Work on the study of Hive as a blockchain and as an ecosystem is ongoing. We are still in the information gathering phase, and the more we dive into the research, the more questions we have. One interesting point leads to another, a chain of information links, and the culmination will only come when all the puzzles of the picture are unravelled.
In the process of discovering interesting features, we incorporate these subsections into the structure of the article. The structure has undergone significant changes from the original plan. An ecosystem without information gathering and analysis (at first glance) seems simpler than it is. Apparently, it will not be possible to fit all the aspects we want to consider into one, even a very large article. We would like to remind you that this article is not intended to be a beginner's guide to the ecosystem.
Part of the reason we publish interim research material is that it will be interesting for us in the future to compare where we started and where we have come to. Analysing history also yields sometimes very interesting conclusions. ;))
Below we will present a rough draft of the plan to draw attention to the issue and possibly get some hints (where to find a good source of information/research/article/etc.). This does not mean that we are asking you to do our work, not at all, we have already managed to find some interesting information, but we will not refuse help. Especially since our experience in the ecosystem is minuscule compared to the users who have been here since the inception of the Hive blockchain (when it was still Steem).
The difficulty is the lack of structured information and the inability to quickly locate the right data, which then leads to a significant increase in time-consumption, among other things:
- Search does not work on articles. That is, it is not possible to type in a keyword and get relevant materials, as it happens with search engines. This significantly complicates the work with information gathering and forces you to prioritise searching for information on external resources, while with a very high probability everything is inside the ecosystem, from the first persons. But it is not possible to find it among a huge array of written articles. We mean a quick search on relevant queries. This leaves the manual option of searching for links, and it too can be effective under certain conditions and skills of using the space within the ecosystem. From the point of view of a new user, such a task looks unrealisable.
- As we understand the ecosystem is set up to promote new articles that are less than 7 days old, this also makes adjustments and limits the likelihood of seeing relevant and fundamental material in the feed that was written months or weeks ago.
- Because we are interested in exploring the social component of the ecosystem, a deep and complex analysis of the intra-network effects that arise due to the peculiarities of both decentralisation mechanisms, internal economics and hierarchy within the network and other factors is needed here.
In the meantime, we propose to discuss the idea of creating a verified account (the principle of verification can come from a group of trust accounts) on Hive, something like WikiOfHive, where only fundamental information on the Hive project will be collected, something like a chronicle, where the fundamental points will be collected in one place. We also understand that there is a lot of subjective data and each person has his own vision of this or that situation. At the same time materials can be based on factual data, without expressing the personal opinion of the author. For example, there was such and such an event, it happened this way and that way, the consequences of it turned out this way. And all in that spirit. It's like an option for discussion. We have deviated a bit from the main topic, but it is all within the main agenda and it may be useful in the future, as such an account will cover the basic information needs of new users who want to understand the principles with which the project was created, the concept, as well as to understand what mistakes were made at different stages of development and what consequences it eventually led to. Ah, yes, the plan...
Preliminary study design
It should be understood that during further work on collecting and analysing the material, we can further expand this plan and rework the structure by adding subsections or combining several related topics into one. By the way, it would be more correct to call it not the plan of the article, but exactly the goals and objectives of the research:
Technical part
Describing the technical part of Hive blockchain technology and identifying the potential. What the Hive ecosystem could turn into, what it could look like. What stage of development the "big project" is at in this time period.
Due to the lack of centralised management, a few days of searching did not give us the information we would have liked to find. There are some articles written that do not answer all of our questions, the search for information continues....
Economy
Find out and describe in detail the functioning model of the internal economy, in particular such points as - inflationary model and increase in the total supply of HIVE. What would happen in the case of an increase/decrease in the total number of active users. Consider the issue of the quantitative gap between a relatively small group of large holders of HIVE native coin and a large number of relatively new users with small or zero balances - how this affects the decentralisation of the ecosystem and the internal economy (ability to influence rewards or votes both locally and in ecosystem important votes, strategic issues). Whether the economic, shaped model forces - to purchase HIVE coins on the secondary market and under what conditions. Is it possible to take a significant place in the ecosystem hierarchy without buying HIVE on the secondary market.
Decentralisation
Find out whether it was possible to create a decentralised autonomous community within the Hive ecosystem. Describe the decentralisation model used, what functions were decentralised and what was not decentralised, how the actual management is done. What role blockchain technology plays here in light of the formation of a decentralised autonomous system. Find out how the decentralised community is evolving and what is driving it. How unwanted or illegal content can be moderated without centralised control. Find out as much as possible how effective the model is in terms of "equitable distribution of new resources" in the ecosystem. Influence groups and traditions, carrot and stick, effectiveness of previous measures. Take a closer look at the Proof of Brain consensus model and the effectiveness of this model. Find out whether the internal model of the economy and financial incentives in particular are the only factor contributing to the preservation and development of the ecosystem or whether there is more to it than that. Is it financial gain or an idea? In what proportion are these dependencies? Decentralisation is closely linked to social effects.
Social effects
Identify the characteristics of community and hierarchy in the context of the established order in a given ecosystem. How decentralisation of the network affects social behaviour. Is the realisation of responsibility an incentive for qualitative improvement. Examine the formation and sustainability of social ties within a decentralised ecosystem. Determine how lines of trust are built within the ecosystem and on what principles this is built, taking into account the mechanisms of the network (decentralisation, economic benefits, influence of large ecosystem projects and conditional privacy). Determine how the difference in cultures of individual community members affects social behaviour. Determine the extent to which the ecosystem influences the social behaviour of participants, and the consequences of this influence. Predict the implications of a large-scale increase in community size and the social consequences. What is the role of the individual in a decentralised ecosystem.
We see the logic in writing a series of studies, where each one will deal with a separate big topic, but the sequence of works should have a logical connection, the first one gives the foundation for understanding the subsequent one, and the last work fully reveals the overall picture, the culmination occurs.