Before and sometime after the Hardfork, most of the automated voting activities went down and many people, possibly scared of not getting their autovotes, didn't post. However, is this the best thing to do?
In my case, it doesn't really matter if the autos are up or down, I am going to post anyway, likely get some engagement and have a rollicking good time as normal. Often though, there will be manual votes coming in from those who read and, those who are roaming.
And it is the "roamers" whom I consider an opportunity for those looking to get some visibility, because even though the autos are down, there is still incentive for them to use their voting power. This means that they will search their feeds manually more instead, increasing their odds of seeing new authors through reblogs and community feeds they may be interested in. The chances of getting seen are also higher because lots of people choosing not to publish when the autos are down.
But, this is an opportunity that doesn't necessarily yield immediate or visible results in the short-term, but in general, nothing of value gets returned in quickly with anything, especially in regards to matters of ROI.
But, all of the opportunity of this aside for a moment, what I find interesting is how people's behavior changes depending on whether they expect votes to arrive or not. Many of the people who enjoy a high level of auto votes won't post, but I think that this indicates something about the personality and reasoning. Is it really so bad for the well rewarded to not get votes on a post a two?
Yes.
At least in some people's eyes, because it is seen as a "loss" of income, because there is the expectation that the autos are "theirs", like a salary. Doing the work and not getting paid the salary due is not taken well. However, it is also this mentality that leads to entitlement mentality, and once that settles in, it usually ends up pretty volatile. Because, the votes aren't ours. But if we think we are entitled to them, when they stop, we feel cheated. And when we feel cheated, we tend to not react very well, as evidenced a hundred times in the past over the last years on Hive, through those who believe that the rewards they are provided, are a paycheck.
I think that the "paycheck" mindset is one of the most limiting factors for content creators on Hive, as many start producing to get paid, which ultimately backfires in the longrun, as they end up targeting potential "employers" with content that doesn't necessarily interest them or, they aren't particularly suited to deliver. This creates an inauthenticity that is transparent to most people, especially the larger voters who are accustomed to getting targeted for votes.
Then there is the mentality of being an employee that settles in too, which seems to then use what is earned as a salary to be spent, rather than an earned reward that can be invested. This means that rather than becoming an owner, the creator is continually an employee with no skin in the game and, completely reliant on the votes coming in, which ultimately go through waves and may stop completely.
How do they react?
Let's go with .... "badly".
After all, they have been fired from a job that they think they are performing adequately enough to get a salary for.
See the issue?
The reason that this interests me is that I have been a soft-skills trainer for a good while now and I have seen these kinds of behaviors in the real world. However, in the digital landscape and on Hive, these emotional reactions go largely unchecked, meaning they rage out of control. Rather than approaching it with tact and understanding, it becomes outbursts that just can't be taken back, leaving the only avenue available, a double-down on the emotional reaction - which ultimately costs them more.
I believe that while we all work in our "own self-interest", most of us have been conditioned to actually work against ourselves, as out "intuition and defaults" are not aligned to actually getting the results we might want, often acting in direct opposition to achieving desired outcomes. But...
It feeeeels right.
And I think that this is one of the things that is developed with entitlement mentalities, the feeling of correctness, without reflecting on whether it is correct at all. But in order to do this, a little emotional control is required.
Does anyone have any to spare?
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
This is a timely piece. Sometimes, it is nice to look beyond the rewards. The animal instinct is just everywhere, and with humans too. Condition a person to a specific stream of benefits; to observe their reactions, simply remove part or all of it and watch the dog bark.
It is usually hard to look beyond the rewards, though, and I feel the best policy is to always hope for less, and be happy when you see more. As a newbie (relative to you), that has been my guiding policy, that has been why I still manage to blog occasionally without having some autovotes attached to my account.
I wonder how we newbies could attract autovotes, I am yet to figure it out!
Once someone thinks it is theirs...
Engage, be part of the wider community, learn about the platform, take an interest in people and what is going on here...
We all write for different reasons. This is my time, when I write here. As a solo mama, having me time is really important and I struggled with that in the past, but now I make it a priority and plus I get rewarded by with and in so many different ways. It's my outlet, I have community on here and yes I really appreciate the upvotes.
Writing has always helped me process things. So I write most days and the last two I wrote, because I get to create.
I agree there are many advantages to posting when the autvotes are down, there is more visibility for sure and the opportunity to let our ego's go.
Real nice reflection here @tarazkp, one that is important for many to see xxx
This is a big thing too :) I also reckon it is a good chance to post and reflect on the experience of not getting votes (again) and how that feels. It is a good reminder that it is better to hold personal standards, regardless of the votes :)
On Hive I enjoy engaging more than writing and posting actually; yet, sometimes it's the opposite, I guess it just depends on what my feed and the chain currently has in store for me.
