The Hive meat market

in LeoFinance4 years ago

When I was in my mid-twenties I would head out most Friday and Saturday nights with my friends. We would first start off at someone's apartment for drinks (because it was far cheaper) and then at 11 o'clock (apartment silent time), head off into the wilderness of the city to see what we could hunt. Nearly all of my friends are women.

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The meat market

There was a bar in the city that my friends liked to frequent because it was +23 to get in, meaning that they didn't have to compete with younger women - this sucked a bit for me, but I made do with what there was on offer - it was a hard life. It was a large area with several bars and access to a hotel nightclub. Every weekend, there were several thousand mostly singles looking to drink and mingle. Finns are big drinkers, which is often the only way they can pluck up the courage to talk to anyone of the opposite sex - or perhaps, it is so they can lower their standards and have an excuse for what they wake up to the next morning. This place was a meat market.

Good times.

But, in this hall of future broken promises and despite the heavy drinking, things still generally turned out the way it generally does - people matched up with people similar in "rank" to themselves. This isn't just a looks thing, it depends on multiple factors and personality mattered, the ability to speak, the willingness to have a dance, the self-control to not end up sloppy drunk and asleep in a booth with vomit rolling down the shirt - you know, class.

Personality matters

Okay, so I wrote an article asking what people hope for when posting and inevitably there were two factors that came into play - engagement and value through upvotes. No real surprises there considering that these two things are fundamentals of the Hive premise.

Now, I don't know if there is a "formula for success" to get either of these things, but what I have experienced is that it is much like the meat market of that bar I used to frequent, personality matters - being able to talk, being interesting and, being able to listen - as after all, communication is a two-way street.

Separately, engagement and upvotes are possible, but it is in combination that things become trickier.

Engage and Vote

Engagement can be achieved through creating some drama of some kind and pushing some community buttons so to speak - but this doesn't necessarily result in large upvotes and could very well see the direction of the pool diverted away from a post and an account over time.

Upvotes are possible through building relationships with accounts in various ways like those that get support from circle voting accounts, but this doesn't mean that there is going to be engagement on the content itself - evidenced by a scroll through Trending where we can see random upvoted content from users who got a big vote and those in circles, but no or low comments on their posts.

What you will find is what @abh12345 demonstrated in his post on payout and comments the other day. Those who are getting consistently getting larger payouts are in two categories - those who get comments, those who don't. Those who don't get comments are likely fitting into one of the circle categories of some kind, those who do get comments and large payouts are generally those who have built their account up - generally around themselves and what they do - their personality.

But, remember the meat market. It is easy to engage with people at the bar and have a discussion (after a few drinks for some), but it doesn't mean that someone is going home with you. And, going home with someone doesn't mean that they are going to wake up and be in love with what they find there. Relationships can have purpose, some shorter than others - but for long-term viability, there generally has to be engagement and upvotes - meaning that there has to be conversation and the continual buying into the relationship itself. Each day saying "I like talking and being with you for some reason, so I am going to stick around" and it is through this that people get supported in a relationship. If people get taken advantage of in relationships often enough or their support is never returned, generally there is seen as dysfunctional by one party and the relationship ends.

Content and consistency

It is because of these relationships that content matters, but consistency and personality matters more. When it comes to a social relationship, people don't hang around others because they have skills to write or they are smart, they hang around them because they enjoy their company. There are alternatives to this also, where some people hang around others because they admire them or want to be like them, get some glory by association or just because they are rich - or appear so.

Being rich might get you into a relationship, being a decent person helps keep you there - being good in bed doesn't hurt either.

When it comes to building a personality, consistency matters as those who are inconsistent are applied a lower level of trust than those that are consistent. People see consistency as post frequency, but this is only one factor. Consistency of personality is by far more important and erratic behavior is generally not seen as a socially positive state. Happy one day, complaining the next, all in the following and then rage quitting on day four - Is this the person you want to be in a relationship with?

Give me your sympathy

This is definitely how some accounts tend to operate on Hive as they are happy when the votes are coming and crying bloody murder when they aren't, they don't mind seeing others flagged, but if they get downvoted scream again, positive when price is up, negative when down, all in on Hive one day - talking about how it is a failure the next ... things are never good.

