, I look for new people and with that I also avoid sometimes giving a vote that can give a very high value on a post that may have gone wrong in my mind when I consider it good. I'm always watching and when I see that someone is abusing the "ease" I stop voting.
Finally, today I see that we are moving better in this matter of votes and rewards and having more and more people support it.
Thanks, Hranhuk. Surprisingly enough, it seems that Hive is favorable to higher voting on introductory posts. I'm not sure why that is, but I also continue a similar behavior as yours for new people.
Consistency is a key to curation, I suppose. I think we'll all get to where we want to be if there's a common path forward.
Quality one from you boss and it is good to see you sighting the pobstreet series too cause that as indeed help in terms of engagement and curation too in the community and good recommendation too to @onealfa for supporting such project.
As regards quality content that you talked about,I will just say people like me will keep on writing until I have attain the level at which icon like you in the community are.
Just like you said that it take time to earn what we want at times,that is a fact but of recent have gotten to know that it requires alot of hard work and dedication here to actually get to the top
You're not kidding about work. I'm still working on it. I found that I also need to be flexible and be willing to change my habits to adapt to the community. So long as I enjoy what I'm doing I feel I'll be fine.
Thanks for sharing. Can you tell me please when it is appropriate, and when it is not, to use proofofbrain and/or POB hash-tags. i would like some clear guidance.
Namaste
Atma
Greetings, Atma. Thanks for writing to me. It is always appropriate to use the #POB and #proofofbrain tags in all your work.
Regarding the niche communities like #pobpoetry or #pob-photography, it is also welcome so long as your content is tailored for them. So, if you're not writing poetry, or your post isn't poetry-related, you wouldn't use that specific tag.
Great, thanks for answering.
I was not aware of Freeze Peach. Thanks for mentioning it; I'll check it out.
I have never upvoted a DV'ed post to counter a DV (well, actually I did once, then immediately afterward realized what a mistake it was -- because the remaining 'value' of the DV was greater than the full amount of my upvote, so I literally just threw my vote away). When I observe what I view as a 'malicious DV', I prefer to counter them by following the 'victim' then upvoting other content by that same author by more than I otherwise would have.
I don't have a powerful upvote so if I come across a post from someone that is fantastic but past the payout period, I will go looking at their more recent posts too in order to see if I can give it an upvote instead. Another thing I do is engage on an expired post or unfairly DV'ed post, in the comments and if the author responds, I will upvote their reply comment as a way to reward their post. I have also tipped someone before who was maliciously downvoted, in order to balance the scales somewhat. it is great to hear that others too adopt these balancing activities 😍
Feel free to call me out too.
I never thought about that tactic. It's a great idea.
You're right about that sir, even have their own opinions and methods of getting things done on the Hive. But sometimes I noticed I've been influenced by the amount of activity I see in a post. If I see a lot of comments at first it'll draw me to want to read the post and share my own views but also from time to time I check on other posts without comments and try to encourage that author with a good Comment and curate the post.
The issue of having favourites is something we cannot stop, we're humans and we get drawn to some certain things more than others. For me I like to read really good stories, and relatable experiences, some others like to read about sports or crypto and the likes, that's why we have a lot of communities, that's what keeps the Hive going.
I must say I'm learning on a daily, it's not only about being a good writer or author, you must be able to sell your posts and appeal to the next person. It's a business in itself.
Thank you for sharing this amazing work
Must say, you post above is rich in quality. I agree with what you said, given you have such a hughe responsibility, you must use it wisely. 100% upvotes are a good thing but it's better to keep them low and distribute them to more people who are equally deserving.
Just remember, this is how I feel about things. It's in no way a directive for other people to follow. I see that sometimes people will give a huge vote for what I feel is minor work. I don't say anything unless the pattern constantly repeats. People look at that kind of stuff.
Hi @scholaris,
Thank you for you insight as a curator. I did reflect on my own power of voting and the way that I create here. I really just want to see people for real. If I have to share information that can be found on the internet I will try to give my own twist to it so far that is really becomes part of me.
