Thank you so much for your thoughtful comment. I meant to reply to it days ago, but I think it must have been my bedtime. It stuck with me, in fact, and I was in the process of writing something else when I suddenly remembered your comment and that I had not responded.
I feel so grateful at the overwhelming support I received on this post, and it has been hard to give every comment the considered response it deserves.
What struck me about your comment, among other things, was that you mentioned that what I said about people from developing nations resonated with you. I find this to be a very interesting and strange dynamic of the hive.
On the one hand it gives people from a wide variety of cultures the opportunity to interact, but, at the same time, there is this pachyderm in the room. Specifically, the wealth gap is vast. A few upvotes to one person might mean coffee while to another they might mean survival, and I am not sure everyone is aware of this. It makes downvoting for trivial reasons particularly cruel.
While I see the need for the downvoting option, I think it should be used with extreme caution. I have seen many posts with which I vehemently disagree. I downvote none of them. I think people are entitled to be mistaken in their views. Lol. Seriously, though, I wish people would reserve the downvote for extremes like phishing or worse.
That being said, the positives I have seen this week are, for one thing, this overwhelming support, and, for another, I realized that people are reading my words. That might sound obvious, but when I write elsewhere, I often can tell from comments that people are, at best, skimming, and, at worst, only reading the headlines. Of course I want to be treated well and I would love to make a bit of money, but to have my words actually be read and considered by others is a great honour in my opinion.
I really love to write and maybe it’s sort of a weird addiction too, but too often, people have begged me not to do it! Lol. I am speaking here of friends and family who have been the unhappy recipients of overly lengthy email diatribes on one topic or another.
Anyhow, thanks again for your insights. As I mentioned, they stayed with me and I combed through the comments until I found them again to reply at long last. My apologies for the delay.
People have got things going in real life, so I don't take any offense when they don't respond to comments once in a while, as long as it is not a habit. A late response has never been an issue with me either. I really appreciate that you eventually are able to respond.
Hive is a blessing to many, including myself. I have never tried to hide this fact from anyone. I don't even pretend for a second like the rewards don't matter. But I don't throw tantrums if I don't get rewarded and I've never also tried to game the system in any way. I'm a firm believer in giving as much value as possible back to the platform as I get from it. I want the chain to grow so that I can also grow with it, so I'm always conscious of everything I post.
Much as we've got people surviving on hive, there are also bad actors looking to profit from the opportunity that the blockchain has got to offer. Hence, the evolution of downvotes. A thief remains a thief, even if he does it to survive. Disagreeing with a post is never enough a reason to downvote though, to be honest. I reserve my downvotes for blatant (emphasis on blatant) case of plagiarism or abuse. At worst, I will rather not upvote.
On your writings, perhaps you just limit your posts to a particular length. The attention span of an average hiver doesn't exceed 5 minutes by my own estimation. In other words, if you want genuine engagement on your contents, don't make them too long. Build your own audience around your niche and ignore every other dramas that could be going on on the chain.
Thank you for your insights. I think you are wise.