It's not every day you say that you enjoy seeing advertisements. In fact, I do my best to avoid ad's as much as possible. When I'm scrolling aimlessly on FB and get sucked into a dumb video I didn't intend to watch but find myself a minute in, and then it states...
That's my cue to cut bait. I'm out.
But this post is about more than that. It's about...
As I was saying, I don't like seeing ads, normally. I'd gander the only 2 people that enjoy seeing ads are the people who buy off of them and the maker of the ad. Seeing your ad bring you what you wanted has to feel good...and buying something you wanted, probably made you feel good (even though a few get some degree of buyers remorse).
So in contrast, I have really liked seeing HIVE in my face on my FB feed for the past few months.
I have liked, commented, shared, and even posted some links in the comments to Hive posts relative to peoples specific questions.
The comments from outsiders seem to have a common thread, however. This was a quick exchange of dialogue with @lordbutterfly regarding this matter...
Some ugly comments from the mainstream folks thinking wer nazis because we support freedom of speech
Me
That seems to be a running theme on a lot of the FB ads I see, too. More just a sign of the times I think. Sadly.
The first line in the ad reads:
"What if you could interact online with others in a safe space for self-expression and creativity?"
The comments from the outsiders read as such:
Another "Q-anon" safe place??? lol, nope.
This is just another place for conspiracy theorists and nazi sympathizers.
and it goes on like that...
So I asked myself...
What is a SAFE PLACE? and does such a place even exist?
Well, to be 100% safe, you'd have to hide from everything and everyone to avoid outside injury, but that wouldn't preclude you from accidentally injuring yourself, or even injuring your mind by being so isolated.
So to me, there is no 100% safety guarantee.
However, Hive offers something other SM sites are not.
That is communities, with the power to come and go as you please. No one forces you to stay and no one can force you to leave. It's a consensual online platform, where niceness and not being a douche, is incentivized (not saying they don't exist).
The nazis can have their community. The q-anon's can have theirs. The Left can have theirs, and the right can have theirs.
Regardless what these outsiders currently think...holding bad ideas like nazism is not a popular thing. The goal isn't to kill these people, the goal is to change their minds. Disassociation works wonders.
So by safe space (I honestly don't really like the term) I'd say we have communities that you could join, with like minded people, who share your same ideals, beliefs(?), and share a common goal.
My current favorite rapper, Tom MacDonald has a bar that fits very well here...
If I got the right to free speech, you got the right to not listen.
If you want decentralized SM and don't want to see nazi anything, right anything, religion anything, then don't join communities affiliated with those ideals.
A nazi posts on your blog and you get triggered??? Mute him, problem solved. Never see his posts again.
That is where I think the safe space phrase comes into play.
YOU CONTROL THE CONTENT YOU WANT TO SEE! NO ALGORITHMS BLASTING YOU ADS AND NO HIDDEN, BEHIND THE SCENES PROPAGANDA FROM ZUCK OR DORSEY. NO BANNING, NO (real) CENSORSHIP. YOU OWN YOUR CONTENT.
Sadly, like I told butterfly, it's a common theme to be triggered now days...free speech is crumbling and many people would rather someone die than hear the words they don't want to hear.
Safe Spaces don't, and won't, ever, exist for some people.
For now, however, Hive offers the best alternative.
If you're reading this and are not already on Hive, here is my referral link where you can sign up.
What do YOU think? Is HIVE a safe space?
I can see why more mainstream people think this way... with alt-right conspiracy theorists getting kicked off mainstream social media, they've tended to take over less well-known platforms... and they can be very threatening of any non-alt-right concepts, with death-threats flowing so quickly these days.
So yeah, I get it.
Censorship resistance is so much bigger than that though, even right now Tik Tok's algorithm tends to suppress creators who aren't skinny, white, attractive young women, so Hive really needs to position itself for literally every other community. Even though it's not my thing, it's super cool to see so many makeup tutorials getting really good post payouts. Hopefully that community is sharing their success with the outside world.
In answer to your question, I absolutely think that Hive is a safe space. There is no algorithm that controls who gets seen and who doesn't. You see who you follow, no more no less. It's brilliant!
