Blowing up today on Reddit - go upvote!!

[BCB]

I've always said the following... never talk about bitcoin mining. Period.

When I tell people why gold is good money, I never discuss how gold mining is done.

If, during the conversation, the person asks "but where do new coins come from", answer like this...

"New coins are created by the network and given to those who contribute to the auditing/transaction verification process."  

It would be good if the creators of the WeUseCoins video would update it, and remove mining entirely. It was probably good to introduce bitcoin to people via mining back in the day, but we are beyond that point now.

Good point.  You should update this.
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Public_relations

[novusordo]

I'm not a fan of reddit, but the bit I read there confirms that mining should no longer be the first, second, or even eighth thing discussed when introducing people to Bitcoin.

I disagree, but instead of "Mining" it should be called "Mining i.e. transaction validation / bitcoin issuance" which I strongly think would take away almost all of the confusion.

"Transaction validation" would work fine. When people express concern over the "transaction validators" being the only way coins are created, simply explain that they are providing a service that is critical to the function of the Bitcoin network, and that it's actually very difficult to make any sort of profit on validating transactions (mining) anymore.

[chriswilmer]

I have been tipping people like crazy on reddit over the past 4-5 days. People love it -- even those who have no idea what bitcoins are.

A typical reaction (from the /r/programming subreddit) is: "what the f*ck? you can tip people on reddit now?! AWESOME"

[mccorvic]

I agree with evorhees, sgtspike and technomage that we should not talk about mining unless asked about it.

I'm gonna admit, I'm a little butthurt that you didn't include me in the list even though I brought it up first

I have been tipping people like crazy on reddit over the past 4-5 days. People love it -- even those who have no idea what bitcoins are.

A typical reaction (from the /r/programming subreddit) is: "what the f*ck? you can tip people on reddit now?! AWESOME"

It is probably the single greatest thing to happen to BTC adoption rates.  Now, if we could find a way to do this for youtube we'd be set.

[SgtSpike]

I agree with evorhees, sgtspike and technomage that we should not talk about mining unless asked about it.

I'm gonna admit, I'm a little butthurt that you didn't include me in the list even though I brought it up first

We have avatars. 

[Ploo]

The concept of mining makes the folk suspicious. Creating money out of thin air? Blasphemy! It is a very delicate subject. Some points I feel can help give the right idea:

- Introduce the idea that in a fiat currency the state creates currency units, in Bitcoin this power is simply shifted over to the people, an analogy for which would be gold and the way anyone can theoretically mine it.
- Miners are like the banks and they process the transactions, they do so by solving randomly generated mathematical puzzles which is a lot like a lottery.
- There is no central body so all the participants have to reach an agreement in processing transactions.

It's important to use analogies but at the end of the day mining is best left unmentioned.

[mccorvic]

We have avatars. 

Fine, now I have one. Now you have no excuse not to agree with me! AGREE WITH ME!

[SAC]

I've been spamming replies on it all day (good legitimate replies, that is).  Hopefully discarding some of the myths people have about bitcoin.

I completely agree with Erik - never talk about mining.  It is pointless these days.  Point out the merits of Bitcoin as a transaction system.  "You can send money to anyone anywhere in the world, instantly and for free, and there is no government or bank acting as a middleman."  When you make simple statements like that that people can relate to, they begin to understand why Bitcoin is such a revolutionary idea.

Then they see you have lied to them and don't trust anything you have to say later, there are very few ways to send BTC that don't cost money and plenty of middlemen getting their cut along the way.

[prezbo]

I don't see why people should know about the mining aspect, most of them don't know how ACH processes transactions, so why should bitcoin be any different?

[sunnankar]

It is probably the single greatest thing to happen to BTC adoption rates.  Now, if we could find a way to do this for youtube we'd be set.

This is a great idea to expand the tips to YouTube.

Also, how can we integrate it with blog comments? That could become a particularly explosive niche. Perhaps a WordPress plugin that connects to the tip bot that allows it to interact with the blog?

[thezerg]

It is probably the single greatest thing to happen to BTC adoption rates.  Now, if we could find a way to do this for youtube we'd be set.

This is a great idea to expand the tips to YouTube.

Also, how can we integrate it with blog comments? That could become a particularly explosive niche. Perhaps a WordPress plugin that connects to the tip bot that allows it to interact with the blog?

With or without the help of the hosting site?  I was considering this project a few months ago.  The basic strategy:

create a website that lets you deposit small amounts of bitcoin or fiat (should be fraud resistant due to deposit limits).  And an automated way to create a tip jar.
users puts some btc in the tip jar and then posts a message on the blog, youtube vid, etc.  The tip jar can do this automatically for the top 5 sites (youtube,etc).

Problems:

1. Verification of the claimant (how to prove that the person claiming the tip jar actually did post the blog or upload the video)
2. Creating trust in the hosting website (i.e. your service), since it is holding the bitcoin.
3. May bend TOS for sites like youtube and/or be considered spam


Tips would also be a great way to encourage bug fixes in FOSS software.

[Deafboy]

Sometimes I wonder if I'm the only one who know about btctip.com. Tipping service for Twitter. It's simmilar to btctip bot on reddit.