What I found at the meat market bar is, complaining people didn't do well.

The "sympathy sex" strategy might work at home in a relationship for some, but complaining about how much your life sucks doesn't get one very far at the bar - unless standards are very low - and very drunken. People like to feel good about themselves and part of that is being around people who facilitate this through being feel good people. Don't misunderstand this though, in the bar, being a bit of an asshole helps, but it has to be the playful asshole, not the arsehole.

Birds of a feather

Generally when we choose the friends that we spend the most time with, we will look for people who are supportive but honest with us, people we can trust to be even-handed in their approach and we enjoy the company of. Why spend time with people we don't like?

Well, that is a whole different kettle of fish as this is the internet and some people look for engagement through creating controversy and adversaries, which can work, until they get ignored. The interesting thing on Hive is when these types also want the other side of the feedback, the upvote part, as often that isn't going to happen consistently as they fail in the personality component, the one that people want to consistently be around.

Often, like minds and personalities will congregate together and when positive, it can generate a great deal of energy that leads to development and growth - when negative, it can generate a lot of destruction. People that are always complaining might feel that they are adding value through criticism, but they don't seem to factor in the cost of their approach and what it takes away from the experience. When this is a constant barrage of complaint, it will drive eyes away from an account.

What meat are you offering?

When we go to the bar looking for some engagement, we likely have a shower, do our hair and put on what makes us feel good and possibly, what we think we look good in. We put our best foot forward, we make an effort. For some people this is easier than others, because they have habits that keep this in check, that makes being well-presented easy, simple, natural. Others have to force it and it is pretty obvious as they will miss the flow, look uncomfortable and out of place - trying to be something they are not.

Authenticity is definitely a large factor to consistency because it allows a person to do what they do, be who they are, without having to be force trying to be someone else. The problem is on Hive that people will often be who they are and that is someone that isn't overly attractive to the community for engagement or upvotes, but expect the same results as those who through luck or habit, have a personality that people might want to gather around. The expectation of uniform result despite approach and offer is a little bit crazy, no matter how unfair that might sound.

Attentions and intentions

While some people like to put forward anything for the votes and others for the engagement, what they might be missing is the consistency and personality development that attracts both in combination. It doesn't mean that they can't do this, but it likely takes more time than many are willing to spend and if the personality isn't conducive to being socially attractive, they might need to change a bit - something many don't like to do, which is fine - but there is a cost to doing what you want.

This is a social experiment much like going to the bar and seeing who is going to end up with who, which groups are going to gather together, which will sit in the corner laughing, which will sit in the corner crying, which will be on the dance floor being admired, and which will be on the dance floor inappropriately trying to touch people. There are all kinds here, but being the creepy, overly-drunk, staring guy with drool and wet pants - means going home with the prettiest girl in the bar is unlikely.

This is the meat market and some people don't have a lot to offer those who are browsing the stalls - either as a range of products or the customer service. Many businesses do better than others because of the people that run them, not what they sell.

Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]

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... in the bar, being a bit of an asshole helps, but it has to be the playful asshole, not the arsehole.

Really tough to get this balance right, and the beer doesn't improve judgement at all :D

It definitely helps try to be consistent with personality, hopefully your normal self, just as much as the content you produce. My stuff can be all over the place at times, which if you believe what was written in the earlier days would not work out.

With 3.5 years of communication though, the person's person, if fairly consistent, can be evaluated. Happy to fall into the category of lazy, loner, who spends his upvotes on beer :)

Desperation is never a good look either :D

I think your content is a mix of personal as well as the generalised value of the data sets on top. I think there is a good mix for many tastes to grab a piece of and engage with.

Spending up voted on beer will hopefully be replaced by buying beer with upvotes :)

A bit like the meat market - plenty of different tastes available.

Do you mean those I upvote buying me beer in the future? I'll take it :)

Do you mean those I upvote buying me beer in the future?

Wouldn't it be cool if I could upvote and get you the 4 week tasting selection from @meesterboom ?

I was never one for sticking to my rank in the markets. I always aimed high cos you never know what rank someone who plainly outranks you actually ranks themselves in.

Ah, good times were had!

I am still batting far above my average :D

Best way to live!

