One of the things that has come up over the years is whether posting for reward is worth it or not and I think that the answer to this will depend on one's own belief in the crypto space, financial position and willingness to participate. "Worth it" is going to always be a subjective position.

Do you believe?

So firstly, do you believe that crypto as an industry has a future? Do you think there is value? This consideration should of course include Hive as a component of that future, but it isn't necessary per se. Speculation is about whether the future value of something is going to go up and down and since the future is an unknown, belief matters.

If you think it is going to fail - get out.

However, if you think it is going to move in a way where you will benefit, you should consider opting in and investing yourself. After all, that is what investing oneself is all about.

Can you afford to lose?

Financial position is something that affects us all in this life, for better or worse. Not everyone has disposable income that can be thrown away on a whim, so people are generally concerned with how they use their money, with most taking a cautious position, rather than investing into risk. That caution however might be throwing money away, just from another perspective. For example, most entertainment activity has no ROI, yet people feel there is value in it, which there might be, but it is an opportunity cost decision.

Willing to take part?

So then, there is the question of willingness to participate, which likely first needs the precondition of "belief in the future" to be positive. Participation comes in many forms of course, but if one wants the future to be better, positive participation is probably the more logical step to take - support the world you want.

Back to Hive

So, is it worth participating on Hive?

As said, this is going to depend on current position and future prospects - with financial position likely playing a big part. Some people believe that the return for their time isn't worth it, but I think that this is shortsighted, depending.

This future value could also include non-financials like social and community improvement, but let's keep it financial for this case. For example, if I believe that the future value of crypto/Hive is going to be worth significantly more, I should be investing into the space to benefit from it. However, I might not have the disposable income available to invest directly, which means that even if I am earning low amounts, it is something beyond zero, since I wouldn't have the money to invest otherwise. This could take a lot of work, but that work could be worth it at a higher future price.

For instance - if I was able to earn 5 dollars worth of HIVE a week through posting for a total of about 25 HIVE and the future price goes to 5 dollars, that week earned me 125 dollars worth of HIVE. If, I am unable/ unwilling to put that initial 5 dollars in, but that 125 dollars is significant for me in the future - participation is a non-brainer (in my opinion) as it opens up the possibility of an investment position.

But, if I have the disposable income and am quite happy to put that 5 dollars into the space directly as an investment, it might not be worth my time posting and instead earn through curation alone to increase holdings. However, from a cost average perspective, if I can only afford the 5 dollars willingly, it might be better to both buy and participate to earn, with the 5 through participation effectively halving the cost of buying each week - at the cost of time and effort. That means that with the 25 bought and the 25 earned, the future value at 5 dollars is 250 dollars worth. For many, that might be worth the risk as well as the time spent, for many others, it might not.

But, there is also the participation component to think about, where participation in a new industry is an influencing factor on the survival and solidification of that industry. All unused industries fail, so participation from the believers in the early days is what sees it through to mainstream usage. So, if one believes the future is valuable and even if investing directly into it, any additional participation will add transactional usage to increase the odds of the future being more valuable than the today. What this means to me is that there is always value in positive participation if one believes in the future of an industry.

Is it worth it?

The question isn't about whether it is worth it - it is, is it worth it TO YOU?

Value is always subjective, including the value of money, as everyone has a different relationship with it and of course, different needs for it. Some people have a great deal so it doesn't really matter what they do, they'll have enough - some have enough because they do nothing that needs much, some need more because they want more, some need more because of what they want to do in the world with it, as money is needed to trade goods and services. It doesn't matter if buying a Ferrari or paying a cook for a soup kitchen.

We all make daily decisions on what we find valuable through the purchases we make and of course, how we spend our time, where we turn our attention. Some people are frivolous with the resources they have available, some are very careful - but if we are looking for some kind of outcome in the future, it is best we ourselves support for that outcome. This means taking part. If you want to be able to play the piano well in the future, you will have to learn how to play one way or another before that future arrives.

My personal position

For me, I continue to look long and try to opt-in however I can, whether it be through writing articles like this, earning from it, supporting and curating others in their own content, commenting, voting comments, buying directly, trading crypto, talking about it with friends or whatever other ways there are to participate that I feel adds value to the future of the industry, which in the early days is largely about helping users to take part themselves.

What I like about Hive is that it aids this by being more public, more real person. I think this makes it more influential on decisions for users than Bitcoin - as the hurdles to participate are much lower. This means that even if one isn't confident about the future value of HIVE, but are confident about crypto as an industry, using Hive as a gateway is still worth it as it allows a low point in the fence that gives people a taste, without needing to invest directly. This is how I got into it and why I ended up participating to a far greater degree. If the only option was to buy directly, I likely still wouldn't have any crypto position.

Ask yourself

Do I believe in the future of crypto and blockchain?

If yes.

How can I take part?

It isn't too hard, but this is all an opt-in community and that means - it is you who has to make the decisions on how you choose to participate - or not.

Taraz [ Gen1: Hive ]