RE: Has Automation Killed Steem’s Proof of Brain?
Hi @fknmayhem, thanks for linking my post! You've raised some interesting aspects. Has automation killed (Steem’s) Proof of Brain and ruined the value of the token? - I don't think so, but I also think that the term "proof of brain" has to be taken with a grain of salt. Let's be honest, there's little chance for a newly created account to write a great post and be widely noticed and rewarded immediately. There's no doubt, a large fraction of the votes is automated, bought or curation-based (also automated in some sense). With the flood of posts on the chain, who should ever read those? I think for the "average user", the "proof of brain" aspect is less about an individual post, but more about building a network (and eventually get auto-voted as a result) or joining a human-curated community/dapp. In this context the "proof of brain" is still there, despite all the automation, but it's not focused on individual posts. If this is the kind of "proof of brain" that was originally foreseen in the bluepaper, or the "subjective proof of work" as in the whitepaper, is a different question, but I'd guess that this was somehow expected?
Thanks for your comment, @crokkon. And for the data analysis, of course.
Interestingly this was the topic of one of my first 5 posts I wrote on Steem. The need to build networks and one's own tribe.
Personally, I think that curation trails/communities are indeed a proof of brain. And so is the advanced game curation maximizes play. Besides, no platform can support any firehose and those who think platforms should they indeed may lack evident display of PoB.
I wasn't there when they discussed the initial "experiment" but generally communities behave in a "hostile" way to the spirit (read: opposite) when there's more to be had. Yet, that's often forgotten - or downplayed at least. Coincidentally, I'm Belgian and we have a saying that it's a civic duty to find the loophole to each law.
Lol, I'm Belgian too, and I wondered whether this expression was typical for the Belgian mentality or not :0)
I agree with @crokkon that for a new user it isn't easy to write post, build a network and manually curate all at the same time. I am 'fortunate' enough not to have a daytime job, but most pople do. Not just that, but a family and a real-life social life too. These days, it seems impossible to get noticed without sending most of the time networking. (For a good part, manual curation is one of the base elements of that.)
But as a newcomer, the gap between yourself and the people who have been here for a long time (and who write a big part of the articles that are of high quality). For most of them, building a network starts with their peers.
I'm not a fan of curation trails, by the way. I learned my lesson the hard way. At one point I got a message from someone and before I knew it, I found myself in the middle of a conflict between two people I didn't even know. They were throwing dirt (and stones) to eachother, and apparently the curation trail I was following had voted on one of the hate posts. I wouldn't even have known if one of the involved parties hadn't messaged me, asking if I would be able to moderate between the two hate-posters...
I instantly removed myself from the trail. I think that allowing everyone and every community to set up its own curation trail is dangerous, because history has shown us what following blindly can lead to.
IMO, auto voting is very useful when one lives in a totally different timezone than the majority of people here, like you and me. I do have autovotes set up, but it took me a lot of research to find authors that are consistantly posting articles I wánt to upvote. These decisions weren't taken overnight
I have traveled many countries and stayed in more than ten countries longer than 4 months at least to get to know the people and the culture better.
I have never spotted that mindset, or even the expression. But then again few nations can say like Belgium can that at night they rule the world. At least a large part of it. :D