If the signature campaings are removed from the forum, will you stay or leave?

[TheBeardedBaby]

I've been off any paid sig. campaigns since May but I'm still here, not active as before but that's nothing to do with the signature campaigns, just life.

So if the campaigns are gone, what you gonna do?

Since the poll is anonymous, you can really vote what you think is your case

[1714845142]

1714845142

[1714845142]

1714845142

[1714845142]

1714845142

[Shamm]

I've been off any paid sig. campaigns since May but I'm still here, not active as before but that's nothing to do with the signature campaigns, just life.

So if the campaigns are gone, what are you gonna do?

Since the poll is anonymous, you can vote what you think is your case

Honestly
For me, I'm gonna stay here,
We all know that through campaigns we can earn money but what I think is that this forum gives me a lot of knowledge not just in Bitcoins but in the world of crypto. I treasure every minute here in the bitcointalk forum cause when I entered here I don't have any Little knowledge about currencies
Also, I encounter different people around the globe I meet some friends and I'm happy about it I encountered different kinds of attitudes some are generous, helpful, extrovert users, and some of them Little bit strict. But all in all, I like everyone here in the forum.
So there's no reason why I leave.
Good job buddy nice Thread.

[LoyceV]

I am feel stupid, I clicked the first one without reading properly. I saw the word "stay" on the second and third line" and totally didn't notice I clicked "leave" for the first option until the poll showed the results.

I didn't join for signature campaigns, so I won't leave because of them either.

[SFR10]

Despite wearing a paid signature at the moment, there were certain periods that I was just wearing my own signature ^{[not a paid one]}, so I'm not going to leave but without those, the overall activity on this forum would probably go down significantly, hence why I voted for the third option ^{[e.g. fewer threads and etc...]}.
^{- That'd also lead to less spam, so it's not that bad}

[Findingnemo]

I am here to stay, I learnt a lot from the forum to be honest which is not anything technical but even I got the better vision about what is money and why we all stuck in the middle class life forever no matter how hard we are working. Its great to be here with community all around the world meanwhile we also can see lot of veterans leave the forum which is not actually anything to do with the signature but for their personal reasons.

But do you think anyone who will vote for I am only here for signature campaign will leave a reply here? I don't think so.

[YOSHIE]

I will go and leave all the memories here, for sure, some of the earnings for the forum and maintenance and so on, obtained from advertising campaigns, maybe the forum can't be accessed anymore, because it can't advertise anymore or maintenance funds.

The problem here is: the forum teaches a lot about Bitcoin and crypto, the campaigns here are all crypto-related, gambling needs crypto, buy/sell stuff with crypto, everything here is crypto, crypto and crypto, so removing the campaign means removing Bitcoin and crypto, what are forums and communities for, obviously better to just go.

The forum is growing as it is today because people are interested in Bitcoin and crypto, competing to promote campaigns/advertising about Bitcoin and crypto.
Fred, Chris Larsen, Cameron, Tyler Winklevoss, Jed McCaleb, they all wouldn't be billionaires and rich, without Bitcoin, campaigns, forums and crypto.

[LTU_btc]

When I joined forum, I didn't even knew what is signature campaign. My first thought when I heard tthis term for the first time was that someone is paying for signing in various petitions or something similar .
So, I didn't joined Bitcointalk for signature campaigns and I definitely wouldn't leave if it would removed. When I wasn't in sig. campaign, I simply wear my own not paid signature and I didn't even become less active.
Though, it's possible that without paid signature I would a bit less active, but I doubt that change would be significant. On the other hand, if most members would become less active then, automatically it would mean that we would have less active topics where we can comment, answer questions, share knowledge and so on.

[The Sceptical Chymist]

I didn't join for signature campaigns, so I won't leave because of them either.

Same here, and with the exception of a handful of members, I think we're a dying breed on the forum.  Fortunately there have been some new members that, regardless of their motivation for being here, have been excellent contributors to bitcointalk.  So even if someone is here strictly for the money, that doesn't mean they fall into the typical bounty-hunting, shitposter, zero-value class.

I've grown attached to this forum over the years, so there's no way I'd give it up just because signature campaigns went away--which doesn't seem to be an option in Theymos's mind in any case.  But I bet there would be a massive efflux of members if that happened, and that makes me wonder what would happen to the merit system and my role as a merit source.  There wouldn't be any incentive for members to rank up aside from status, which means there probably wouldn't be any threads about how to earn merits or even as much general interest in doing so.

And that's just one consideration; I think this place would look completely different if campaigns and bounties were suddenly outlawed.  It was an active forum prior to the first campaign, but I think that was due to bitcoin being a very new thing.  Now that it's matured quite a bit and given the fact that many members are here just to participate in bounties/campaigns, I'd expect bitcointalk to become almost a ghost town.  Hopefully that won't be tested anytime soon.

I would be grateful if someone says that I am not paranoid and do not live in a parallel universe ^{[Pointing to these threads]}.

Don't know if you're paranoid or not (since I don't know you IRL), but you're not in a parallel universe that I know of.  Yes, this has been discussed before but I think it's been at least 5 months since we had a thread like this.  Maybe a little less; I lose track of time when it comes to this forum.

