Unpopular Opinion...
I was scrolling through HIVE the other day and I came across something that triggered a bit of something in me. I kind of feel a little guilty about it, but then again, I also feel slightly annoyed. It's something that has become pretty common here on HIVE, and I am wondering if I am the only one who feels this way.
Before I get into it though, let me give you a brief history of my time on HIVE. I started on the platform a little over 8 years ago after I was told about the blockchain and invited by my wife's cousin. I didn't feel like I was the best writer at the time (I still don't), but after seeing some of the stuff that was out there on the legacy chain, I felt I at least had a chance.
I thought that HIVE would be the perfect way to finance a new truck that I knew I was going to need in the not too distant future.
Of course, I quickly realized it wasn't going to happen the way I had hoped. I knew very little about bid bots and all the ways to manipulate the system with the legacy chain. So I scraped along writing posts and making very little on them.
It wasn't long before I realized that commenting was the key to becoming successful on HIVE. I started to focus on that and in my opinion I got really good at it. I'm sure some people may have thought my attempts were hollow in the early days, but I assure you, if I didn't mean what I was saying in a comment, I wouldn't bother writing it. Why waste my time.
Of course, there is always an ulterior motive for commenting, anyone who tells you differently is lying. Okay, there might be a few people who aren't lying, but I think we all recognize that HIVE is a blockchain with an economy, and while HIVE is the most obvious currency, content and comments are the vehicle to obtain that currency.
I'd be lying if I said I didn't comment on posts hoping that maybe the author will start reading my stuff and eventually upvoting it. That's just the way this whole thing works. Again, if you think any differently, you are fooling yourself. Oddly enough, that's not the part of this post that I might consider an unpopular opinion.
Anyway, like I said, I was scrolling through HIVE and I came upon a post by an author that I have been following for a while and after reading it and commenting on it I got thinking about the fact that I don't think I have ever seen them comment on one of my posts. Certainly not on nearly every single post like I do with theirs.
Trust me, I don't expect everyone to comment as much as I do. I sit at a computer most of the day, so it is pretty easy for me to comment on this or that at any given moment from 6:30 AM to about 3:30 PM EST.
Then I went to their wallet to see what kind of stake they have in the chain. It's not a huge deal to me, but like I said, at some level we are in this for some kind of gain, and it's just common sense and human nature that bigger accounts have a better chance of giving you bigger earnings. I guarantee half of my followers only follow me because they think they are going to get a big upvote from me. In fact, I can't tell you the number of times that someone follows me, comments a few times, and then eventually unfollows me because they realize they aren't going to get the upvotes like I did.
Which to be fair, is the same behavior that I just owned myself. I think the difference is, I typically follow people whose stuff I enjoy reading, so if things don't "click", I just move on. If they do, I keep reading.
Here's a good example, and this is in no way meant to call him out, but I read pretty much every post by @tarazkp and comment on it. He writes some good stuff, and if you haven't visited his blog, do yourself a favor and check it out. On the flip side, he pretty much always replies to my comments, but it's quite rare that he comments on my posts. I think that is for a couple of reasons. First, he is an active guy on HIVE and I would imagine it's a full time job replying to the comments just on his posts. Second, my content might not be his cup of tea, and that is okay. Finally, it's possible he reads it but just doesn't have anything constructive to comment. Sometimes less is definitely more.
It doesn't bug me, it's just a fact of life.
But here is what does bug me....
Back to that other HIVE user I was talking about before. As I said, I took a look at their wallet and I noticed that pretty much 100% of their staked HIVE was delegated away to some other project. Which means even if they did start to visit my blog and vote on it, the vote would be virtually nil.
I know, I know, it's their stake and they can do what they want with it.
However, am I alone in being a bit turned off by something like that?
Of course we have the KE now to help put some of those things in perspective, but I don't pay as much attention to that as I used to. Especially now that I started personally moving some of my HIVE off chain. It would feel hypocritical otherwise.
TL:DR
So yeah, long story short, it's kind of turn off for me when I see accounts that are delegating away all of their HP. It doesn't make me mad, because they are free to do whatever, but it does give me pause about how much time I want to invest into creating a rapport with them.
Is that wrong?
I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments!
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Just like you if I do write a comment, it is a genuine comment. I don't care if they comment on my posts or not. And depending on the content I do appreciate a reply.
I also don't comment to score an upvote. I could write comment on some authors knowing that they do give juicy upvotes to genuine comments. But I do need to have time or have some interesting to say about the post or topic.
On some level, I still see HIVE as a bit of a game that is meant to be played. I appreciate the social side of it, and I appreciate all of the interactions I have on the chain and off in Discord, but growing my account is always a goal and employing the most effective tactics to make that happen is constantly in the back of my mind.
