I'll try something different today - here’s some real talk:
Earlier today, @hiveusmaximus got his reputation knocked down to -1 because someone decided to be toxic again. The only way to fix it and make his posts visible again was for me to vote them back up.
This kind of thing is a major reason Hive hasn’t grown like it could. Downvotes are too often used to shut people, projects & ideas down instead of encouraging acceleration & positivty.
Think about what Hive has done:
- We had social finance (SoFi) before it became hot.
- We were early in decentralized finance (DeFi).
- We were into blockchain gaming (GameFi) before it blew up.
- We hosted AI content onchain before it got popular.
- We had DAOs before they got popular.
- In 2020, Hive was known all across Web3 for showing what decentralised governance meant, after the fork. Let me repeat: EVERYONE knew about us!
Hive has led the way in so many areas, but we’ve held ourselves back with a “crab-bucket mentality” - a culture where people pull others down instead of helping them succeed.
What Is the Crab-Bucket Mentality?
Imagine crabs in a bucket. When one crab tries to climb out, the others pull it back down.
- “If I can’t have it, neither should you.”
- “Don’t get ahead of us; stay where you are.”
This way of thinking stops progress. Instead of helping each other grow, we make sure no one gets too far ahead.
To quote the Steem Whitepaper:
Does this sound familiar? Here are my two most recent experiences:
- I developed a Hive integration for ElizaOS, the most popular opensource AI agent framework and shared my progress publically. It got downvoted for “chain spam.” If I didn’t have enough Hivepower, it would have disappeared completely.
- I'm building a project with another blockchain technology and held an airdrop for Hivers, hoping to foster cross-chain collaboration and to introduce new concepts. The reaction? “How dare you build outside of Hive!”. Downvoted.
I don’t think most people are happy with the status quo. Hive’s success can’t depend on short-term pumps, while other blockchains and even meme coins surpass us. Becoming a meme coin isn’t the answer either.
For the past eight years, I’ve worked to bring new ideas to Steem, Hive, and Splinterlands. Facing resistance is part of being early and vocal, but it’s frustrating to see the same patterns again and again.
Progress doesn’t wait. If you’re worried about “chain spam,” let me tell you: AGI (artificial general intelligence) is coming, you won't easily spot who's human and who's not, and downvotes won’t stop it. What they will do is push away new users, ideas, as well existing users.
Remember, @coruscate? Currently 236k followers on X - hasn't posted since '21.
Remember, @justineh? Currently 56k followers on X - hasn't posted since '20.
Here's a quote from, @justineh:
Hive is not just content, but a huge majority of the inflation pool is allocated out each day to it, and the more I look around, the more I ask myself why.. as there is no incentive for creators to entertain and bring the masses, we need to change that.
Content is our store front currently, and sometimes I think we are too stuck in our echo chamber to even acknowledge that we are failing at attracting anyone with it, and that’s a huge mistake imo.
Justine is correct, it's always about rewards. Bob thinks Alice shouldn't get that many rewards? Downvote her, regardless of her negative experience. Bob's response: Don't hate the player, hate the game. Does this remind you of something? Crab Bucket Mentality.
While other Web3 communities are focused on building and "accelerating", we’re stuck fighting over small issues that hold us back. Here's an example of Farcaster and their Degen Token - all without downvotes.
So let me ask you: Are we crabs, pulling each other down? Or are we bees, pulling each other up and building something amazing together?
The choice is yours.