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Opinion: The way forward.

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@enforcer48
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5 min read

         I don't often like to write about Hive in general. I figured it's overdone, repetitive, and boring. It's always hashing and rehashing the same things every other person is writing. It's like seeing LeoFinance users talking about the tribe instead of financial topics.

         For the most part, the folks that talk to me already know my feelings on the subject. Nevertheless, it might be good to put it out there for my own future reference.

         It's been a long journey of tweaks on existing parameters since I started here in 2018. From the EIP, free downvotes, Rshare penalties, etc., the chain has come a long way. Most of the tweaks aimed at incentives for desired behaviors.

         All those are not important because most of us have lived through it. What's important is how Hive is moving forward.

         I wish this main focus would diminish over time. It's not the only thing to do around Hive. The overemphasis on "your voice is worth something" has always bothered me. This is why we have an overwhelming (albeit tiny) userbase of pretentious creators/curators. It all spirals down to people pretending to do things they aren't good at and enjoy for rewards. When that happens, the quality is garbage and it shows.

         Ask yourself, when was the last time a viral content came out of Hive?

         It also limits the type of activities on the chain. We still have OGs in this space that feels like "quality content" is the only thing that should appear on the chain. Which leads to my next point...

         See how Splinterlands brought people over to Hive? I bet it's the biggest surge since the 2017 bull run. Social media has been the talking point on Hive for years. Yet, we didn't have any meaningful social things until the debut of Hive Engine back in 2019.

         Say what you want about @aggroed, but he's one of the few running a working product that generates revenue. It's refreshing seeing people joining the platform for something other than "blogging". In a technical sense, the games we play are Engine games instead of Hive games, but the point stands.

         I would argue the most important thing came out of Engine is "tokenized communities".

         It seems pointless right now, but so did NFTs and look what happened. Hive has missed out on some major opportunities in the crypto space. Whether it's DeFi, staking, etc. it felt like there's a trend of not realizing the potential of ideas we come across.

         Whatever you feel about @dan, it's worth noting that a lot of the ideas he shared were ahead of his time. Were they all his original ideas? I doubt it. Given how he was around some of the prominent figures we see today, I would say they exchanged ideas. Watch people like Vitalik or Hoskinson. These are people who were around Larimer in the early days. It would be silly to assume they aren't making those talking points in the past into reality.

         The difference is, Larimer is a quitter.

         Anyways, tokenized communities, in some talking points, are the next big thing. It may not happen this cycle. It could happen next cycle. You bet it's going to happen. There's a reason why you see the likes of Jack Dorsey and others racing to bring this into reality.

         Tokenization is the first step for Hive to move away from its antiquated reward pool. It is the source of most of the drama and problems on this platform. It is the reason why we can't have diversified activities other than "quality content". IT. DOESN'T. WORK.

         No matter how "objective" you may try, it's ridiculous to try to compare the apples and oranges of content. Tokenized communities alleviate that. Each community has their own definition of value. Their token's relative strength to HIVE bases itself on the market demands.

         From my experience with Tribes, people behave different when they own their communities. You see members participate in development and even carry out anti-abuse on their own. It's a much scalable approach than expecting a one-size-fits-all solution.

         And communities can collaborate. They could share verifications of users, ideas, or whatever. Can't verify if someone is legit? Well, don't vote for them. Give them a little "unverified" tag to let everyone know on the frontend.

         There are many ways to moderate without having to use downvotes. Now, if only those features receive more refinement and finishing touches...

         Initiatives like @hivewatchers are only temporary solutions to a perpetual problem. In the long-term, they aren't useful as people are diverse and communities are broad. What needs to happen is fleshing out community features. Then, tokenized communities may flourish in ways similar to LeoFinance making strides.

         What does that leave the base layer? Well, the HBD interests and tools to stabilize prices were the best parts about HF25. People love passive income. It's rather strange Hive took so long to create incentives for investors. It was pretty insane the way the userbase here expected investors to be "curators".

         Other chains simplify things so that the base layer is about finances. It can even be about governance. But, asking investors to be something they aren't and get mad at them? Only on Hive. At least, things are changing.

         Now, what to do about HP incentives in the long run? I suppose RC is part of the equation. Governance is definitely the mainstay. At some point, there needs to be a reason to not have only a third of the HIVE in HP. If Hive can take that challenge, the price will soar in due time. Price action due to supply shock is quite real.


         There are obviously a lot more to it than I have listed here. Of course, they are but my opinions. The point is that there are things Hive can change and move towards to become more relevant in crypto. It doesn't have to be the biggest hit on the block. All anyone needs to know is it's a chill place where people hang out and do things because it has a community.

         Anyhow, you all have a good weekend and try not to think too hard about what I wrote. It's ultimately inconsequential.

Posted Using LeoFinance Beta