The most influential people of the forum. Who are they?

[KingsDen]

Being influential in this context should mean the ability of a user to Influence how  others (another) behave(s) in the forum. If this simple definition is true, I will like to mention some users who I can say are the most influential people in the forum.
This is excluding admin, staff or moderators. And also excluding people I didn't actually meet in the forum but have heard about them.
Below are but not limited to why these users are influential.

• Being on DT
• Being a merit source
• Being a scam burster
• Being a campaign manager
• Personal Charisma

Without the above, anyone could be as influential as everyone .

Growing in the forum, these are members I believe are influential, especially to growing members from newbie to Sr member. The list is in no special order of importance.

• Hhampuz: The is a renowned manager who manages most of the long lasting campaigns in the forum. As a lower-ranked member, he Influenced me to make good posts in order to earn high number of merits to join his campaign.  And I eventually succeeded. So, he Influenced me positively.
• Ognasty: Because of his thread to give merits to newbie if you can sign a message or send encrypted message. He Influenced me and other newbies to learn how to sign a message.
• The Pharmacist: He is a strong voice who stands for truth no matter who is involved. When you are in trouble and he speaks for your favour, you are likely getting out of it. Then, if he isn't in your side, it's a scary story.
• LoyceV: Always with a decent and near perfect opinions and judgement at every time. If everyone wants you to be killed, LoyceV is always that person that will stand out, if there are not compelling reasons to do so. With good number of threads in meta created by him that ought to be pinned. He is influential
• Lovesmayfamilis, Ratimov, JollyGood and Nutildah are the first scam bursters I knew. They have great influence in the forum, as they are the nightmare of scammers. 1xbit spammers will always be afraid of JollyGood.  Then, Ratimov has Influence on lower-ranked members because of his thread to help newbies and others rank up. Lovesmayfamilis will tell even a newbie a blatant truth, whether bitter or sweet, which gave her a voice apart from scam bursting.
• yahoo62278 and Darkstar_ : Yahoo62278 is known for checking methods of Posts, maybe with lingistic, this makes new users pay attention to their posting pattern.  Darkstar_ is influential due to the prestigious chimpmixer campaign and his loan services
• DdmrDdmr fillippone and CryptopreneurBrainboss: DdmrDdmr is always that user that will leave 1 or 2 merits on almost every of my post. I had to visit his profile to see the type of Posts he likes. Fillippone made me start researching, I just believed that research was only for high school till I met him. CryptopreneurBrainboss has a high Influence as a bounty and signature manager,  and also to Nigerians. He and Ratimov love topics teaching newbies to be successful in the forum and I created a number of those topics and they merited them

These compilation is a personal list as a result of boards that I post, especially Beginners and help, Meta and Bitcoin Discussion. I know there are other influential users in boards that I don't frequent, I might not have encountered them.
Thanks for reading.

[Yawa2020]

Tell  who you think is influential and why.

https://bpip.org/Report?r=mostmerit

Users from this list best fit the description.

Well, going by the list I can see nearly all of the high rank members are influential. Lol! Although I don't know what you intend to mean by influential in your post but if it is what I am thinking then, I will pick user 68 which is CryptopreneurBrainboss thou they're other members I recognized too but he's the top of my list.
Building confidence and giving hope to newbies that they can do more and they eventually do more is more than being influential.

[Smartvirus]

satoshi

Without satoshi, none of us would have been here.

https://bpip.org/Report?r=mostmerit

Users from this list best fit the description.

I disagree. I may be on top of that list (while it lasts), but that doesn't mean I could influence people. I may be able to convince some users in certain ways (such as how to use the Trust system correctly), but in my book being influential means you can influence people in any direction. I don't think I'd be able to get people to use some shitcoin for instance (nor am I willing to find out).

I am with you on this @LoyceV. Having the merits cannot be used to qualify whom is the most influential on the forum. In a way it might apply to some users looking to rank up but after you rank up, what then becomes your focus? You begin to see a nothingness in the idea of merits. Maybe it would for beginners but, merits isn't really what to look out for here after all, some good posts don't get merits and at other times, just a photo in wall observer could get the most merits on the forum @50merits.