I do a fair amount of "browsing" every now and then, to look for posts that I like or can relate to, maybe even leave a proper comment down below. It's nothing forced though, as if I must comment, maybe the usual "nice, wow, keep it up, agreed" just to show that I'm here, present under the post haha. If I feel like I can add something to the post/conversation, maybe even get into a proper debate, then I will surely be typing down my thoughts.
It's actually the opposite when it comes to other forms of social media though. My activity is very low when it comes to the common social media platforms, and I barely even engage with people. Even if I want to comment or reply, even if I have a bad "scratch" of setting someone straight, I just end up ignoring, because it's mostly keyboards warriors there lol. That is why commenting here on Hive actually feels rewarding, because people on the chain are ready to hear what others have to say, learn about new things, at least see and try to understand other people's perspectives too. That is why I never miss a chance to conversate here on Hive.
Yet, it's sad that the activity on the chain is very, very low when in the bear market; it's like people aren't interested anymore, or maybe they just head towards some other platform.
Mood affects the comment or post behavior for sure. Some nights, I just wish I didn't have to comment at all - other nights, I could write 100 in a row :)
I feel it is always better to add something of value n a comment that is related to the topic at hand, or an additional thought on it. Some use the comments only to push their personal agenda, even if it has nothing to do with the post.
The other social medias have largely become voyeur platforms, average people not posting much o substance, but they are still there spending hours on the endless scroll.
Well, I sure as hell can relate to that one. 😂
I'd say that's a green signal for WEB3, a much needed upgrade that we all need. WEB2 is just filled with garbage right now, it's a waste of time, an addictive form of distraction.
Meanwhile I didn't post because I decided to wait for my designated progblog day (aka the only thing I actually post with something resembling regularity) and to coincide I decided that's when I'm going to give my schedule a kickstart after being all over the joint with reltives over. You know, normal things XD
It's also entirely possible that they were waiting for things to settle down in case posts got eaten, I seem to remember that happening to me at least once in previous hardforks (though they may also have been comments rather than root posts),
How's it going with the relatives?
And yes, some might have waited for it to settle, but I think that when you see them coming through the feed still, it is pretty safe - though when they are coming through with very low votes... :D
Sibling dearest has gone home now (she came up for a couple of weeks a week or so after our parents left), and then I had to make myself take it real easy for a couple of days to make sure a cold that managed to settle in (I was doing fine til I got dragged out to this huge shopping centre dammit XD) didn't get worse (it managed to get into my chest but didn't get as bad as it could have, stupid lungs, one chest infection once upon a time means chest infections forever apparently).
It's always nice when one lot of us is visiting the other :)
I don't have any to spare.
I did post during or slightly after the hard fork. I think I get a few auto votes, but since I do not post on a regular basis, I do not think it is a big trail. I think the auto votes did work though by the time I posted since I got 133 votes which is kind of in line with what I normally get.
One of the more technical services seems to always run, but not many use it.
That is probably true. By serving ourselves and not the whole, we can prevent our full potential. We can become our own opposition. Kind of like that flutist who shortchanges her orchestra rehearsals only to offer a very mediocre performance.
People think they are "getting away" with something, but don't realize the costs, as they become hidden and incalculable.
Quite daft if you ask me as this is the opportunity many should jump at.
Most people are too lazy to get one foot off the floor to walk - let alone jump :)
I can't help but be surprised about the human race on an almost daily basis. Then again, most behavior is pretty predictable ( on and off Hive ) haha!
Yes, it is predictable :D
And people predictably do not help themselves much.
I am partly guilty of this. I assumed that that my dragon age videos will do better than my splinterlands posts because they take more time and effort. In the past I did let's play of a few other games and they were doing pretty well. But so far my splinterlands posts are doing better.
first world problemsLol - you are right.
"I am not earning enough digital tokens for the time I spend playing" :D
The world of earning has changed though and hopefully, we don't become wage slaves again by choice.
Ironically, I am seeing that some of my manual votes done through hive.blog are not registering but they are on peakd!
I was having a little issue getting comments through today. I generally use both interfaces depending on what I am up to :)
Me too. I have been hopping back and forth like a madman! It will settle down soon enough I think
Yeah - and I will still be hopping around :)
Last time I saw this many hops was in a brewery!
Hmm unfortunately it's not just the automated voting activities that are affected. I do have a few "Lists" of blogs/users that I have classified for daily/weekly reading and possibly upvote, but now, these lists are not loading as well. I manually had to search "tarazkp" to get to your page and see this post.