[Lucius]

I have no doubts about that, of course I would still stay on the forum, because it's not all about money, despite the fact that some think that this forum is a place where people post just to make money. I know that some will say that people in sig campaigns are hypocrites who say one thing and do another, but I can say that so far I have not spent a single satoshi from the CM campaign in which I have been since December 7, 2018 - exactly three years

[Poker Player]

I would stay on the forum, but I would post a lot more in the WO thread and a lot less in the rest of the forum, spending less time overall. Getting paid incentivizes you to write, and getting paid well, more so. I think you would notice a drop in posts from the better paid members of the forum, and I'm not just talking about the CM campaign.

I edit to say one thing I forgot: if paid signatures would disappear, and the moderation policy of the forum would be the same, looking for quality, we could clearly say: bye bye Bitcointalk. I think that for the forum to have life after removing the paid signatures, it should be possible to post in the whole forum as in the WO thread.

[sheenshane]

IMO, I will stay, no change but less post.

I like reading comments and various personal arguments in the forum but I don't have the guts to interact with discussion.  It's maybe rare to reply to those threads but I always visit those kinds of threads (arguments) and next in the technical Bitcoin discussion board but again, I'm just reading comments and that sort of obtaining knowledge with those replies from experts, especially those members who are fluent to speak in English (there are many of them here).  It seems like I'm more in reading than posting, so, if signature campaigns are removed doesn't matter to me because I'm here to learn, and earning isn't my first priority.  

If the signature campaigns are removed from the forum and it might those banner ads will disappear too?    If so, how will the forum survive.

[Magicalking]

Almost everyone are here for the money. If the signature campaigns and the bounties are gone for lets say a year, you'll see the real face of many that pretend they care about the forum. The signature benefits were supposed to be some beer money for the time people spent and enjoy here but the greed has turn this into a business.
 

I choose option 2. Even if the campaigns are gone nothing will change for me. I haven't participated Ina signature campaign yet but not for my lack of trying. I am still here doing what I can to develop my knowledge in crypto. I agree with @Beardedbaby if campaigns and bounties are gone we would see less spammers, less merit hunting posts but I think it will kill the fun of the forum. The newbies who were motivated to join the forum because they could earn money will leave only the old timers will remain and a few who really want to maximize the knowledge available here.

[macson]

i'm not a hypocrite, if there is no signature campaign then i will still be on the forum but the frequency will decrease....i have an offline job and my main income is not from this forum, i think the pay from the signature campaign is just a motivation to make quality posts here.

[Mpamaegbu]

I chose the third option – I will stay but likely post less. And that will be whenever I've data to do so. It takes data to be on the internet and where I come from data cost money. However, hypothetically, I know I will miss the forum the few times I would stay away as here has become almost like a second home to me. This is the place I've learnt virtually everything and anything that I've come to know in the world of cryptocurrency.

but I can say that so far I have not spent a single satoshi from the CM campaign in which I have been since December 7, 2018 - exactly three years

Wow! That's a great feat, you know. Three years running without taking out a sat from that payment isn't a mean feat. This should be a celebratory anniversary. If you've two glasses to spare; I can bring a bottle of red wine over for celebration. Kudos, man.

[NotATether]

Honest answer.

I'm already posting less despite being in a high paying campaign (Chipmixer). So if sig campaigns were to stop then nothing would really change in my behavior.

It's because when work catches up to you, you don't really feel in the mood for much talking as you used to anymore.


An inverse correlation I also notice is that the more you are involved in pull requests and mailing lists for bitcoin projects, the less you feel like posting here.

[Pffrt]

Most people should have voted for "will stay but less active". I would be the same. I may visit the forum everyday and read some good threads but won't be posting much. It's not only if signature camps doesn’t exist, it's same for me all the time. Maybe I'm posting much when I'm in a campaign because it has a certain requirements.

[yahoo62278]

Personally, I didn't join the forum to make money, but it ended up turning into that. I attribute being so well known on this forum because of campaigns. I don't feel like I would visit the forum much if signature campaigns went away even though I don't manage them much any longer. I do have a pretty decent income from wearing a signature though.

I find nothing wrong with users making money here. Hell, the admins are making a pretty penny weekly on advertising. Why would they ever want to try and cut out the smaller guy?

Let's say they stop allowing signatures, what would be the backlash of that? Well for starters, forum traffic drops by 90%. That means forum ads lose their appeal to businesses. Also leading to no income for the forum, ultimately leading to the forum closing down after a period of time. That's what I think would happen anyways. There will be a few happy members of course, but there will be no reason to keep the forum open for the 100 or so users left.

 The issue IMO is the poor quality of the posters in these campaigns. That's really on the manager. If you have a poor quality poster, then remove them and let someone worthy take their place. I have been guilty of letting douchebags in a campaign because I had a large number of open spots, so maybe I have no room to talk but I can acknowledge the problem and do my part in fixing it.

[Daniel91]

When I joined this forum 7 years ago I hardly knew anything about bitcoin and even less about signature campaigns 
In the meantime, I learned a lot about crypto, made some friends, met some of them in person, and earned something through the signature campaigns, which is not so bad after all for one forum.
I’ve been active on a lot of other forums in the past but I’ve gotten a lot less than here.
For me, this forum is perfect because I can talk to friends, find out about some new and interesting crypto projects, discuss sports topics and for what I would do anyway, writing posts, I can earn some btc.
If the campaign signatures are removed I would stay on this forum but I would probably be a little less active.

[crwth]

Probably going to stay because even if I don’t have an active signature campaign, I post instill read some topics of interest to me. I have learned so much here in the forum, so I don’t think I would ever stay away. Just less active in a total of activity. The most popular answer as well. I think a lot of people fell in love with the forum.

