Author Topic: New Blog Post - Join the BitShares Community!  (Read 6109 times)

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Offline santaclause102

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It is difficult to put on a "false face" and attempt to say things in ways that I think people want to hear.   I cannot possible predict how Chinese, European and other cultures will interpret what I say or know what they will find receptive.   All I can do is be consistent and attract like minded individuals.   

It will probably offend some people.  Some people will judge me before they know me.   Other people will read what I write and it will resonate with them.

I think I just need to clarify and re-clarify things.   The feedback in this thread is helpful because it lets me know where I need to explain things further.   I will probably adjust how I say things slightly. 

Like all things it depends upon whom I am talking to.  Am I talking to current supporters or attempting to win new converts.   Sometimes I switch between the two audiences in the same article and that is probably the problem here.
That makes sense!  :)

I am not trying to say to put up a false face. I meant that for example with the quotes I referenced public perception might be very different ("greed") from what your intention and motives are because they trigger some subconscious alarm bell ("too" broad claims; making it about money/getting rich not about a service or an ideal) that indicate that that person does not have their best interest in mind.

Offline bytemaster

It is difficult to put on a "false face" and attempt to say things in ways that I think people want to hear.   I cannot possible predict how Chinese, European and other cultures will interpret what I say or know what they will find receptive.   All I can do is be consistent and attract like minded individuals.   

It will probably offend some people.  Some people will judge me before they know me.   Other people will read what I write and it will resonate with them.

I think I just need to clarify and re-clarify things.   The feedback in this thread is helpful because it lets me know where I need to explain things further.   I will probably adjust how I say things slightly. 

Like all things it depends upon whom I am talking to.  Am I talking to current supporters or attempting to win new converts.   Sometimes I switch between the two audiences in the same article and that is probably the problem here.

For the latest updates checkout my blog: http://bytemaster.bitshares.org
Anything said on these forums does not constitute an intent to create a legal obligation or contract between myself and anyone else.   These are merely my opinions and I reserve the right to change them at any time.

Offline santaclause102

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Your vision, the persistence and endurance with which this vision is articulated without getting upset or even aggressive at any point, no effort whatsoever to manipulate people and the "market realism"[1] you emphasized from the beginning have attracted me to Bitshares! And your blog is a clearly articulated and extremely convincing expression of that vision. These qualities are indicators of great trustworthiness. Also this is meant to be constructive feedback and in no way does it imply how things "should" be. It is just my perspective on the world (in this case applied to PR matters).

I think that expressions like "You can help by lending our community your money", "Would you be willing to skip a couple of meals to help create a better world?" or "...while making everyone in the community a ton of money." may hinder certain people from seriously looking into Bitshares (the money making potential and the philosophy) and associating with Bitshares given the context (altcoin scams) under which outsiders/uninformed people mostly interpret what they read. Why? Because people are attracted to those that give and not take (their money). In addition there is a social norm that goes about like this: "people (and equally companies) can't be trusted that make (too) broad claims that are too good to be true. On the contrary we trust those that are humble, over deliver and under promise". The older we get the more do we have that norm internalized because we got burned from under delivering people around us or (equally strong) get this norm hammered into our subconsciousness by those we trust.
Now the quoted statements from the blog don't scare anyone within this community because 1) we know for example that "you can help by lending our community your money" refers to the mechanics of BitUSD. And 2) we know that you have over delivered in many ways and that you are a trustworthy individual with the intention to advance other people's lives. But that knowledge and context is not available to an outsider and so the interpretation is different.

Someone not familiar with BitShares and a libertarian way of thinking in general might think of BitShares as some world government when reading "dispute resolution and law enforcement will be managed by the BitShares community" (see http://bytemaster.github.io/update/2014/12/18/What-is-BitShares/). Consider that an outsider might only understand 50% of this article that also only partly provides a context necessary to interpret this statement.

