For more detail on the idea and community response, check out this post.
If you do read it, thank you. If you feel so inclined, please do not upvote.
In summary...
Steemit.inc controlled SP could be delegated to an array of community trusted researchers/curators
Elected researchers/curators would act transparently and with accountability to attenuate abusive use of Steem's precious daily inflation
The actions taken by the researchers/curators will be supported by community derived rules that are as precise as possible
For disputes, trusted arbitrators could be elected by the community
There is NO HANDOUT to anyone. The researchers/curators can be rewarded for their hard work, integrity and talent. Steemit.inc retains all SP, though these actions may cause the value of Steem to appreciate.
Everybody wins
I accept this is a serious undertaking to do right, but if the will can be found to execute it properly, it can be done.
The greatest threat to Steem is the distribution and the rampant abuse that it enables. The purpose of the steemit account's massive SP was always to nurture Steem.
What better and fairer way could it ever be deployed?
I hope you find the time to consider this proposal, I would dearly love to hear your thoughts because this is the best I have. If it doesn't work for some reason, I need to be put out of my misery :) because right or wrong, I genuinely think this is a game-changer for Steem, which makes it potentially a game-changer for everyone.
Yours sincerely,
Ben.
Happy Steeming
Hi @benjojo
@ned and the team had a reasonable go at this towards the end of last year with 3.5m SP split between 7 accounts. Out of the 6, only @surpassinggoogle retains his delegated SP (I think, sorry on the phone). These accounts were mostly 'focussed' towards the Asian community, but analysis from @paulag showed that the level of 'inward' voting and apparent 'pay for vote' transactions was quite high.
It is the one question I failed to ask @ned at Steemfest. Why did you choose these accounts and how do you think it went.
I suspect you are thinking much larger than 3.5m SP, and to a wider community - like everyone.
We certainly have the tools to monitor such delegations and how the SP is used. I do something each week to monitor the 360,000 @fulltimegeek has delegated to his #stewardsofgondor.
I support your suggestion, and feel STEEM and Steemit would benefit from this greatly.
Cheers.
I appreciate the comment @abh12345. Thank you for the support. It would be no small undertaking to ensure the delegated stake was used appropriately....but I think it could be achieved with broad support, lessons learned, innovation and care. I'm hearing great things about the efforts of stellabelle and fulltimegeek. These efforts are so important.
A pleasure.
Previously there was no remit from @ned attached to the delegations, he just left them to administer 500,000 SP as they saw fit.
If guidelines were in place prior, and monitoring took place along the way then I think the outcome would be great!
The whole idea of giving big people more stakes was sure to fail. Stupidest idea/experiment ever.
I think having a challenge/contest to get 1000 delegated sp once you reach maybe 55 rep would work here. It would only be available to those under ### of their own sp.
Have team(s) of people to vet the applicants and have a lot of stronger, partially trained, and motivated minnows coming up the ranks by this action.
I would delegate this amount for for 3 months, renewable by application 3 times. Cancels for good once your reach ### of your own sp.
Not many get to 55 rep here - those are mostly people we want to succeed in my opinion.
Sounds like a plan to me! The accounts could be monitored for 'abuse' by the community and so yeah, just the initial leg work required by the Steemit team / @ned.
Well, people would be applying - you would not have to seek them. If they get to that rep they are likely to be good candidates; and sadly - at this point there will not be too many of them.
I believe this is occurring again on a larger scale with a focus on communities and projects. The Steemit account has been powering down into multiple other accounts, one of which is @misterdelegation. From there millions have been delegated out to things like Steemcleaners, Utopian, Sndbox, and more.
Supporting worthwhile projects in this way is fantastic. However, there needs to be a lot more done to support the research and countering of abuse, all with the community having more influence in how that is implemented.
I would prefer if Steemit wouldn't delegate more than they are doing. The more they are delegating the smaller the proportion of the reward pool is decided by the investors. Steemit Inc try to avoid voting for political and controversial thing and everything worthy of anything is controversial and political.
I see the thinking, but who are the investors? I know of two, one trails curie and the other votes for a guy who produces charts.