[Charles-Tim]

So if the campaigns are gone, what you gonna do?

I will surely stay but my activities would be reduced. At least the money paid through campaigns is obviously making this forum more active. The money might not worth anything for some people but it is actually worth something for some people and motivating them to post good. Taking myself as an example, I joined a campaign and the campaign want me to post good. I was posting good before even before joining any campaign on this forum, but I increased my posting quality and dedicate more time just to make sure I satisfy my campaign manager when also other forum members like people that post good anf I like posting good. That means it is a win-to-win.

What I just think is that my posting quality will not reduce, I will still stay but my activities might reduce.

[Wiwo]

I just got in why should I leave if signature campaigns are removed from the forum, I have spent less than six months in the forum and planning to stay here for as long as possible to learn all that I need to. My activities such as posting habits may reduce but I will stay active on the forum without signature.

[RickDeckard]

Voted: I don't care about signaures (I didn't saw the option "I will stay, No change." -> seems like I'm also somewhat blind. My apologizes)

In my 502 (+1) posts, I never participated in any signature campaign. Most reasons I've talked about in the past - can't really be sure which post was it - but they boil down to some factors:

• My posting activity, depending on the days/week, may not reach 20/25 posts per week (most campaigns have their threshold somewhere around these quantities);
• I don't feel comfortable in taking part in campaigns that "make" me post in particular sections of the forum - such as Gambling. The reason is simple - I don't have any particular interest on the topic and I also don't think I'll be able to contribute in any positive way there.

This is not to say that I won't, in the future, try to join a campaign that doesn't have these requirements, but I just wanted to highlight that signature campaigns, by themselves, are not the driver for my presence here. I've seen very informative threads ever since I became more active here and I think I managed to interact in a positive way with some members whose presence is very well known to us. Those are two things that I will try my best to continue to experience as the years go by, or as long as I possibly can contribute to the forum. I reckon I'm not the most "tech" guy around here, neither the most literate regarding blockchain technology, but I've got a deep interesting in learning and continuous self improvement and whenever I see some discussion that I think I can add something worth of discussion - or help - I'll just post it, whether that post is being paid or not.

I would really like to say that in 10 years from now I've made really good friends here and that I've had incredible discussions in it (I reckon I'll also learn a lot on the process), but I'll leave that to the future... Do note that I'm fully aware that campaigns are a really good way for someone users - especially in a less developed world - have an upper advantage regarding their currency, and that is incredible! I'm just saying that, to me, there are other things that also have to be considered...

And that's just one consideration; I think this place would look completely different if campaigns and bounties were suddenly outlawed.  It was an active forum prior to the first campaign, but I think that was due to bitcoin being a very new thing.  Now that it's matured quite a bit and given the fact that many members are here just to participate in bounties/campaigns, I'd expect bitcointalk to become almost a ghost town.  Hopefully that won't be tested anytime soon.

Ranking system/achievements are some interesting concepts who end up triggering interesting sides of the human spirit. Take at look at PSN/Xbox achievements - they are just a bunch of internet points, that hold no value - other than show your commitment to fully explore games - and yet ever since Xbox implemented the system (back from the days of Xbox360 around 2005) thousands of people try to get as many as they can. And for what? As far as I know there aren't any special rewards or tiers, they just keep pilling up. And yet, people do it and will surely continue to do it because they are proof that they endured a certain path/challenge. I see a ranking system in a similar way - while most users wouldn't bother to climb the ladder considering there wouldn't be no benefit in doing so, some of them really want to say that they've achieved X ranking in Y platform just because. Granted, some places do have some perks for each user class - for example dedicated sections of the forum - but I really think that just having ranks would make some users fight for them, despite not having a prize at the end of the climb. I guess reckoning would be the "final prize"...

[BobLawblaw]

Sig spammers are a scourge on these forums, and they can't all die in a fire soon enough.

[Rikafip]

I haven't joined for signature campaigns and for sure wouldn't leave this forum because of them. Beside this one, I am active on several other forums for ~20 years, wrote tens of thousands of free posts so I would continue to do the same, but I would probably post less, whether I want it or not.

I am aware of the fact that every forum has very active members who will write no matter what, but those are few and far between. Thing is, majority of people would have to reduce their posting frequency simply because if you remove all posts&threads made by those that are here only because of the money, there would be less posts to answer to. In order to be very active, you need other people and if you don't have that, what to do other than post less.

Let's say they stop allowing signatures, what would be the backlash of that? Well for starters, forum traffic drops by 90%. That means forum ads lose their appeal to businesses. Also leading to no income for the forum, ultimately leading to the forum closing down after a period of time. That's what I think would happen anyways. There will be a few happy members of course, but there will be no reason to keep the forum open for the 100 or so users left.

Yep, nicely summed up. As much as we all hate sig spammers, signature campaigns pros simply outweigh the cons. Theymos and other forum staff are aware of that so I am pretty certain that signature campaigns are not going anywhere, at least not in the foreseeable future.

The issue IMO is the poor quality of the posters in these campaigns. That's really on the manager. If you have a poor quality poster, then remove them and let someone worthy take their place. I have been guilty of letting douchebags in a campaign because I had a large number of open spots, so maybe I have no room to talk but I can acknowledge the problem and do my part in fixing it.

