Introducing Developer Delegation Day (DDD) on the Steem Blockchain
“The strongest of all warriors are these two — Time and Patience.” , Leo Tolstoy
Pixabay License, from Enchanted_Soluna
The idea was by me, but I didn't have time for a blog article tonight, so the essay is by ChatGPT, with my prompting and light editing (and it still took almost an hour😉.) 100% of rewards are being burned.
I. Introduction
Developer Delegation Day (DDD) is an idea for a new monthly initiative that's intended to boost the Steem ecosystem by supporting its developers. The concept is simple:
On the 5th of each month, community members will delegate 5 STEEM Power (SP) to a Steem developer of their choice. This regular support helps sustain and incentivize the developers who will become the backbone of the Steem ecosystem.
DDD draws inspiration from two previous ideas: the Steem Power-Up Day (SPUD), where users power up their STEEM on the first of the month, and subscription services like Substack, where people pay a small amount regularly to support content creators. The choice of 5 SP — roughly equivalent to $1 — reflects an affordable, low-end subscription rate, while the 5th of the month aligns with the size of the proposed delegation.
II. The Concept of DDD
A. The Mechanics of DDD
Developer Delegation Day is designed for simplicity and consistency. Each month on the 5th, community members delegate 5 SP to a developer who they want to support. The action takes only moments but has the potential to significantly impact the ongoing development of the Steem blockchain.
By participating in DDD, you are not only helping to sustain current developers but also incentivizing new talent to work on the Steem blockchain. This consistent show of support can be the difference between a project thriving or fading due to a lack of resources.
B. Why 5 SP?
The choice of 5 SP is intentional. It’s a small enough amount to be affordable for many community members, yet when multiplied across the entire community for an extended period of time, it becomes a powerful form of support. Much like subscription models on platforms such as Substack, where creators are supported with small, regular contributions, DDD uses the same approach to help fund ongoing development.
III. Benefits of Participating in DDD
A. Direct Support for Steem Development
Developers are essential to the growth and maintenance of the Steem blockchain. Without their efforts, the ecosystem cannot thrive. By delegating 5 SP each month, you’re directly contributing to the success of the platform by providing developers with a steady income stream that allows them to focus on their work.
B. Fostering Innovation and New Projects
Regular delegation from the community encourages developers to start new projects or maintain existing ones. Knowing they have financial backing from the community, developers are more likely to innovate and experiment with new solutions, tools, and applications that benefit the Steem blockchain as a whole.
C. Incentivizing Developers to Engage with the Blockchain for Curation
Supporting developers through delegations does more than just fund their projects; it also creates an incentive for them to actively engage with the blockchain. As developers receive delegations, they accumulate STEEM Power, which can be used to curate content. This provides a dual benefit: developers are motivated to participate in the content ecosystem, supporting content creators through upvotes and curation rewards. This closes the loop of value on the Steem blockchain, ensuring that developers contribute not only through their code but also by engaging in the social aspects of the community.
D. Strengthening the Steem Community
DDD is more than just a financial initiative; it’s a way to strengthen the Steem community. By participating, we're engaging in a collective action that unites users and developers around a common goal. This closer relationship between users and developers fosters a more cohesive and supportive ecosystem.
E. It's Reversible
If you support a developer who leaves the ecosystem or stops developing, you can always withdraw your delegation and make use of it for yourself or reassign it to another developer who is still active.
IV. Why the 5th of the Month?
A. Symbolism and Simplicity
The 5th of the month was chosen for its simplicity and symbolism. Five STEEM on the 5th is an easy-to-remember action that ties the amount of SP to the day of the month. This type of regularity is similar to other blockchain-based initiatives like SPUD, where repetition and consistency play a key role in participation.
B. Building Momentum
Monthly participation in DDD helps build anticipation and momentum within the community. As more members participate each month, the initiative gains traction and visibility. This creates a routine that becomes part of the culture of the Steem ecosystem, helping to ensure the ongoing growth of the platform.
V. Call to Action
A. How to Get Involved in DDD
Participating in Developer Delegation Day is easy. On the 5th of each month, simply delegate 5 SP to the developer of your choice. You can find developers to support by following the discussions in the Steem community, reading posts, and observing ongoing projects.
