HIVE has a lot of incentive structures. The average person does not think about incentive structures, they usually just react to them.
I would argue that HIVE's incentive structures come together like a well sculpted masterpiece. I use "masterpiece" due to lack of a better term. A masterpiece is generally considered complete, whereas HIVE is never "complete;" HIVE will always change. HIVE as it stands today has no good comparable in my opinion and is unfathomably unique. HIVE is simply breath taking.
One thing I do as a whale is, I downvote content (for many different reasons). I also downvote comments, which are often times the best content. Comments rarely have enough rewards for my downvote to do anything practical in terms of influencing the reward pool. But, I actually think downvoting some comments is very important. There are certain things people say, which to me, have clear negative downstream consequences for all Hivians.
One very powerful but underestimated feature of HIVE is we use it to communicate. When you say something on chain, it is documented forever and anyone can look at what you have said in the past.
The things you say on HIVE can create incentive structures and that reality is beautiful.
A current incentive structure that has been created is, we need a protector to protect people from downvotes. People act like they need someone who will go above and beyond to reach the top levels of power on HIVE to stop this "attack." And some people will take you up on that. They shouldn't, but anyone can come to HIVE and no one can stop them.
When I downvote a comment, it is usually because a downvote is getting framed as an "attack." I want to discourage this behavior because this narrative creates issues for all Hivians.
When you call a downvote an "attack" you have created an incentive for someone to be the hero. The people who will take you up on that tend to be very creative and are good at creating narratives in their head to drive them forward. When people frame a downvote as an "attack," it creates a scenario where someone who wants to be a protector but is not good at reading the room does weird stuff.
When people frame a downvote as an "attack," this hurts all Hivians.
I do not like downvoting primarily because it is subjective. People who do anti abuse have different "rules" and different things they look for. The below are not my rules, but these are common reasons someone might get downvoted by another user.
Examples of why someone may get downvoted (again this is not my list but a generic list):
• Spam
• Scams
• Plagiarism
• Inappropriate content
• Overrewarded posts
• High KE
• Harassment
• Posting too much
• Posting with multiple accounts
• Disputes
These are all inherently subjective. Even plagiarism which seems straight forward is actually not. For example, plagiarism actually means very different things in different cultures. What counts as plagiarism is heavily influenced by what a culture believes are the property rights of the individual. The standard for plagiarism in countries with high protections for property rights is very high. As an example, if you are at UNI in the West, you are expected to cite ideas. If you write a paper, and it is all coming from "your own head," a professor will give you a 0 every time. We learn most things from other people and ideas are very rarely our own. A professor wants you to be "honest" based on the standard of their culture. They want you to cite where your ideas came from. This is not the standard globally but very common in western countries.
HIVE does not have a centralized anti abuse authority. Anyone can downvote. That being said, not everyone should downvote because it is an advanced feature which comes with a lot of nuance.
I hope one day I can downvote someone and it will not be framed as an "attack." It is not an attack, it is a disagreement of rewards. Rewards are not guaranteed money. Rewards are a giveaway from the ecosystem to you. If you get rewards, it is because that content was deemed worthy of rewards at that specific point in time. But HIVE changes and standards change. Who downvotes changes and how downvotes work could always change. Maybe we just decide to get rid of downvotes all together? I think it would be a bad idea but, if we do that I will adapt.
Please. When you do not get the rewards you want, think about how you want to be remembered on chain. Think about what you are posting which can be seen by your descendants for eternity. Think about who will come along and see your frustration and use it to become your protector.
No one deserves to be harassed in life or on HIVE. Being harassed is terrible and I see a lot of people people being harassed on HIVE today and they do not know why. I can tell you why. It is because people have created an incentive structure. People strongly implied they want someone to protect them from downvotes. I think they were hoping someone would power up and get rid of downvoting. But that isn't who they got.
The harassment we experience today on HIVE is not the fault of the downvoter. It is the fault of everyone who calls downvotes an "attack" which encourages this harassment.
I would strongly recommend all the people who claim a downvote is an "attack" to stop. I am asking you to do this, not for me but, for all Hivians.
Cheers,
Hurt
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