No doubt that when FB & Twitter threw down the hammer on conservative leaning posts did people flock to these new websites like Parler, Gab, and Flote. Still though, those are all centralized sites, AFAIK.
But what they lacked was communities, which would have allowed the triggered happy to avoid them, unless they of course wanted to stir the proverbial pot.
But it was everywhere, and those sites paid the price for being deemed alt-right, or whatever.
If your definition follows that line of thinking, then I totally agree with you. It's unfortunate that anyone who deems anything offensive, anywhere, gets a pedestal to scream hate speech or violence or whatever, and people applaud.
This road we are one may be a long one, but I'm glad I'm here early to enjoy the ride.
I honestly do think the almighty algorithm is to blame for our current state of unrest.
The algorithms love conflict... because conflict = engagement and engagement = eyeballs for advertising... so not only does the most offensive and emotionally charged content bubble right to the top for everyone... but the ones screaming hate speech or violence also bubble to the top.
Hive has no algorithm, and even if your front-end of choice bans you, and/or people downvote you into nothingness, your words are still on the blockchain forever... and anyone looking for you can find you, even if literally all you have left is HiveBlocks.
Def agree on the algos controlling the divisiveness. Feeding the fire, no doubt. Doesn't take too many triggered NPC's at the top of the feed to make it seem like everyone thinks like that, while logical and common sense replies are buried under the not relevant tag.
Hive for the win. Forever.
Is Hive a safe place? You bet your sweet hiney, it is! But not just for a select few topics, worldviews, or mindsets, but everyone (that is EVERY one). And yes, that includes folks who represent the exact opposite view of yours! And if that happens to be racist, sexist, q-anon, Nazi, than that's what it is. Likewise, if it happens to be communist, cross-gender, granola-hippie... well, it is equally that. If you can't take it, a thorough look in the mirror is recommendable.
I myself tend to get quite annoyed by both extremes of the spectrum, still I will support and defend both to have their right and their place to spew whatever crazy ideas they might have... as long as I don't have to be part of it. And how they deal with being offended is also up to each individual. My tip: don't let things get to you! Other than that, if discussions get too heated, and the topic out of hand, there needs to be mechanisms to keep things in check. Which bring us to the great shortcoming of conventianal web2 social media, and the amazing advantage Hive provides. Because if you can get the bottom line to work for you versus working against you, even the most aggressive cyber-bully will make sure not to step on any sensitive snowflake toes! On the other hand, in the right tribe the most offensive content (in other circles) can generate massive popularity, not to mention money. But those who don't like it don't have to see it. Thank you Hive for upvotes and downvotes!
Finally, about adds, I used to hate them. In fact, I may have missed out on some good videos for not wanting to put up with them. However, once LeoFinance started including adds, they skyrocketed from a regular tribe to something wonderfully amazing, still in the Hive ecosystem, but completely beyond it. So once again, I have to flash the "it all depends" card.
"@stortebeker, was never one to be a man of few words..."
lol, I couldn't really agree more with everything, man. My thoughts almost to a T.
Ad's are up to the communities, just like everything else. It all depends is a great way to go about it.
Thanks for swinging by as usual man!
Hahaha, only when I feel something needs to be said. And these days I see a bunch of false dichotomies leading to illogical conclusions on mainstream social media, which drive wedges between people, so I could totally relate to your post.
Bingo. and the parade marches on...
Hahaha, only when I feel something needs to be said. And these days I see a bunch of false dichotomies leading to illogical conclusions on mainstream social media, which drive wedges between people, so I could totally relate to your post.
I agree with this. I have seen Hive users block someone with another point of view from their discord group for having an alternative (and in my opinion, a rational) point of view.
It does. Its called Hive. There is only 1 thing a safe space needs to provide you:
A place where you can speak your mind without fear of being silenced.
That is a safe place in my opinion.
All the extremist ideologies werent defeated by hiding them. They were defeated by confronting them.
Unfortunately, the more widely understood definition of "safe space" seems to be a place in which nobody can say anything which you might be offended by or disagree with. '1984' should be required reading.
That is not what my kids will be taught nor something I will propagate.
AND THAT IS THE PRECISE REASON THIS IS HAPPENING.
People are forgetting what words meant, and that sticks and stones are just that, but words can never hurt you.
