If Bitcoin is going to succeed, ...

[LoweryCBS]

It's because of people like this:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=2228

Hero Member indeed.



Read but a small portion of the sheer volume of helpful posts he churns out, and be humbled.

Or better yet, be more like Stephen.

[1713267832]

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[1713267832]

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[1713267832]

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[Stephen Gornick]

Hero Member

Heh, thank you for your kind words.

However, Bitcoin doesn't need heroes.  I don't think Bitcoiners should even want heroes.

Heroes who are a threat to a State that becomes fascist might be arrested, and detained indefinitely.   If there are just a couple dozen Bitcoin heroes that could be rounded up and Bitcoin disintegrates in their absence with faith in it as a decentralized system lost as a result, then those seen as heroes have done more harm than good for Bitcoin.

If Bitcoin is going to succeed it is because a decentralized digital currency provides a defense against a system that has co-opted our medium of exchange and turned it into a medium of control and a system abused by a bought congress.  That opportunity for Bitcoin to serve this role is what will draw in the helpers needed for Bitcoin to succeed.


But as far as my posts, I feel that putting in the time to help to answer questions that people have helps me to know what solutions might work and also what problems remain to be solved.  For instance, the "How can I buy bitcoins with PayPal / Credit Card" is a question asked daily.  But my response telling them "sorry, not possible" doesn't really solve their problem.   The solution might come from a CoinBase which is using its experience in fraud prevention to build a wallet system that can also be used by its customers to buy bitcoins using credit cards for payment.

So if Bitcoin is going to succeed it is going to need more and more approaches to actually solving the problems that are still faced.  That's where heroic efforts are needed.

But that doesn't mean volunteers providing the equivalent of level 1 support aren't needed.  And with the rapid growth in the number of new topics, new posts and pageviews -- the need for helpful community members is greater today than ever.

New topics:


 
Data source:
 - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AmcTCtjBoRWUdHJuUE1mUkFxa3A0eHBDQkxZLVVFZmc

(Incidentally, even though the metrics are below the peak from last year, the quality of posts and the vastness of the Bitcoin community are so much higher than mid-2011 had,   Yes, even with the bitcoinica/pirate/mnw/atlas etc trolling levels we have today, mid-2011 was an order of magnitude worse.)

So instead of needing a hero I think what instead was needed was a first follower.    Because "there's no movement without the first follower":



 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fW8amMCVAJQ

[Edited: clarifications]

[bg002h]

Very cool. Enabling others to stand on their own...we need more of this.

[cypherdoc]

Hero Member

Heh, thank you for your kind words.

However, Bitcoin doesn't need heroes.  I don't think Bitcoiners should even want heroes.

Heroes that are a threat to a state that becomes fascist might be arrested, and detained indefinitely.   If there are just a couple dozen Bitcoin heroes that could be rounded up and then faith in Bitcoin is lost as a result, then those seen as heroes have done more harm than good for Bitcoin.

If Bitcoin is going to succeed it is because a decentralized digital currency provides a defense against a system that has co-opted our medium of exchange and turned it into a medium of control, controlled by a bought congress.  That opportunity is what will draw in the helpers needed for it to succeed.


But as far as my posts, I feel that putting in the time to help to answer questions that people have helps me to know what solutions might work and also what problems remain to be solved.  For instance, the "How can I buy bitcoins with PayPal / Credit Card" is a question asked daily.  But my response telling them "sorry, not possible" doesn't really solve their problem.   The solution might come from a CoinBase which is using its experience in fraud prevention to build a wallet system that can also be used by its customers to buy bitcoins and use credit cards for payment.

So if Bitcoin is going to succeed it is going to need more and more approaches to actually solving the problems that are faced.

But that doesn't mean volunteers providing the equivalent of level 1 support aren't needed.  And with the rapid growth in the number of new topics, new posts and pageviews -- the need for helpful community members is greater today than ever.

New topics:


 
Data source:
 - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AmcTCtjBoRWUdHJuUE1mUkFxa3A0eHBDQkxZLVVFZmc

(Incidentally, even though the metrics are below the peak from last year, the quality of posts and the vastness of the Bitcoin community are so much higher than mid-2011 had,   Yes, even with the pirate/mnw/atlas etc trolling levels we have today, mid-2011 was an order of magnitude worse.)

So instead of needing a hero I think what instead was needed was a first follower.    Because "there's no movement without the first follower":



 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fW8amMCVAJQ

i first saw that video on Trace Mayers site RunToGold.  as i've said before, he played a significant part in making me first invest in gold and silver back in 2005.  i love that video.

btw, i also enjoy Stephen's posts.

[Jutarul]

...The best part is he can help you and contradict you showing you the error in your thinking without actually being a dick about it. ...

I think that proves character.

[tvbcof]

 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fW8amMCVAJQ

i first saw that video on Trace Mayers site RunToGold.  as i've said before, he played a significant part in making me first invest in gold and silver back in 2005.  i love that video.

I thought the vid was rather dopey to be honest.  The tone of the narrator made me want to puke, and I've always felt like dancing makes it appear that a person has some sort of neurological disorder.  Bah, humbug I guess.  My nature is to turn in the opposite direction of any crowd and keep going so such a situation as demonstrated, however illustrative it might have been, was bound to induce a negative reaction in me.

btw, i also enjoy Stephen's posts.

I as well.

[DeathAndTaxes]

Hero? Hardly.

