The best thing we can do on Hive blockchain is to pay it forward by engaging others with gifts. Sometimes the reward is immediate (or at least Hive-immediate, which is 7 days later) and tangible. Sometimes, though-- and I would say much more often-- the reward is delayed and not so obvious. Either way, we all want to be rewarded for our time and effort; cryptocurrency is great, and equally great is recognition.
In recent days, I've read posts about keeping engaged with Hive during the slow period. About a couple of weeks ago @taskmaster4450le wrote his post "We Still Have Plenty Of Voting Power To Use Each Day" about the ways voting power is underused. Just yesterday (31 May 2021) @agr8buzz wrote his post "Promoting Engagement Through Upvotes" about giving Hivers an incentive to keep posting and commenting.
Both posts deal with people engaging with each other in as many ways as possible, especially when cryptocurrencies decline. After a while, we learn more about Hive, cryptocurrencies, and whatever is tied to these (dApps, markets, etc.). Some of us may even find mentors here. One day we maybe mentors to people new to crypto.
It goes back to engagement.
For 7 days-- 168 hours!-- we have the chance to earn Hive when we upvote posts, comments, and replies. If we're just starting out, that's good for us. If we reach a point where we can curate or delagate or stake, we can also earn Hive as passive income; that would really be good for us.
Starting with Day 8, or the first moment after the 168th hour, all we earn is eyeballs.
Exposure to new readers and Hivers is still a good thing; it's just that we aren't really aware of it when it happens. Some of those readers give feedback in some way, but others just move to the next post to read. With uncertainty like that, it can make a Hiver wonder if the time and effort spent writing a post was worth it.
I'm still tying to figure things out, but it seems to me as if there are 5 ways we can increase engagement:
- Upvoting;
- Feedback;
- Hangouts;
- Layer 2 Tokens;
- Points;
- TL;DR;
Upvoting
This one's easy-- it's just a click of a mouse or a tap of a finger or stylus. It's true that voting power decreases over time, but it's not as if it drops to nothing quickly. If we don't engage others in any other way, we should at least upvote a bit more than usual. Besides, it's fun seeing new names when we get notified.
Lurking is good for the lurker, but no one else. If you see yourself as a lurker, at least make the lurking productive by upvoting.
Feedback
We can comment on the posts of others. We can reply to comments we get on our posts or other comments. In either case, we need to learn from others so we can be better posters and writers here. We're here to have fun, and along the way we earn crypto-- that's win-win!
Even our mistakes should help us improve. If we want to beat people over the head over their mistakes, we can go back to the Web 2.0 world.
Hangouts
Like the Web 2.0 places, Hive has communities for a wide variety of interests. If we find a community where we know we will engage in even a minimal way-- upvoting, replying, commenting, etc.-- it offers opportunities for others to engage with us.
Even if you want to play it close to the vest, just join communities where you feel comfortable enough to share yourself with others within a specific context. Offer feedback, accept feedback.
Image source: subreddit r/DeepSpaceNine
Lurkers should be in communities where everyone knows their name. Upvoting the posts of fellow community members helps.
Beyond communities are tribes. Tribes offer an environment geared toward a unique approach to Hive blockchain. LeoFinance and Proof of Brain are two of the best known tribes, and there are many others. They're big enough to have their own URLs. They're also big enough to have their own tokens (LEO and POB, respectively).
Layer 2 Tokens
Speaking of tokens, at the time I post this 401 tokens are listed on Hive Engine. Some of these tokens are earned the old-fashioned way (like LEO and POB). Other tokens are given away as gifts (especially BEER and PIZZA). Of the tokens given away as gifts, some are given away automatically (I don't know how or why), and some are given away when certain text is typed (like for BEER and PIZZA).
This form of engagement works only if you have the resources in place. How can someone get these resources? There are a few ways I can't discuss here, but those ways can't happen unless the basics are done: upvote, comment, post, and reply. After a time, enough resources and Hive Power are in place to be able to do fun stuff like offer somone a BEER or a PIZZA.
Points
If you're not at a level where you can give someone tokens like BEER or PIZZA, and it's and it's too late to upvote a post/comment/reply, there is another way to recognize a fellow Hiver: points
Depending on the front-end used to post to Hive blockchain, points are awarded to a Hiver for doing any number of things. Ecency does exactly this; it even offers Hivers periodic heartbeat points and a regular usage bonus:
I haven't posted with other front-ends, so I can't say if they have points or something equivalent to be given away.
As far as I can tell, the points are limited to use within the Ecency environment.
Sometimes I find a post I want to upvote only to discover that I was too late. If I found the post useful, I would send a gift to the poster in the form of Ecency points.
A generic memo is generated showing the name of the Hiver and the post which prompted the gift. After a few times transfering Ecency points, it occured to me that I could edit the memo field and show why I wanted to send the gift.
That extra text to the generic memo is another way to engage with someone even if it's too late to upvote. The points are there, they may as well be used.
TL;DR (Too Long; Didn't Read)
Before earning passive income on Hive, it's necessary to be be an active earner. To be an active earner, it's necessary to engage with others.
Engagement could be as simple as upvoting good posts with a click or tap; this alone helps lurkers engage with more active Hivers.
Engagement could be more deeper with comments, replies, posts (even reblogging).
Membership in communities you care about enough where people know your name makes a difference in engagement.
Tribes are also good places to not only engage with others but also to earn Layer 2 tokens in addition to Hive tokens.
If upvoting can't be done because a post is older than 7 days (and you're using a front-end which offeres them), it's OK to recognize the post and its poster with points by adding a brief comment to the generic memo field generated by the gifting function.
I wrote this post with the idea of sharing my thoughts about ways to increase engagement. I think I did that, but I may have thrown some other things in there.
Essentially, it goes back to the basics of upvoting, commenting, and replying.
Unless you transfer cash into a Hive account and convert it to Hive Power, the HP is earned from those basic activities. Over time HP accumulates to a level which allows for it to be used to earrn passive income. Upvoting good posts lets a new Hiver know that the experienced Hivers value it enough to share a bit of HP and earnings. The gifting allows the new Hiver to recognize the effort of fellow Hivers of all experience levels.
Gifting won't do anything for a post whose payout period is closed, but it's a way to engage with the fellow Hiver in a more meorable way. This way, that Hiver can keep you in mind on seeing your posts, comments, or replies. In this way gifting is a way to pay it forward.