An example for my above thesis is the Preston Byrne controversy from last August. Here is how I interpret it: Byrne saw a few things: Broad claims in terms of what the system (bitassets) is capable of and how much money it can make for bts holders, a system he though might (he didn't know for sure and didn't look into to very deeply in the beginning) not succeed (no price feed at that time; other more broad claims than today). He acted to the disadvantage of bitshares in terms of public perception because of his social programming and maybe due to the more or less conscious rationale that he could profit from proactively "shunning" bitshares that had violated the following social norm: "those that focus on money primarily, are not humble and seem to over promise (assuming that bitshares is not an exception to the rule that most grand promises fail) should be shunned". Note please that this is only the impression an outsider easily gets if he doesn't understand the issue (bitassets) and does not know if there are honest people behind bitshares. He did this then by making unconstructive, and effective posts in terms of publicity that helped his reputation on a superficial level because he helped the rest of the (crypto) community to enforce the norm above and punish those that didn't follow it. It is reality that people stay at this superficial level of reputation as well as on a superficial level regarding the issue/content (bitasset mechanics) for one because the vast majority is guided by norms / a normative perspective [2], are not knowledgeable enough and do not have enough time to form an own perspective. Instead they rely on authorities (in this case P. Byrne) that are knowledgeable to some degree and follow certain norms that indicate trustworthiness or at least show the intent to follow norms that ensure that that person does nothing that would harm his reputation. Byrne himself was repelled from looking further into BitAsset mechanics and from making a constructive post because he didn't want to be associated with the "norm breakers" and at the same time (more or less consciously) saw (might not be true) a chance for some publicity and reputation enhancement for him among those that do not verify things rationally themselves.
 
A more deep / philosophical perspective: The perspective on money as something evil as well as the existence of moral judgement and the inability of people to form an own opinion based on their own logical and empirical view on the matter are partly properties of a non free society (in my own terms: fear / materialism driven society). The big question is whether it is advisable to violate the norms described above that indicate trustworthiness under the circumstances of today's society. I believe that two things are effective to change society towards less fear, more love, more freedom, less reward/punishment: Providing the tools that make oppressive structures obsolete or even force those structures "out of business" (the FED might no be "competitive" anymore...) and articulating a vision about society and bitshares that doesn't scare people and doesn't violate trust indicating norms. I think not violating the norms described above can be done completely without compromising the articulation of a vision for society by paying attention to the gap between insider and outsider perspectives (outsider here means: outsider to bitshares and libertarian philosophy).

This is meant to be constructive feedback. I believe that the most productive outcome will be reached by articulating the most diverse perspectives. Hope this comes across like this. It would be interesting how others perceive such subjective matters like trustworthiness indicating norms etc.

[1] Acknowledging the fact that every venture that wants to provide a service at scale has to meet market demands (to a certain degree at least) and is in most cases best structured as a for profit venture.
[2] Normative perspective means thinking in terms of how the world should be (example: bitcoin should be the only cc, otherwise no cc has any value) as opposed to acknowledging reality (competition because no state enforces a monopoly on one specific crypto money) and making the best out of it with respect to whatever their values are.
« Last Edit: December 23, 2014, 05:52:47 pm by delulo »

Offline Shentist

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good post, but you should also include other sources of community, not only the "official"

google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/104193073958834457881
reddit : http://www.reddit.com/r/BitShares/

Offline kisa

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This is Bytemaster's Blog... not BitShares Blog.   

that's right. noted!
thanks Dan for your honest opinions.

Offline davidpbrown

This is Bytemaster's Blog... not BitShares Blog.    I have an agenda that isn't "political" because my agenda doesn't involve politics.  Politics is verbal fighting/posturing over who to point a gun at.   This is clearly "non-political".

Give over.. it doesn't get more political than looking to replace Government!
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Our goal is to create a free society by systematically replacing the role of government with free market

Point noted though that it's your personal blog and not BitShares marketing directly and that's fine.
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Offline matt608

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I just think this sounds sleazy " The first step in this process is for you to buy $100 worth of BTS and get some skin in the game. Would you be willing to skip a couple of meals to help create a better world?

BitShares could easily become as big (or bigger) than Bitcoin. Skipping a few meals this month could buy you a car in a few years and your freedom in a few decades. Fortunately most of you can probably afford $100 without having to skip meals!"