Some where along the line, words became worse than sticks and stones. They became violent once their pronunciations hit the air waves, at least to those triggered enough to think so.
I'm glad I'm not alone in how my kids will be raised. Leona is already on the right track.
Ah... sorry to inject myself into this conversation... but I do disagree with your statement.
I can't imagine that you would teach your kids to use racial slurs at all, and definitely not in front of the people that those slurs were designed to hurt. I'm sure you personally wouldn't use the "n" word towards a group of African-American men even if they're using it freely amongst themselves.
Words have so much power to oppress, or to lift up us all. I know we tease younger generations about everyone getting a trophy, but they're also so empowered to explore who they are and who they want to be and to speak up when there is injustice.
There probably aren't that many words that going to hurt you or I... but I think that's because the majority of the world has been our safe space for a long time... we're definitely in the minority there.
Anyway, happy to disagree... I know this topic is extremely complex and nuanced, I just wanted to offer an alternative viewpoint.
I can only speak for myself, but I think you maybe read into that a little wrong dude.
Words have meaning. They can be used in a positive manner or a negative manner. They can lift up, and they can put down (notice I didn't say oppress).
I, personally, more than likely, would not. Context is everything. But I most definitely would not use it in a derogatory term.
I am raising my kids to share compassion and understanding for everyone they encounter, regardless of insert difference here. I'm instilling in them the difference between right & wrong, and to stand up and say something when they see and injustice. Granted, my oldest is only 4, so we have a ways to go, but she's a sweetheart and so far, plays well with kids her age.
Hell, my kids are half Korean/ half Norwegian, they'll probably, unfortunately, be on the wrong end of the stick when it comes to bullying as young kids, simply because they look slightly different. But that's not on me, that's on other kids parents to do their job.
Definitely complex and nuanced, thought I would clarify my statement and add some context.
Awesome! It looks like I might have, because I definitely agree with everything you've written in reply.
It's such a complex issue... but I do hope that Hive can become a safe space for people. Yes, there will always be consequences (downvotes or mean comments) but for those people that need to get ideas out that their governments or the tech companies dislike (ie, it could be vaccine-hesitancy or it could be speaking out against the CCCP) then Hive will be safe for them... we can keep spinning up front ends faster than they can block websites...
Thanks for your reply, always enjoy your point of view.
^ THIS!
Censorship drives bad ideas into the shadows where they can fester and grow like a cancer. One grain of real injustice fans the flames of perceived wrongs driving many hateful ideologies. We need discourse and debate, with our upvote/downvote mechanism as a way to reward good discussions, if we want real progress instead of echo chamber nonsense.
Wow, that seems like a some pretty ignorant people making those comments. As much as I don't want to see some stuff here on Hive, I know that they can have their own community and I don't need to interact with it. I wonder if those people feel the same way about Reddit. If not I bet there are a lot of subs they ignore.
Ignorant for sure. Not even willing to look into it to see what it's about.
Free Speech??? You must be a nazi!!!
Freedom to associate and disassociate is the only consensual/non-violent way to participate. These people prefer force, unfortunately.
It's sad to see comments like that but I think your Matrix association is right on the money. They're just not ready yet.
It's a sort of Stockholm syndrome. They're comfortable in their shit, and scared of everything else, even when they know they're literally sitting in shit. But the time will come...eventually.
The rewards earned on this comment will go directly to the person sharing the post on Twitter as long as they are registered with @poshtoken. Sign up at https://hiveposh.com.
Thanks @ericwilson!
Ah... I thought you were the same person. Are you on Twitter at all?
I'm not on Twitter. I've avoided that & Insta for quite some time, trying to do my part. But the best way to defeat this monster might be the belly of the beast. So I may have to grind my teeth, bite the bullet, and submit soon enough, to try and spread the good word through any channel people are tuned to.
Well, if you do... we'll be your friends!
My Pleasure :)
Is this your Twitter account? Following you now...
It's mine - just giving some support to @intothewild
Thanks! Well, I replied to one of your tweets because I thought you were @intothewild but you were also making some great points anyway.
Not entirely no, there are accounts down voting non approved content here too, but its a lot better than fakebook
For real freedom to post, Gab is the place, but you dont earn anything there.
downvoting does not equal censorship.
wait until you have had an account taken down to below zero rep before spouting that party line...
