Here we are, on the eve of one of the biggest days in Steemit.com's history.
If you are not quite sure what I am talking about, the witnesses have approved Hard Fork 19 which is set to go live in roughly 16 hours and 58 minutes.
It probably would be inaccurate to say that tomorrow is the biggest HF the currency (and site) has experienced thus far, but it certainly is a big one.
To be honest, just about every HF we have undergone over the past year seems to be "the biggest one in Steem's history" at the time, but that is a topic for another day.
What are the changes in this Hard Fork?
Since I have been involved with Steem and Steemit.com the voting curve has always been squared. Meaning the number of rewards a vote gives was dependent on the value of the post before one votes. An exponential voting curve.
Once the changes are implemented tomorrow, the amount a vote gives will be much more related to the amount of SP the voter owns. A much more linear voting curve.
That is a very basic explanation of the changes, but the full release can be seen here:
https://steemit.com/steemit/@steemitblog/hf19-equality-coming-soon-linear-rewards
Why are these changes needed?
These changes are needed because right now new and smaller accounts have basically no say in how rewards are allocated. The exponential voting curve gives large accounts an exponential advantage that makes the site not much fun for new users.
The hope is that by drastically reducing the impact the largest accounts have over the platform, or at least making that impact proportional to the amount of SP each person owns, it will help the smaller accounts feel like they matter and hopefully that will help tremendously with user retention.
The goal of these changes is not to make everyone equal, the goal is to at least give everyone a taste of what the site was intended to be. A decentralized way to reward other users based on your SP stake.
Will it work?
That is the 64 thousand dollar question.
I have no doubt that the changes will work in the context that new users will suddenly find their votes are able to actually give some rewards and undoubtedly make the site more fun for them which may help encourage them to stick with the site and possibly even make some investments in the platform as time goes on.
The part that is less clear is the vote power increase.
It will be interesting to see how people decide to use their votes with the increased power.
From my understanding the squared voting curve was set up to encourage people to vote for other people's posts. To prevent users from only voting on their own posts and comments. The new linear curve changes those incentives somewhat.
So, while it will undoubtedly help the smallest users, there could be unintended consequences going forward in regards to how people decide to use their votes.
Steemit.com in general is a giant social and economic experiment. No one really knows for sure how things are going to turn out.
Overall, I think the changes are a net positive and I look forward to seeing how it helps the site retain many of it's new users.
This will be my last post pre HF, and I will see you all on the other side!
Here's to hoping for the best!
Image Sources:
http://cz.wallpapers-fenix.eu/Railway/3/7003/
http://firedance99.deviantart.com/art/I-ll-see-you-on-the-other-side-195279022
Follow me: @jrcornel
That is a helpful definition of what is going on my friend.
There have been many posts on both sides of the argument the past week or two - some of them enlightening and some not.
I think Steemit Inc has done their research and put off this change for some time to make sure they get it right. I'm with you, this looks like it will be a net positive for the community.
If you're a bigger account having less power sucks but the system being more likely to bring in new accounts should raise the value of the Steem you holding making the HF well worth it.
Best answer
Yes, that is the hope!
I'm among the people who makes posts that are not enlightening at all.
Enlighten me, what do you mean? KIDDING! :p
I wrote one on the HF, perhaps not so enlightening!
im also curious how itl affect the price of steem
Good read @jcornel. HF19 is definitely going to bring excitement and buzz to the platform. It will be interesting to see the voting pattern from tomorrow. Can't wait to see the stats. Fingers crossed and hoping for the best :) see you on the other side
Yes the new F /A 19 Hornet will be a fine addition to americas new astronaut defense forces
:steemit defense forces signal encryption begin:
steemit interplanetary blockchain defense forces can now be signalled using encryption signal .014 SBD and the InterPlanetary IP encryption will be verified via your local cropcircle
Thank you for using InterPlanetary Zeta Draco Alliance Blockchain ver. 1.148, all time travel data requests processed in 0:300 InterPlanetary Mean Time
Flattening the potential for all to come to equilibrium sure will empower us all and I really look forward to see this new step being taken. Thanks a bunch for the information and we shall see each other on the other side!
Namaste :)
It will be nice to actually see my upvote mean something, It is depressing to see your favotite authors get nothing time and again when you give them an upvote,
good posting
Very nice post.... UPVOTE
I'm excited to see how the sites will function after the HF. As with many users this is my HF as part of the steemit network and as it seems an exciting one. As a minnow who has invested a decent amount into SP I am happy for the change. I will continue to vote for content that I fell worthy of my vote. I have not been discriminate of who I vote for as far as earning citation rewards, but forcused on the content of the article. I truly hope this helps Steemit to become scalable and truly attract the masses we all know is out there.
