This post is part of a series I’m building to help beginners on Hive learn the basics. My goal is to help you to get a base to build on your time on the platform.*
Covered So Far
I’ve created an index post showing what is covered in each part of this series.
Visit the Index to review what has been covered.
Who’s Running the Show?
In the last part of this series I wrote about the lack of a company running the Hive chain. There is no controlling entity deciding what gets built and added to the ecosystem.
Being used to being in a world where someone or some entity is ultimately in charge. This concept of decentralized ownership took some getting adjusted to.
Even when a community was supposed to have ownership in the Web2 world, there was always some form of group calling the shots.
That doesn’t really happen here on Hive.
There are some aspects driven by the code the blockchain runs on, like your voting. Most other ‘rules’ are arrived at mostly be a loose agreement of the community.
As you explore around the chain you’ll find posts with discussions about various ‘issues’ on Hive. Someone will post what they see as a problem and propose a solution. Others will chime in. Discussions can go on forever on some items.
For some people, if the code lets you do it, then they will do what they want. Others will try to get a sense of how the community feels and govern themselves accordingly. Some will try to impose their sense of order through the use of large stake.
The Blockchain Needs A Different Mindset
It can be an adjustment to get into a mindset of finding your own path and doing what you feel is right. If you read Part 3 of this series where I talked about voting, I addressed the question of voting on your own posts.
My suggestion was to not upvote your own posts as some of the larger accounts frown on it. In the comments, one of the larger accounts put forward he’s not one who frowns on doing so. It considers upvoting your own work to be a legitimate use of your stake.
Both of us are correct.
Be aware, just because they code will let you do something, make decisions based on careful thought and consideration.
Most of the suggestions I’ve made about conduct in this series are based on my experience and what seems to not bring push back from others.
Who Governs the Code?
The code and how it will work is arrived at through discussion and consensus among the developers and top Witnesses.
The Witnesses? Who Are They?
On some chains you will find people called ‘block producers’ doing the same function.
Blockchains are blocks of data, chained together across multiple nodes. The same data is found on each node. If you change data on one node, the rest of the chain will reject the altered data. The multiple verifications of data is what gives a blockchain their high level of security.
Witnesses setup nodes to connect to the blockchain and will start producing the blocks of data. Blocks are produced at about 3 second intervals.
There is currently about 120 active Witnesses monitoring the chain. The top 20 of those based on the total amount of Hive power supporting them, sign blocks on a rotating basis. This top 20 are the Consensus Witnesses and form the governance over the chain.
The Witnesses from #21 onward are backup Witnesses. In each round of block production the 21st block will be produced by a backup Witness scheduled in proportion to their ranking (amount of Hive Power Supporting them).`
The Consensus Witnesses
As I mentioned a minute ago, the top 20 witnesses are considered to be the chain governance. That doesn’t mean they set rules about what behaviour is allowed on the chain. At least not most behaviour.
Their most important function is with hardforks and key protocol changes. For any Hardforks or key protocols to take effect 17 of the top 20 must update their nodes with the new version. The 17 out of 20 is a consensus thus the name for the top 20 Witnesses being the Consensus Witnesses.
Hardforks and protocols are proposed, developed and brought into being through a collaborative team-working effort. Reaching consensus when they are ready for release is the final step in the process and needed to bring changes into being.
How Do The Witnesses Get Support?
They are voted on by the community. Like your votes on posts, the amount of support you can give a witness is based on how much stake (HP) you have.
One difference between when you’re voting posts and when you are voting for Witnesses is the Witness vote is based on your total HP. When voting posts, if you have any HP delegated out, that isn’t counted.
Each member of Hive can choose up to 30 Witnesses to vote on. Here is the list of Witnesses as shown on PeakD. You will find the list on the other frontends.
https://peakd.com/me/witnesses
How Do You Choose Who to Vote For?
As someone new on Hive trying to figure out who to vote for can be confusing. And, at this stage, it’s not vital you vote, but it’s a good time to start paying attention to who are witnesses.
One thing you need to understand immediately, the Witnesses are NOT the whales. The whales are large stakeholders. A Witness can be a whale but the two are not directly related.
Many, if not most, of the Witnesses have at least one project they are involved in running on Hive. Go through the list of witnesses, link to their accounts and explore what they post about. Ask people you’ve get to know and respect who they vote for.
Once you start making choices, go back and review your votes regularly to make sure your choices are still active.
Wrapup for Today
Without the witnesses there is no chain. The least we can do is be sure to participate by voting.
There is more to cover yet, so there will be more parts to this series. As always, if you want to know something I've not covered yet, drop a comment and ask
Shadowspub is a writer from Ontario, Canada. She writes on a variety of subjects as she pursues her passion for learning. She also writes on other platforms and enjoys creating books you use like journals, notebooks, coloring books etc.
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