One of the benefits of not traveling, is that I have been looking deeper into my photo albums for images. I have tens of thousands that I have taken over the years, so there is no shortage, but there isn't always something that covers every topic I post on, so I tend to use some of my favorites several times.
I am not sure how other people choose their images, but since I use my own pretty much exclusively, they aren't always perfectly relevant. However, I think that posts that have an image of some kind are more attractive than those without, so it is better to use something.
In general, the formatting options for posts on Hive are pretty limited and I am hoping that one day there will be more options for styling so that a blog can have a personality of its own through look and feel, kind of like what WordPress or even the simple website builders like Wix allows. But I think that many more users would be needed to make it worth implementation at this point, as I would say that not many would use it or at least, keep it consistent.
Yet, I do think that a frontend that improves the formatting options and makes it simple to build clean, smooth viewing experiences through for example templates, would do pretty well. I wonder if it would be useful for communities to have a couple of formatting template options available to differentiate themselves a little - I can imagine some of the art communities building some nice designs and I think that this is starting in some way. Possibly, there could even be a market for template themes.
Of course the thing we are lacking the most on Hive is the viewing audience, as there is a far greater ratio of content contributors than there would be in other platforms. But, I think this is also natural due to the incentives of the platform itself, since it pays more to post than to read and to get paid to read, stake is needed, but to post it isn't necessary.
On other platforms a lot of the incentive to post has been removed, as the platforms have been monetized in a way that cuts out pretty much every user. I would predict that average users are posting less to Instagram and the like these days, even though the post counts are possibly going up. I think the reason for this is that while there was hype and incentive early and the possibility is there, most users have been relegated to consumers as there isn't the social "payoff" there once was.
It could also be that the average user is engaging more with the popular content from celebrities and politicians, rather than their friends families like they used to. The friends get "nice post" comments while the public topics get emotional responses and drama. Perhaps people have learned that the return on investing into the post just isn't worth it, so they slow down and start scrolling more themselves.
For me personally, there is value in the creation - value in the doing. I literally feel better having created something for the day, much like if I had done a good gym workout or solved a problem at work. There is a physical reward for being creative and that is a lot of the attraction in my participation - not to mention there is also the psychological payoff, as the clearing my head gives me space to work on other things plus, I sleep better.
Of course, I can create "anywhere" and get most or some of these personal returns, but the added incentive of getting some financial return adds another layer of motivation, as does the chance to participate in what I (and others) consider the next evolution in the technology sector and, one that affects the economic sector heavily. IT has generated a huge amount of wealth in economies - but it hasn't changed the economic system* itself - blockchain and crypto have a chance of more than just shifting the needle slightly.
I believe that the social platforms out there leverage our desire to be heard and find relevance for their own profit, but do not care whether we ourselves are healthy, unless they can make more profit on us. Using those platforms for many seems much more a cry for help than we acknowledge - and I am pretty sure that if the platforms wanted to give us a picture of just how broken we have become, they could, but that isn't good for their bottom line.
While I believe that Hive encourages creativity through the incentive structure, it also forces us to think about those bottom lines and just how they might be reached. Many people look at Hive and say, how come there aren't more people here, how come they prefer Facebook - but don't seem to question, what it takes Facebook to retain those users - to keep them addicted.
In my opinion, we want a platform that people enjoy for the content and the benefits of creation, not because they have been manipulated into staying via algorithms designed to trick them into thinking they are having a good time - while scrolling through the endless feeds of people they don't care about, doing things they will never be able to do. They feel that they are in love - but it is unrequited - there is no return of emotion. Only more take.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
Master clickbaiter!😆
;D
@ew-and-patterns must have said it because you use the sexy leg as a thumbnail
Gor me the best thing about Hive is it develops a more invested community in each other. Facebook tends to have superficial communication often not thought provoking because its algorithms feed you themes and not necessarily individuals. Here at Hive its much more interpersonal.
For me one of the greatest joys is that it can act like a portfolio for my creativity. I can write fiction and musings. Often i get feed back and communication to go along with it. Its a lot more satisfying than a "like." the communities here if engaged right have more substance to them. Its not just a never ending scroll or feed.
Our fates definitely seem more intertwined here. They are everywhere of course, it is just that we pretend we work autonomously.
I have found the same. I used to get a fair few likes on my various social platforms in the past - it alll felt empty and useless to me, even then.
