Steemit Stability and multi-dimensional curating.
So during a discussion with a few friends over lunch, I introduced them to the finer points of Steem as a currency and value-reward system. One of them had an interesting observation on the post curating & reputation scoring system that I wanted to share.
Right now, you can upvote-downvote someone. That's a one-dimensional scale, along a line. He observed that this is an unstable system, despite vote-weighting, vote-limiting and other adjustments.
In physics, and orbital mechanics in particular, a one-dimensional or two-dimensional orbit is inherently unstable over time. A 3-dimensional orbit however, is stable. I'm referencing Bertrand's Theorem - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertrand%27s_theorem here. Perhaps there's a similar dimensional stability to be found when it comes to post curating?
The thought is therefore, that instead of a simple up-down there would be a set of subcategories that you could rate posts on; originality, creativity, applicability, quality of language, and so on. And perhaps a curation bonus for well-done complex curating over time?
I'd love to know your thoughts on this! Are we as a community ready for a more in-depth voting / curating system in the pursuit of long-term stability?
So interesting. I love the idea. I actually don't necessarily think it's needed, but it is without a doubt worth exploring. The reason I think it isn't necessary is because I'm not sure I accept the premise that the upvote v. downvote is really so binary. For example, I think I upvote content primarily based on originality, entertainment value, and benefit to the platform. I'm sure there are other people who upvote based primarily on originality and creativity and still others who upvote primarily based on what they think other people are going to upvote. So it seems to me that on an individual level an upvote and downvote is one-dimensional, on the level of the crowd it is actually multi-dimensional. And, in fact, adding specific dimensions could decrease the overall flexibility of the system. As of right now I can adjust what I upvote and downvote in real time. If I feel there's not enough original content I can start only upvoting things that I think are original. It's not clear to me what impact having a specific "originality" vote would have on this dynamic. But this stuff is super complex so I have zero confidence in this analysis. I would concede that if the crowd were the one creating and curating these traits it's difficult to imagine it being a bad thing, I just suspect that in the end the crowd would choose the simplest upvote/downvote system. Thanks for the fascinating insight.
That's a good perspective, the human element being the nth dimension to the otherwise linear choice!
I'm pretty sure that there are all kinds of features, refinements, and tweaks in the road map ahead. Your suggestion is a good one.
The problem now is probably gearing up, hiring, training, etc. in order to implement. And all in the face of those screaming "ponzi" any time founders power down some steem to get development funds.
Entrepreneurship is not quite as easy as the naysayers seem to think.
Indeed. Others see success as a lucky break, we entrepreneurs know better - and remember the 'rice and beans years' prior to it...!
Hey, what's wrong with rice and beans!? :)
Seriously... If they want something different, they're free to go and make it.
I couldn't have said it better @onceuponatime! Some people spend all their time hating on other entrepreneurs, it almost became as a side career. Maybe they should change their name to haterpreneurs.
Its a good idea and i would love to see it in action. And it could give us more option on how to find a good content based on a certain criteria within all the tags or just the few we selected. All in all it was a good one
Right! It could also enhance this platform as a complex user reputation system too, which could extend much further than Steemit itself.
This could even be something that you have to 'graduate' into as you gain a higher (x) reputation score, eventually unlocking an 'advanced curation' ability!
I bet one of the third-party interfaces will try something like this. Will be cool to see how it plays out.
Maybe you could swipe or click in a certain direction (similar to tinder or tap a post like on instagram) to give it different types of rewards. I like how easy it is to vote right now and hope that future alterations to that system keep it quick and easy.
Yes I like that you have brought this to attention. I don't know if adding too many categories would be beneficial, but maybe a like, love, or outstanding could be types of upvoted you could give. Curation rewards could be dependant on what type of upvote you did. That's just my immediate reaction, but I would like to see where this may go. Thanks for sharing!
I love the idea, allthough it might be not so easy to decide on what the three dimensions would represent. On top of positive/negative things tend to be more subjective which might become a problem because they would have to be statically implemented into the system.
I admit to not having my head around the complexities of the way voting is currently working, so I'm not convinced it's really unstable, but I'll brainstorm...While I joking said elsewhere that I'd like to see a little violin icon I can click whenever someone complains, I'd rather be able to specially acknowledge when someone has raised the level of discourse. Perhaps they put together a variety of sources to create an elegant argument that probably took days or weeks to put together. Right now, I give those posts love by commenting, but I always feel a little like a kiss-ass when I do that. Perhaps a "best of category" voting option or a little gold medal you can click to give someone extra special props. Maybe that would even send them a little hit of your own steem dollars. Your idea of rating inside of sub-categories like one rates yelp reviews might be helpful to authors. To know if someone thought of a post as helpful or funny or original or cool etc. I think it's always useful to consider possibilities and am glad you opened this topic. Thanks!
hahahaha, yes a tiny violin! That'd be gold...
There is a depth to this dimension. Keep digging and tell us more.
Just upvoted you!
Wonderful ideas, and these are the basics of how the steemit economy works. The users are the ones that are voting you on these things.