Downvote wars and whale abuse exist, but there are communities to respond to such things, too. I have done my share of downvoting, but I try to explain my reasoning in a comment to those who I downvote if I have any reason to believe they aren't bots.
You don't own your reputation, here or anywhere else.We just have a way to see numbers and see who abuses reputation.
Presumably I own my HP, and if a whale is reversing my votes because they disapprove of the content I am supporting, then they are stealing my curation returns, as well as the rewards i am attempting to give to the author, and I take that personally enough to pull my investments out of Hive...
Downvoting has been killing this blockchain for the entire 5 years I've been using it. Hive is now getting more like Steemit by the day, and again the best bloggers leave. We know where this is going because we have already seen it play out.
I hope POB works better than Hive, but I pulled my investments out of Steemit in 2018 and was very glad I did! Is Hive about to follow the same pattern? (pump and dump). Every downvote wipes all loyalty to a platform. The trail of bad karma left by a single downvote may play out for years!
You own your HP, provided you keep your keys secure.
Counter-voting is not theft, it is disagreement. Right or wrong, other people also own their HP and are free to use it as they see fit, and that is part of the design of our system. Hate downvotes? Go see if Blurt is making headway. Meanwhile, until payout, rewards are not locked, and not owned. No theft occurs no matter how you feel.
Downvoting is not killing HIVE. If anything, we need more downvotes to cull spam, plagiarism, and abuse so we have a better platform for new users to explore. Sure, there will always be downvote trolls, but welcome to life. Get over it and move on.
HIVE isn't pulling the kind of stunts Justin Sun attempted. There is no parallel to be drawn.
Downvotes haven't killed Reddit, BTW.
Psychology 101 - Downvotes FUCK PEOPLE OFF - fucked off people leave the platform.
Have you noticed everyone keeps leaving?
Maybe you were playing with lego and didn't notice...
Is it violent to downvote someone, regardless the reason? I don't think so. You're free to post whatever you want.
Last I checked, rewards weren't yours until the 7 day payout. Content is alive on the BC forever, payouts are a different story. I don't equate diminishing a payout as censorship. But that's a topic of discussion for another day.
wait until you have had a full power 250k HP downvote before spreading that myth..
Yeah, that would def suck. But whatever was downvoted is still on the BC, therefore, not censored (technically speaking). If you have a different definition of censorship than my own, please share it :)
No amount of SP can take that away. There will always be some people who like to throw their power around, once this community gets large enough, the minnows will understand their power and can negate things like that from happening, or at least hopefully diminish them.
I've always appreciated your content dude, curious now what you must have done to piss someone off, hehehe. Sorry it happened again, tho.
What did I do? - I indirectly mentioned the connections between the rotchild family and Bitcoin on leofinance - which is a zionist funded and controlled platform, so no going there!
Censorship comes in many forms - on Steemit/Hive it is is done by constantly encouraging approved content, and downvoting any questioning of the official narratives - and that is why after 5 years 95%+ of my old Steemit friends have never posted on Hive.
I'm a stubborn prick, this is my second main blogging account, and I have a trail of unused accounts that were trashed on Steemit.
Justin Sun literally censored people on Steemit. We took steps to prevent that by building HIVE. People downvoting conspiracy theories (whether those theories have any basis in fact or not) is not censorship no matter how you try to spin it.
It wasn't Justin Sun that censored my accounts or my friends accounts on Steemit - it was many of the very same accounts that are still in positions of power on Hive.
Don't get me wrong, I like a lot of things about Hive, but after five years I'm not some wide eyed innocent :)
I suppose I would disagree with that downvote, or at least state that I wouldn't do it...but it's not my vote nor my stake to say. Some people are going to do what they want, regardless.
I guess I have a more definitive definition of censor, in that, the subject of matter at hand cannot be silenced. Cannot be ghosted. Cannot be kicked out. Cannot be banned.
Losing rep points and/or potential payouts for a post, does not equate censorship imo. Doesn't mean I feel for you, I do.
I have definitely said some things that don't toe the line, but I try to stick with facts, logic, and common sense, instead of anything that could be proved false quickly or not be provable at all (conspiracy theories). Not saying you did that, just stating how I try and communicate.