Spread the word through social media and Steem-specific platforms like Steemit, making sure to encourage others to join. The more people participate, the more impact DDD will have on the developer ecosystem.
B. The Power of Collective Action
While 5 SP may seem small, the power of collective action cannot be underestimated. When many people contribute even a small amount, the cumulative effect is substantial. This type of community-driven effort can have long-term effects on the Steem ecosystem, from infrastructure improvements to the creation of innovative decentralized applications.
VI. Conclusion
Developer Delegation Day is a simple yet powerful way for the Steem community to support the developers who are critical to the platform’s growth. By committing to delegating just 5 SP on the 5th of each month, you help ensure that developers have the resources they need to continue building, innovating, and maintaining the Steem blockchain.
Mark your calendar for the next DDD and encourage your fellow community members to join the movement. Together, we can use the power of decentralized community efforts to shape the future of the Steem blockchain for years to come.
Who's in? Which developers should community members consider for our September 5 delegation?
I think the motivation of supporting developers is sound, but I'm not a fan of this idea. The "lots of small accounts sacrifice for the benefit of a few accounts" pattern is kind of the opposite of what the ecosystem needs. That dynamic is also bad from a relative cost/benefit perspective: the smaller your account the bigger sacrifice delegating away 5 of your SP will be, but the bigger your account the smaller the benefit of receiving a 5 SP delegation will seem. From a utilitarian POV, lots of people making painful sacrifices so that one person can get a few extra drops in their bucket is a bad dynamic. Also, if developers have SP delegations with the expectation that they're supposed to use them for their own benefit it incentivizes them to use their votes to get the best curation rewards, which are those posts which are most likely to have high rewards after 7 days which contributes to both a rich-get-richer dynamic in the ecosystem and an internal conflict between authentic and financially-motivated voting in the person who received the delegation.
IMO, it's not a sacrifice. It's a trade. A small delegation in return for use of some developed product that the delegator values. Without some sort of exchange in value, the existing development landscape is smothered by a free-rider problem.
Some people subscribe to multiple Substack creators, and there's no reason that delegators with larger accounts can't do the same (or increase the delegation to a single account). For the first round, I think there are 3 or 4 accounts that I'll probably delegate to if this gets any interest. And, of course, there's no one saying that anyone needs to delegate anything at all. It's no different than asking for contributions on an Open Source github site or wikipedia. Lots of people use the products without donating, but valuable products manage to stay afloat from the voluntary contributions that they receive. The only difference is that this "gift" is revocable if the developer doesn't live up to expectations.
And yeah, 5 SP is a small marginal increase for a high-value account, just like a dollar a month is small for a Substack operator with hundreds of thousands or millions in marketing, staffing, and operating expenses. That's just how subscriptions work. I don't see it as a problem.
I also thought about this, but I concluded that developers who abuse the delegation will be less likely to receive new delegations in the future, and they might even lose whatever delegations they receive. I think there's some natural oversight that will happen here.
After sleeping on it, my main worry is technical. What if one developer delegates to another one month and the second delegates to the first in a subsequent month? Are delegation loops allowed, and if so, did the blockchain developers test out what happens with multiple layers of looping delegations? Does Steemit have a team that can clean-up the mess if it tickles a bug and halts the blockchain? It might be good practice to delegate from one account and receive delegations on another.
When you're framing this as a mass movement you should look at it from the perspective of where the masses are, i.e. small accounts. The implication of the way you've framed the whole endeavor is that this is a way for people to positively participate in the community.
Seems unlikely to me, like with witness votes I think people are unlikely to actively monitor what the people on the receiving end are doing. Without any kind of reset or decay I would expect most people to do a set-it-and-forget-it kind of thing.
I haven't looked at the code, but my first guess would be that delegations are limited by actually-owned SP, so there would be no loops, what has been delegated to you has no impact on what you can delegate to others.
And I think it is, but I also recognize that there's no such thing as "one size fits all". The choice of 5 SP was to come up with a least-common-denominator that is possible for most of the community. Sort of an 80/20 rule...