I don't want anyone going hungry to buy BitShares.  I didn't think those who can barely afford to feed themselves is our target demographic, it just lowers the tone to that of a cheap salesman.
« Last Edit: December 23, 2014, 10:15:01 am by matt608 »

Offline cube

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This is Bytemaster's Blog... not BitShares Blog.    I have an agenda that isn't "political" because my agenda doesn't involve politics.  Politics is verbal fighting/posturing over who to point a gun at.   This is clearly "non-political".

Well said!  Keep politics out.  Keep the BM's uniqueness.   +5%
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Offline bytemaster

I think it's a mistake to introduce too many political overtones. .... Politics divides people, it does not draw them together. If you want the most people on your side, then those who get it will come seeing the potential; and let others come mistaking what it will do for them.

.....  I would suggest more that the vision is about empowering individuals and allowing them control and opportunity.

GOOD POINT  +5% +5% +5%

On the flip side, how many people backed ron paul at the last election - 1 million? With the Rand Paul coin it might get us some publicity.

This is Bytemaster's Blog... not BitShares Blog.    I have an agenda that isn't "political" because my agenda doesn't involve politics.  Politics is verbal fighting/posturing over who to point a gun at.   This is clearly "non-political".   

For the latest updates checkout my blog: http://bytemaster.bitshares.org
Anything said on these forums does not constitute an intent to create a legal obligation or contract between myself and anyone else.   These are merely my opinions and I reserve the right to change them at any time.

Offline mike623317

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I think it's a mistake to introduce too many political overtones. .... Politics divides people, it does not draw them together. If you want the most people on your side, then those who get it will come seeing the potential; and let others come mistaking what it will do for them.

.....  I would suggest more that the vision is about empowering individuals and allowing them control and opportunity.

GOOD POINT  +5% +5% +5%

On the flip side, how many people backed ron paul at the last election - 1 million? With the Rand Paul coin it might get us some publicity.

Offline cube

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My honest opinion: I am biased on the tone of this post.  Examples:

Quote
...while making everyone in the community a ton of money.

Quote
You can help by lending our community your money

Quote
Would you be willing to skip a couple of meals to help create a better world?

Clearly stating what the possibility (incl. the financial ones) are to get involved makes sense so that people know what their possibilities are but the message the above statements can convey (to me, totally subjective, maybe its a European perspective): It is about making money, not about changing the world. We want your money for our purposes. Cheesy. 

Instead the money making possibility could be introduced in subtle way (not that blunt/cheesy) and the reader should make the conclusion himself that money can be made here.

BM's unique attributes - direct, outfront, honest. We should keep the original masterpiece. :)
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Offline santaclause102

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+5%

Your blog may very well do more to help BitShares grow than anything else I've seen thus far.

I agree with some of the edit suggestions above, ie.. sans 'tons of money' etc. 

BUT i wholeheartedly believe it is tactically wise (and honest) to forge ahead with your passionate rhetoric. 

I'm primarily involved here because this is a paradigm shift in our global socio-political possibilities, and I know there are many more who are similarly motivated, not just libertarians, but a multitude of others.

Words like these from the heart will be immensely helpful in reaching those early adopters who will be in for the long haul.
Thanks for ever bearing the torch forward!
+5%

Offline lovejoy

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 +5%

Your blog may very well do more to help BitShares grow than anything else I've seen thus far.

I agree with some of the edit suggestions above, ie.. sans 'tons of money' etc. 

BUT i wholeheartedly believe it is tactically wise (and honest) to forge ahead with your passionate rhetoric. 

I'm primarily involved here because this is a paradigm shift in our global socio-political possibilities, and I know there are many more who are similarly motivated, not just libertarians, but a multitude of others.

Words like these from the heart will be immensely helpful in reaching those early adopters who will be in for the long haul.
Thanks for ever bearing the torch forward!

Offline alt

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Offline CLains

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I thought it was pretty cool. Then again I have already accepted the dark side of Social Change: Capitalist Thinking.