I view influence on the forum from the input most users have made on the forum. Ranging from those to whom have created instructional materials that we have as pinned posts/rules on various boards (can'tlist them all), those that have created tools to aid the forum (Loyce and TryNinj), those whose replies could result in the closure of a thread as it answers the question precisely, those whose knowledge seems to span from the genesis of cryptocurrency, DTs like Lovesmayfamilis  and other DTs who have devoted most of there time and effort in ensuring the serenity of the forum, those whom are selfless, those that take managements to a whole new level (Hhampuz, CryptopreneurBrainboss, Icopress and Sujonali1819) and those that motivates its locale on the forum (CryptopreneurBrainboss for Nigerians).

Your impacts are felt and noted!

[shasan]

https://bpip.org/Report?r=mostmerit

I do not think there is any reason to judge who is the most influential base on the most merit. Because there are a lot of people who got 1000 merit as an airdrop and latter didn't receive any merit. On the other hand a lot of users who came here after starting merit system and received a lot of merit even 2/3 times from those who received from airdrop.

[LoyceV]

I do not think there is any reason to judge who is the most influential base on the most merit. Because there are a lot of people who got 1000 merit as an airdrop and latter didn't receive any merit.

If you want to use Merit for this, https://bpip.org/Report?r=earnedmerit is what you're looking for.

[CryptopreneurBrainboss]

On the other hand a lot of users who came here after starting merit system and received a lot of merit even 2/3 times from those who received from airdrop.

Still it should never be used as a measure of influence, there is a trend that if you paid close attention to on the forum you'll observe, veteran users aren't as merit hungry as the new users and they do have their influence on the forum. Infact they're the ones that do give the merits. At a point Jet Cash was very influencer on the forum especially in the beginners & help and Bitcoin discussion section but all of a sudden he withdrew his involved on the forum and same can be said about others.

Today the trend has changed, ask about influencer people and you'll see mostly campaign managers or individuals who just attack themselves names pop up on the list and it shouldn't be so. Influence should be about users actually contributing positivity to the forum it doesn't matter if they have merit reward for this or not infact those who are genuine don't even care if their contributions are awarded merits. I remembered when Jet Cash initiated the fit-to-talk project to help non English speaking users on the forum (good times).

[lovesmayfamilis]

If we start from the very meaning of the word "influence", this suggests that a person can influence someone with his decision. Isn't it? But the forum was conceived as democratic, where every person has the right to vote. Is it worth talking about influence here if DT members misuse their tags? I think no. This is not an influence; it is an indicator of how fair this person is and whether they know how to make decisions correctly or not. Probably, to have any kind of power, a person must always have a cool head. Quick and thoughtless things that can be mistaken for influence are nothing more than emotions that make their master a slave.

In another sense, those people will be influential to me who have gained respect for their correct actions, from whom you can take an example. And also for their knowledge that influences people to become better.

[The Sceptical Chymist]

<snip>

Nice analysis--and not just because you included me in your list; few members would take the time to write out detailed explanations for a question/poll like this.  All of those people who whine about not earning merits should take note of posts like yours.  They're the ones that catch the attention of merit sources (and other members who like handing out merits).

Excluding myself, I'd say your list is pretty spot-on.  Everyone is influenced by different people, but in general those members you listed have strong personalities and make their presence known--and they have well-earned reputations, too.  I'm not particularly fond of OgNasty, but I'm not going to deny his influence on the forum.

I'm just gutted you guys don't have special guests on occasion, unless I'm just not up to the standard of those guests, which would be totally understandable. 

Have you seen the movie Eyes Wide Shut?  Damn fine flick, one of Kubrick's best (IMO) and his final one, too.  If you have seen it, think of the Cycling Club gatherings as similar to the one Tom Cruise snuck into and nearly got gang raped to death.  Foxpup's role is akin to the red masked character--and I'm going to leave it at that.  Should you ever get an invitation, you'll need to find an excellent costumer.

[AnotherAlt]

Even theynos is replaceable

Did you mean Thanos? Oh, No. It's theymos. Now Thanos be like

Tell who you think is influential and why.

Scam Busters with their DT Power. Yes, I am not kidding. Suppose a guy is a Scam buster and has DT Power. He will become your influencer. You are a human, and you may be made some mistakes before in this forum, Or are likely to make some mistakes. If you did or do, You are under their control. This is how they will become your influencer.

[_BlackStar]

Tell  who you think is influential and why.