Another point that I neglected to mention is that - as with SPUD - if the initiative were to catch on, I'm sure we'd see people posting about their delegation decisions. And this would give crucial feedback to developers about what ideas are valuable to the community, and it would also turn into a way that people could collect rewards for their delegation decision-making.
I was never a fan of those posts with the SPUD initiative because I thought they were valueless, but in this case I think they would provide useful information.
Interesting idea.
Just to clarify - this is delegating 5 Steem Power, rather than donating 5 STEEM, each month?
I guess this would be more akin to SubStack if it were a donation of 5 STEEM each month.
Updated the language to say SP instead of STEEM.
Yeah, the Substack analogy is just that it's a recurring peer to peer transaction that's intended to support efforts by a specific creator (or team of creators).
Thank you for the clarification.
I am not sure 5SP delegations will have enough impact though unless the number of delegators is large.
Yeah, that may be true. 5 was definitely just a wild guess based upon the subscription rates on other platforms. I'd prefer to start low, build the habit of recurring delegations, and then adjust up if needed. And of course it's all voluntary anyway, so people could decide to give more or less.
Also, unless the price of STEEM stays unchanged forever, it'll definitely need future adjustments anyway.
Yeah, good point. I'll edit that today.
I like the idea, but think that there must be stronger efforts to get a large enough delegation with SP that gives enough curation reward for the developer when posts are to be voted on.
If most people would delegate 5 SP per month. the power of society would be visible, but I don't think it will happen.
Maybe only a few 100 users would have been part of the program. (But of course I could be wrong)
I have a suggestion as an addition to those who want to donate 5 SP
All Top 20 witnesses should join this proposal of yours to share a larger number of SP per month. for example 100 - 200 sp or more.
Witnesses should show their side here to help other developers and then I think others will also want to participate in delegating 5 sp
The aim must be that the delegation should give 50K SP + so that there is something left of the curation reward. It will give a salary of about $.9 per 7 days
If you have time, I would appreciate it if you read this post of mine
https://steemit.com/hive-185836/@xpilar/i-asked-chatgpt-some-questions-about-how-steem-can-attract-more-investors-let-s-discuss-what-can-be - done
Yeah, I left it unsaid, but I was definitely imagining that some "Angel Delegators" would make higher delegations. Still, the main point was to create a habit and some social momentum. If that happens, the numbers will eventually be meaningful. The only question is how long it takes.
I like the ideas, especially the suggestions for marketing, building partnerships, and integrating AI into the platform. The trick is finding people who are motivated and capable for implementation. I'm thinking these are good strategic targets, but we need to get there with a long chain of simple and achievable changes that drive us in the right direction, step by step. The "what" is one thing, but the "who" and the "how" are the big challenges.
Thanks @stef1
I like this idea. I'll participate if I remember on the 5th :D I'm sure you'll write about it again around that day.
I'm sure there are others but I was just reading a post by @justyy who does a lot around here, including token conversion services.
See you again on the 5th!
Probably 😉. That's why I wanted to post about it right away last night. Now we have a week or two before the 5th when people can write articles about why their favorite developers should receive delegations.
Great! I love it. Thank you for creating this movement!
Thanks for the feedback and the resteem. We'll see if the idea gains any momentum.
!upvote 20
Greetings @remlaps-lite
I think it's a viable idea in which the community supports those who monitor and improve the platform.
I'm going to read carefully what the post suggests but I'll definitely participate, I already have one in mind.
Now I think it would be very helpful to know all the developers and why not a ranking, to make more informed choices.
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I agree. I know who a handful of developers are, but it would be good to have a listing of active developers and projects for people to consider supporting. Perhaps a pinned post could be maintained in some community.
Can I proxy you my 5? I'm new here and have zero clue who the best one to give it to would be. I have no doubt you do, though. I'd trust whoever you are delegating yours to.
Hi, sorry I didn't reply sooner. I had intended to write a post with a list of developers and reply with it in time for you to be able to directly choose a developer for delegation. Unfortunately, I didn't get to put it together in time. For future reference, though, here are the developers that I selected this month.
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