Daily Blog

Would I Leave Hive? ~ my Thoughts on Censorship, Jumping Ship, and my Future on this Platform.

I am not quite sure where this post should go. I pondered joining a new community - one where people share about their experience on HIVE or in content creation as a whole or one where people discuss the ups & downs of the crypto markets. But, it didn't feel quite right.

When I sat down to jot down some notes about experiences here on Hive it seemed right to share it here, in the Daily Blog community where I so often post about aspects of my life and the bits & bobs that don't fit in the other communities I regular post in.

During the past few weeks I have been tagged in posts & contacted directly about the supposed censorship here on Hive and have been personally asked to join other (supposedly) censorship-free platforms. I am not going to name names nor do I feel weird about people expressing their opinions about this platform. Honestly I feel honored that anyone feels that my content should be found on other web3 platforms.

I myself have some opinions about the supposed censorship issue on HIVE. I say supposed censorship on Hive because I personally have never experienced any sort of censorship. Quite the opposite in fact! Previous to joining HIVE I shared regularly on Instagram as well as Tumblr for years & years, never gaining much traction and very often feeling that my personal opinions were preventing my content from getting viewed by a larger audience. This was the 2020 era and I had quite a controversial opinion about health & wellness that I shared freely. So really, it is no mystery as to why my content was only seen by a handful of like-minded folks. And in my personal life I found that most people did not want to hear my opinion on anything else once they found out that I wouldn't be taking the vaccine.

I guess you could say that I learned my lesson about sharing on that particular subject and when I began to post on Hive, first under the moniker of libra.gardener and now Calendula Craft, I just decided to not venture into too controversial of waters. I don't discuss the politics of my home country (USA), nor of my current home of Argentina. Avoiding politics & medical issues is not a big ask of myself. In my regular life I don't participate in politics and avoid any sort of medical intervention, I haven't been to the doctors since I was about 21 (I am 32 now).

Herbs are my medicine, psychedelics are my therapist, and nature is my church. I have shared very very often the details of my spiritual beliefs as a witch and am very happy to say that I have never received any sort of negative feedback or hateful comment. I have literally never received a hateful comments on Hive in my 4 + years of sharing here. Even when someone corrected me about mis-identifying a plant or suggested that I might be incorrect about some data, it was always written in the kindest of ways. I cannot say the same about my comments section on YouTube and TikTok...

This is something I can't just discount due to a few people feeling that there is censorship here on Hive. How could I jump ship when Hive has granted me so many benefits in these past few years? HIVE has helped me gain a bit of savings in my crypto portfolio, yes, but, more importantly has shown me that my writing/photography/video making is worth something and that people are inspired by what I share here.

So, why are people asking me to join them in an exodus?

IDK really. I do find it a bit suspicious that the people are leaving Hive for Blurt.blog, a website represented by an emoji who's mouth is covered.

To me this image doesn't give me any sort of confidence that this will be a censorship free space. What about you?

And as for Calendula Craft ... I will continue to be a regular contributor for the foreseeable future. Sharing on Hive has become a part of my career in ways that I never imagined. Each and every morning I open up my notebook to write down ideas for future posts and videos.

I love that I can finally say that my writing & video making is compensated and that people find some benefit to what I share. Hive is the virtual hug from the internet that I so desired.

So, Hive and all it's users, I hug you back!

Comments · 32

@hive-lu(65)· 445d
Hello calendulacraft!

It's nice to let you know that your article won 🥇 place. Your post is among the best articles voted 7 days ago by the @hive-lu | King Lucoin Curator by heruvim1978

You and your curator receive 0.0000 Lu (Lucoin) investment token and a 9.59% share of the reward from Daily Report 673. Additionally, you can also receive a unique LUGOLD token for taking 1st place. All you need to do is reblog this report of the day with your winnings.

_{Invest in the Lu token (Lucoin) and get paid. With 50 Lu in your wallet, you also become the curator of the @hive-lu which follows your upvote.
Buy Lu on the Hive-Engine exchange | World of Lu created by @szejq}

_{If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word STOP or to resume write a word START}
@giathebao(72)· 449d
Reading your post and the comment section below has been very enlightening. I am still quite new to the community, and had no idea there was so much drama going on behind the scenes. So far, everyone I've interacted with on Hive has been welcoming and supportive. I love that line about Hive being a virtual hug from the internet, something we could all use some times.