The logic is that every rule maker, be it admin or staff are influential people on this forum but I won't exclude satoshi. They are the government of this forum and obviously they have a tremendous influence on the forum especially regarding user moderation and the system in effect. It's about who has influence for the forum, but if it's about who has influence on personal then I think the answer will be subjective to each individual user. Theymos is my choice, there's not much reason about that.

Scam Busters with their DT Power. Yes, I am not kidding. Suppose a guy is a Scam buster and has DT Power. He will become your influencer. You are a human, and you may be made some mistakes before in this forum, Or are likely to make some mistakes. If you did or do, You are under their control. This is how they will become your influencer.

DT members and merit sources are another part of the users who are in the circle of the system. They affect the running of the system for forum users and activities involving users which in the end this system becomes a symbol for enforcement of the rules for the operation of a system. No need to be afraid of DT or anyone on this forum including merit sources, scam busters, spam busters if users do something based on the rules and don't break them. DT is not an executioner for every rule-abiding user, but the power of DT is considered a ghost in the dark by most guilty users. you know why? Because they are afraid of losing their source of income.

[Fivestar4everMVP]

Tell  who you think is influential and why.

The discussion of who's influential on the forum and who's not is one which i think creates ambivalent or contradicting feelings.
I personally can not point to one or two persons that is generally influential on this forum,  but I can point to those that are influential to me,  and like it's commonly said,  that a man's food can be another man's poison ,  it is very possible that those I consider or see as influential might not be seen the same way by other users because every one of us have that one or two,  or even more users that have contributed greatly in one way or another, to our forum experience.
For example - I see

• Loycev as influential because I learnt how to build forum table from several of his posts, and also, his contributions to this forum never be overrated.
• TryNinja as influential for developing the Bitcointalk telegram notification bot which I've gotten so used to today.
• The Pharmacist as influential for his sense of humor on every post, with him, there's always another side to every story,  this I love and learn from.
• CryptopreneurBrainboss as influential for his help and also being a wonderful manager.
• Hhampuz as influential for being a wonderful manager.
• ICOpress as influential for being a wonderful manager
• Yahoo62278 For his help and also being a wonderful manager.
• Darkstar_ as influential for being one of the best and trusted loan provider on the forum, and also for managing one of the longest, and highest paying campaign here.

[PaperWallet]

In my opinion, from what I have seen personally in this forum:

Hhampuz should be the most influential individual. He controls most of the sponsor money and decides who gets it, which is more important than merit for a lot here. Unfortunately, it is an evil influence. People get scammed regularly in the platforms he promotes, sometimes for big amounts of money. This is what we call "selective scamming", you get to steal large balances so few people complain, but you get a high reward for your scam (at least in his mind. In my opinion it's not a good idea because he's going to hell). Even in cases of all-round scams where all users are having their funds stolen, like we've seen with Royse777, getting the support Hhampuz helps avoid the scammer losing his job.

I don't know of anyone who Hhampuz doesn't support or negatively tags, who can get significant merits afterwards or any kind of support. And this is whether be it for a flag if that person fell victim of a scam for one of his promoted casinos, or to get in a signature campaign of any kind.

[BitcoinGirl.Club]

In my opinion, from what I have seen personally in this forum:
[...]

Instead of complaining 99 times out of 100 do you have any idea how to improve the system. It does not help as long as no idea generates and the admin changes anything. In your case you are judging everything from your own personal perspective. Just because your things did not go well with FJ does not mean the forum lost it's credibility. This is a place to promote bitcoin not to prevent scams and spammers.

[The Sceptical Chymist]

In my opinion, from what I have seen personally in this forum:

Hhampuz should be the most influential individual. He controls most of the sponsor money and decides who gets it, which is more important than merit for a lot here. Unfortunately, it is an evil influence. People get scammed regularly in the platforms he promotes, sometimes for big amounts of money.

Say what?  I've got mad respect for Hhampuz, but the fact that he manages bounties/campaigns really shouldn't be a factor in this discussion--nor is it Hhampuz himself who's scamming those members you're talking about (whoever they are).  If a project ends up being a scam or doesn't pay out its spammers bounty hunters, that's not his fault, nor is Hhampuz the only manager who's been in that situation (even though I'm not even sure which situation(s) you're referring to).

