Idea on how to save Steem & Steemit......and put it back on track for reaching it's potential
The benevolent whale, comprised of the absolute best curators with a reputation for integrity
The mega whale already exists in the form of the Steemit account, which could be further bolstered by the other Steemit.inc controlled accounts and delegations from community members.
The idea of a benevolent whale came I think from Dan and Stan Larimer (sorry if i'm mistaken) and the purpose was to nurture and protect an embryonic platform until maturity. I think part of that thinking was what created the Steemit account in the first place.
Thus far the Steemit account has (to my knowledge) largely stayed out of the evolving, day-to-day push and pull between economic incentives, Steemit's code and the community's evolving culture. I always saw the Steemit account as a liability due to the massively centralised influence it could have.
Now, I've changed my mind. The Steemit account could be the very thing that saves Steem and Steemit from the abuse and greed that is rampant. Normal whales have generally proven to be ineffective at moderating the abuse.....for many obvious reasons. Chief among them (I think) is that resource expended being a force for good is at a disadvantage and will grow weaker as abusers grow stronger. Now I could be wrong about that, it's a highly complex situation and I have no data to back myself up, however, the cause is not as important as the fact that abuse is winning and nothing so far has been able to materially address it.
The Potential Solution
Deploy the benevolent whale to do what it was always mean't to do. Apart from some SP that will protect Steemit.inc's ability to continue development, deploy/delegate the bulk of the Steemit account's SP and any further delegation to the most critical job of moderating abuse.
The community can select the top 100 to 1000 curators by reputation and competency, each receiving a delegation of SP from the Steemit account. This power to affect the rewards will then be deployed according to the best rules the Steemians can come up with. Any issues could be openly reviewed by a group of community selected adjudicators/researchers who could help decide in more complex situations.
This is of course a workaround for a poor Steem token distribution and an incomplete governance architecture, but I wouldn't be saying it if I didn't think it could work......at the very least, make a significant impact on all the sickening abuse.
I appreciate that it is Steemit.inc's decision on what to do with their Steem Power but couldn't this be a path to achieving Steem's potential?
Steemit's SP represents enourmous economic potential if deployed in the right way. I once donated 90k SP to a start up initiative, led by @aggroed, called the Minnows Support Project. That delegation, to my knowledge, was used as intended and supported a network of thousands in a couple of months. They worked collaboratively and with integrity to incentivise growth and productivity with minimal abuse. Just imagine what Steemit's SP could generate, if only by incentivising productive use of Steem inflation, cultivating skills and reputations.
Implementing something like this properly will not be easy. Steemit.inc giving over control of a significant part of their SP will not be easy. Nothing worth having comes easy. The will must be found from among us to see it done. Unless of course there is a better idea, then super!! :)
Happy Steeming
You're generous delegation came at a critical time for the fledgling MSP IMO, which is now a roaring success.
The idea you propose here has validity and could be an incredible force for good as this wonderful platform evolves.
Something needs to be tried to combat abuse to ensure Steemit's reputation isn't tarnished from within. It could hopefully stop the damaging flag wars which make new adopters and old hats very uncomfortable.
Nice job @benjojo
Resteemed.
Thank you tremendospercy. I've been wracking my brains for a solution ever since I felt the need to take back my SP. It would take an enormous feat of generosity and goodwill on Steemit.inc's part, along with lessons from the MSP on how to ensure integrity during curation via delegation and how to nurture curation talent, but I think they are up to it. I can't think of a better way that is more in keeping with the original purpose of the account that would also give Steem the best chance of success.
The best thing about this suggestion is that the delegation is community guided, compensation earned rewarded for talent and work.....yet everyone benefits. This is not a handout.
I really like your idea and I guess giving power to the steemians specially if selected correctly can influence the economy and promote better quality content and indeed help distribute the influence.
Absolutely. That's it exactly :)
I agree.
I support you on this @benjojo.
Has @ned or anyone in the know given any good reasons as to why the SP in the Steemit account is not being delegated?
Thank you Steemtruth, I really appreciate your support.
All I'm aware of is the statement made in the Steemit.inc 2017 roadmap;
Decentralizing Stake
The Steemit, Inc.-controlled primary account, @steemit, which holds approximately 41% of
the platform’s Steem Power, will be gradually divested of its holdings in an effort to increase
promotion and development of the platform, and this distribution shall further the platform’s
security through decentralization of voting power.
Several methods will be employed, including and not limited to: funding the continued
research and development of steemit.com, the Steem Blockchain’s first and best application,
promoting and publicizing the Steem Blockchain and features, hosting highly available
services for platform users, sponsoring conferences and community gatherings, and
sponsoring undertakings to build applications and increase user adoption across the entire
ecosystem.
This will likely be a multi-year process, but is included in this 2017 Roadmap for the sake of
clarity and understanding surrounding our organization’s plans and goals.
We have several very large initiatives currently in research serving this goal, and the
community should expect further announcements later in the year regarding our firm plans as
it yields fruit.
Ultimately, the goal is to harmoniously align the interests of all participants across the entire
spectrum of people using and trading in STEEM.
I have massive issues with this because A) The focus and implementation of their divesting strategy is not good enough B) It is not happening anywhere near fast enough C) The community isn't central to the decision-making process D) There is no accountability
Abuse of the daily inflation and the centralisation of SP is the greatest threat and it is not being addressed in any meaningful way.
That statement does not mention delegation? That is something that could be utilised almost immediately and it would not inhibit the stated goals. In fact it would help it without even divesting.
