A symbiotic relationship between individual and group

in #steem7 years ago

This is a relatively small community and even though people liken it to other social medias, it is fundamentally different in two key ways, decentralization and potential to earn. You know that? Oh. Okay, well moving along.

These two things and their interrelationship means that this community is going to face challenges that similar online communities that have been built in the past did not face. For example, Spam. There is a discussion going on over at @timcliff's blog where he made a proposal if you want to join in.

Other social medias of course have spam issues also but, the difference is that they can deal with them directly, they can algorithm sort them out, block them, ban them and censor them but, here the community has to deal with them directly. The other sites also don't incentivize Spam by offering the potential for direct rewards either. This is just an example of the challenges and, that is a relatively small one.

There are many, many challenges that this community faces and will face in the coming months and years that need to be addressed so that they are not built into the foundations of the community itself. This is of course further complicated because it is a decentralized community that requires consensus for change or the highest staked users to collect together and act as one.

Again, this is a challenge because everyone has their own vision of what they want this place to be and their own ideas as to what will get it there. On top of this, some are short-term thinkers and others long-term business operators. It is difficult to get any number of them to talk together, let alone agree on a course of action.

This creates another challenge that Steemit is very likely to face in the near future, we move very, very slowly. There is a proverb;

"If you want to go fast, go alone; but if you want to go far, go together."

What this means is that we are traveling together to a distant destination but, a centralized community is essentially going alone as there are a very small handful of decision makers. If they are able to offer what Steemit can (incentive to engage) and make it compelling enough, they will travel very fast indeed. If people are only in it for the money, they don't actually care about the decentralization and lack of censorship at all.

We can see from many of the behaviours here at all levels of the eco-system Really do not care about the long-term view of the platform, they are individuals who want to go fast. They want to grow fast, they want fast profits, they want to earn all they can, fast. For some individuals they will make a lot doing this but, the community will die and their 'a lot' is nowhere near what it could have been if they had developed a strong community.

There are people here engaging in some very poor behaviors that act against the community because they are looking short. From a potential financial perspective, A whale is selling their potential future with hundreds of millions out for a guaranteed few million or a few hundred thousand now. A dolphin could be a millionaire but instead, will settle for thousands and the minnows who could potentially buy houses, get dinner and a movie.

The platforms and the technology that came before this didn't have this problem as because of their centralized nature, the millions were guaranteed since they didn't pay users especially, new users on their platforms. Monetization on the other platforms requires a hell of a lot more work than it does here and often higher quality in a much more competitive environment. This means Steemit attracts all kinds and gives them a chance, including the dregs.

Dealing with all the challenges requires a community of at least a high enough number of engaged and able members to drive forward changes. This requires discussion and work and a lot of that work is not the fun stuff that makes a lot of friends or money in the short term. A lot of the discussions that need to take place go against the general ideas of community building but, they are core to building that community.

There is often a call to protect users here. Protect their freedom. Think about that for a moment, protection for freedom. Seems quite an oxymoron when you look at it. The thing is though, a community isn't free, it can't be as a community relies on people to engage in endeavours that benefit the community. The community can be self-governed though but as said, this has challenges.

There is a cost to being in a community and that cost is what you are putting in to get the benefits of the community out. It is the cost of going slowly, but far. Right now, if someone isn't willing to put in and travel slowly for the good of the community, they are not worthy of being a part of that community and should be cut away as they are limiting how far the community can travel together. They are the ones slowing the group down, the many individuals who are unwilling to pull their weight. Why protect them?

I have talked about Steem being the Musketeer Coin where All for one, one for all means the community can grow healthily but, there are too few of the community supporting the many ones who are not there for the all. It is a leaking boat problem where a few people are trying to plug holes while many more are drilling new ones.

Each of us have to come with terms with ourselves here and decide what we want this community to be. If you are thinking and acting for the short term gains, the long-term actors should highly consider cutting you off completely as it is likely not in their best interest to support you. If you are looking long, then you have to act long and that means... finding out what that means.

A rough guide for the long thinkers is, it is going to take work and, you can't leave it up to others to do it. Why should the community work for you, upvote you, engage with you, support you, if you are not willing to engage with the community and unwilling to support others, join in the discussions or even try to learn the basics of the technologies.

Someone DM'd me the other day who has been on the platform for 8 months. They wanted support for a community they have an idea for and how they want to take it world wide. I asked them their thoughts on SMTs and Hivemind... "Umm, what? Never heard of those.." If you want to start communities here, you are going to likely need to understand what is happening in the communities and what types of things are affecting the communities. Yeah, it'll likely take some work.

This platform takes all kinds including the ones who challenge it by acting poorly but, there seems to be an abundance of poor actors at all levels and a very narrow selection of long-term players. True or not, this is the view when one spends some time wandering around Steemit. The community needs to discuss these things and act before they become a forever part of the ecosystem, a part of the community culture.

There are so many issues going on that it is impossible for a small band to think of and take care of them all, this is why a strong and diverse community is vital as it gives many hands to do the many jobs. Benefiting from the community without working for it is to be a freeloader. That is not free, it is absolutely reliant.

A healthy decentralized community is a symbiotic relationship between the group and the individuals within. Take some time to think about your place.

Sunday night thoughts.

Taraz
[ a Steemit original ]

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This challenge is part of my interest in Steem. I've pointed out before that most of us do not have a lot of experience with decentralized authority. I know on a personal level I do not.