Looking forward to the changes HF19 will bring, as I am a newbie here, I found myself really got limited influence on upvoting others. Thank you for your sharing and we are all excited, can't wait until tomorrow! Steem On!
Thanks for your sharing! I think we will never know whether it is right or wrong or will it work unless we tried it. So, I am quite open minded for the HF19. As yes, we are a new community (comparatively). If we don't make change, who will? As long as we will really look on the result and keep improve it.
Yeh we have to experiment to get better, trial and error, if one thing doesn't go well we know to look at it for next time.
exciting times ahead for sure!
As I am small and do spend a lot of time on posts I selfishly welcome these changes! In all seriousness I'm sure it is beneficial for everyone, otherwise the top guys wouldn't have agreed to it so fast and easily.
oh theyll end up making alot more money! wait till we have 1 million ppl here
True
I hope this hard fork doesn't ruin things. :)
hahahahaah could u imagine steemit fuckin up all the wallets and its just gameover for everyone and the devs gotta do a snapshot or some shit haha destribute lost steem lololol goes oh shit look and price of steem skyrockets after NOONE can aces any steemit.com account but a few master steemit whales using the steemit backup site www.busy.org can still acces ur wallets and osts and upvote posts etc ...then they fix it but steem is at $10 we all have to waiit ike a week but ot will be worth it
People being able to control their Voting power will be interesting to watch - I am ready for HF19 - Power up and steem on I say
With at least 500 SP you can yes 😁
i noticed thats basicly the ccutoff to get a 1 penny upvote....i hope the price shows more thanjust 2 decimal points so people can actuall see micropayments of tenths and hundredths of a penny r basically minnow upvotes ...but duuuudwe omg this is so exciting that im literally contorting myself in my bed reaching out to the laptop just to type and keep watching and im so excited to have beeen doing this ascension protocal with u all we are upgradinf our consiousness! its lik were all about to be raptured by jesus!
Haha steady on man you'll give yourself a heart attack! 30 mins to go I think!
Nice article! I'm optimistic. Time will tell. Followed /upvoted/appreciated!
Every vote will be 4 times heavier.... That means you can now cast less number of votes on full power..
i would rather have more of y upvote power at once, i have to sit and use them up all day to get the daily value of my steempower out! i welcome this change! i see alot more income for minnows to basicly show people around them how powerful this new website blockchain thing really is! easiest way period to join cryptocurrency and actually use cryptocurrency! we dont even need qr code scanners for payent we have simple usernames its waaaaaaaaaaaay better than complex cryptographic qr codes for deposit or withdrawl addresses!!!!!11
2 hours to go.. waiting eagerly..
Thanks for the info, it's kind of over my head but you explained it well!
I'm with you clint...think it's best we keep our heads down till the dust clears. }:-)>
This had to happen... lets see what payouts look like on some of the big accounts.. I bet not much changes..
Thanks for sharing your thoughts about the hf! Do you have an idea what will happen with the post that are not yet paid out?! Just curious about it!
I think it will depend on the how your post achieved it's value. If it got most of it's value from one whale vote, it will likely go down. However, if it got most of it's value from a number of mid sized accounts upvoting it, perhaps it will not change much or even possibly go up? I can't say for sure though... I am interested to see for myself :)
This post may be a good experiment for that ;-)
Thank you for this great explanation! I feel like every other post I've read about this just made me more confused. See you on the other side! Full STEEM ahead!
I'm new and while I've seen lots of concern I'm hoping for the best! Upvoted and following you, we will see how it goes on the other side. :)
SO exciting. Such a great time to be introducing new people to Steemit. With everything coming up Roses. 🌹
Great article explaining the positives and negatives. My biggest question is how the whales will react. My prediction is they'll just use the power slider to decrease the percent that their vote gives out so they can vote more and essentially make it the same
interesting take
Thanks. We'll have to see how it goes tomorrow!
That should be how minnows with at least 500SP do it too imo. Blogged about it yesterday.
I agree. Let's keep spreading the wealth
Every change has two sides, depends on which way you decide to see. I think changes are a necessity and a sign that humans want to develop as a community and therefore I agree and I'm looking forward how this will work out.
BIG compliment to the devs!
i have seen detailed explanations as to why this change actually won't have a large effect. but regardless, I just want to comment on your points here regarding the exponential boost to payouts that are gained as the vote count increases:
" Meaning the number of rewards a vote gives was dependent on the value of the post before one votes. An exponential voting curve."
I had seen this in action but never heard anyone mention it before.
"Once the changes are implemented tomorrow, the amount a vote gives will be much more related to the amount of SP the voter owns. A much more linear voting curve. "
If i understand correctly what you are saying here, there are two separate processes being described - one where votes become exponentially more powerful, the more a post has received .. and one where voting power is relative to the amount of steem power held by the voter.