When it comes to replacing shitty posters with better ones, I don't think that you or any other manager can do much about it (unless you increase rate), because there are simply not enough quality members to fill the need of all ongoing signature campaigns, let alone new ones. So even if you want to replace shitposter, most likely you will end up getting the same thing. At the moment, every decent member that wants to be in signature campaign is already part of one (except during that short period when some good campaigns ends so they have to look for another one).

What managers could do though is for example is not set the fixed amount of posts that participants have to make or at least make low minimum requirement so people are not forced to write anything when they don't feel like/don't have time as forced posting in majority of cases leads to redundant posts and that's something that we don't lack of here on bitcointalk.

Another solution is for managers to say to their potential clients that unless they wan't to fill signature campaign with spammers and shitposters, they will have to pay way more than average campaign is paying at the moment (50-60 USD) or have very attractive rules. I might be wrong with my assumption, but somehow I think that doesn't happen often.

[donatien]

I'll stay and try to be more active than before. Signature campaigns have brought in lots of bad practices, one of them being buying and selling accounts which is really sad. I am here to educate myself and I get to learn a lots of new things related to cryptocurrencies from learned members like you.

[tertius993]

Sig spammers are a scourge on these forums, and they can't all die in a fire soon enough.

This, I'd be delighted to see them go.

I voted "Stay, no change" but would have preferred a "Stay, will contribute more" option.  The overall standard of posting is absolutely risible - you can absolutely guarantee that any rambling, illogical, impenetrable post, repeating what's been said before or ignoring the question entirely will have a paid sig underneath it - anything that could improve that would be great.

[UserU]

Personally, I didn't join the forum to make money, but it ended up turning into that. I attribute being so well known on this forum because of campaigns. I don't feel like I would visit the forum much if signature campaigns went away even though I don't manage them much any longer. I do have a pretty decent income from wearing a signature though.

I find nothing wrong with users making money here. Hell, the admins are making a pretty penny weekly on advertising. Why would they ever want to try and cut out the smaller guy?

Let's say they stop allowing signatures, what would be the backlash of that? Well for starters, forum traffic drops by 90%. That means forum ads lose their appeal to businesses. Also leading to no income for the forum, ultimately leading to the forum closing down after a period of time. That's what I think would happen anyways. There will be a few happy members of course, but there will be no reason to keep the forum open for the 100 or so users left.

 The issue IMO is the poor quality of the posters in these campaigns. That's really on the manager. If you have a poor quality poster, then remove them and let someone worthy take their place. I have been guilty of letting douchebags in a campaign because I had a large number of open spots, so maybe I have no room to talk but I can acknowledge the problem and do my part in fixing it.

This, finally someone with an unpopular opinion. Can imagine an average Joe mentioning that and getting shat on.

Like it or not, signature campaigns are a win-win situation. Advertisers get their traffic and customers, posters get their funds for their expenses. That's how marketing works; volumes to keep the site alive. Solely discussing Bitcoin and technology won't pay the bills, unless they have a ton of wealth to begin with.

Even without them, shitposters still exist the moment there's some sort of monetization opportunity.

[hugeblack]

The answer to this question will be different from one user to another, but the forum in general give us a good answer as boards like serious discussions give an impression of what the forum would be like if the signature campaigns were stopped as a whole.

Generally, it is something that will happen sooner or later either because of the low return, or the difficulty of participating in one of the good campaigns, or the suspension of the campaigns by the administration, so the person should start posting for knowledge and learning.

Personally, I will stay, but the posting rate will be about 7-12 per week.

[The Cryptovator]

I wasn't familiar with the signature campaign during join in the forum. But yes, I was aware of the bounty campaign and I wasn't interested in bounty. At the beginning of joining the cryptocurrency world, I invested in a few initial coin offerings and I just follow and search forum in the project. You know every project has been using forum announcements links. So there shouldn't be a question to leave the forum whether the signature campaign exists or not. But I will be honest, post quantity would reduce as we know there is the weekly quota. But I love this forum and I do not intend to leave it.

I indeed earning a handsome amount from a campaign or managing signature campaign which has been encouraging me to research more to make more posts. Because to make a post I need to understand what I am writing and research for a proper answer or reply. So I believe the number of posts all over the forum would reduce significantly upon banning the signature campaign. Users would move somewhere else where they would find an earning source like this.

[DaveF]

For me it comes down to I like it here, I spend time here, so if I am able to make some BTC why not.
If all signature campaigns went away tomorrow I would really not change my habits.

I would like to think that most of the longer term higher ranking members would not really change their habits or if they do change it would not be that much.

-Dave

[LFC_Bitcoin]

I’d stay for sure, this is one of the very best places for information & general bitcoin discussion. I’ve met around 10 people in real life from the Wall Observer & become genuine friends. I’m very glad I found this forum, I would definitely stay here if signature campaigns were removed.

At the moment we have the best of both worlds though

[UmerIdrees]

I won't leave the forum either because I am addicted to it. There are one or two sections of the forum where I post a lot due to my interest and I will continue doing that.

Personally, I didn't join the forum to make money, but it ended up turning into that. I attribute being so well known on this forum because of campaigns. I don't feel like I would visit the forum much if signature campaigns went away even though I don't manage them much any longer. I do have a pretty decent income from wearing a signature though.

I find nothing wrong with users making money here. Hell, the admins are making a pretty penny weekly on advertising. Why would they ever want to try and cut out the smaller guy?

