RE: Crimson Clad: The face of Hive

I'm sorry it took me so long to come around and make a comment on this post. First and foremost, I want to tell you from my heart that reading this made me feel all of the crazy range of emotions that I feel about Hive. This place encapsulate all of the best and all of the worst in people, but overall I think it is a wonderful adventure and I have been so proud to sink the time and effort into the community and the tech everyday. I believe so strongly that individuals can come here and shape their own your journey in a way way that is positive, and I also know that some of the things that are here also represent some of the darker inevitabilities of human nature.

Overall, I think that Hive is this fantastic mix of people who are exploring what it means to break away from a rigidly structured technocracy that is forcing people into unhappy, controlled relationships with social media and with disruptive tech in general. When I'm here, I always speak honestly and I always hope that people will do the same with me. I just want to put it out there that it is really meaningful that you even took the time to write a whole post saying that you appreciate the way that I am, because it doesn't get you anything but it does make myself and others feel amazing- that goes a long way in terms of creating the type of vibe the people want to join in on. That's what I hope for here, even if sometimes we as a community miss the mark.

I just want to reiterate that I put a lot of myself into these communities as you pointed out, but it is in the long run fairly selfish. I want Hive to do well. I want my friends to do well. I want my community to do well. All of those things make my life better too. The efforts that I put in aren't just because it's a nice thing to do for others, but because I believe strongly in the network effect that we each have a solid reach that we can use make the lives of people around us better. That always comes back to you, somewhere, sometime...even if it's as simple as your own community is stronger and healthier and can support you back better.

Just in the interest of clarity, I actually am one of the top twenty witnesses right now, and my personal witness votes are quite widespread. There are some lesser-known people who I believe have great heart and know a lot about the tech that our platform runs on. There are people who I think have been long-term pillars of everything that makes Hive amazing. I think there are probably some people I vote for that do have different upvote and downvote ideals than me also- at the end of the day I think my witness list is a good one, but it can always change. I hope that proxying to it allows you to focus on the things that are important to you, and that if there ever comes a time you disagree with me that you feel comfortable and happy revoking that knowing there's never any hard feelings in disagreement on important governance choices.

With all that, I just wanted to tell you that I appreciate you. And this. Sometimes being here seems thankless, from the smallest user to the biggest witness. Some of us probably could benefit from being reminded that the money aspect can help us make decisions that are overall better for the platform. Some of us can use the reminder that money decisions remove the heart and soul out of people who are building our community and will be the death of us. Politics and marketplaces form anywhere that people gather. I don't know that we'll ever be away from it, but focusing yourself on the things that are best for you and your overall goals will never go wrong. Thanks for being part of our community.