Did we receive another announcement or are we waiting?
A) what would you like to see added or removed?
I think they powered down 7 million Steem a few weeks ago. Do you know what it is being used for?
I wasn't fully across this matter but I know a lot more now thanks to you!
I understand that they are supporting some projects and individuals with delegation....@surpassinggoogle and @misterdelegation
I have no idea what they are doing with the Powered down Steem.
Primarily what I would like to see is an absolute acknowledgement that the Steemit.inc account was, is and will always be a community resource that Steemit.inc is temporarily providing custodianship for.
Then acknowledgement that the steemit account could be far better utilised for community benefit than it currently is, most importantly in the area of abuse moderation, secondarily in the supporting of positive curation for a broad selection of interests/communities.
Then absolute commitment to a strategy for implementing a community driven and controlled effort to delegate SP to community elected abuse researchers/moderators acting according to community derived guidelines.
Then absolute commitment to a strategy for implementing a community driven and controlled effort to divest the steemit.inc SP into the hands of community members that are earning the rewards by adding value to the Steem community according to community derived guidelines.
I would expect clarity on exactly how much stake all that would involve and I would hope it included at least 90% of the steemit.inc controlled SP which includes more than just the steemit account.
I'm not asking for much am i? Lol. The only reason i'm asking for this is because I believe it is the only way Steem and Steemit will survive. If we don't make a decisive effort to ensure Steem's survival, then all this will only ever be an experiment that was able primarily to enrich a handful of accounts that were early adopters or accounts prepared to exploit it's flaws.
You make some excellent points and I don't see anything unreasonable.
One potential issue that I see with divesting so much Steem is that anyone with a lot of money e.g. a bad actor or actors could buy a lot of it and we may end up in a worse situation?
We do need a plan and some certainty.
So the plan for divesting is urgent, but there is no need for the actual rate to be any faster than the time it takes to genuinely earn combined with a strategy for ensuring market stability. There are future steemians talents out there who need time to join in and earn some of the SP.
generous delegation. makes us gain insight and invite us all to declare prevention or extermination of the harassment itself. I am with you and always support you
regards
@kopong
good one tnx for resteem
Bagus sekali posting anda saya suka
i like your way of thinking.
that's actually the initial goal in creating steemit.
You're one of the good whales.
Thank you, I appreciate the support.
IDK we already have many curation projects adding up to many millions of steem. Isn't this just a proposal for more of the same, using Steemit Inc's private money?
I don't believe so. The stated purpose of the Steemit.inc's account was to support Steem. Currently the majority of it sits there doing nothing whilst Steem and Steemit become largely a printing press for a handful of powerful accounts. However, all Steem Power is relative and should a significant stake begin acting to moderate abuse, that would be a game changer. There are so few whales, which is part of the problem of instability in the way the incentives work. By deploying Steemit.inc's SP across hundreds or thousands of accounts, you effectively replicate a much better token distribution. I think the difference is obvious between that and what has gone on before.
I was going to ask if you were familiar with @fulltimegeek and @stellabelle's delegations to chosen community members, and how effective that has been at increasing the reach of their SP far beyond what they could achieve as individuals.
It appears you have dreamt their experiment bigly.
I strongly support this plan. Such delegation might not only curb abuse, it would also disperse rewards to many authors that face a desert of upvotes, due to the focus on ROI and profiteering by those with significant SP presently.
Little could improve the retention of users better than that.
Further, as a delegation, that SP would remain in the toolchest for Stinc to use as necessary to combat hostile takeover of witnesses and catastrophic forks which could result. Any benefit to the accounts that were availed of such delegations would be as curation rewards, which aren't being attained by that SP now, so would not harm Stinc. All capital gains from rising price of Steem would remain the property of the SP owner.
Thanks!
I really appreciate the support. Thank you.
I was aware that @stellabelle had started a new delegation initiative a while ago though I did not know about @fulltimegeek 's. I love these kinds of initiative because they are about giving, empowering and unleashing potential, which as you say, is far better accomplished by many.
I tried to come up with a win-win and if we can scale it up, led by Steemit.inc, the potential is huge.
this, one million percent, but also use that as a PROJECT almost like the TV NETWORKS do where they have a show -- it could be a live stream, regular daily or weekly roundup where someone concentrates on it and pulls together all the opinions, voting up and down, use the content created as the very thing that promotes the steem blockchain network.
I really like your ideas here. It is imperative that those with Steemit.inc delegated power have the support of the community through transparency and accountability. Initiatives like the ones you suggest could really help!
beutiful
I don't see a problem.
I like Steem just fine the way it is.
I think your glasses may have become fogged sir.
I don't need glasses to see how much money I've made on Steemit in the last few weeks.
(by my standards...a lot. Enough to pay rent and buy food)
I like it that way. Sleeping on the park bench and eating pigeon food wasn't much fun.
You want to "fix it"?
I don't THINK so.
There can be no doubt that Steem has been a revelation and a marvel. It has already accomplished great things. But it could do more for more people. I'm glad you are happy and doing well. I'm thinking primarily of those that aren't or have turned away from Steemit because of the abuse....and there are thousands. Still this might not be the solution, who knows. I want to save, not fix steemit. Saving it means improving the situation, nothing is perfect.
No one has more enmity for bots and how they mine rewards than you, IIRC. Surely allowing Stinc to delegate it's unused SP so that more folks might find the pot at the end of the rainbow as you did wouldn't hurt you any, and would help to counter bots.
Have you seen the results of @fulltimegeek and @stellabelle's delegations?
It's all good.