Let's say they stop allowing signatures, what would be the backlash of that? Well for starters, forum traffic drops by 90%. That means forum ads lose their appeal to businesses. Also leading to no income for the forum, ultimately leading to the forum closing down after a period of time. That's what I think would happen anyways. There will be a few happy members of course, but there will be no reason to keep the forum open for the 100 or so users left.

Perhaps the most honest answer. Even I believe that those 100 people who want the forum to be signature-free, won't be as active as they are while wearing the signature.
There are still few (as I know)  who do not wear signatures even though they can easily wear and get accepted everywhere. They are the real ones who would like the signature free forum.

[Welsh]

First of all, I quite like the idea that I can earn some money on the side while doing something that I intended on doing anyway, because I enjoy it. I probably posted a lot more when I wasn't in a signature campaign years ago, naturally I've become a little more busy as time progresses, and you could probably say I've matured a little more, and aren't quite as excited as I was before to get involved in discussions.

Though, I still have a passion for the forum unlike any other I've encountered. Some might think that the moderator position effects my attitude towards signature campaigns, but I don't think so. I love the mod position, and I also love earning while doing something I would do anyway; post. I think it's natural at times to be more motivated to post when your earning from it, I won't deny that's obviously a motivation for a lot of users, but if the content is good, I say let it be, and not worry too much about the motivation behind it.

 I literally don't participate in any other forum, and I think that speaks a lot for the quality of content available here. Yeah, the forum has its problems, but what doesn't have its problems these days. Bitcoin something we're all here for, has its problems.

I'm also someone that struggles to pick up new habits, for example I've been introduced to several other ways of communicating about Bitcoin, and other interests, but they never really stick. The forum has, and I'm going on eight years now since I've registered. I definitely haven't been in a signature campaign for that amount of time, so yeah I would definitely be still here.

Although, I do concede that this forum would likely lose a lot of traffic, and I have no way of verifying that, but it does seem a lot of users come here with the prospect of making money either through altcoins or through Bitcoin signature campaigns, which I'm totally fine with.

There are still few (as I know)  who do not wear signatures even though they can easily wear and get accepted everywhere. They are the real ones who would like the signature free forum.

I think there's likely quite a few users here who would prefer a signature free forum, but while its not they might as well earn a little something on the side. I don't really have too many complaints about users using it like this.

[UserU]

I think there's likely quite a few users here who would prefer a signature free forum, but while its not they might as well earn a little something on the side. I don't really have too many complaints about users using it like this.

Times have changed, and more people are in need of funds so the demand for advertising never waned. In fact, signature campaigns have contributed in paying off some of my loans and I'm quite thankful for them.

On a side note, I'm using a browser that pays for displaying ads so I don't really mind them as well.

[Peanutswar]

This forum is not only because of the signature campaign, but it also helps me a lot of information and I enjoy those learnings its more worthy than the earnings. Looks like earnings is just a side tip of the knowledge we gain so I will stay here and continue exploring more things related to the crypto world its more updated here than reading a lot of news and also the community helps each other to exchange ideas, opinions, and thoughts than just reading a single article without prior knowledge if this is a reliable or there's small mistaken information.

[libert19]

~

This, finally someone with an unpopular opinion. Can imagine an average Joe mentioning that and getting shat on.

Like it or not, signature campaigns are a win-win situation. Advertisers get their traffic and customers, posters get their funds for their expenses. That's how marketing works; volumes to keep the site alive. Solely discussing Bitcoin and technology won't pay the bills, unless they have a ton of wealth to begin with.

Even without them, shitposters still exist the moment there's some sort of monetization opportunity.

I think there are plenty who have similar opinion, but they prefer to stay silent to avoid getting shat on  

[suchmoon]

This looks like a honeypot. I'm sure everyone who chose the first option will be banned, and everyone who chose the second option will be red-trusted for being dishonest.

I think I'm posting about as much now as I did before I joined the campaign, and I'd stay if all campaigns disappeared. But that would very different than not joining a campaign voluntarily, i.e. I'd probably participate less for reasons pointed out by Rikafip above... fewer shitheads to argue with etc.

However I don't think this would bring the end of the forum (I mean the disappearance of signatures, not me arguing with fewer shitheads). The forum will end with or without signatures. It will end because it's the RadioShack of social media. Average tubetwit person doesn't have the attention span for it. Nor do they want to read.

[NotATether]

Sig spammers are a scourge on these forums, and they can't all die in a fire soon enough.

This, I'd be delighted to see them go.

I voted "Stay, no change" but would have preferred a "Stay, will contribute more" option.  The overall standard of posting is absolutely risible - you can absolutely guarantee that any rambling, illogical, impenetrable post, repeating what's been said before or ignoring the question entirely will have a paid sig underneath it - anything that could improve that would be great.

Tell me about it.

It's hard to have a reasonable discussion about any gambling topic because of the swarm of posters babbling about things I've read dozens of times by now just to fill the gambling dig quota.

[tertius993]

This looks like a honeypot. I'm sure everyone who chose the first option will be banned, and everyone who chose the second option will be red-trusted for being dishonest.

Why?  I voted for the second option and I’ve never been part of a signature campaign and can’t see any circumstance in which I would.

[dkbit98]

I never joined the forum to earn but to learn something new, and I never chased any signature campaigns.
You never know what tomorrow may bring but I can imagine many different scenarios than would force me to leave the forum and none of them are for signature reasons.
If you don't see me in bitcointalk forum for a long time, with or without signature, know that I am either dead, or forced to retire and live in some hidden mountain cabin without internet connection.