Also, I think your post is very well designed, I can tell you put a lot of effort into the style of the photos. I look forward to seeing more of your posts in the future. Thank you for sharing!
@cajiro(73)· 450d
A title and a reflection that should motivate us to defend the essence of our platform ☺️❤️
@drakernoise(63)· 451d
Hi, with the time I've been around and I didn't heard of you till now and it was not via Hive blockchain but from the Blurt side... Nice to see you btw. I see you post interesting stuff with a free mindset in the background. Will nose on it from time to time. I'm with @jin-out , you don't have to choose a side, you can use whatever you see fit, your freedom goes beyond what others stablish, doesn't it? Demonizing or elevating a certain blockchain interfaces becomes irrelevant in my humble opinion. Fortunately you didn't have issues with the 'main stream' big whales here, but there is actually a lot of people affected by downvotes, it's a fact. I would use whatever I think fit my needs to achieve my goals as Jin stated in his comment, no one will tell me what to do or what to think nor what blockchains I must use. Have a nice weekend ;)
@davedickeyyall(79)· 451d

Just kidding. Your post rocks..
@zjedn-suwereni(44)· 451d
You don't feel like there's any censorship here because you haven't said anything that could piss anyone off yet. Every month more people move to blurt who have experienced this and they do it because Hive is not only full of censorship but above all centralized. They tell you that downvoted people are people who abuse the pool and other fairy tales, but the truth is that downvoted people are most often people who have a different worldview and opinions than the whales here.

Downvote is a tool for centralizing influence because it allows you to deprive the opposition, i.e. people with a different worldview than the majority, of the chance to gain shares here and thus to gain HP and actively participate in the life and development of the network.

In theory, they will convince you that your vote matters, in practice it won't because if you vote for someone who is downvoted, neither you get the curator's reward nor they get the shares. In practice, no one wants to vote for downvoted people because they lose their curator's reward.

On the other hand, accounts that receive downvotes with a higher strength than the rate assigned to the post lose their reputation and if it drops below 0, all posts are hidden.

This way you can destroy anyone's profile.

They also tell you lies about there being censorship on Blurt. There is no censorship. Coal list does what it is supposed to do, which is fight spam. First of all, it does not block the possibility of receiving upvotes at all, it only blocks it on Frontends that use coal list. This means that free frontends do not have to use it.

Secondly, you cannot take away the rewards that someone received in this way.

Fourthly, there is no reputation system and you cannot permanently hide someone's posts with downvotes.

Fifth, when it comes to the coal list, NO ONE has any INTEREST in blocking accounts other than those that ACTUALLY engage in abuse, contrary to what happens on hive with downvotes. Downvotes are not only a way to deal with censorship, combat plagiarism and centralize power in the hands of like-minded people, they are also a way to manipulate the supply of the hive token.

Here are articles on the subject, why it is broken and how it works:

https://peakd.com/hive/@khrom/the-downvote-economy-how-to-steal-the-value-of-someone-s-work-and-get-rich-off-their-efforts

https://peakd.com/hive/@khrom/why-downvotes-contradict-decentralization-a-mathematical-perspective

Ending with the logo... The blurt .blog logo is solely a representation of the frontend run by the original founders of blurt. They came up with this logo and they like it. They wanted to go in the direction of a mem coin. This does not mean that everyone has them like and using because Blurt is a TRULY decentralized place unlike hive. There are 2 other frontends and each has a different logo. Blurt is a place where we believe in the principles of freedom and the free market and decentralization. As a member of this community, you can always suggest changes and no one will downvote you for them, like the author of the above-linked substantive articles on downvotes whose account was destroyed from 60 reputation to 2 and added to DV balck list just because he tells the truth about how this system works. (or maybe you se some abuse Low effort content or plagiarism there:P )?

And here you have a representation of what Hivers really think about other people who see the world differently:

https://peakd.com/free-speech/@woelfchen/re-pravia3d-swcvwb

https://peakd.com/free-speech/@woelfchen/re-paradigmprospect-swcofv

We are parasites to them, dumb Humans, idiots because we see things different.

And here what hapends with official https://blurt.media channel who reposting here original content of blurt media channel:

@blurt.media they downvoting everything no matter how good and how decent.

This is another exampe of their true face.

So if you want to support that centralized full of censorship and heatred pleace, Choice is yours ;)

cheers;)
@gracefulwrites(62)· 451d
Your post resonates with me, as it highlights the positive and uniques aspects of these blockchain. Thank you for sharing uplifting words, to inspire us to keep believing this community. 😘
@droida(62)· 452d
Blurt is censored, although there are no downvotes. A coal list is shared, and the websites display alerts for these authors, and possibly more. Since I don't use this list because I manage my own, it's impossible to delegate anything other than 0 BP to me. Hive is the place to be.
@anafae(68)· 452d
I haven’t experienced downvotes myself as well, but I’ve seen people being downvoted for dubious reasons, there are pretty wild stories out there, if you dig a little bit. Just today I’ve noticed that a post by one of my favorite people here got downvoted by an account that is financed by one of the top witnesses. It was neither spam nor plagiarism, and no reason for downvoting has been given. The post had quite a large payout though.

I’m not a fan of the downvote function, I don’t think a community actually needs that and it can too easily been misused to censor people. Hive is not the impeccable place I thought it to be in the beginning, but I’m super grateful for everything it has given me and I love the good people here so much. I’ll still be here, but I did get myself a Blurt account recently, I guess I’ll just give it a try and see how the vibe is over there :)
@sunscape(75)· 452d
I love that you shared your thoughts so beautifully with us. Hive is a special place to share one's experience with, and I believe if your kind and thoughtful towards others, they will be kind and supportive of you as well. I'm glad you are staying with us, I always enjoy coming across your posts. Much love to you, you stay true to you and continue sharing with us all. ♥
@beaker007(76)· 452d
Great post to read.. thanks for re-blogging @meesterboom and @slobberchops else i would have missed it 😁.

