Issues with the Steem UA rep system, conversation starter.
I want to get a few things out of the way before I say my piece. First off, the current rep system is a sham. I remember buying a vote from a vote bot a while ago and my rep went up 2 points (this was early in my steem career). I thought to myself that rep means nothing because I just paid for a higher rep.
I intend to write an article that will bring up the pros and cons of the system to open up a discussion about it. I am not "for or against" steem-ua, I am for the steem blockchain and I want to see it flourish.
Steem UA @steem-ua (developed by @holger80 and @scipio) is a new rep system that is looking to replace / upgrade / stand beside and let us be the judge, the current rep system. This is a cool initiative. I have been reading a lot of "Why I delegated to Steem UA" articles and have done some reading up on it.
The basic concept is that a UA score is assigned to each user based on who is following them. They take trusted accounts and see who they are following. They then take the accounts that the trusted accounts are following and see who they are following and assign scores based on who (with weight and trustability) is following who, is following who etc. You can read about steem UA in more detail here ---> https://steemit.com/ua/@steem-ua/introducing-userauthority-ua-steem-ua-and-ua-api
You can find out your Steem UA score (and see the top 100 steemians according to steem UA) here ---> https://steemit.com/ua/@steem-ua/introducing-userauthority-ua-steem-ua-and-ua-api
My score is 2.449 and my rank as a steemian is 16,476. That seems about right. I know that I haven't done anything ground breaking on steem. I blog, I read, I curate, I comment and I plan on playing steemmonsters. Average steemian, my score reflects that.
Some of the good things that this system will bring to the platform:
Nobody is going to spam you or beg for votes because you are not getting any follows for that.
People are going to want to comment and interact more
Steem will be more social and interactive based on this model
You won't be able to "buy a rep"
Some things that may not be improved:
The people that spam and beg for votes typically already have a low rep under the current system
People are going to want to be more interactive with the big fish
steem will be more social and interactive (but for the purpose of getting ahead?)
You won't be able to buy a rep directly, but big stakeholders get followed. I follow @haejin, you probably do too!
Please, don't get me wrong. I see the improvements that this system will make. I also see the flaws and the fact that you cannot design a perfect system. This is not to discourage the people working on this, or the people supporting it, I merely want to bring up the good and the bad.
So, here are a few of my gripes with this system:
- Choosing who is "trusted" in a world based on trustlessness
- blockchain technology is based on trustless transactions. The very root of blockchain is trustlessness. I see taking "trusted' accounts as a conflict with blockchain and why it was invented. Is it a step backwards? I am not too sure.
Many of the best steemians just do their thing and are not seeking attention of whales
@diabolika is likely my favourite writer on steem, and she has written many times that she just wants to write and not seek out whales or be involved in the "drama" as she calls it. As far as I am concerned, she brings great value to this platform, by creating the highest caliber of blog posts (daily), yet her Steem UA score will likely not reflect that. I would be interested in knowing what your score is @diabolika.The popular kids in school are already the popular kids in school, now they have a system implemented to keep it that way? I get it, @jesta and @aggroed et al do a tonne for this blockchain. I don't want to take anything away from them, they deserve to be at the top. They deserve it more that @haejin (who is at the top of the current rep system) and likely @haejin would agree with that assessment. So, steem UA is an improvement in that respect. I don't think I have ever said anything to @jesta before (although he has my vote for witness) and I am not sure if that will change. I have been into the steemmonsters game, so I have said a few things to @aggroed, but our interaction has been minimal. With this new system in place, these "top players" are going to be hounded by steemians trying to improve their Steem UA rep. Is that genuine social interaction... OR is what @diabolika doing more genuine (writing daily and conversing with her followers)?
Of course, this is only food for thought. If you asked me to invent a rep system for Steem that would improve either models, I would not succeed. It is easy to be a critic and hard to make positive change. I applaud @holger80 and @scipio for trying to improve the blockchain... and from my perspective, doing so.
Personally, I am on the fence about delegating to the project for the reasons stated above (and mostly because improving my steem UA score would make my interactions less genuine and more gamified). I am not sure if there is a way to improve this system as it is likely that human nature is as flawed or more flawed than the systems in place.
I look forward to hearing some discourse on the points that I brought up, but, I fear that I amy be yelling in an empty room. Either way... thank you for reading?
Hmmm it may have some flaws but you just have to compare it to the rep system we have atm which is kind of useless xD
Sure the ua system benefits the big boys but steem is based on the amount of steem that you have invested. The difference is that you can work on your reputation with creating good content (which still has to be seen so you still need steem to get other ppls to see it XD)
I think it's a good step into the right direction. It won't stop spam but it gives quality content a little advantage
I think that is likely my assessment too. it is an improvement, but still far from perfect. The old rep system, the system in general benefits the big boys. It benefits all steempower holders... the more you hold, the more you benefit.
It will be an improvement. I just read a ton of articles about it, without any criticism and I figured I would at least put both sides on display to the 3 people that read my posts ;)