PS
Can anyone theymos please allow poor LoyceV to edit his Poll vote that he will leave the forum without signature, it was an honest mistake  
It's messing up all the stats showing that 8% would leave the forum without precious signatures, plus 4% of bounty hunters that would probably join them.

[Rikafip]

This looks like a honeypot. I'm sure everyone who chose the first option will be banned, and everyone who chose the second option will be red-trusted for being dishonest.

Why?  I voted for the second option and I’ve never been part of a signature campaign and can’t see any circumstance in which I would.

I don't think that suchmoon was serious about that honeypot thing, but one thing implied there is true: ~95% (pure guesstimate based from what I saw in these 2 years on the forum) of the people that are wearing signature are either lying to themselves or others (probably both) if they claim to keep the  same activity regardless of signature campaigns.

Hell, majority of people adjust their posting habits based on the signature campaign rules and now imagine what would happen if there is no financial incentive to keep posting day after day, without never taking a break. Taking a break here in majority of cases equals to being kicked out of campaign and no one wants that.

[UserU]

I think there are plenty who have similar opinion, but they prefer to stay silent to avoid getting shat on   

Yup, and we could pretty much say the same thing about the new forum software as well.

Deep down many are longing for mobile responsiveness, notification bell and tipping feature

[TheBeardedBaby]

This looks like a honeypot. I'm sure everyone who chose the first option will be banned, and everyone who chose the second option will be red-trusted for being dishonest.

Oh, NO!!

I am feel stupid, I clicked the first one without reading properly. I saw the word "stay" on the second and third line" and totally didn't notice I clicked "leave" for the first option until the poll showed the results.
~

... lol

[BlackHatCoiner]

I joined this forum in March 2020, when the first quarantine started and I got myself a wonderful read of an introduction of how Bitcoin works. I'm the kind of guy that makes a lot of questions; the first of my threads speak for themselves.

The responses I got really helped. I fell down the rabbit hole and saw another world. I think that I'll devote a part of my life to this forum and to Bitcoin that gave me this opportunity.

I guess, that I'd stay, but not as active as I am today. What to say when there's incentive in the middle?

[suchmoon]

You're exaggerating

I might have been, yes.

Point is, with anonymous polls I think answers tend to be more wishful than factual. On average. Not everyone is necessarily or consciously dishonest.

I don't think that suchmoon was serious about that honeypot thing

I used to wear a big red "/s" in my signature back in the day and I'd probably go back to doing that if I'm no longer in a campaign. Some people still take me too seriously after all these years

[OgNasty]

This looks like a honeypot. I'm sure everyone who chose the first option will be banned, and everyone who chose the second option will be red-trusted for being dishonest.

Why?  I voted for the second option and I’ve never been part of a signature campaign and can’t see any circumstance in which I would.

I don't think that suchmoon was serious about that honeypot thing, but one thing implied there is true: ~95% (pure guesstimate based from what I saw in these 2 years on the forum) of the people that are wearing signature are either lying to themselves or others (probably both) if they claim to keep the  same activity regardless of signature campaigns.

Hell, majority of people adjust their posting habits based on the signature campaign rules and now imagine what would happen if there is no financial incentive to keep posting day after day, without never taking a break. Taking a break here in majority of cases equals to being kicked out of campaign and no one wants that.

As a result of being in a signature campaign for a gambling operation I have moved my witty sports commentary from NBA message boards to bitcointalk.  It doesn't really provide any relevant information for this site, but it's a conversation I'd have anyway, so I figure I might as well have it here and get paid while promoting a service I appreciate.  At the same time it inflates the views here and makes the site more relevant on the internet.  I guess it's a win-win for everyone in that regard.  The annoying thing to me is when trolls who have no idea what they're talking about chime in on actual Bitcoin activity with nonsense to inflate their post count.  We see way too much of that... 

[Welsh]

I've never really understood why there's such a stigma against signature campaigns or advertising on the forum via your signature. Signatures can be disabled, and while yeah there are definitely spammers, they should be reported to both the moderators, and the signature campaign manager. Hopefully they're handled appropriately from both points of view.

However, the vast majority of users at least within the Bitcoin section advertising for Bitcoin paying campaigns are pretty decently run, with only a few exceptions. The problem lies in the altcoin section which is predominately paying in tokens which aren't worth anything at the time of signing up, let alone a few months down the line.

Though, there's definitely a lot of reports handled when they're reported, and several moderators seem to skim the section looking for trouble users. So, despite the altcoin section getting over run, there's a conscious, and relentless approach to dealing with it.

[pugman]

Most will leave regardless, eventually. If the forum's administration continues to stay the way it is, I don't expect things to become better here. The OGs already left, when sig campaigns came around.

Think about this: Lauda left, Lutpin is ?, Zepher died(fuck.), same for Bruno(RIP), idk where escrow, tradefortress, or half of the OG ogs even are. Bitcointalk is no longer the iconic place it once was, it doesn't feel like the same forum where the likes of Hal Finney used to go around and speak with the community, hell even Satoshi was in the same forum; he fucking created the forum and now its a shitpile if anything.

I used to read like 50-60 threads a day now there is barely anything worthwhile to read, the only generally good posts I see are from people with the chipmixer signature, and a few others who talk in the Meta/Rep/Service Discussion/Economics/Speculation board.  Am I wrong?

