Engagement is a huge part of any social network and I believe the engagement on Hive, while low in transaction volume, is of a very high level on average - at least for me. I think this is because for quite a long time now, I have focused heavily on the discussion around content, not the content itself. To do this however, requires creating content that resonates with people and inspires the conversation.
Content is very important, but it is only valuable when it lives past the content itself and results in some kind of practical action. I am not saying it has to change the world, but if it sparks thought and conversation, it could be part of the stream that does.
Content is more than a place to hang votes and get curation, it is a meeting point where relationships form, the nodes of the network thst bring people together, the water cooler.
One of the fantastic things currently on Hive is being able to interact directly with the author, but in time, I hope this changes to some degree. The reason is that I think that the conversation is more important than the content, and the greater the depth of discussion, the better. This means that rather than me writing to you and you talking to me, there will be the content as the meeting point and the discussion thread below the post becomes nodes of their own. This means that there is less reliance on the author and a far greater degree of participation and potential for depth and breadth of topic to develop.
In some way, it is kind of like a book club, where everyone reads the same book and then come together to discuss their own observations and perspectives. In this way, the book is enriched by the variation in experience and rather than relying in the position of the writer, people can bring in their own interpretations - like any art form.
Through this process, the conversation is not only widened, it becomes more inclusive and potentially more transformative as variance in perspective or reiteration of concepts can better engage the audience than the author arogibally could from their own, original perspective.
While the payout window on a post is only seven days, I believe that content can live beyond that of it is able to influence some kind of change in an individual.
If a post for example encourages someone to look into investing fiat and they do an invest, they are also likely to invest a second time, then a third. The original post can be long forgotten, even though the investment mindset is very much active. The value of that post might be incredibly high, even though ko one remembers it.
Similarly, the comments below the post can be highly valuable, because unlike the post itself, comments are personal. What I mean by this is that I write a post for the audience, I reply to the individual. When this is the common behavior of users, personal relationships form, a social network of real people who learn about and care about each other beyond any financial gain.
I think that one of the potential competitive advantages of Hive is it ibcebtivizes building an account through relationships long term. This means that it encourages people to act consistently and the more people invest into this, the more social capital their account holds, the more valuable it all becomes.
Rather than registering a hundred accounts that can be thrown away, there is benefit to focus energy on building one that is valued by the community. I see this as building track record based on personality, skill and participation in the community. It also means that once built, we are more likely to protect our account, which probably requires acting in a healthier community orientated way for a longer term. It is like the branding of other social media, except with more personal control and accountability - and without the centralised risk of demonetization.
For me, this is important, as it means that the network I build around the nodes that are my content, has value to the network I own am invested in. There is a feedback loop in place that not only encourages my participation, but encourages my behavior to build and support the community.
One of the things I and a few others have been trying to do is develop the depth of discussion and for me at least, I want to see the discussion spawn more discussion, greater interaction across accounts and formation of more complex social frameworks and relationships.
We live in a world where people are quite disconnected due to online life, but it is no wonder when we are throwing up content for likes and engaging without depth. On Hive and while we want a lot of users eventually, to get there it is about having a compelling use case, and in my opinion, one of those is about having personal discussions with each other, not just between audience member and author, but member and member to build a rich community fabric of interaction.
What I hope people start realising is that there is a difference of impact and likely continued influence between a post with lots of comments and a post with depth of comments. Some posts inspire thought and discussion, some also facilitate the formation of new relationships, if people are open and willing to engage.
I will always work hard to engage with my audience for as long and as often as I can, but I hope that there will be a growing number of comments where people will be engaging with each other, kind of like at a restaurant filled with different groups of friends and family, all talking concurrently, while enjoying the food from the same kitchen.
We are a social network, let's be a little more social.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]