I thought though, that the first issue is not being addressed by this hard fork and it is only the second issue that is being addressed.
Can anyone confirm this either way?
as a fairly new guy on steemit this is very positive to read....was struggling to grasp how the SP was delivered to each post...definatley will motivate me more to continue with steem and spread the word...good work
Voting power will change :(
Great write up on this, I feel like a kid waiting on XMAS here lol. Curious to see the voting changes and how it acts but still all about the Steem Power so I hope this will still encourage that fight to keep investing and keep us all going perfectly which I suspect it will.
I hadn't heard of this update until now, thanks for this. I really agree that the new guys need more power otherwise we're rules by a select few and our votes don't mean much.
With you on that, I think this will work but there is certainly going to be stuff to see over the coming weeks with behaviours. Time will tell but I am optimistic!
@jrcornel, I feel hopeful. People feel inspired when it seems like their input (votes) make a difference. It also matters because some part of our humanness likes helping people... and when there's a small visual indicator that a vote actually leaves something in someone else's "tip jar," that's an overall positive feeling... which leads to more participation.
As for what happens at the "top end" of the scale... that remains to be seen, I guess. I don't even know where I fall on the curve; my primary concern is the more powerful votes causing people to run out of voting power faster, leading to less curation. Or will it? I guess all we can do is experiment.
Great post and thanks for the info, I hope these changes work well and benefit Steemit as a whole. I can't see any reason why they wouldn't as long the incentive to have Steem Power remains high
have a hard time understanding what is hard fork....hummppphhh?
If you read that link I included on my post, they do a good job talking about what a Hard Fork is. Let me know if you still have any questions.
https://steemit.com/steemit/@steemitblog/hf19-equality-coming-soon-linear-rewards
ok excellent will read many txs.
I told my hub it's on tomorrow
he asked which side am I taking
I told him - not up to me to decide :D
but see you there we tend to end up at one end anyway :)
Cheers! To forking!
what about limited number of votes for a day? I've heard somewhere that HF brings a limit for votes
Not a limited number of votes per day. Instead your voting power will drain faster if you use lots of 100% votes. Check out this link where they talk about that very aspect a little bit:
https://steemit.com/steemit/@steemitblog/hf19-equality-coming-soon-linear-rewards
Only been here a day and been upvoting like a madman...because I thought it was the thing to do...even upvoting my own. Now I've learned that's not needed, required or even encouraged. The link you've provided should help me sort it out.
Thanks for the post, and all you do here for the community at large.
Well this fantastic. It is not fantastic in the sense that it will work magic. That remains to be seen. What is fantastic is the fact the steemit is trying to grow and not base its platform by bringing in the old voices that already have a following on YouTube etc. The platform needs to grow and bring in new minds. So let's keep trying.
Thanks for the eady to read explanation. Getting excited!
This should be fun
I really hope this works as intended. I recently had a blog that got 22 votes.. and my reward - 3cents!
I upvoted your comment @amexperts and it remained at 2 cents.. maybe if this happens in the future it will go up...:)
Congratulations @jrcornel!
Your post was mentioned in my hit parade in the following categories:
Thanks jrcornel . I have few questions
Always worried about user retention due to the above mentioned voting structure
3.is hard forks equivalent to major software releases. I guess old block chain data is maintained in all cases . But what if data structure inside block itself changes ? How is old data integrity maintained?
Does the rewards and the votes (impact ) are going to be lower than now for the big users ?
Possibly. Likely. It really depends on how they are getting those big rewards. From just a couple of big whales or is it spread out between many mid sized accounts? That will determine if their rewards change...
Good to know I had no idea this was going to take place.
Great simple explanation. HF19 hopefully achieves what it intends to achieve and provide new users like myself with a sense of equality in the community. Needless to say, Steem is also an investment so it pays if one puts in a stake however small the amount may be. In simple Bitcoin terms, either invest by buying coins, trading or mining. But if you want to earn without putting out anything, aka Faucets, then expect droplet sized earnings.
Very exited about the HF. Hopefully the new steemians will be happy.
Vive tomorrow we can try all that. In any case your explanation is very clear, thank you.
i hope this works as intended
Looks like the easiest way to get into crypto currencies in Hawaii what with the State Legislature running the exchanges out of the State with some dumb laws requiring exchanges to hold a vault full of fiat currency in an amount equal to the gross aggregate value of their crypto currency. Antithetical to blockchain. Did they not understand what it was before they voted for it or are all democrat legislators just incredibly STUPID!
Wow good post, and great information to know. As a 30 in his first week on the platform I suppose this may help me...
@jrcornel Thanks for this great post. It is very informative for me, as I am new and knew nothing much about these forks I have been getting wind of. I'm sure there will be many more enhancements, improvements, tweaks and growth in the months ahead for #Steemit. I love it here.
Looking forward to it!