[Pmalek]

I haven't seen an alternative to the forum that I really like, so I don't see a reason to leave. I am sure that I would be less active, but you would still see me around regularly. I don't like browsing crypto blogs and websites either so where do I go? There is only one German blog that I visit occasionally and that's it. I really don't like the Twitter/Discord/Telegram atmosphere with memes, lols, and whatnot. I feel like more effort is required to write decent to good posts here than what we have on social media.

Signatures won't be banned because theymos knows that's the start of the end.   

[Coyster]

If I'm to be really honest, if signature campaigns are removed and I get busy in real life with other things that could prolly earn me some more money, I'll have little or no time to come here to make posts, I would be an occasional poster, that doesn't mean that I'm in the forum just for the money, cause I really find here interesting and educative, and earning somewhat complements it all, thus if that incentive is no longer there and I have a substitute means of making extra money in real life, there is no way I'll forfeit that to post on the forum frequently, I'd prolly be more of a reader and post only when I actually have the time to construct something.

Having said that, I'll not leave the forum for anything, my frequency in posting could reduce, but to totally leave the forum seems somewhat impossible right now, maybe sometime along the line I could have a different idea/mindset.

[Welsh]

Most will leave regardless, eventually. If the forum's administration continues to stay the way it is, I don't expect things to become better here. The OGs already left, when sig campaigns came around.

Think about this: Lauda left, Lutpin is ?, Zepher died(fuck.), same for Bruno(RIP), idk where escrow, tradefortress, or half of the OG ogs even are. Bitcointalk is no longer the iconic place it once was, it doesn't feel like the same forum where the likes of Hal Finney used to go around and speak with the community, hell even Satoshi was in the same forum; he fucking created the forum and now its a shitpile if anything.

Quite a few donators are still active, as in they're at least logging into the forum from time to time, although don't seem to participate in the discussions much. At the end of the day, if you've been around long enough, you'll see repeated content, that's just natural. We continuously have new users signing up, and asking basic questions, because they are the same type of questions we might have wanted to ask several years ago.

I do think this forum is better managed than a lot of the others on the internet, though you could potentially call me biased on that. I know at least there's staff here that are actually passionate about the forum, whereas other forums they might be doing it for the illusion of power or just getting paid. At least, most of the moderators I've had a chat with are passionate about how things run around here.

Of course, certain areas of the forum are less than ideal. I mean the Altcoins section is in particular pretty bad, however I dedicate a lot of time myself scouring that place, and moderating there, as do a few others. Some days I'm taking hundreds of actions in that section alone, and I'm also one of the patrollers. That's ignoring the fact that there's several others likely doing the same thing.

Signatures won't be banned because theymos knows that's the start of the end.   

I do believe he's alluded to liking the idea of the forum having a sort of eco system. Though, I might be talking through my arse there as I can't actually find it, but that might be because I'm not searching the correct phrases used. I think theymos said something along the lines of liking that it's a thing, but if it becomes to much of a problem would have to look at dealing with that

[_BlackStar]

-snip-
I do think this forum is better managed than a lot of the others on the internet, though you could potentially call me biased on that. I know at least there's staff here that are actually passionate about the forum, whereas other forums they might be doing it for the illusion of power or just getting paid. At least, most of the moderators I've had a chat with are passionate about how things run around here.

Of course, certain areas of the forum are less than ideal. I mean the Altcoins section is in particular pretty bad, however I dedicate a lot of time myself scouring that place, and moderating there, as do a few others. Some days I'm taking hundreds of actions in that section alone, and I'm also one of the patrollers. That's ignoring the fact that there's several others likely doing the same thing.

This is a very nice acknowledgment from a staff member of this forum and it looks like you are one of the very enthusiastic staff for this forum. I don't know who the staff who handled my hundreds of reports to this day are, but whoever he is then I have to thank him for his dedication in this forum.

I enjoyed my journey on this forum, using signature, using avatar and engaging in many interesting discussions. I don't know how to reply to all of them if not for the quality of the posts and my desire to contribute. Even if one day the forum remove the signature campaign then I will choose to stay even if it reduces my activity a bit.

[urro]

Stop using a forum because of the signature option seems a little exagerated. Except if the user only wants to show the signature...

Btw, i miss the userbars;
https://varievo.com/wp-content/uploads/Userbars.png

[nakamura12]

I did join signature campaign for extra money and if it is removed then there's still another way to earn money with bitcoin. I have joined many discussions and I quite like having conversations or discussion with other forum users which help me learn more and more until now plus some bitcoin news, price discussions and more. Nothing beats having meaningful cryptocurrency related discussions/topics.

[vapourminer]

as i have sigs disabled forum wide, i probably wouldnt even notice except for the avatars on some posts might change.

[KingsDen]

Personally, I will be here but will likely visit 3times a week.
But generally, bitcointalk might be deserted except for some users who have been here for years and have developed mutual understanding and affection.
At any time in a project, there must be something driving or motivating it. At this very stage of Bitcointalk forum, it is the signature and bounty campaigns that is driving it.
1. It is the signature that makes many to appear online even against their wish in order to complete their task.
2. It is the signature that makes people become quality posters, owing to the word counts requirement of signature campaigns.
3. It is the signature that makes many see reasons to need merit to rank up.
4. If signature campaign is halted in the forum, the purpose of the merit system will be defeated. And other things  go wrong aswell.