[bbit]

It's amazing how many people don't get it. What is funny is they are seeing the future of how everything is going to go right in front of them. What is there not to like about Bitcoin?

edit:Also, good jobs to the guys who are putting up the good fight !

[evoorhees]

Sometimes I wonder if I'm the only one who know about btctip.com. Tipping service for Twitter. It's simmilar to btctip bot on reddit.

I love BTCTip! It hasn't been marketed enough, but it's absolutely as awesome as the reddit bot... maybe moreso since Twitter is a much larger world.

[bbit]

Sometimes I wonder if I'm the only one who know about btctip.com. Tipping service for Twitter. It's simmilar to btctip bot on reddit.

I agree w/ what evoorhees said about it. It's only a matter of time where all these services get utilized!

[smoothie]

I can sooo feel it, we're just on the cusp of really blowing up.

Why are there not more bitcoin tips in that thread? Start sending people bitcoins and see how fast it starts blowing up. You know the old saying, "Nothing motivates people like a check!"

Please lead by example. Please list all the addresses you donated to on that thread or people that you made an effort to send btc to.

Thanks 

[sunnankar]

With or without the help of the hosting site?  I was considering this project a few months ago.

... The tip jar can do this automatically for the top 5 sites (youtube,etc).

The WordPress plugin would be installed on each individual blog but report back with the server for the tipbot. Then the plugin could ping the tipbot when a tip needs to be verified and processed. The tipbots would also be able to monitor the sites (but don't eat too much bandwidth!) where the plugin is installed. Perhaps have a blogger API key for installation.

This would solve a need that bloggers have with a way to interact with and reward the community that develops around their blog. Good highly quality comments that are rewarded with bitcoins, by either the blogger or other commenters, would be an excellent way to get bitcoins into that community. Then the blogger could sell products, like ebooks, for bitcoins and spend bitcoins on hosting, etc. Plus, it would help bloggers counteract all the trolls from the Air Force's blog commenter program.

What I envision is a WordPress plugin that works kind of like Gravatar or Disquis where a commenter can create an identity in one place but have it show up in multiple places. 'Facebook comments' has tried to do this but most bloggers do not want their nasty code intertwining with their website. Comment sections often have great content but it is just really hard to find and weed through all the trash. People could make their tipping history public and then others could see where the insightful comments are.

[DoomDumas]

I've always said the following... never talk about bitcoin mining. Period.

When I tell people why gold is good money, I never discuss how gold mining is done.

If, during the conversation, the person asks "but where do new coins come from", answer like this...

"New coins are created by the network and given to those who contribute to the auditing/transaction verification process."  

It would be good if the creators of the WeUseCoins video would update it, and remove mining entirely. It was probably good to introduce bitcoin to people via mining back in the day, but we are beyond that point now.

+1

Nice post, I also agree about the update needed to the weusecoin video.

Indeed, mining should not be part of a discussion about bitcoin, and if asked about, you got it with this response : "New coins are created by the network and given to those who contribute to the auditing/transaction verification process."


 I'll translate to french and use it

[thezerg]

With or without the help of the hosting site?  I was considering this project a few months ago.

... The tip jar can do this automatically for the top 5 sites (youtube,etc).

The WordPress plugin would be installed on each individual blog but report back with the server for the tipbot. Then the plugin could ping the tipbot when a tip needs to be verified and processed. The tipbots would also be able to monitor the sites (but don't eat too much bandwidth!) where the plugin is installed. Perhaps have a blogger API key for installation.

This would solve a need that bloggers have with a way to interact with and reward the community that develops around their blog. Good highly quality comments that are rewarded with bitcoins, by either the blogger or other commenters, would be an excellent way to get bitcoins into that community. Then the blogger could sell products, like ebooks, for bitcoins and spend bitcoins on hosting, etc. Plus, it would help bloggers counteract all the trolls from the Air Force's blog commenter program.

What I envision is a WordPress plugin that works kind of like Gravatar or Disquis where a commenter can create an identity in one place but have it show up in multiple places. 'Facebook comments' has tried to do this but most bloggers do not want their nasty code intertwining with their website. Comment sections often have great content but it is just really hard to find and weed through all the trash. People could make their tipping history public and then others could see where the insightful comments are.

Its an interesting proposal.  A generic tipbot server and then custom integrations with the top sites that solves issues like identity validation.  Last summer it was questionable (in my mind) whether these sites and the public would be "friendly" towards this kind of thing (as opposed to seeing it as some form of spam) but the reddit tipbot and the recent spate of legitimizing news may make the difference.

I wonder if SAAS APIs exist to integrate this with existing online wallets (blockchain, etc)... if so the job becomes a lot easier -- you wouldn't even need to handle the BTC and the additional development care and ongoing security maintenance that that implies.  Regardless, I expect the BTC held by this tipbot would be pretty limited and so not a great target for thieves.

[molecular]

Sometimes I wonder if I'm the only one who know about btctip.com. Tipping service for Twitter. It's simmilar to btctip bot on reddit.

I've tried it a long while back. I don't know, it's just not as much fun as with the reddit tipbot. Maybe it's just the fact that I still have problems warming up with twitter. I never seem to get anything substantial out of it. It's just a spammy newsfeed for me. Reddit is discussion and it feels like there's actual people there.

I'd bet the bitcointipbot handles orders of magnitude more volume than btctip.