Have you ever wondered:
Why is so much Hive and crypto content consistently trending?
Answer: Because the "likwid" account downvotes artists, art, photographers, photos and people in general...
Especially when they do a good job.
Earlier today I received a downvote to the tune of about 40 bucks from the "likwid" account. The post itself even clearly states the downvotes don't bother me, in general. That doesn't mean I don't know what a slap on the face feels like though.
My initial reaction inside my head went something like:
"A bit excessive, don't you think?"
This isn't my first rodeo though, and I've been to a few picnics as well.
About a week ago I noticed the "likwid" account had been downvoting successful posts that didn't involve Hive or crypto.
A photographer I've followed for a long time went silent for awhile on Steem, came to Hive, and for the first time ever managed to produce a popular post. A popular post usually has more money beside it than other not so popular posts. That member was incredibly happy until the "likwid" account came along to wipe away about a third or more of the value.
The photographer wasn't angry. They were sad; disappointed. Anything even resembling a good day, wiped away.
In this post from about a week ago I said:
Celebrate success; let people have fun. If you see a post making the big bucks, realize it can also be considered a generous offering since half of that value is going back to the contributing community members who voted.
Popularity is common in this industry. It happens. If more and more consumers are voting for something or someone because they like it or like them, let it happen!
If all we're going to do is allow developers, a few worthy witnesses, and some folks with fat wallets to earn the big bucks while the rest of the general content creators are forced to work under some kind of an unwritten rule of a salary cap, that'll just lead to disappointment; animosity.
I didn't mention any names.
I felt it was good advice in general. I had the "likwid" account's actions against that photographer in mind when I wrote that though.
The bogus "reason" given to the photographer went something along the lines of, "I felt the post was over rewarded."
At this point though I'd consider that excuse to downvote to be a bold-faced lie, since the "likwid" account will happily upvote Hive and crypto content to levels much higher or about the same as some of the art and photography getting downvoted.
It's not about reward adjustment. The "likwid" account appears to be intentionally sabotaging the trending page content rankings, pushing art down and crypto content up.
This has been happening for awhile. Here's a recent screenshot of the "likwid" account's activity:
And my response to this bad actor:
You're picking on artists. It's clear as day. Straight up attempting to scare away artists from the platform. You upvote Hive content, crypto content, and downvote artists. That behavior needs to stop. Look around. There are comments here already wondering why you're downvoting. It's because you pick on artists, photographers, etc.
Do you want this platform to succeed or are you here to make lives miserable for talented people all while turning this into a boring crypto forum?
Do you even realize the crypto attention economy is minuscule in comparison to arts and entertainment? More people enjoy arts and entertainment in this world than crypto. Arts and entertainment generates billions annually. Did you even read the posts you downvoted? To me, based on that screenshot above, it appears as if you scrolled through the trending page, downvoting arts and entertainment only.
I suggest you reconsider this irrational behavior of yours and practice some restraint; self-discipline. No artist is demanding you enjoy their work. If you do not enjoy that content, don't look at it. Other people do enjoy it and you're going to have to learn to accept that. Chase these folks away by making their experience here miserable and it'll partially be your fault this place struggles to get off the ground. Do you even know how many hours these artists put into their work? Can you do better?
Looking closer...
One of the art posts that was downvoted had 20 reblogs and several comments. Mine had several comments and so did the other posts. People enjoyed that content.
I have nothing against the Blockchain Bastards or their work in general but their content has been sitting high on the trending page for several hours and at the time of this writing, I only see one comment under that post:
It's also set to earn far more than some of the artists and photographers who got smacked. The "likwid" account supports that but will target and downvote artists with tons of engagement then claim they're being over rewarded for earning less...
In a response to a comment I received on the post that got downvoted I said:
I have no use for a makeup tutorial but if I see someone attracting consumers, that's a win for me as well. All the things I don't like, provided they're genuine efforts and attracting eyes benefit me indirectly. If I go to Youtube to listen to music and end up watching Joe Rogan, Joe can thank the music for that, even if he hates the songs.
Hey crypto crowd!
Are you paying attention?
Do you realize now, we're not working against each other, we're working with each other? Teamwork.
How do you feel about a bad actor attempting to strip away potential spillover and actively working towards shrinking your market?
If someone came here to enjoy some art or photos, then clicks your crypto content out of curiosity, isn't that a good thing?
Are we not attempting to make cryptocurrency go mainstream or is this to be Safe Space Bubble Land where everyone gets to be really good at preaching to the choir?
I call 'bullshit'!
If Hive truly wants to be a just a basic crypto forum, one of the best ways to achieve that would be to punish everyone else for doing a good job.
On Steem, people were brainwashed into fearing whales who acted like bullies.
That's not happening here on Hive.
Freedom of the arts. If you're producing crypto content, you're actively participating in the arts/entertainment/information industry. Maybe you wrote an article. What do the first three letters of 'article' spell? This is a level playing field.
I put all of my projects on hold today so I could come here and tell you all directly I will not tolerate any members acting nefariously in order to impede progress on the Hive platform.
Not happening.
The "likwid" account's deplorable behavior needed to be addressed.
Is anyone out there listening? Are you aware of the fact there are thousands of people currently annoyed with the sheer amount of Hive content consistently trending and receiving high rewards daily?
Were you aware of the fact a whale has been consistently downvoting everything else in order to make it appear as if the wisdom of the crowd only wants Hive and crypto related content?
I've been a member of this scene for nearly four years so based on experience I must ask: How many more months do we have to put up with this and how many people need to leave before anyone even notices it's a problem?
Your posts encouraging quality content, encouraging engagement, and encouraging growth; they all look really nice — squeaky clean — on the surface.
But if all we're going to do is preach to the choir, maybe we should be practicing what we preach as well?
Since they're Hive posts, the "likwid" account agrees with the concepts, since that member is upvoting that stuff; then he turns around and works against what he pretends to support.
Conclusion
I'm not complaining about a downvote I received, but I already know this post can be twisted into that, so the real problem can be ignored and get even worse over time.
I'll admit today I've lost a tremendous amount of confidence in this platform, due to the actions of one bad apple.
I can already tell you many people are annoyed and feeling disappointed due to the actions of that same bad apple.
That same bad apple is contributing to what seems to be annoying thousands of other members.
I didn't come to Hive with the same amount of patience I once had while dealing with that clusterfuck known as Steem for three and a half years.
I don't think I have it in me to spend another nearly four years watching bogus "investors" shooting themselves in the foot. Isn't the concept of researching before you invest common sense in the world of cryptocurrency? Yes.
Yet we have "investors" who don't even understand basics in this industry like how consumer attention spills over onto things the consumer would not have been interested in until it's placed directly under their nose.
Punishing the majority market with the hopes of drawing more attention to the minority market is so beyond counterproductive it becomes moronic.
I ain't got time for this shit.
Edit: Just a bit of an update.
The @likwid account has now downvoted all of my recent work, blindly, like I'm supposed to give a fuck. What this means now is all my work from here on out will be targeted by this individual. I'll be bullied forever.
I'm leaving, I guess? No longer welcome here? It breaks my heart but that's how it has to be. Maybe one more followup post and decide from there.