Even now I can't think of a decent enough title for this piece. I wanted something punchy yet with a sarcastic undertone. I considered
How to complain like a professional
I also likedMoaners, whingers and parasites
but I went with a pretty dull title instead. "OK Pete, we're 46 words in and I've still no idea what this is all about?" I saw a Tweet by @nathanmars
now before I go any further.
Nathan does a phenomenal job of promoting Hive on Twitter!
His Tweet just got me thinking.
The thing is this topic has been going on for me since 2017 when I first joined Steem, while people would prefer you to, never forget Hive is a fork of Steem. I suspect this arguement has been going on long before I joined so you have to ask yourself "Is there something to this?" before we get into that though I'd like us to be crystal clear what Hive is about. Now be warned, I'm going to make some sweeping statements and or generalisations.
Nobody is on Hive (Or steem) for the love
There are far bigger and more established platforms out there that cater to most of us with a desire to vent our spleens and spend endless hours over a keyboard producing a piece of work that we're desperate for people to love us for. Now you could argue that these platforms misuse your content or read your turgid text so they can sell you stuff you don't want, but I don't think I've ever seen anyone on Facebook post: "NOBODY IS GIVING ME A LIKE!"
Yeah, but I want to be in control of my data!
I don't know of any platform that is legally allowed these days to withhold your data. If you're that worried about someone having that story about the time you accidentally widdled in your pants, then you could always get yourself a Worpress site. Speaking of which, I don't think I've ever seen "NOBODY IS COMMENTING ON MY WEBSITE!" in a WP blog post?
Nobody can delete my account!
I'm not convinced this a good thing? Many of my FOSS friends over the years have become almost anal with regards deleting their content and presence on Facebook, Google Plus and the Internet in general. I'm not sure they would approve of their data being forever embedded in the blockchain for all eternity. Now I'm hoping here someone will say, "Ah, but if you delete your account then your data is deleted." because if that's, so that opens up a whole other can of worms in that on numerous occasions, people have said that, for example, Steemit cannot delete your posts?
OK clever clogs, why are they on Hive then?
For the money and in some cases the power whichever way you look at it it's the rewards that hook people. Now you will get groups or individuals that will strike up friendships, form their own little communities and for them, the financial rewards element diminishes slightly it's a bit like being paid to clean Mrs Miggins house but after a month or so you're getting on so well you're almost at the stage of being willing to do it for free because Mrs Miggins is such good company. It's no good anyone denying it when you see so many people promoting the financial element across social media. "EARN CRYPTO FOR WHAT YOU WRITE!" and the number of Tweets and posts all talking about the price of Hive or Crypto in general people are left in no doubt whatsoever that Hive is a crypto-backed service where HBD is king. It does make me smile when I see people playing down the financial element it's a bit like having a brothel, telling everyone on the Internet that they can have, cough, that thing they don't get at home and then when people go there saying "Na, nobody has sex here." LOL
WHAT'S ALL THIS GOT TO DO WITH NATHAN'S TWEET?
So in life, you will get the odd serial moaner. The kind of person who will win a Million and say "Huh, could have been two, couldn't it?" but some moans are valid or at the very least have a "Mute Point" within the complaint. Now some subscribe to the view that these people should be ignored and I do not disagree with that exclusively but have you considered addressing those complaints? Have you really sat down and thought about what that person is saying, looked at what they are saying and then either said to yourself: "They do seem to be being a bit ignored?" or even god forbid, "Ooh! they seem to have a point?" For me, it grates on my nerves this: "You need to work hard." what does that even mean? I know there are some lazy people on Hive and Steemit, hell I've complained about them myself, but what this simple, non-explanatory throwaway comment is actually designed to do is to silence someone complaining. "You're not earning enough? Work harder!" and yet I have put a lot of time and effort into producing something and seen little to no return on this so-called "Working Hard"
The old saying of: "It's not what you know it's who you know." is probably the best advice you could give to a new user, so 'Networking' is the key here. Do a little homework, find out who's getting a lot of comments, some half-decent rewards but don't fall into the trap of someone who spews out hundreds of posts every day. Those people subscribe to the dictum "Throw enough mud, and some will stick" I see it a lot in my line of work "Stack em high, sell em cheap!" most of the time it's utter rubbish designed to keep their name in your face. The days of a Whale dropping a humungous vote on you are long gone, the last time that happened was around 2016 so stop praying for it. You will, as I discovered, get the odd nice little upvote now and again which makes all those posts that bombed seem insignificant.
KEEP COMPLAINING
Seriously, it's the only way to make changes, if you're deliberately being ignored or feel you're not getting the votes you deserve it's up to the Hive community to explain why even if that explanation is: "Because what you wrote was crap! The formatting was non-existant, and your pictures were pinched!" and not just write people off as a moaning swine while counting their pile of HP and HBD.
Showing someone, where they are going wrong, is a far better attitude.
Remember, complaints are actually opportunities to improve user experience and community harmony.
My actual name is Pete
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"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."
Oh if only I'd posted the story about accidentally widdling my pants on here instead of Facebook, I'd be a millionaire by now!