I think of it of as 20,000 agendas and visions trying to play out. While my vision might be different than yours the attributes I want to bring to the discussions is that my view isn't going to happen, but I might be able to sway some to at least consider my point of view. Freedom takes tolerance and patience. It means showing up when I feel like I have lost a point, and taking the good with the bad.
I personally do not see the bot owners as short-term investors, I just see them wanting to head a different place.
Anyway, I am rambling, I just enjoyed your post and my thoughts have been on many of the same topics although from a slightly different perspective.

This challenge is part of my interest in Steem. I've pointed out before that most of us do not have a lot of experience with decentralized authority. I know on a personal level I do not.

Mine too.

Freedom takes tolerance and patience. It means showing up when I feel like I have lost a point, and taking the good with the bad.

Freedom take limitation doesn't it?

I personally do not see the bot owners as short-term investors, I just see them wanting to head a different place.

Have to look at all of their actions here to really know, not just at the bots.

I wrote another post today about Super CACs, your rambles will be welcomed at at some point. Can you imagine us over a few drinks :D

Finding one's place is essential. There are people though that might need help to find out. How do we help them? How much chance/time do you think someone should get before he/she is being cut off?

At some point, personal responsibility has to step in doesn't it? To be part of a decentralised community takes proactivity and a willingness to learn. That is the point, people walk into freedom and ask how they should act. Ask and you shall receive but all people ask for are upvotes and follows.

Ask and you shall receive but all people ask for are upvotes and follows lol, everything amiss

Lol

honestly this is a big problem for steemit. People are too opinionated. everyone wants to do what they feel is right.

i like this excerpts

It is difficult to get any number of them to talk together, let alone agree on a course of action.

This creates another challenge that Steemit is very likely to face in the near future, we move very, very slowly. There is a proverb;

"If you want to go fast, go alone; but if you want to go far, go together."

there is power in togetherness. i just hope people understand this

First of all i will like to re appreciate everyone, whales, minnows, witnesses who constantly contribute to the sanity and stability of this platform, doing what they can in their capacities, creating awesome communities that are out there shouting out for users and encouraging quality. As you have mentioned, everyone with a short term sudden money goal cannot make it here and should be cut off,

There is a cost to being in a community and that cost is what you are putting in to get the benefits of the community out. It is the cost of going slowly, but far.
i agree with this

Benefiting from the community without working for it is to be a freeloader. That is not free, it is absolutely reliant

We all have our parts to play depending on how important we deem this platform is to us. We know or are already getting the feeling of the work to be done for our survival for the long term, in my case i will keep trying to inform and educate people i bring on and find here who need this light, because at the end of the day it really is one for all, all for one

I do think that in the long term the concept can work but it is going to take long term investment. The beuty here is that it doesn't take upfront investment other than time and effort. Potentially a lot of time and effort to be sure but the people who do this now will have large gains in the future.

Well said. I am always excited about decentralization and freedom and community and consensus in the beginning of an experiment. I have never seen people reach beyond their selfish ambition to further a group mission without it being subverted by a few. That is why i love bees and have made them my focus of study.

I like how you share your ideas. I also have these problems in my mind, because a lot of spammers and account hackers trying to steal your hard earned coins in this platform are now rampant.

There are members also who joined steemit for the money they can get (short-term) and care not for the platform. As if it is a milking cow. Although rewards is a form of motivation, many failed to realized that their motivation (money) in joining steemit is wrong. The sustainability of steemit is in our hands. We itself the community.

The short-term views conflicts with long-term views. In unity as a community we prosper as one, hopefully others will realize that we should care for steemit.

There are still many challenges this platform will face but I hope it will conquer them all and come victorious.

good post, I liked this post @tarazkp

Hello @armadi, i like the post too, and i stated what my thoughts were about it, you can scroll down to see it, but what did you like about it? You should share that with us too

I have been here only for a little more than 3 months. I am still feeling my way around here and although I already think that I am a late to the party but I think I would have thought the same thing if I had joined 1 year ago.
The important thing is that we first need to learn and come to some important conclusions about the platform for ourselves.
I am just surprised that somebody DM's you just because they thought that they have a bright idea. Nothing wrong with DM'ing but it's just that we at least got know what we are talking about.

I would have thought the same thing if I had joined 1 year ago.

I feel I was late. But, not as late as the other 99.9 percent to come.

I am just surprised that somebody DM's you just because they thought that they have a bright idea. Nothing wrong with DM'ing but it's just that we at least got know what we are talking about.

The idea was not bright and it had zero thought put in. Just some buzz words I mention in posts like 'community.' I get quite a few people DMing for support. Some just drop links hoping, some try to trick me into it, some guilt trip.

Hell even I have idea's but most of them half-baked. What's the point in proposing something that even I don't yet fully understand, much less be confident about. Sure there is a 0.0001% chance of it's success but mostly just a waste of time.
In reality there are several good things already happening here on Steemit (not as much as I like but still plenty). I'd rather be a part of them first and get to learn more.

This post is timely, it;s basically what the Steem community needs to address. I personally feel proper checks be put in place to curb every unruly act on this platform. But the question is what exactly should be permitted or disallowed?

I loved this series of content that you made brother, very complete, an excellent contribution for the community. You have a new follower, I hope you can check my blog some day to see what you think of my material. Thanks and regards!