The Solution is Simple
Many people don't read the whole post; so I will start with the solution.
IMHO, the solution to tag spam is to limit the number of rewards for a post to one or maybe two key tags.
This could be done by giving tag rewards if the tag is in the first or second position.
Now for the Problem
While curating, I've noticed a growing number of accounts automatically drop a list of the top earning tags for every post. My guess is that they are hoping to maximize the rewards for the post by tagging as many alt-coins as possible.
I define the use of irrelevant tags as tag-spam.
Tag spam has the same negative effects at copy and paste spam.
Tag-Spam Negatively Affects Prices
I noticed that the price of POB just took a dive and LEO and HIVE are in a rut.
I contend that part of the malaise is due to tag spam. I looked at several accounts that used multiple tags on each post. Many of the accounts were actively dumping the crypto they received for the tags.
Now ask: What do a tag spammers do after dumping their POB? Well, they dump the HIVE that they got when dumping their POB. The people who are dumping their POB negatively affect HIVE.
The tag spam drops the price of both HIVE and POB.
Tag Spam Drives Away Non-Spammers
Yes, the people who spam the tags make a little more per post. Unfortunately, it significantly drops the rewards for people who don't engage in the process.
Looking through the created list, I've noticed a significant drop in the number of people posting on HIVE. The posts that don't engage in tag spam are not getting rewards.
Curating Can't Solve Tag Spam
The curation system does not provide a remedy for tag spam. The curation system actually makes it worse.
Remember, the curator gets a cut of the rewards. As a curator, I will get more for my click if I upvote a spammer.
If I were writing a bot to maximize curation rewards, I would code the bot to seek out and reward tag spam because the spam would increase my rewards.
Tag Spam and SEO
Some people are concerned with the poor showing of HIVE on Google. It turns out that tag spam makes the SEO problem significantly worse.
Googlebot hates duplicate content. When Googlebot encounters duplicate content on multiple sites, Google assumes the sites are link-farms. Googlebot discounts the sites that have the duplicate content.
The different tribal sites show posts based on the tag. Posts that spam the tags will show up on multiple sites.
For this post, I decided to use the LEO and POB tags. That means that this post will show up in both LeoFinance and Proof of Brain as well as PeakD, Hive.Blog and a few other places.
The use of the canonical tag can reduce the problem, but it does eliminate it. This is especially true since some of the tribal sites aren't using the canonical tag.
Is PoB Anything More than a Mirror of LEO?
A few days I was looking at the created page for POB. I looked at about 40 posts. They all were dual tagged with POB and LEO. Is there any point to POB, outside of being a separate revenue stream for LEO posts?
I Chose Two Tags For This Post.
I started writing this post for POB. Since most posts on POB are dual tagged with LEO, I got worried that no one would find the post if I used just the POB tag.
Since there is no original content on POB, There is no reason to visit ProofOfBrain.io. Since there is no original content on PoB, there is no reason for the site to exist.
Tag spam is so pervasive that writing original content for PoB is a waste of time.
Since the primary topic of the post is crypto and fundamental issues on HIVE, I decided that LEO would be a better venue for this post. More importantly, people might read it on LEO.
I take the tags seriously: Does this post really benefit both the POB and LEO tribes?
The truth of the matter is that I believe that it does not. By trying to include two money making tags. I am doing what I am complaining about. I am abusing the system.
Of course, if I tried to post in in just POB, the post wouldn't be read and I won't get any rewards.
Engage in Spam or Leave
The tag spam on HIVE is so severe that users of the platform are faced with a moral dilemma: One must either engage in tag spam or leave.
I beg the developers of HIVE to ask: Do you really think that the ability to get a half dozen alt-coins for one post is worth destroying the platform.
Tag Exclusion Is not a Solution
Apparently Scotbot has an "ignore tag" feature. Scotbot will ignore the LEO payout if the tag came from Actifit or dlike.
I don't think that this type of inter-tribal warfare really helps HIVE. Does driving the people who use actifit off the platform really benefit HIVE?
The Real Solution
#HiveWatchers can't address tag spam because many of the worst offenders are whales.
The solution has to be programmatic. The easiest solution is to give rewards if the tag is in the first or second position.
As for the tribal web sites. The tribal sites could improve the SEO of their site and of HIVE as a whole if they only showed posts where the tag is in the first or second position.
What To Do If a Post is Relevant to Two Tags
While writing this post I asked myself the question: What should I do if I am writing about a subject that is relevant to two different tribes?
hhhhmmmmm .....
Well the answer seems obvious. It seems to me that, if I had a post that was truly relevant to multiple tags, then I probably should write multiple posts.
Wait a second, if I wrote multiple posts ... I could link together the multiple posts.
Creating posts that link between different tribes means that I am creating an organic structure which stitches the HIVE tribes together.
I will use this post as an example.
I took a picture of a Can of Spam with multiple tags. I posted the picture on PhotoStreem. PhotoStreem is a tribe that failed to make the leap to HIVE.
After this post, I will drop a post on BlogToken and possibly a post on blurt.
To go overboard on this example, I will create an index to the posts on my personal site.
There is no reason for posts to receive more than one alt-coin. When a person is writing on a topic that spans multiple tribes, the person could simply write multiple posts and link them. This linking structure would benefit the HIVE ecosystem.