Anyway...
The thing eating me up is I'm a little confused about the new pob-wotw....
Is this....
the word of the week challenge?
When is the deadline? Is it two weeks?
It would be really helpful for me to know and plan accordingly.
!PIZZA
The next contest starts this coming Sunday at midnight. I’m bogged down with work and school right now and need to finish grading.
Thanks for clearing that up... Take your time !LUV
Thanks. I just need to get through tonight honestly. I have another term paper to write tonight, but I can't really get started until the kiddies are in bed.
!LUV
<><
@scholaris.pob, you've been given LUV from @mineopoly.
Check the LUV in your H-E wallet. (2/5)
Oh, right now there is no word to put out. That comes this Sunday
I see. Thank you. Have a great week^^ !PIZZA
Singling out people? Could you like throw more light on that?
And to the abusive or violent language. What if someone was sharing an experience and the violent language was part of the experience, does that count too?.
So, if I had something against you, and I wrote a post about how screwed up you were that would be an example of singling you out.
The rest I would have to see to evaluate it. Nothing too extreme. It’s not like I’m going to DV it though, but I would discuss it with you
Oh okay then.
Thanks for the heads-up
I am wondering, if I use Ecency or Peakd when I curate in this community do I also curate pob tokens?
Tags... I wish that each community would post rules about how their tag should be used. Personally I try to stick to the ones where I have been made welcome.
!PIZZA !ALIVE
If you use Ecency or Peakd when you curate on your account, and you have POB staked, you would also be curating POB tokens.
Tag discussions work and they don't. I am not too sure everyone reads them enough to use them properly, but there are changes in some behaviors. It's a very slow process in my opinion. I think it will work with enough repetition.
Since I have been using tags, my posts have been performing better... But I think that's mostly due to the more experienced members. A few tags are very well monitored by their creators ❤️
!PIZZA !ALIVE
You Are Alive and have been rewarded with 0.1 ALIVE tokens from the We Are Alive Tribe, and it's paid for by the earnings on @alive.chat, swing by our daily chat any time you want.
“I see someone's article as a presentation of themselves”, you’ve got that right, sir. Totally agree.
Thank you very much. Quality is important, but so is everything else. It's more like "quality package" versus "quality article".
Right here, I am trying to build the support I received by engaging genuinely and creating a following for my account. I am also trying to come up with topics that interests even the next human and I try as much as possible to do so honorably.
Tag? I am not used to this yet, but, I am slowly learning to use the right ones at the right time.
In all honesty, I must say, paragraph one summarizes what Hive is about, and anyone seeking growth needs to look into this 👇👇
It's a lesson I unfortunately had to learn the hard way. I wonder, though, if I would have actually done differently if someone was there to teach me. Maybe I would have done better, but the lessons wouldn't have been as effective or personal as learning it on my own. At least, that's what I think.
I agree the lesson wouldn't have been that effective if someone had shown you instead of experiencing on your own.
I don't downvote often I just have my downvotes Delegated to a trusted user who seeks out plagiarism, phising scams and that's the main criteria.
I think it's important that we continue to protect our investment otherwise people will come along and rort it through malicious behaviour. - former PoB-WOTW
I never thought about joining a downvote trail. I didn't actually think they existed. Man, that sure would be a time saver on my part. I think if enough people do it on POB for justifiable reasons, then I would join one myself. There's a level of certainty I appreciate from reviewing articles manually for fraud. The certainty is where I use all the tools available to present to the community the reason for the DV.
It's just really draining. I don't like taking money away, but I'll do it provided I explain my reasoning to that person. There's just too many damn articles streaming in the blockchain. You won't be able to catch them all. Huh, I guess I answered my own question about the need for down vote trails.
@enforcer48 has a downvote trail and there is communication that goes to people except on phishing it usually gets shut down quickly and spam. We located a phishing scam a few days ago.