Which puts us in a different category in that pub of life doesn't it?
We always get the desperate ugly chick and her name is always charity. In fact she is beautiful inside, but due to the rebuffs by society there are many battle scars on her face.

She has a most caring and beautiful soul, but she evokes guilt and transparency and her father's name is Truth, which all of the popular avoid like the plague. Life is such that poor charity will always be poor and desperate!

Only the real drunks go for her lol.

We always get the desperate ugly chick and her name is always charity.

:D

I don't put a lot of weighting on the looks past first sight, after that, they better have a personality beneath the skin.

Not when you are pissed mate.
Then everyone somehow becomes beautiful lol.
Been there a long time ago.

The "sympathy sex" strategy might work at home in a relationship for some, but complaining about how much your life sucks doesn't get one very far at the bar - unless standards are very low - and very drunken. People like to feel good about themselves and part of that is being around people who facilitate this through being feel good people. Don't misunderstand this though, in the bar, being a bit of an asshole helps, but it has to be the playful asshole, not the arsehole.

This is the best analogy I've ever met.

Got it, no more pessimistic content. Pink glasses are dressed, I ready to will write positive :)

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There is a difference between critical and pessimistic I believe - I can be critical and still remain positive :)

Ah the bar and club scene. Rarely worked for me lol better than never though hehe.

The roller coaster people make me laugh; hive is great, give me attention, give him a downvote, NO don’t downvote me! Hive sucks, I’m leaving, wtf no one cares??? lol ur investment will die!!!1

The many stages of the moocher are comical.

better than never though

For sure.
It is fun for short periods, but gets boring.

The many stages of the moocher are comical.

Pretty much this is the name for them, isn't it - moocher. love it, haven't heard it in ages.

God this is appropriate: I've dislocated a finger, Besides a bit of pain, I have a problem typing in any normal sense. I've made this to copy/paste so I can at least let my peeps know that I'm reading. Sorry about this whole mess.

I'm just meat. I react with and to people that I know like and trust.

Thanks

I'm just meat. I react with and to people that I know like and trust.

Aren't we all? i hope your finger gets better and that it isn't your middle finger - as it would make driving hard. ;)

Fortunately it is my little finger so driving is no problem 😂

I've spent the past decade working in bars, and I agree with your analogy for the most part; and every social setting has dynamics which could be compared with others.

Bars are by nature a late night entertainment and not to be visited every day but the major difference (I hope) between being here on Hive and being in a bar is honesty. People go out to a bar or club to pretend to be someone their not or at the very least put on an act in the hope of having fun and if lucky getting laid.

Do you think that Hive is just a market to sell a persons writing or is there a chance it could be something more than that?

People go out to a bar or club to pretend to be someone their not or at the very least put on an act in the hope of having fun and if lucky getting laid.

Hive is full of these people, but they generally don't last long - much like this type in long-term relationships - reality leaks.

Do you think that Hive is just a market to sell a persons writing or is there a chance it could be something more than that?

much, much more hopefully. It is just a content delivery database at heart, it can deliver just about anything. I am hoping that the major usecase will be tokenizing pre-existing communities and games - empowering them in ways they hadn't been able to prior. Free transactions help a lot in this :)

I really hope you're right my friend and you're so accurate reality does leak out and after a while a person cannot manage to keep up their facade.

The notion of empowering pre-existing communities and people is the best route and hopefully the most probable over the next few years, I completely agree.

I think we all miss those days and definitely some good and bad memories. It is very true as I believe you are selling your self through your posts. If people hang around and support you they see something in you as a person. Not the autovoters but the ones who tend to comment and read your stuff.

I think that even the autovoters are okay in general, as at least the larger ones I get, they tend to comment from time to time too. I don't expect everyone to read every post, but at the same time, the support also allows others that are interested to read too.

great subject line.
Immediately struck interest as I had to see where this post was going.
peaked with mis-aligned interest, I click thru.
Only to find a well written post the made many good points (consistency is a huge one)
Wait, did I really comment huge one, on a meat market post? Sigh.
Thanks for the read, and a better path than I thought is was going down.

I am glad you weren't disappointed at what you found.

Wait, did I really comment huge one, on a meat market post?

:)