If I could use an analogy, it could be something like my address book in my phone is wiped out and I could only contact those whom I actually remember their phone number now, which is pretty tough. Lol!
Let's hope they fix this issue soon.
Have the issues cleared up yet? Also, you might need to switch nodes, depending on what interfaces you are using.
The stability is significantly better today. I am using PeakD and I saw the popups to switch nodes, been trying to switch but it seems that the problem is still not resolved. Maybe I will wait a few days or check around with others. Thanks!
Are you using keychain as well?
If so, you might want to go in there, go to advanced settings and change the node from automatic to for example, api.hive.blog in the dropdown.
Yeah I have tried to change but it doesn't work for my "Lists". At least the "Following Feed" is working so I will just read my posts from there. Thanks for helping!
It didn't affect my decision to post... I'm just trying to get back into the habit of doing a minimum of seven posts a week. I have plenty to write about, just need to stay out of the comments long enough to do it.
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Comments are a great source of inspiration! I get into the comments a lot, because I think that is where we get to know each other the best on Hive :)
Same here :) ... I just tend to lose track of time when I get started, so am trying to balance it out so I get to put out a post too :)
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I have been doing manuel votes for more than one year. However, I think hiveauto is a great application for those who have not much time for HIVE, but would like to earn curation rewards. Thus, the HP of users wouldn't stay idle and would add value to the blockchain.
That is how some people use autos. But, some are just lazy and never have time, which is why they also cause problems, when the people who are voting aren't paying attention and the content is crap.
I needed to see this. I use to be very guilty of this but not anymore. These days, I just make a oust and forget about it. I think why a lot of people make that mistake because of the mindset with which they joined the platform. When you believe you're here to get rich, it's suffocating (I experienced that) but just flow and explore, just like you're on Facebook or Instagram and the likes. It's fun and less draining at the end of the day.
The idea of getting rich here is possible, but it isn't a fast process. I know quite a few who have managed it, but it has taken investment in money, effort and time for the most part.
Exactly
I think engagement should be the primary purpose of a newbie on hive. That way, you're not less expectant.
Hi, I don't know much about this digital world, yesterday I made my post and then someone told me about the Hardfork, I still don't understand it hehehe, but receiving beautiful comments on my post made me feel very good and that also counts. Greetings.
If you really want to participate well, it is a good idea to start learning about how the platform works too :)
I believe if you really love what your doing on the hive blockchain the auto upvote won't be a problem if your not getting any but showcase what you love doing.
It can be hard for many to "forget" the rewards - but I think that it is better to not worry too much about them, especially at the start, and instead learn how the platform works and take part in the conversations.
It's true that many people stopped posting in the immediate aftermath of the hardfork when auto upvotes weren't coming. Many were even scared. Auto upvote has both advantages and disadvantages. But I think we should refrain from blocking a certain amount of posts under all circumstances.
What do you mean by blocking posts?
In order to refrain from publishing the post, the word block was written by mistake.
Auto upvote will not be a significant factor when posting quality posts.
Those who are aware of the hard fork will not be scared.
Quality or not quality, autovotes are blind. But, posting crap will rarely attract significant autovoting :)
Sorry to ask this noob question (though I am not noob to the platform), but where do they get these auto-votes? Does that mean they can post crap and still get nice upvotes? If yes, then that is so unfair to so many hard-working Hivers who are posting high-quality content consistently.
As Nonames replied, I will add that they geenerally get them from people who are interested in their work at some point, but often they end up lowering their quality because they see the votes as "guaranteed" - those that post crap, generally learn that they will lose their earnings.
Oh now I get it. I am not against auto-voting because I receive them sometimes. What annoys me is people who are consistently taking it for granted by posting craps and people who never respond to their comments. There is an artist here who does exactly that. In the earlier days, she used to engage with her followers/readers, but as time passed, she started to receive big auto-votes and stopped replying to her comments 🙄. I hope those voters look at the posts they voted for and ask; is this person adding value to the platform, is this person continually posting crap, is this person engaging with her readers, should I continue/discontinue voting his/her content? But nope. They keep voting and voting 🤦♀️.
That's precisely why they get downvoted in those scenarios. Of course more often than not the one on the receiving end of the downvote in that scenario will then claim they're being treated unfairly but the reality is their behavior is terrible for morale, as you pointed out. I'd sooner see the one deemed to be a leech pout and leave rather than hundreds working to consistently be their own version of impressive.
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It didn't affect my decision to post... I'm just trying to get back into the habit of doing a minimum of seven posts a week. I have plenty to write about, just need to stay out of the comments long enough to do it.
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