Just because your things did not go well with FJ does not mean the forum lost it's credibility. This is a place to promote bitcoin not to prevent scams and spammers.

Ah, that might explain the bitterness even if I'm still unclear on the details of what happened.  Nevertheless, I doubt Hhampuz is to blame for whatever happened to PaperWallet.

[yahoo62278]

In my opinion, from what I have seen personally in this forum:

Hhampuz should be the most influential individual. He controls most of the sponsor money and decides who gets it, which is more important than merit for a lot here. Unfortunately, it is an evil influence. People get scammed regularly in the platforms he promotes, sometimes for big amounts of money. This is what we call "selective scamming", you get to steal large balances so few people complain, but you get a high reward for your scam (at least in his mind. In my opinion it's not a good idea because he's going to hell). Even in cases of all-round scams where all users are having their funds stolen, like we've seen with Royse777, getting the support Hhampuz helps avoid the scammer losing his job.

I don't know of anyone who Hhampuz doesn't support or negatively tags, who can get significant merits afterwards or any kind of support. And this is whether be it for a flag if that person fell victim of a scam for one of his promoted casinos, or to get in a signature campaign of any kind.

When a person decides to manage a campaign for a company they are not tied to any scam that company may pull. A manager has done some research and decided to work with the company in most cases. If the company decides to scam, it is up to the manager to cease all activity for said company, 99% of the time they do just that. We cannot know that a company has a plan to scam.

Everyone is free to have their own influences. If a person who "controls" the flow of money influences you, so be it. Others might not be influenced by that person in the same way.

[Falconer]

Personally I can say that spambuster and moderators have had a positive effect on me so far and they are two of the most influential people so far. They have succeeded in forcing me to improve the quality of my posts and contributions to others whether they are too small to say or perhaps completely useless. The positive is that they indirectly helped me reach the current Legendary rank although the merit I get are mostly from The Pharmacist who I would also call one of the most influential users for me.

In my opinion, in general, the most influential forum users are decision makers or rule makers. They include moderators, DT, merit sources and other users who have a good understanding of bitcoin. Obviously they have influence, but that influence will vary for each position and ability in this forum.

[Dunamisx]

I will say this that the members of the forum with title like moderators, merit source... And do on were influential to the forum because they have worked hard enough to have earned the titles or position, but yet we should not overlooked on the other forum members as well who have not been given any title or position but has been a good asset as well to the forum through their commited services, posts and activeness on the forum, so i will like to add that anyone who is a quality poster is a good asset to the forum provided being active and this can be a decision to our individual preference to whom we see as a quality poster.

[PaperWallet]

Instead of complaining 99 times out of 100 do you have any idea how to improve the system.

No I don't have any idea, but at the same time I don't think, in the most part, that major things could be improved, as far service advertisement in this forum is concerned. I believe for any society to improve there should be some form of punishment for bad actors.

In order for a community where trade occurs to improve, scamming should lead to people:
-Having their accounts tagged in some form or another to warn other people about them
-Having to pay the full price of their scam, whether be it through paying back victims or going to prison. As you can see, I don't have much room to suggest anything here.

[.....]

When a person decides to manage a campaign for a company they are not tied to any scam that company may pull. A manager has done some research and decided to work with the company in most cases. If the company decides to scam, it is up to the manager to cease all activity for said company, 99% of the time they do just that. We cannot know that a company has a plan to scam.

Everyone is free to have their own influences. If a person who "controls" the flow of money influences you, so be it. Others might not be influenced by that person in the same way.

I agree 100% with what you say here.

The only thing I find wrong is that this post is misplaced, in the sense that when it is posted to answer my previous post, it could suggest that in this instance @Hhampuz did the right thing in my case after he knew a scam took place. I can suggest another example which is @Royse777. Managers in these cases did not cease activity with the company when it was clear those companies were pulling scams.

[yahoo62278]

I can suggest another example which is @Royse777. Managers in these cases did not cease activity with the company when it was clear those companies were pulling scams.

Sometimes a scam is not 100% clear or a persons judgement may be clouded. Royse may also have had strong feelings that things were gonna work out. I cannot speak for them, just speculation.

Was Royse someone who influenced you?

[PaperWallet]

Was Royse someone who influenced you?

No, I think we are far from the subject of this thread here.