I did enjoy my time here on the chain since I did come back. It also helps that I see it just like you as a game.
Trying to reach 15K this year. We will see if that will be possible.
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I built my account up by commenting as I didn't have anything special to 'sell' here. A lot of people now know who I am, but I know I'm nothing special when it comes to content.
I try not to judge anyone when they comment on my posts and I almost never check on their wallet, but I do get some who comment on most posts with low value comments. I can see that they comment a lot in hope of some rewards, but I am unlikely to look at their posts. I am busy enough with my feed.
I get that people will try to earn in any way they can, but not leaving yourself with any voting power seems dumb and may get you less support.
I suspect we are likely to see more 'AI' comments in future. We will have to decide what value those have. It may feel safer just to engage with people we know well.
Don't be offended, but I see you as an extreme outlier in this whole thing. What I mean is that you are probably the only person I believe when you say "I am here for the community not the money". I think that gives you a different perspective on the whole thing, which is kind of enviable. I've realized that HIVE isn't going to make me rich, but I'd still like to believe it could be a passive stream of income for me in the (far too distant) future.
I know I'm not typical, but of course I'd love some extra income. I am not going to depend on it as things are so uncertain. I want to see more people benefit from Hive.
I am not going to frown on you if you do. It is your account and you need to nurture it as you see fit. I don't have yet enough stake to have people chasing me. But can imagine it wears on you.
Not me as much as the bigger accounts, but I hear you!
I quoted below three things that resonate with me:
Yes, I agree that personally, I find it insincere to deny such an "ulterior motive." If they are really here on Hive not for the incentive but purely for the connection, then I think Web2 platforms can do that. Yes, I love the connection, but I don't have all the time to engage in every post of the accounts I am following.
I think that is obvious too. I share such an intention, but at the same time, I am realistic that no one owes me attention to my comments. I have seen a few accounts unfollowing me, perhaps because of my content, lack of engagement, and lack of support in their posts. At least, as far as I remember, I haven't unfollowed anyone yet, despite the reasons that I mentioned above.
Yes, that is disappointing. I realized that you cannot expect everyone to return the favor you are giving them. A 50/50 perhaps is more commendable than a 0 voting power and a 100% delegation. Nevertheless, I also made a little adjustment in my HP when I accepted that no one owes me an upvote. At least, I retained 56% in my HP to vote for content creators.
I don't have anything against people delegating, it's part of the system and it has some definite benefits, but I also don't need to waste my time when I know that my efforts aren't going to equate to anything beneficial for me. There are plenty of authors on HIVE that it is easy to just move along and let them do what they want with their stake. I might find someone whose writing I enjoy even more. I think at the end of the day, it's important to remember this isn't personal, it's a business and while you can have those personal interactions, everyone has to do what is best for them.
I share the same thoughts. I think I will only decide to unfollow someone when I find his/her posts annoying or they do not serve my best interest in why I am here on the chain. I just observe a few accounts I followed during my early years when I was clueless, doing things that I don't agree with. Perhaps, when I have time, I will do a reevaluation. of Hiveans that I follow.
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I try to keep 2/3rds of my VP for personal VP and the rest is delegated to progects that I support-mainly Ecency. I love the passive income I receive. It makes my account grow on the days I don't get around to posting and it also makes the Ecency curation vote bigger, which I appreciate when I am curating and commenting on Ecency posts!
I think that is smart way to handle it. I used to delegate away a lot more of my stake, but I think right now I am around 10% or something like that. I think delegating 1/3 or 1/4 of your stake is not a bad thing to do. I actually might be delegating away a bit more now that I reached my target for last year.
I believe humans are naturally selfish. They only do things for rewards. I don’t mean only financial rewards I also mean emotional rewards. If you get enough emotional (you feel good communicating with them), mental (your brain is stimulated by interacting with them), or financial rewards from interacting with them, keep doing it. If it is completely one sided then that is not a very healthy relationship. Just my two cents.
Yeah, that is a good point. I think being selfish gets a bad rap sometimes, but it's often necessary for self preservation and your mental health! I knew it was going to be a fine line in this post of not coming across like a greedy SOB!
I have a post drafted about comments (a novel actually) and still not sure if I should post it as some people are too sensitive, when it comes to hearing the truth from someone else (not that I care).
I know plenty of people who would fit your description and I know what you mean. Some people are really "funny".
As long as you don't name names, it shouldn't be a big deal. Of course, there may be people who think your post is about them, but that is something they need to sort out. I hear you though, I already had someone reach out to me who definitely wasn't who I had in mind when I wrote my post, but it made me feel a little bad that they thought I was talking about them.