I would nominated Stephen for "Super Hero" forum classification. 
He probably would hate the distinction but it is the truth.

[cypherdoc]

 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fW8amMCVAJQ

i first saw that video on Trace Mayers site RunToGold.  as i've said before, he played a significant part in making me first invest in gold and silver back in 2005.  i love that video.

I thought the vid was rather dopey to be honest.  The tone of the narrator made me want to puke, and I've always felt like dancing makes it appear that a person has some sort of neurological disorder.  Bah, humbug I guess.  My nature is to turn in the opposite direction of any crowd and keep going so such a situation as demonstrated, however illustrative it might have been, was bound to induce a negative reaction in me.

btw, i also enjoy Stephen's posts.

I as well.

actually Trace Mayer did away with the existing audio and replaced it with something else related to gold; i can't remember exactly what it was.  i tried looking for it on his site but couldn't find it.  sunnankar?

[datafish]

Hero? Hardly.

I would nominated Stephen for "Super Hero" forum classification. 
He probably would hate the distinction but it is the truth.

The man is a genius, the way he is able to remember so many different facts and events about Bitcoin and the world at large and then tie them together months or years later.

[cbeast]

You could always go this route. How to Start a Cult

[mobile4ever]

However, Bitcoin doesn't need heroes.  I don't think Bitcoiners should even want heroes.

Everyone needs heroes. But... it does take a miracle sometimes when those heroes become villains with too much power. Its a two-edged sword.

[World]

btw, i also enjoy Stephen's posts.

I as well.

Stephen was first bitcoiner I start following when I heard about bitcoin from beginning
thx

[paulie_w]

hear hear!

[thezerg]

 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fW8amMCVAJQ

i first saw that video on Trace Mayers site RunToGold.  as i've said before, he played a significant part in making me first invest in gold and silver back in 2005.  i love that video.

I thought the vid was rather dopey to be honest.  The tone of the narrator made me want to puke, and I've always felt like dancing makes it appear that a person has some sort of neurological disorder.  Bah, humbug I guess.  My nature is to turn in the opposite direction of any crowd and keep going so such a situation as demonstrated, however illustrative it might have been, was bound to induce a negative reaction in me.

btw, i also enjoy Stephen's posts.

I as well.

Don't feel bad; it just means that you are the lone nut :-)  Hey, somebody's gotta do it! 

[paraipan]

 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fW8amMCVAJQ

i first saw that video on Trace Mayers site RunToGold.  as i've said before, he played a significant part in making me first invest in gold and silver back in 2005.  i love that video.

I thought the vid was rather dopey to be honest.  The tone of the narrator made me want to puke, and I've always felt like dancing makes it appear that a person has some sort of neurological disorder.  Bah, humbug I guess.  My nature is to turn in the opposite direction of any crowd and keep going so such a situation as demonstrated, however illustrative it might have been, was bound to induce a negative reaction in me.

btw, i also enjoy Stephen's posts.

I as well.

Don't feel bad; it just means that you are the lone nut :-)  Hey, somebody's gotta do it! 

I really enjoyed that video Stephen and have to agree this community needs leaders easy to follow

[Transisto]

I wish we had a "friend" button beside the "ignore" one.

People I "friend" would have an highlight and similar to the "ignore" feature the quantity of "friend" would change the Title of the user to "Super Hero" in this case.

Having 500 posts and getting an Hero title doesn't really say much as to the quality of posts.

At the risk of creating a caste system this would be an useful way of figuring out user reputations for the new-comers.

This is a vague concept but something along those lines could greatly accelerate bitcoin growth by improving cooperation and reducing time wasted.

[giszmo]

I wish we had a "friend" button beside the "ignore" one.

People I "friend" would have an highlight and similar to the "ignore" feature the quantity of "friend" would change the Title of the user to "Super Hero" in this case.

Having 500 posts and getting an Hero title doesn't really say much as to the quality of posts.

At the risk of creating a caste system this would be an useful way of figuring out user reputations for the new-comers.

This is a vague concept but something along those lines could greatly accelerate bitcoin growth by improving cooperation and reducing time wasted.

I want a metric of % posts liked. Liking one person is too black/white but if you can like every post, you can measure how many likes per views a thread's OP and the subsequent posts have in addition to making people heros when they posted 50 liked posts (posts that have more than 10% like/view).

[Transisto]

I wish we had a "friend" button beside the "ignore" one.

People I "friend" would have an highlight and similar to the "ignore" feature the quantity of "friend" would change the Title of the user to "Super Hero" in this case.

Having 500 posts and getting an Hero title doesn't really say much as to the quality of posts.

At the risk of creating a caste system this would be an useful way of figuring out user reputations for the new-comers.

This is a vague concept but something along those lines could greatly accelerate bitcoin growth by improving cooperation and reducing time wasted.

I want a metric of % posts liked. Liking one person is too black/white but if you can like every post, you can measure how many likes per views a thread's OP and the subsequent posts have in addition to making people heros when they posted 50 liked posts (posts that have more than 10% like/view).

Submit a proposal to /meta/ , I'll pledge 5 BTC to it.

[lebing]

Steven is the man!

[mobile4ever]

 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fW8amMCVAJQ

This is not just a crazy idea. It is the same thing Simon Sinek has said:


http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action.html?source=twitter#.T965omjHUtl.twitter


All it takes is 15 to 20 percent adoption and it takes off, as in unstoppable.