There is also a discord group which you can join
here
People can join the Discord and have a discussion around it and there isn't any silly apology posts that need to be done. It's a great system and I would recommend it.
Oh yeah, I'm a member of that group. I feel cool now. Yeah that site has been really helpful with learning the regulatory stuff.
I have learnt a whole lot of things on this article and I believe other authors would do. Those who have experienced downvote or negative feedback can also learn from this. One of the most important things a good author should look out for is the acceptability and social value an article gives. Bearing this in mind and learning from others will guarantee a good content.
Very true words. It's important to be professional when dealing with harder outcomes like downvoting. It's always essential to learn about how you can improve your performance.
That's quite an explanation for getting better on the platform. Lol. For those who really want to improve.
I agree with the point that an upvote (a huge upvote, in some cases) gives an impression that the content is worthy of it. If such an upvote is received by a low quality content it feels like "okay, so such a content is appreciated". I really felt disappointed when I saw spammy articles having really big upvotes. It made me think why I should put this much effort to my work if less effort work is being paid much more. That's another thing that I don't feel satisfied within unless I do my best in the available time and resources.
Curation is as big a responsibility as writing quality content is. No, curation is even a bigger responsibility. It decides what behavior is going to flourish on the platform and community. Quality indeed lies in the eyes of beholder but there can be some objective criteria as in the case of pob-wotw evaluation. It is not necessary to agree with anyone in order to support. I personally think if someone has put efforts to come up with explanation of anything (no matter how much I disagree with the point), s/he deserves to be upvoted if I come accross the post.
Pob-wotw has added betterment to my work. Every time I try to improve. I look for the aspects I can improve on and so I grow positively. If the efforts of the authors are taken into account with such a transparency, it encourages to put more efforts.
Thanks for this exploratory article @scholaris describing your perspective on curation.
I'll get to the wotw evaluation in the next post. I just needed to establish a baseline for deciding to vote on an article. The wotw contest is a perfect example of an objective attempt at standardized grading. It...takes a long time to do it, but it's there.
The exploration will likely take place over three articles where "Curation Station" is the first. The next one will be "The Quality" or something similar.
Waiting to read the next articles
Thank you for writing this article, it is very useful, I am not a writer, but I like to write. All the rewards given by my fellow hive community I am very grateful for because it is a motivation for me to keep writing. Thank you
I'm glad you find it useful, truly. I plan on putting out at least one more in the next week. This first article meant to provide an overview on what I see as important. The next one will be a little bit more specific. I'm trying to draw on what I've learned here and what I've seen in this community at least.
This post gives a clear idea of what kind of content is appreciated here.
Although my work is not top quality but I always make sure to use my own photos and write my own content.
Thanks for you reply. It’s my attempt at explaining the bare minimum for what I and others look for, but there will be more that follows. I just don’t want to get too specific because I don’t want to tell people what and how to write.
It is always good to know what kind of content curators are looking for so that we can keep improving our skills.
My main focus on this topic, for the next one or two posts, will be to try to present what all curators look for in an article. It's the reason why I'm trying to present a generalized article. My next one will be focusing on the aspects of quality. Where this article focused on what an article needed, or not needed, to have for me to look at it, the next one looks at how basic quality will get at least a minimum curation reward.
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Hi
Curated for #informationwar (by @aagabriel)
Delegate to the @informationwar! project and get rewarded
So your a whale, and you sound like you enjoy your perceived power to censor posts. That's not a trait to encourage. Try having a more open mind when reading. No one likes a bully, which is how this post frames you. Anyways, you will be more comfortable after you take the stick out. Good luck curating as a nicer person.
Wait. What? By all means provide examples you used to present your flawed logic. You're perception is off friend. Not only can I not censor posts, but it's kind of pointless unless to even try on a try unless there's justifiable abuse. Lol, I think the stick you reference is in the wrong place. Anyway, thanks for the deluded comment. It provided amusement.
I'm far from being a whale. Keeping your eyes open would show you that fact. I recommend reading the article before commenting next time.