RE: Clarifying my decision not to support EOS-related posts and witnesses (100% of post rewards donated to curation initiatives)
You're not even making a plausible argument. You're referencing the past. I'm referencing the potential (based on Block.one's statements and actions thus far) that these two projects may be 'competing' in the same sphere. To avoid conflict of interest, as an EOS block producer, would you oppose the creation of any smart contract to provide a Steemit-style social media presence? To honor your fiduciary duty to Steem (if you were a witness here), you'd have to do so, or you'd be harming the interests of most community members. And in doing so, you'd screw over the EOS voters who elected you to represent them. You can't have it both ways. Even if you think subjectively that you can do this dance, we have dozens of reasonable people commenting on this post who think otherwise...that's better evidence of an objective standard. In business, no one waits to find out whether you can do your job well enough in the presence of a conflict; you could be a saint, but they'll still demand that you recuse yourself or take measures to avoid even the appearance of a conflict. And I think we've proven that the appearance of a conflict is fairly strong here. It's bad business, man. Unethical.
To me, this would be more like sabotaging another blockchain because it might have better features than STEEM at some point in the future. That seems terrible to me, and I certainly wouldn't expect anyone, regardless of fiduciary duties, to engage in such unethical and reputation-damaging behavior.
Do you expect STEEM witnesses who have influence in other cryptocurrency projects which might some day build social media platforms to do things like this, if they can? What about other competing sites outside of the blockchain space? This doesn't seem rational or ethical to me. I see things differently in that more exposure (conference speaking, thought leadership, etc) by a witness because of more influence in the blockchain space only helps validate STEEM as an important blockchain.
I see your reference to business as a loose analogy, not an accurate description of the technical details of what block producers actually do (which may account for some of the other comments here as well). That said, I'll make a point to read through all these concerns in more detail to ensure I'm not missing something important. I respect that you are doing what you think is in the best interest of STEEM and the Steemit community. I hope there are no unintended consequences of pushing away witnesses who (IMO) add a lot of value here such as @jesta and @anyx (and maybe @roelandp too as he's also an EOS BP candidate? Would he work on Steemfest if he wasn't a STEEM witness anymore?)
Edit: I was also thinking about how @buildteam provides value via @minnowbooster @steemvoter and other projects. Does it make sense to vote out those involved there also or should we instead focus on the value created and the reputation / trust of the people involved?
Individual Block Producers correctly following the protocol don't have the power to censor transactions or prevent innovation in any way that I can see.
Well, you're a nice guy, but quite delusional. It's not a kumbaya group hug unless these projects have the same stakeholders, which they do not. Tell everyone who's working hard or investing in one of these projects that you'll disregard their sacrifice and build something else instead. And for the record, I'm not pushing out top witnesses and I am getting tired of that insinuation. Some of them have made the decision they're more interested in other code than they are in Steem's code. They're welcome to do what they want. I'm certainly not voting for them if they take the same amount of money here yet tell us they'll be spending more time on other projects, even while they get paid with Steem.
That's understandable and thanks for clarifying. I still think the best value creators should be supported. It's certainly rational to conclude they will, in the future, provide less value for being divided. If that's the case, that's when I would unvote for them. If not, then I still vote for value added.
I'm hope the conversation hasn't been upsetting. I do tend to ask tough questions, but it's because I'm passionate about STEEM and the cryptocurrency space I love, and I don't want to see this chain lose value if great contributors don't feel welcome here if they are also involved in other things.
Thanks for the discussion and letting me share my views. I'm sorry they come across as delusional. I wasn't trying to make this about your personal decision because clearly you can and should do what you think is right. This is an important conversation, and I'm thankful you started it.
You've been very respectful and forthcoming about your opinions, which I appreciate. Yes, I think we need good contributors and if they aren't happy with current conditions, then perhaps they are not the best fit here. I have at least eight open witness slots right now because I'm getting tired of voting for mediocrity myself. Most of these witnesses have zero communication with the public and we have little understanding of what projects they are working on or what value they are adding. At the minimum, if they are not going to create tangible pieces that improve the ecosystem in their own right, then each one should adopt a dapp developer, fund some ads, or pick a couple of communities to support. That's what I do with the contributions from my post rewards. I know you've done some of this, which I appreciate, but that does not change my very strong opposition to any witness double-dipping. It's a conflict and it devalues the work of everyone on this platform.
Your post has been very beautiful. If we do not need to help all of us, then not my own person. The creator said that you will help people. I will help you. Thank you very much.https://steemit.com/@donkeypong
Your post has been very beautiful. If we do not need to help all of us, then not my own person. The creator said that you will help people. I will help you. Thank you very much.https://steemit.com/@donkeypong