So logically I guess you were using a long lens or something, but it's much more entertaining to imagine that they were sitting on your head when you took this xD
From a personal design point of view, being able to arbitrarily resize and place images around text would be amazing.
From a webdev point of view, given some people's "amazing" design skills it would be a train wreck and the way they've got things set up now is much safer and makes sure that everything always looks presentable and that the overall layout of the site isn't destroyed, even though it generally looks boring XD
There are quite a number that do a great job working around/within those limitations though :)
Business does seem to be purely a numbers game no matter how pure the intentions when they started out (if they were pure at all XD).
:D
It was a short lens. It is my wife - so she lets me :)
At least give some options in the interface to make it easier.
I understand the webdev view too - but it might be interesting to have a halfway point - a few templates to choose from.
It's technically not that hard to have a halfway point (assuming by "halfway point" you're meaning some post layout template type things or at least means of juggling text and images in interesting ways), it's just more code to maintain and more things to break if they have to change or refactor something down the line XD
Hard to argue with results.
H.L. Mencken.
That is an interesting quote. The assumption about "ideas in their head" because they are "educated" is a big one imo. I do think however that people are better off when they create something for themselves - even if it isn't something useful :)
You had me there.
Amen.
And I do enjoy creating here. It reminds me of a long ago place where I once blah-gged for years -- I'm looking forward to engaging and learning on HIVE.
I've been following for a very long time ... since STEEM. I'm sticking around for the long haul. Most, because of content creators like you.
blah-gged.... :)
I am hoping that there will be creators coming and staying, even if they don't get paid much. There is far more to it than that and I reckon if enough decent creators give it a go, they will realize that they have a chance to take back ownership of content on the internet.
dang it you have a point | but we don't have time to think about past memories because of fast world you have to be on you toss to save your ass because world is relentless and we live in it to tell you the truth I don't have time to even go out to different city to enjoy thats how bustling over life have become
That is a very long sentence without punctuation :D
Amazing photo !!! No, great, the best, in short - no words.
And yes, I agree with every word in the last paragraph :)
:)
It is a bit clickbaity ... :D
I don't know about facebook and instagram algorithms, but sometimes when I see my hive feed, I feel like we need some of those algos here too.
Sometimes, it's difficult to find content here that's worth reading.
Yes, it is hard to find content at times. But, I am not sure that it is so bad considering how few are here ;D
Yeah, and you are putting content worth like 5-6 people alone😅
10-20 more people like you and there won’t be any shortage of content😅
I think everyone should up their game :)
My beef is to get people to actually red the posts here.
I mention the camera that I use in my posts and I get this; "Great post, what camera did you use"?
Now I know that it might be a person that struggles with English, so I answer kindly, but I think that reading is a big issue here.
Somebody also need to explain to me what the use of followers are here?
A lot of people don't read that much, which is obviously an issue for someone like me who writes a lot. However, I take it as many don't read much at all, and a skim is better than nothing. A lot of the shares on social media are done by people who never read the article past the first few lines - this is the internet.
Followers aren't overly useful, the importance is who is following - stake and influence matter everywhere. I can't affect who follows, but I like to think at least, that some of the people who take the time to comment care somewhat about why they are here.
You know all of this and yet you ply your trade. That's admirable and I will just continue to do the same. Who knows, maybe one day...?
Almost a fatalistic outlook here at the followers issue.
Time for me to overhaul my own follows once again, as lately some drivel appears in my feed. But then again the hive price is low and when it drops, many folks post only for the sake of posting. One should take pride in one's blog methinks!
*There's that moment! When you check your tags, check your title, scan your post.... and click.... 'Post'...
You clap your hands back and forth vertically as if you're brushing the dust off and sit back in your chair for just a moment... taking a satisfied breath...
It truly is a great moment... isn't it?
No additional users are required to improve typography.
Not to add few more options either. A better looking content view could do wonders in signing up more people. Although it may be a lot of work to switch to for example Markdown Extra, which WordPress markdown is based on IIRC since that's an implementation on chain level.
If I scroll through for example Mix, it is difficult to share Hive because we look so... outdated.
Then again, I'm not too big a fan of too many options either since too many people think they know what looks good but most of their type styling creations will be only good to smack them in the face with. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Pictures do matter on social media because humans are mostly visual creatures. A good picture with a story will always draw attention.