For me the first time i hear of Blurt.. By the looks of it not a appealing environment. I have not experienced any censorship on hive, some politics at most, still enjoying the stay here on hive connecting to others 😍.
@gretelarmfeg(70)· 452d
Thank you for sharing your honest and grounded reflections. I'm glad you’re staying.😊
@ronimarie82(65)· 452d
Thanks for this wonderful thoughtful blog, its very heart warming.
@goldenoakfarm(77)· 452d
In my early days on Steemit, I did experience censorship which was one of the reasons for moving to HIVE. But like you I've not experienced any here. And like you, I keep controversial things to myself, mostly.
@waseemniazi(60)· 452d
Wow amazing
@trayan(71)· 452d
I always check on your posts :) being different is the reason & statement for the current revolution... you know... everyone needs the light when it is most needed...

Stay fair! ;)
@honeydue(79)· 452d
What a thoughtful post. Thank you for that :)

I can only speak for myself, of course, but like you, I have never experienced censorship here, nor was I particularly interested in Blurt (or any other alternative to Hive). Frankly, I couldn't imagine it, trading this place in. It's been too long, there are still so many good things to love and fight for here.

And one of the beautiful things is that you get to encounter people after years and still be discovering new voices that you resonate with, as is the case with you :) Nice to meet you, and I'm glad you're around!
@day1001(62)· 452d
Please don't. Just found your post and I want to read more of them. Adding you to my favorites now. Thanks for writing your thoughts about this topic. I tell you that there are people here in Hive that will stand against censorships in any form. All the best !BBH
@soulscript020(48)· 452d
Hello! I am a newbie on Hive and reading your post gave me hope. Honestly, as I read your post, I asked myself how the post will end and if I made the right decision joining here. I am just glad that you chose to stay. Your story gives me so many reasons to learn more about Hive, and I am excited to read more and learn more from others.
@shawnnft(75)· 452d
ah no wonder hive price went down. they all sold and moved over there lol makes sense now
@infectedbyblack(63)· 452d
I loved this post. Thank you for sharing ♥️
@albuslucimus(69)· 453d
I’m glad to see you’re still around!

Since our baby was born, I haven’t had much time to myself - it’s refreshing to stop in and see so many of my favorites on here still doin’ it, yourself included
@hivebuzz(74)· 453d
Congratulations @calendulacraft! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain And have been rewarded with New badge(s)

You got more than 2250 replies.
Your next target is to reach 2500 replies.

_{You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking} _{If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word STOP}
@riverflows(82)· 453d
OH lmao you were libragardener!!!! I loved libra gardener, but I have NO idea how I missed you were the same person! I went and looked at - and joined - Blurt early on, but found it was just full of negativity and slinging shade at Hive. Hive isn't perfect, but there's a LOT of good here. There's a lot of history and drama with some of the ex-Hivers there (not all of them) that went out throwing matches behind them. I mean, if you want to go, go, but don't have a big song and dance about it. We can make up our own minds and choose to make our own Hive, setting examples for what WE want it to be.
@mightyrocklee(71)· 453d
I like plants and all the natural ways of healing, even if I do not have time so often to apply my old knowledge, I will read your posts with interest in the future.

Keep writing!
@nathen007(73)· 453d
What a beautifully written and constructed post. A wise, non-hysterical examination of what Hive means to you. And you are all that matters, your choices. Hive's huge advantage over any other social media is that it is flexible to be whatever an individual wants it to be. This can also be a curse sometimes, but only if one allows it to be so. Stay happy and thank you for sharing. It looks like I need to have a drift through your back catalogue now!
@princessbusayo(76)· 453d
Wow. I feel so good to come across your post and review about some other platforms and how they cannot be compared to Hive. I do love when people speak positive words about this blockchain and it makes us keep going knowing we are always in the right place. Thanks for sharing. I give you my hug, too 🤗 ❤️ 🫂
@dahpilot(69)· 453d
I loved the post

Hive is a refuge for many people all over the world, not just financially but also for expressing thoughts and enjoying social networks without algorithms or bots. I resonate a lot with your words because I live it every day here
@galenkp(84)· 453d
Blurt is a wasteland for those who have burned bridges, misrepresented and abused the Hive ecosystem; nothing more. Let them all congregate together over there and suck each other further down into the abyss they created for themselves.
@azircon(79)· 453d
All I can say is you are welcome here. You seem like a decent individual
@slobberchops(82)· 453d

I do find it a bit suspicious that the people are leaving HIVE for Blurt.blog, a website represented by an emoji who's mouth is covered.

It's the graveyard of HIVE'rs, where people go when they are no longer welcome on HIVE for one reason or another. If you don't take the piss, it will never happen to you or anyone. The reward pool is guarded well.
@meesterboom(81)· 453d
This post bought a smile to my face. I truly believe that Hive is what you make it and it looks like you have made it your own in your own way which is magic 😀

Comments · 32

Hello calendulacraft!