Hi folks,
we are cooking some ideas in the space of tokens for user engagement in communities like fora, meetups, workshops, hackathons and likewise. We would be happy to collect feedback and comments from interested and likeminded people, I trust there are many here. I leave the abstract of the paper here and a gdoc link open to comments from everyone. Look forward for your comments. We would especially appreciate discussion on the possible threats and vulnerabilities of the model.
Cheers,
Davide
TITLE: A blockchain token for community engagement
Davide Carboni and Michele Nati
Draft: 16 APR 2018
Link to google doc:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NlCjQhASsZs_i-2ZkHqwVAJ4LSxZEWOQPxfjuO9c3G4/edit?usp=sharingAbstract
Blockchain tokens could be a valid mean to manage commitment and loyalty of members as well as reward contributors inside a voluntary-based community (like meetups are) in a gamified style.
The rules of thumb are: (1) the more contribution a member provide to the community the more tokens are credited. (2) Tokens will be used in vetting, ballots, and staking whenever required during the lifetime of a community. (3) Twinned communities acknowledge the same token, to incentivise and increase mobility and interchange of loyal members.
As historical note, the meetup "Cagliari Ethereum Lab" minted tokens for its members. This started more an experiment than something serious, but it can become a serious game and maybe a business opportunity. Starting from this experience, the authors conceived a general token-based loyalty and reward framework to federate communities and share a superset of rules actionable via a common token. At the same time, some of the low level details are left to the event or community organizers.