All jokes aside, as a newcomer yet to find my groove, I see a lot of positives about the platform. The biggest for me is the ability to have actual proper, quality conversations and read indepth posts. I'm finding the photography community is wide and varied too which is great for me and is in itself a motivation.
I'd be lying if I said the currency side wasn't a lure or motivating factor too. We're all human after all! I haven't posted a ton yet, but that's partly down to the tiring week I'm having (had to travel from Hull to Lichfield for a funeral on Tuesday, that was a nightmare of a journey in the heat!). I'm also not a hugely prolific writer and I'd rather post only when I have something to say than just for the sake of it. Quality (well, as much as I have in me lol) over quantity is more my pace and I'm hoping that'll be ok here.
As for complaints... I don't really have any thus far. I do think perhaps the whole signing up thing could be a little easier for new users. If like me, you have no experience with blockchain / crypto stuff just the way you have to sign up I'm sure is offputting for some. I just decided to dive in and see what happens, as I do, but not everyone is like that.
I'm also not sure how to explain the process to a potential new user. I'm usually not bad at doing stuff, but explaining stuff is much harder for me. Perhaps just my own quirky limitations at play there though!
Err...sorry for writing an essay in your comment section, got a bit carried away. 😄
Nope, lengthy replies are good. Plus you make some valid points.
How dare you? Everyone knows that everyone is here for the love.
Maybe you aren't working hard enough.
Seriously though, it would be better for people to be more honest and say they were here for the money and everything else is a bonus but the financial aspect means that people can't be that honest and have to hit out with the happy clappy, I'm here for the tech/love/community/anti-censorship/conspiracy theories (delete as appropriate) nonsense.
Exactly. Damn, I forgot the phrase "Happy Clappy" I wish I'd used that now.
Of course.. we are all here for the money. Otherwise, I would be putting my shit on Facebook and having it removed by some twat because I broke his community rules. So there's my second reason, and it's a very good one.
Ah, but you could be hounded out for breaking someones personal rules and I know of at least one witness that is doing exactly that. :-)
You could.., you know as well as me how it is here, it's not perfect but you do keep coming back. It depends on how political you want to be.
So I don't really want to immerse myself totally in Hive. I like the small group of friends? followers? misguided fools? who seem to have some time for my drivel so I'm happy with my little corner of the community. Mind you, all these "Everything is wonderful" people scare the B'jezus out of me. LOL
You knew I would be commenting :)
When I first saw Steem I could see it had potential and offered something different. I'll admit that the potential to earn was attractive, but so was the idea of a decentralised platform that did not rely on ads. Over time I've got to know lots of cool people so that I would like to hang out with them even without rewards (honest!). What I have made would equate to a pretty crap hourly rate, although a while back my Steem was worth almost $100k. It has paid for a nice guitar and two trips to Steemfest. I am powering everything up so I can help others.
As for other social media I use:
I don't have time to be on anything else.
Others treat it more as investment. Some have spent thousands on building up their accounts, but may be running at a loss for now.
Some of the witnesses have invested a lot of time and money in their systems, but won't be making a profit yet.
I see many from countries where making an extra $5 is a big deal, whereas for us it's a fancy coffee. There are lots of different perspectives.
Please do keep complaining. We have to point out what the issues are. No system is perfect, but Hive still offers an alternative to centralised systems that can shut us down at any time. I raise issues with engagement and reward distribution. Of course we have to be aware that Hive is tiny and is not growing fast.
But you are still here!
If only I could reblog that. As you can guess, I smiled when you too wrote: "Please do keep complaining."
Today’s minnow will be tomorrow’s Whale.
Let’s connect with more Hive Owners and Build relationship.
If we take the money out of the equation then we should do something we passionate about and enjoy the Hive journey
Sorry my comments not so good
Yes, they are although I don't subscribe to all this Plancton, Minnow, Dolphin, Whale claptrap. It encourages people to believe there are levels to attain to reap bigger rewards. For me, there are four things I look at:
1. Reputation level
2. Frequency of posts
3. Interaction level (Replies etc.)
4. Rewards Levels
I can never understand why Reputation is not important to Hive users? The whole idea of it is so you know that @nathanmars is a trusted community member. :-)
I personally don't look at the Reputation number
The real reputation is Trust
You can (could?) buy your Rep.
why most people that have been here a while do not always use rep as a place of how wonderful someone is.
I never and would never "Buy" anything on Hive (That's a lie! I paid for the 'Seriously' community. LOL).
In life I have more respect for people who've earned their position over those who bought it. So I wouldn't dream of using fiat to buy Crypto to increase my influence and rewards on Hive although using Crypto to buy Crypto is OK.
Given we know 'nothing' about users surely the first thing we do is look at the information on their Bio isn't that what it is there for? So we put together two bits of important information, when they joined and what their Rep is. If it's say: Joined in 2017 with a Rep of 30 it begs the question "Why such a low rep?" now there could be a multitude of valid reasons why but ultimately it's an indication that the account is not making many ripples in the pond which is exactly my point of why Reputation is so important.
By the way, I wrote this response for general consumption not necessarily just for you. :-)
I did not buy my Rep because I happen to agree with you.
I know people that did.
was just showing the 'other side' of the coin about Rep.
I know, I didn't say you did. :-)