The Ups and Downs of Curation Trails
Curation trails are something I've got hugely mixed feelings on.
First off, I should be clear that I certainly appreciate the upvotes I get from them !
Image created by AI in NightCafe Studio
Who Uses Crypto Trails and Why ?
- Crypto trails are used by Hivers who for one reason or another want to automate their curation. There are all kinds of reasons;
- They might be busy in the real world (temporarily or just because of normal life) and don't have time to upvote and support the people they like.
- They might use a curation trail temporarily during holidays or other times when they have no access to Hive.
- Maybe they just don't know who to vote for, but don't want to just dish out upvotes at random.
- They may be going inactive for a while or forever, but still want to help friends they've left behind here.
- Perhaps they want to use a curation trail to support it's creator.
- It might be they've got so many favourites it seems like the fairest way to distribute their votes.
- Possibly they want to focus on content creation for a while and know they get easily distracted into falling down the rabbit-hole of doom-scrolling through posts. (yeah, I do that...)
There's one other type I suspect, but have never seen any proof of; that when Hive forked from Steem, some or all of the Steemit users who didn't come across were assigned to curation trails. This would both make use of their account value to put rewards back into the ecosystem, but also mean that if they ever came across to Hive they might be able to reclaim their accounts and claim the accumulated rewards. But like I say, I've never seen any definitive statements on this one way or the other.
What Is The Problem With Curation Trails ?
The real problem with curation trails is that they are automated. Yes, the value of the upvotes is really helpful. I must admit it's a bit of an ego-boost to see a post has been picked up by a curation trail.😁
However, curation trails can have a distorting effect and because rewards come from a relatively fixed pool it can disadvantage newer users who haven't been around long enough to get noticed by anyone putting curation trails together.
But the biggest issue is that it means that posts are not actually being read (or even skimmed) by real live humans.
Hive is supposed to be an ecosystem that includes a strong social element. Sometimes I'll make a post not because I'm hoping it'll earn lots, but because I really want to get some feedback from people. I want to know if an idea I've had is a good one, or a piece of creative writing is worth re-visiting or expanding on.
Useful comments are the response I most enjoy seeing on my posts. Maybe it's because my real life is a sad place where I'm so busy working that I rarely get out and see real people 😉
If They Are So Problematic, Are Curation Trails Worth It ?
In a word; YES.
It gives people who for one reason or another can't or don't upvote a chance to have an input and improve other people's Hive accounts.
It keeps Hive Power flowing around the system.
But most importantly, it's still recognition. Someone somewhere has read your work and found it worthy enough not just to upvote on a one-off basis, but to put it somewhere that others can upvote it.
When you think about it, that is an impressive show of appreciation and respect.
This is an interesting take on the matter ... and yes, it does take quite a while for curators and their trails to pick up new users. One of the reasons I started my little Friday collection is because personal recognition is actually not easy to get, and although I am now well supported by curators FIVE YEARS ON, I know most people don't know they need to be prepared to gut it out for a year or more and need encouragement to keep going.
Thanks for your reply ! Something I've noticed is that getting onto curation trails really smooths out post earnings. I know that posts in certain communities will get a baseline of automated upvotes, helped by the upvotes from SBI's. It makes post earnings a lot more consistent than when I joined, where some posts would do awesomely well and others would struggle to earn just a couple of cents.
I might actually start a small curation trail of my own, as a way to publicise a few people I consistently vote for but who I think make amazing content which isn't earning what it ought to. Or maybe do a weekly post highlighting them or something....
You are in my weekly post that I am doing to highlight ... and, I also have two wee curation trails, one for just folks the chain doesn't see as well, and one I am preparing for those who are coming here because of me. Both, done consistently, can be effective!
Congratulations @alonicus! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain And have been rewarded with New badge(s)
Your next target is to reach 4750 replies.
You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPCheck out our last posts:
I do in a sense of triple leg balance. I delegated some which I trust, I subscribed to some trails which I am interested, and I try to comment and vote personally in communities where I participate, at least a couple/everyday.
I had followed a trail for a while, but I stopped in mid 2022, and went fully manual voting. I kept that up until late last year when my health was shit and I was in and out of surgeries/recoveries and barely on. At the time I had a meager but much better than now pool of HP, and I wanted to make sure some key folks I enjoyed got votes... so I set up auto-voting for them (which you likely noticed as you're on that list). It's not a trail, but it does let me ensure that a few folks who always make good stuff don't get missed in the crazy real-life schedule I now keep running two kids to skating rinks and taking care of our 4 month old.
When I started the auto-votes I had been pretty sure I'd turn them off again by summer of this year, but with the new baby, I've had to fight for time to pop down and read even a few posts. (As evidenced by it being almost midnight here and I'm only now getting to look at any of my devices)
I think it'll still end up being temporary, it'll just stick around a bit longer than I'd hoped. I vastly prefer fully manual voting. I don't like realizing days later that I voted for something and I missed it when it was new. I don't think there's anything wrong with trails or specific fan-votes, but for me, personally, I can't freaking wait to get back to being around more for both reading, and writing.