Like most territory owners, my motive for owning this territory is not to earn lots of sats right now. This is obvious to everyone. Maybe I naively thought there was a need for the territory when there is not. I’m posting to get some input from the SN community.
The other day @mo created a poll asking whether the territory should be renamed. There were some good suggestions, and a good discussion as to whether there is a need for the territory at all. For instance, @benthecarman said this:
having bitcoin and bitcoin beginners doesn't really make sense, stacker news isn't big enough to need territories with that much overlap
This is a legitimate point of view. I don’t relish tossing sats away on a completely useless endeavor.
@DarthCoin said this:
If people just post garbage in the territory, it doesn't matter what name have. A territory like this ... for beginners" must have ONLY curated content, to help beginners, not confuse them more...
This is also very true . That’s why I hope this post generates some discussion. Let me know if you think I should abandon the territory. If not, please give me suggestions on how to make it a more valuable resource for those just starting to learn about bitcoin.
Moderation
Personally, I don’t like the idea of moderation, but I am persuaded that this might be the only route available to ensure there are only quality posts here.
If I choose to make this a moderated territory, I don’t want to be the one judging value of particular content, nor would I want any one stacker to fill that role. I would prefer a merit based voting system, maybe based on zaprank. For starters, maybe I should cull all posts that don’t reach a certain base level of engagement. I would have to decide what that level should be.
Ultimately I foresee fewer posts, with better content. I really want to stop crap from entering the territory, so I’m toying with this idea: Raise the cost to post to a really high amount, say 1000 sats. If stackers signal it is valuable content based on it’s zaprank, I will zap the poster back 2000 sats, which they earn in addition to whatever sats the post earns.
Stacker’s Basic Questions
I thought the main point of this territory was for it to be a space for new stackers to ask dumb questions. That has never happened. Still, I wish it would. Raising the cost to post to 1000 sats would not be fair just to ask a question. I don’t know how to resolve this given the tools as they currently exist.
I am really just thinking out loud. Please tell me your thoughts, including “just scrap the whole thing.”
Is too early, is just a proposal.
I am just reading and waiting to see how will evolve.
People usually get too easily excited by new things.
I am more patient with "new things".
That's a valid critique, although I have seen plenty of thoughtful content get loads of sats. Plus, you're going to experience that kind of confirmation bias leaning on any platform, so I'd say we handle it decently well here
Szabo's hopelessly wrong about that. Lots of things are associated with per-use, or even per-second, micropayments. Every time you turn on a lightbulb or a tap you're paying by the second for the power and water you're using. Sure, the micropayments are added up to a monthly bill at the end. But they're still payments like any other.
Indeed, the trope of middle income parents getting angry at kids for leaving lights on or taking long showers is precisely because those things are micropayments. Hell, I once got (mildly) yelled at by a boss when I forgot to turn off the electric heaters when I left the office. He had worked out that it cost ~$10/day to run, and he wasn't going to waste that money if he could help it.
I found out a friend of mine died in a car accident yesterday. Feels bad man. Something something time preference. Hug your loved ones people.
This article tries to summarize all the options, their pros and cons and the best practices.
https://nostr.build/i/nostr.build_4dacd9b8632ecde94fd7ad983023b4db46b5f3a9af77755a71b102db50a7b0b8.jpg