Do I Zap TOP content early, or zap my favorites? \ stacker news ~alter

Do I Zap TOP content early, or zap my favorites?

562 sats \ 22 comments \ @DesertDave 12 Oct alter_native

It has occurred to me that there is incentive here to zap content early that ends up performing well. Once I realized this I started zapping differently. I would often browse new posts and zap largely based on what I thought others would like. I think this helped me get higher on the leaderboard.

Is that right?

Do others do the same?

Doesn't this create an echo chamber?

I am going to focus more on zapping and mentioning stackers, posts, comments, that inspire me. I want to encourage myself and others to be expansive with what they consume. Let us try something new everyday. Let us celebrate all art. Stacker is so much more than just Bitcoin.

💚

view all related items

2011 sats \ 0 replies \ @Undisciplined 12 Oct

If you can accurately predict top posts, then this will boost you up the leader board. I wrote some thoughts on it: #473181.

I also wrote my thoughts about why it's better in the long-run to not behave this way: #523858.

Edit: actually this post is the one about why stackers shouldn't game the rewards system #546904.

203 sats \ 4 replies \ @justanumber 12 Oct

Your last paragraph is more what I agree with. Being rewarded for zapping top content early is something I have never liked. At all! It's very obvious what this creates - people trying to game the system, trying to predict & second guess and zapping what they consider might be popular posts and/or posts curated by popular SN personalities/names, leaving good content by lesser known stackers languishing. This has been discussed previously. This and the million sats madness experiement is what turned me off SN and kept me away from the site for a long time. People should only just zap and comment on what they think is good quality content that they relate to.

122 sats \ 2 replies \ @ek 12 Oct

People should only just zap and comment on what they think is good quality content that they relate to.

I agree. But imo rewards are what distinguishes SN from nostr and why there’s more broad zapping here than on nostr in my experience. This benefits everyone, just not everyone equally as you explained why.

“A rising tide lifts all boats”

11 sats \ 1 reply \ @ek 12 Oct

This makes me wonder if stackers would be interested in a "zen mode" where you opt-out of rewards and ranking and every zap goes 100% to the recipient instead of our 30% fee for rewards and to make ranking sybil-resistant. The zaps would still influence your own feed but not have any effect on the feed of other stackers.

This might mess quite a lot with other code though. For eample, maybe the sats from such zaps should also not be shown to others stackers but only to you.

11 sats \ 0 replies \ @justanumber 12 Oct

I like the rewards. I would not opt out. I feel you are over complicating it. Perhaps the best solution is too boring Is there not a more equitable system that discourages the behaviour i wrote about above and encourages people to zap content that actually resonates with them, rather than what they think 'might" be top? We don't actually know what would really be "top" because the zapping behaviour of users trying to get the best result for themselves from the system skews the results.

11 sats \ 0 replies \ @justanumber 12 Oct

The way the rewards system is set up perpetuates elitism. It creates an elite set of users. I strongly suspect new users become disillusioned, disheartened and disengaged and either leave or just exist on the periphery. Or there are ones just gaming the system for sats and don't care how it works. I don't agree with that but, if a better system isnt implemented, then can anyone blame those ppl? I mean, What's the point in spending time creating quality content when users are just zapping the established names because it is more beneficial for them. I actually think SN is shooting itself in the foot and hampering its own success by keeping this format. I went away from SN for a long time because of that and the hyped up MSM fiasco, which I believe just served as a huge distraction from the goal/objective of what SN is trying to achieve (I'm just guessing at that bc I don't actually know what the objective is). I'm just disappointed to return and find that a fairer rewards model with integrity has not been implemented.

143 sats \ 1 reply \ @grayruby 12 Oct

Zapping just to try to climb the leaderboard probably won't lead to a great SN experience for you or others but there is nothing wrong with trying to get a few more sats rewards by trying to zap top content early. Top content is usually zap worthy content but I think that shouldn't be the only zap strategy. You should ultimately zap what you like and feel is deserving.

71 sats \ 0 replies \ @ek 12 Oct

Yeah, ideally anyone who wants to game the system and does so successfully will find out at some point that it's not worth it for the time and effort you need to spend to game it. In that case, your time would be better spent on SN when you don't game the system. I think the algorithm doesn't have to be more resistent to gaming than that.

This makes the "security" of the algorithm depended on potential rewards though; a bit like how bitcoin security depends on fees miners can earn except the security goes down when rewards rise, lol.

147 sats \ 4 replies \ @Satosora 12 Oct

I think it is better to zap content you enjoy. Because that is what will show up on your hot tab. If it does well, it does well. Trying to zap things you think will do well is not very fulfilling.

57 sats \ 3 replies \ @Undisciplined 12 Oct

Good point about the personalized feed.

90 sats \ 2 replies \ @Satosora 12 Oct

You dont want to be shifting through garbage. I dont have that kind of time.

31 sats \ 1 reply \ @ek 12 Oct

Yes, I think we have a similar view, see #720163

11 sats \ 0 replies \ @Satosora 12 Oct

Yes, my comment was directly under that. #720014

111 sats \ 0 replies \ @Turdinthepunchbowl 12 Oct

You get way further engaging with content than you do just zapping content regardless.

66 sats \ 0 replies \ @User21000000 12 Oct

I try and only zap what I like

21 sats \ 0 replies \ @Manikese 12 Oct

I zap everyone that has a decent idea. The writer of the post gets 100 and I do 10 per comment

11 sats \ 0 replies \ @realBitcoinDog 12 Oct

Cmon @DesertDave don’t be a tease! What’s the post that was CLEARLY engagement farming and just got zapped a bunch cuz everyone knew it was going to the top?

We all know the good content that doesn’t get the zaps they deserve. That’s just everything in ~alter_native :P

11 sats \ 2 replies \ @OT 12 Oct

I'm not sure about zapping early. I just like if the best material rises to the top. Sometimes I only have 5-10mins to browse SN. This gives me enough time to see what's happening.

11 sats \ 1 reply \ @ek 12 Oct

Rewarding zapping early makes sure you don’t get rewarded for zapping whatever is already determined to be good since you’re adding no signal

11 sats \ 0 replies \ @OT 12 Oct

Yeah, I think it works pretty well. When I have more time or after I've seen all the top content I'll go into recent and look for something interesting to zap.

11 sats \ 1 reply \ @mdominicorobin24 12 Oct

Zap everyone. There are almost 2000 Stackers out there and only at least 500 are active so the dilemma is just an illusion.

111 sats \ 0 replies \ @WeAreAllSatoshi 12 Oct

Where did you get these numbers from?