So this will be different from my usual #500wordsaday. I usually just pick a picture and start rambling to see where I end up. I've learned that the ramble tends to end up being pretty focused. This time, I actually have an issue in mind which I would like to discuss.
When I first heard about this blockchain, I wondered how I could find my place here. What kind of content did people post here? Taking a look at all of the tags, I noticed that poetry was an option. I had written a little poetry in the past, so it seemed like something I could ease into. Plus, I had experience from posting on other sites in the past. I figured it would be kind of like that.
My previous experience mostly revolved around web 1.0 type bulletin boards. On these platforms, the topic with the newest interaction went to the top. So if I posted a poem, then commented on a poem, the one I commented on would be at the top right above mine.
To make a long story short, to stop abuse of this system, website administrators for one of the sites I was on implemented a rule:
For every post you make, you had to comment on at least three others. The goal was to ensure that each poem had at least three comments on it. Authors received words of encouragement and sometimes advice. Bonds were formed, artists collaborated and engagement was very high. Looking back, I now see how amazing it was to get so much engagement, especially with poetry because it is a difficult subject on which to comment.
So when I started posting poetry here, it was more or less natural for me to comment on the work of others. I also figured that in doing so, others might also reciprocate and comment on mine. That's basically what happened albeit a lot slower than my previous experiences. A few would reciprocate here and there, and in those instances, I formed really strong bonds and still have some of those bonds even off of the blockchain today. Other times, I was in such a drought for comments that I would straight up ask people who received a comment from me to just read my work. Sometimes, you just have to ask for it. Anyway, that had mixed results.
Eventually I got more involved with other things on the blockchain. My energies went toa things like flag wars and whatnot. I still tried to maintain some presence in the poetry world, but my engagement through commenting was lacking. At the same time, there was a trend in poetry to do low-effort posts and plagiarizing published works but changing the words. The language of poetry makes it difficult to spot such posts. I honestly got caught up in the feeling of not wanting to be duped and ended up preferring to abstain from voting anything that wasn't quickly apparent as authentic. This resulted in very decreased engagement on my part.
I want to start refocusing myself towards those efforts. Poetry is a bit of a strange place when it comes to commenting on the post. The language is sometimes intentionally vague. Readers often shy away from potentially offending authors by interpreting poems incorrectly. So it is important to work extra hard to overcome these obstacles. I once wrote an article about How to Comment on Poetry, and I figure that the best way to teach it is to demonstrate it. So that's what I'm going to do, time permitting.
To be honest, the main reason I like commenting on other's works is that they are usually so appreciative. I get some that seem to be really touched by my interpretations. I have received many heartfelt "Thank yous". It's rewarding.
My hope is that through interacting with other poets, I spark others to engage more. Perhaps they will start following the 3:1 rule and leaving 3 comments for every post they drop. Who knows, maybe the movement will spread throughout hive. That would be great.
Well, I gotta go. It's late here. See y'all around.
photo by me, Cheektowaga art by my daughter
I really like this idea @moeknows, especially since it doesn't revolve around monetary rewards, and focuses instead on the other awesome currency we have here - genuine engagement. I've found that when comments are tied to upvotes (as in "upvote/comment me, I'll upvote/comment you") you end up with the banal, "GREAT POST!!!" types of responses. But when you've thoughtfully commented on someone else's work, you're a bazillion times more likely to receive the same, even if it's not from that person (because people recognize genuine engagement when they see it).
I agree with @niallon11 as well that interacting with new users would definitely help, and I'm trying to do a bit more of that as well (although I'm still loads behind on replying to comments from old users at the moment... oopsies... 🤣).
It's one of the reasons that as much as I like all the other interfaces here, my preferred is @steempress (which is undergoing a branding & coding revamp - can't wait until @howo & @fredrikaa announce it's ready!), because it has two way comment integration. I think having my WordPress blogging friends see the comments & replies I get here is one of the best ways to get them interested. 😊
Thank you, and I agree. I like the idea of comments being a currency. I also like the idea of quality over quantity. Removing direct monetary rewards creates a freedom factor that mitigates a lot of issues with this blockchain.
I agree, but it just occurred to me, I think it might be a broader human nature thing as well. A few years back, I belonged to a Facebook group devoted to bloggers supporting bloggers by commenting on posts, RTing, liking FB pages, and such.
The group eventually disbanded because so many people joined & just did the, "link drop" thing because they were looking to boost their stats, which soon overwhelmed the genuine supporters. However, I'm still in touch with many of the original members, and we still support each other - the Hive community reminds me of those genuine folk on many levels.
They had such a good project here originally and I still feel that it's a great way to get more content onto hive. Get them started and eventually they will want to know more and join with a full account.
The one thing that they fell down on was marketing it the last time which seems to bae a wek point across the chain and it's projects. You can build the best idea in the world but if people don't know about it, then it will never take off. Market an add-on to your blog that gets more visabiity and maybe extra rewards. Who wouldn't want to add it??
Count me in
Awesome. I'm thinking of starting a #3for1 tag but it might get confusing.
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Five4One is good one.
If we want to take 500 words a day community to next level then we build a system that allow members to create a content only if they commented 5 times with 5 different content.
Or create Five Token per comment and then make it 25 Five token burn per n new post
Kind of paying it forward with the three comments, neat idea and it is hard to comment on poetry man. Wish ya luck!
Thanks. It isn't that hard if the poetry is good. I mostly just reflect on how it makes me feel... my own interpretation.
Thanks for stopping by.
The only thing I don't like about the thee comment rule (I was on a similar one for writing) was that at times people would leave empty or quick comments with little or no thought on the subject. Just so they could post themselves.
I'm glad This is not always the case though.
I know exactly what you mean. My hope is that the voluntary aspect of it precludes some of that.
Thanks for commenting.
This post has received a 100.00% upvote from @fambalam! Join thealliance community to get whitelisted for delegation to this community service.
I find that while the numbers aren't huge. The engagement here is genuine. The few people that do read my work actually read it and want to comment. Niche communities are great for that as they group people together of similar interest like poetry and help them to form bonds and get to know each other.
I find anything posted to other sites tends to get little interaction or just fights in the comments section rather than proper feedback and debate. Anything that you can bring to the table to expand our numbers and engagement is a plus. It would be great to see new users coming into communities and getting noticed and talked to straight away. That would be a unique selling point as a social media where people enjoy posting and come for the community. It won't be easy but with enough people doing the right things it can be accomplished.
3:1 sounds like a good place to start.
You know, that's a good point and one which I haven't considered before. I'm hoping that if the 3:1 rule is voluntary, it will lead to some good comments.
I just think that engagement is very important on a small platform. On places like facebook most people don't even comment on the work but just read the articles and then argue in the facebook comments section. Nothing of benefit to the author. Here it is a motivation to know that people are reading and enjoying your work. That there is a point to keep doing it.
Very true.