[UserU]

Btw, i miss the userbars;

I still see them on some forums, and that's a piece of history right there.

[Victorik]

For me, I am here to learn. I have learnt a lot for the time I have spent here. So, I will still be here, even if the signature campaign is removed.

[LoyceV]

I am here to learn.

Don't lie! You've posted the word "Twitter" 1841 times, and the word "Facebook" 1337 times. That's more than 7 times per post on average, I didn't even bother counting the Telegram links and shitcoin addresses you've posted to support money grabbing ICO scams.

[tertius993]

as i have sigs disabled forum wide, i probably wouldnt even notice except for the avatars on some posts might change.

I have to confess I didn’t even realise that was possible.  Brilliant!

[Shamm]

For me, I am here to learn. I have learned a lot from the time I have spent here. So, I will still be here, even if the signature campaign is removed.

Opps no offend to you but what I saw in your post history is from bounty campaigns and I think you not telling the truth it seems you came here for a campaign and earn some extra money.
proof   https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=2134804;sa=showPosts


PS. You need to be true in yourself don't trick or lie to yourself
[Edited]

I am here to learn.

Don't lie! You've posted the word "Twitter" 1841 times, and the word "Facebook" 1337 times. That's more than 7 times per post on average, I didn't even bother counting the Telegram links and shitcoin addresses you've posted to support money grabbing ICO scams.

[krishnaverma]

What percentage of members here are wearing a signature and getting paid for it ? I think less than 1%

Hope you got the point.

[yahoo62278]

I am here to learn.

Don't lie! You've posted the word "Twitter" 1841 times, and the word "Facebook" 1337 times. That's more than 7 times per post on average, I didn't even bother counting the Telegram links and shitcoin addresses you've posted to support money grabbing ICO scams.

Probably unnecessary to call out a Jr member for giving his opinion when more then 50% who have posted in this thread are probably lying as well.

What percentage of members here are wearing a signature and getting paid for it ? I think less than 1%

Hope you got the point.

Depends on if you are talking active members or total accounts made. If we are talking active members then I'd say closer to 70% or better are wearing a sig and being paid

[LoyceV]

Probably unnecessary to call out a Jr member for giving his opinion when more then 50% who have posted in this thread are probably lying as well.

Fair point.

What percentage of members here are wearing a signature and getting paid for it ? I think less than 1%

Depends on if you are talking active members or total accounts made. If we are talking active members then I'd say closer to 70% or better are wearing a sig and being paid

Check Active users in the past 24 hours: the ones without signature are Newbie bounty spammers who's account doesn't allow wearing a signature.

[Chaim Herzog41]

I will stay, No change  

[_BlackStar]

I will stay, No change  

With the same number of posts until you come back tomorrow?

Check Active users in the past 24 hours: the ones without signature are Newbie bounty spammers who's account doesn't allow wearing a signature.

Most of the active posters are posters with signature ^{[bitcoin or token]} and the exception is newbie and I just see it like that. There are very few established users who don't use paid signature, I can't estimate the number but they are genuinely interested in bitcoin. Without a signature they are willing to stay, but without bitcoin who will use this forum again?

It's clear that most of them are spammer signature posters, but I'm excluding bitcoin paid signature posters in general although until now it would have been difficult for any manager to deter spammers in their campaign or bounty. But I don't think forums need to remove signature campaign because with that contributors get very little benefit.

@LoyceV, this is a good look.

[LTU_btc]

Stop using a forum because of the signature option seems a little exagerated. Except if the user only wants to show the signature...

Btw, i miss the userbars;
https://varievo.com/wp-content/uploads/Userbars.png

Thank you for bringing me some nostalgia. I participated in one football forum maybe 10 years ago and it was full of such signatures with clubs logo. It looked lovely.

as i have sigs disabled forum wide, i probably wouldnt even notice except for the avatars on some posts might change.

You wouldn't notice if signatures would be banned, but I'm sure that you would notice changes in content and activity.

Probably unnecessary to call out a Jr member for giving his opinion when more then 50% who have posted in this thread are probably lying as well.

I'm wondering how many people who posted here are really honest. Maybe some of them lie not intentionally. It's easy to tell that I would stay not matter what, but when it comes to real actions, situation may be different. Something similar when people promise that they will start going to gym from Monday or New Year, but we all know that very few of such promises turn into reality.

[Lucius]

I'm wondering how many people who posted here are really honest. Maybe some of them lie not intentionally.

If we take the poll results, in my opinion, they are quite real considering that almost 50% said "I will stay but less active.", and on the other hand a little more than 30% said "I will stay, No change.", while 6% choose the answer that they will leave in that case.

The problem has never been that there are signature campaigns, but that there are not good enough managers who want to set high enough standards to prevent shitposters from participating in them. Apply high standards to all campaigns and we will no longer have to open topics like this.

[cygan]

so even if the signature campaigns would not exist here in the future, i would still be active here in the forum and share or expand my knowledge with other users
through the forum you have also gained a kind of trust in certain users here and also in the future this forum will show us much more interesting things and spread knowledge

just my 2 satoshis

[TheBeardedBaby]

It was an interesting reading guys, thank you.
Even that this question was posted before it's always good to have a fresh overview.
I guess not everyone was honest in their answer but that's how it's IRL too.
So.. 69 votes, 69 posts (without this one) such a beautiful number to finish this thread

I'm locking it and now everyone can see the poll

Thanks for participating guys.