Keep being you man, I'll do my best to keep you up :) As long as you don't go all commie on me, hahahaha.
Don't worry i wont go commie!
Once someone has had their rep taken down below zero they are effectively censored from the platform on that account and have to start again - anyone claiming otherwise is sticking their head up their arse!
And hang on - are you saying "conspiracy theories" are not provable? - which one?
https://grayscale.com/
I can understand where that perception comes from and it's a reason that I am reluctant to promote Hive to friends and family, although I am slowly changing my mind.
I was heavily downvoted by a group of white supremacists back on Steem, just for highlighting that a known white supremacist was just that and I couldn't understand why anyone would give her credence. I had no idea there were white supremacists on the block-chain.
The downvote attack that ensued lasted for 24 hours and lowered my reputation score to the point where I just had to start muting people.
Thankfully most of them stayed on Steem and I haven't encountered anything like that so far here on Hive.
I have seen Hive users kick out someone from their discord group for having facts rather than just parroting their opinions.
Hive will be very important in the future.
@shaidon, my bad man, sorry I missed this one, thanks for your comment!
Downvotes are currently part of the system, hopefully to be used in the proper manner. But we all know that not everyone likes to play nice, so it's sorta a give and take.
I'm glad those people dv'ing you stayed on steem, I agree Hive is a much better place to be.
I think, and hope, that as communities grow, and the overall Hive user base grows, that there will eventually be enough little minnows to counter act most big bad whale votes. It will take some time, but in the end, that's my vision and hope.
Sorry again for my delay, I always appreciate hearing from you :)
I mean, what was up is now down, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength, what was Alternative media became "Alt right" in the eyes of the public, which are in general too lazy to do their own research on a subject.
There is no such a thing as a safe space, because the world isn't safe anymore, there is nowhere to hide, people don't take the risk to speak.
I would never truly speak my mind here, but sometimes I also can't help it, only to regret it later on, delete my comments, retrace my comment trail to make sure I wasn't over the line.
Reminds me of V for Vendetta. The populace is too engrossed in anything but real, meaningful discourse. No wonder we're going to hell in a hand basket.
I have no problem speaking my mind, if someone doesn't like it, they're not required to listen, or read it. That's where I think the safe space comes in to play. You can find your own bubble, or even make your own, and you're the gate keeper on who gets to come into your bubble. IRL, however, besides your own private property, I'd say you are correct.
Good idea, we are watching it again tonight!
I like your honesty, I am becoming slowly but surely weary; of who is reading us, are we feeding agencie's super computers? The recent news with Pegasus, shows that we aren't safe.
DOn't get me started on the recent fake crisis event organized by the World Economic Forum, called Cyber Polygon. It shows that the "Power That Be" is very aware of the hacking risk, and is even banking on it!
Anyway I digressed a little , I was about to say thanks for the comment, but I am the one commenting on your blog haha. Hope everything is going fine on your side of the world.
HIVE isn't an echo chamber or a place of censorship. Real hatemongers get called out and downvoted. Dissent means an opportunity for honest discourse.
This is the real reason for downvotes, imo. Plagiarism, self-upvoting ridiculous content, & disagreements w/ rewards, aside....incentives rules our lives. If you can't be nice here, or at a minimum have civil discourse even if you disagree, you will not fare well. If only it worked like that irl too.
Love the Tom Macdonald reference. I just discovered him recently
Thanks dave! I stumbled upon him back in 2018 and been a fan boy since. I look forward to most Friday's when he drops a new beat. His CD's are even really good, a lot of songs you've never heard before that would easily be played mainstream if he was mainstream. If you don't have gravestones and flowers for the dead, I highly recommend it.
Any group larger than 10 people is a threat to the ptb, if it's not majority rats.
I'd guess that most of those comments come from paid trolls.
I could see that, but then again, I look at my FB feed of my friends (I use that term lightly) and I see such nonsense. So much fear, ignorance, and an aptitude for slavery.
If it's not all trolls, it's the algo's that perpetuate that narrative to the top to keep the fighting going.
@aussieninja summed it up real well...
Conflict sells the papers, no doubt.
I'm betting they are using comment bots to help train the ai.
I imagine they are using every tool in their belt.