Could you explain some more please? I personally see value in many categories. Thank you 😊
First I want to clarify that I hold Ben in high regard and I highly value is input. We have agreed on a lot of stuff in the past but on this we disagree.
Steemit used to back a guild called something I don't even remember. They would simply not vote anything political according to them.
Ironically this is a political statement. The biggest guild wouldn't upvote anything political which would encourage people not to write about politics and would push people to become even more apolitical than they already are.
Elected curators... people who want to delegate their curation already have many option.
When Steemit Inc uses their stake to vote the only consequence is that everyone control a smaller portion of the reward pool. The reward pool isn't bigger.
It's in Steemit Inc right. They are investors too. They should do it carefully and so far that's what we've seen.
I believe @benjojo supported the MSP with a huge delegation in the past and deserves much respect for this.
The support by Steemitinc(mrdelegation) of applications like dtube/utopian-io is great to see and I agree they aren't just sitting on their stake.
I wouldn't call the 3.5m delegations last year careful, as their were no instructions given to these accounts, and personally think they 'paid' themselves and each other too much.
Proven quality curators like yourself for example would benefit from extra delegation, and if the accounts were decided carefully and monitored I don't see a big risk here.
Thanks for the reply.
I love what Steemit did with @surpassinggoogle, Utopian.io, Dtube, dlive, dsound and dmania.
It's always a case by case thing.
Indeed.
So if each case was monitored then there could be scope for more of this I think.
Hey teamsteem! So the delegations would be used primarily to attenuate abuse, the definition for which would come from the community and could evolve.
Positive curation of content could also be addressed by structuring it differently and scaling it up significantly.
beautifull!!!!!!!!!!!!, nice one dear and thanks for that.
It looks very good.
Thank you. I really hope so.
@benjojo I fully agree with you, the impact of @ned delegating his power would be a massive boost in the success of steemit. Even as a minnow I can see this and acted on it. With only 3.5K SP I have delegated all of it but 250sp. Why because I dont have the time at the moment to vote and curate, and well some delegated to me in the past and it done so so so much for me, and the communities I was supporting. Now I have given my own to others to help steemit grow. If I cant use it right now, then why not.
That's fantastic. The giving economy is magic. Thank you for your support.
A part of that should be used to support minnows. With so many users joining, the rewards never reach the minnows. It is getting difficult to earn rewards day by day. Abuse of bots is increasing which I assume is bad in the long run.
I certainly agree that SP could be used to benefit active members of the Community such as curators and community leaders. Great job putting this out there, as a curator myself I hope @Ned sees your post and considers delegation soon! Thanks for writing this @Benjojo!
I do a Steemit based Interview Radio show every Wednesday on MSP Waves Radio. It would be awesome to chat with you sometime if you would be interested!
Thank you for thinking of me! Whilst i'd love to chat with you, I'm afraid I'm quite shy when it comes to more public forums. I doubt I would be able to do your show justice. If you have an questions for me, I'd be very happy to respond in writing if that's any good to you.
No problem at all, it is a very casual show, so feel free to let me know if you reconsider! Appreciate you taking the time to let me know. Happy Steeming!
I like that idea of "professionals" looking after law and order, instead of the "community" now.
It seems to me, the current system is not working so well. Most people remain silent, because they fear personal disadvantages if they flag someone. Other like to act as vigilantes, and yet other carry out personal vendettas via flagging.
This is not a healthy situation. The reward system is still getting abused, while a climate of fear is spreading at the same time.
A system of clear rules, applied responsibly by people who can be held accountable and with the option of a appeal, would certainly be a step in the right direction.
Hi @benjojo,
What a marvelous surprise to read a post like this! I agree that delegation can be a good way to push Steemit towards a more positive light! When delegated to the right projects, groups or curators there is a opening just for that! I think when you have a lot of SP and it's not being used is a loss. There are so many amazing projects out there who could use a little or bigger booest to help others! I curate posts daily for my own project and because of that I have seen a lot of people asking for delegation. The demand is really high and it might be hard to even pick. Anyways, I am thankful you brought this up!
Best wishes
@poeticsnake.
Thank you for the lovely supportive comment ;)