Publish0x COO, Igor Tomić, laments the crypto-fuelled blogging platform's decision to do some house cleaning and start running on its own steam in his most recent update post. But users seem happy about it.

If you haven't seen IGOR'S POST detailing the changes being rolled out right now, you should. For those of us who are already there, it will explain things you may already be seeing... but for potential new bloggers and readers, I personally think it shows positive progress and it highlights the thoughtfulness of the #publish0x team.

And the other users who have commented on Igor's post seem to agree with me!

So What's Changing at Publish0x?

There are really only three things for which Igor is apologizing, so let's take a look at them... and then we'll determine, for each of them, why he should let himself off the hook. Sound good?

1. Tips will be cut in half.

Okay, that one sounds pretty bad... but let's keep Igor's own words in mind when we consider the reasoning for such changes. What did he say, exactly, that might help shine a light on it?

"We have long sponsored most of the tips we give out in order to facilitate the growth of the site, and to experiment with a few different approaches of how best to achieve that. And we were happy with this arrangement. Now, we feel that the time has come to make the site sustainable on it's own."

Hmm... that sounds reasonable enough, diplomatic. It's actually quite a generous thing to have contributed their own money, on top of the obvious time required, for a project as challenging and unpredictable as this one.

And he even says that they hope to be able to raise the tip levels back up as their income grows, so I see this as a step in the right direction. Publish0x will become self-sustainable, and will work towards consistent organic growth.

2. Ethereum Is Out. (____ Is In?)

It's official: ETH will be removed from the list of #cryptocurrencies used on the Publish0x platform. I think this is likely due to layer-1 gas issues, and they just don't want to get stuck with forcing huge withdrawal thresholds to cover the potential extra costs down the road.

I don't disagree, and I don't see this as a big deal. The team is actively thinking about a third token, and they are accepting suggestions from the community... so I obviously included #hive as one of my top recommendations.

3. They're Cleaning House.

That just means the team will start moderating and deleting poor and low-value content. This is perhaps the most interesting of Igor's announcements, and part of me is a bit surprised that nobody has mentioned anything.

I'm not against higher standards and discouraging shitty content, but this does illustrate the CENTRALIZED POWER of the Publish0x platform and mechanics... it might operate a little crypto economy, and it may align itself in certain ways with the principles of the #crypto community, but no blockchain is cataloguing or securing our content.

Igor lists the specific types of things they will be flagging, so take the time to READ HIS POST before getting too worried about it. Their heart seems to be in the right place, and I expect them to focus on plagiarism and pure, profiteering laziness. But time will tell.

As you can see, it's safe to say Igor is being too pessimistic about the whole thing. Maybe he'll lighten up after he gets a chance to read all the supportive and upbeat comments below his eulogy for himself!

"Expect a separate post on what specifically we deem low quality, though our rules page offer a good rough guide. After we are done cleaning up the site, I expect that there will be significantly less posts published each day, and by fewer authors."

And that may end up being true, but I also think it clears the way for the better writers to step up and give it the effort they might have seen as futile before. Less authors overall at first, perhaps, as Igor says... but then I expect the ranks to quickly start growing as writers see the improved traffic and #engagement.

One can hope.

Igor also goes on to say that there will likely be more advertisements around the website... but I see that as a natural extension of becoming a self-sustaining thing, so it's also more good news than bad. There's also the chance of seeing boosts in usership numbers if they strike a few chords with advertiser choices.

So I, for one, can see the silver linings in each and every one of these changes. Will everyone be on the same page? Probably not-- and Publish0x might take a hit early on with people jumping ship-- but I don't think it will take long before we start seeing good things happening as a result.

What do you think? Are you already a Publish0x user, or will this news stop you from SIGNING UP? It's still free crypto, in my books, and an incentivized audience. Spark a conversation in the comment thread below... I'm curious. :)

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