What would the Bitcointalk Forum be like without Signature Campaigns?

[ImThour]

Never thought about this but your question made me think about somethings that will no longer matter to anyone on this forum.

1. Forum rank
2. Merits

No one will even try to provide any help under Beginners Section and Bitcoin Discussion. You hardly see anyone without a Signature posting in these mentioned sections.
Also, the user count of the forum will also lower down as most of the accounts are Alts of the people on this forum. That will make them stop making new accounts as it will be worthless.

[Bobrox]

Nice question from the OP about what would happen for Bitcointalk forum without signature campaign? current all active user dominance above 70% are user active in signature campaign and have some user here without active in signature. But will Bitcointalk forum keep active if not any signature campaign promotion one day later? Depend each personal if they want sharing ideas and looking for new update about Bitcoin or any project they will active in forum without participant in signature campaign.

Seems good ideas if your question has vote about choose if Bitcointalk forum without signature campaign some user will left or keep active sharing their ideas in this forum.

[Woodie]

Just like any forum, like minded people gather and share all kinds of ideas and life goes on.
If signatures weren't a thing like  you have put it in the OP, there is a high chance of reduced traffic coming to BCT, crypto projects and companies would have a tough time to launch because there arent so many crypto communities out there and generally it turn out to be a much smaller community at the end of it.

Never thought about this but your question made me think about somethings that will no longer matter to anyone on this forum.

1. Forum rank
2. Merits

Besides this the forum would most likely have less spam, less nukes, less plagiarism and generally more order

[BlackHatCoiner]

Would it be more sanitized?

Maybe there were less pointless posts. But I wouldn't take it for granted.

Would it be less filled with spams?

Not sure. On one hand if you take away the incentive to frequently post, there would be less meaningless topics and replies, which reproduce themselves, but on the other hand, you would also take away legitimate users who do help (and don't have the time to do it voluntarily obviously). Check topics from 2012-14, when there weren't signature campaigns, and tell me if you'd rather have that. I wouldn't. They are dead posts, and there's barely a constructive one.

[nurilham]

If theres no signature campaigns right here for sure there's no spam coming from the people who just want to catch their weekly quotas and just make a comment not related to the contents to get counted, back on the good side of the forum is yes seems like the forum will stay on it because whats the purpose of it? getting connected into the cryptocurrency space so still even there's no signature its like the same with the other forum like the StackOverflow that every members contributes their knowledge and skills for the sake of the community.

I am sure there will be always spams although we have no signature campaigns.
Spams aren't only created by the participants of signature campaigns, there are many newbies accounts that often made spams about random projects. I saw it not only in Bitcointalk, but it happens in other forums too. Although there are signature campaigns there, there are many spams on varied boards made by newbies accounts.

Anyway, without signature campaigns, I believe there will be fewer active members and the traffic on this forum will decrease significantly.

[Yamane_Keto]

Have you ever wondered what the bitcointalk forum would be like without signature campaigns? I have thought long and hard about this question.
Therefore, I ask, what would the forum be like without signature campaigns?

I am surprised that there are more than 20 responses above that did not mention non-signature campaigns boards such as Serious discussion and Ivory Tower

I will use Bitcointalk Merit Dashboard Link https://public.tableau.com/profile/ddmrddmr#!/vizhome/BitcointalkMeritDashboard/GlobalSummary to give a general overview.

Thanks @DdmrDdmr and you can share with us more analytical data.

If you compare this data with any other board, you will find that by removing signature campaigns, the number of content in the forum will decrease by an estimated percentage, and 95% of accounts may stop posting.

Comparing the activity between these boards and any other board will show you the difference.

[Poker Player]

This as far as I remember has been discussed other times already, and the general consensus is usually that traffic would be reduced a lot.

If you compare this data with any other board, you will find that by removing signature campaigns, the number of content in the forum will decrease by an estimated percentage, and 95% of accounts may stop posting.

Most likely. Signature campaigns incentivize posting, and just as they can incentivize posts of mediocre quality in the Gambling section, for example, they also incentivize posts of great quality.

Many of the people who use their time in this forum and earn money, if they stopped earning money here they would surely find ways to earn money elsewhere on the internet, so it would be normal for them to leave this forum and dedicate themselves to it.

[Helena Yu]

Traffic greatly decreased is an obvious reason as been mentioned by many members.

But I don't agree it will reduce spam and alt accounts because when there's no signature campaign in this forum, most people will not really care with his quality post, feedback and anything related to their profile.

They will start to trolling and abusing trust feedback in order to make them satisfied.

Why should someone built his account and follow the appropriate manner when they don't have any purpose to achieve?

[ice18]

Reduced spam but less traffic on this forum, most members here who joined signature campaigns are here for earning extra money or should I say to make a living especially to those who have 10 or more alt accounts joining signatures paid in stablecoin or bitcoin. If signature will totally removed most of this alt  accounts will turn into idle for a long period of time until new opportunity arise. 

[SatoPrincess]

Have you ever wondered what the bitcointalk forum would be like without signature campaigns? I have thought long and hard about this question.

Even now there are members who do not wear paid signature or avatar and they post as much as those who are in signature campaigns. But I think if signature campaigns are removed, there will a lot less activity on the forum, I doubt if users who are making 20 posts or more everyday will still continue to do the same. The discussions on the forum will decline to something like Altcointalks.

Would it be more sanitized?
Would it be less filled with spams?

I don’t believe signature campaigns are a major reason for spam in the forum, many campaign managers do not consider such posts eligible for payment, if anything signature campaigns have increased the quality of posting on the forum. Before the bloom of signature campaigns, the forum was a spam fest, the merit system was introduced to make it difficult for spammers to rank up, with this system in place members had to improve their post quality or remain in the same rank with airdropped merits. Campaign managers understand this too well, that’s why they make it a requirement for participants to have a certain amount of amount earned in 120 days before you can apply for sig campaigns.

Would there be fewer alternate accounts?

Yes there will be no need for alt accounts because there will be monetary benefit to creating one. Account farmers would run out of business because people will not be interested in buying high rank bitcointalk accounts anymore. No signature campaign on the forum will definitely kill account farming, buying and selling of accounts.

[Crypt0Gore]

Only serious Bitcointalk forum members join signatures because there is no room for spamming and low quality post, there are people that gets better at posting on this forum thanks to strict bounty managers for example Royse, if you are a spammer or a shit poster you will be removed, and I am not talking about shit altcoin bounties in the altcoin discussion section of the forum, that's where most shitposters are doing their thing. Promoting projects is not something everyone is qualified for, there are terms and rules you need to follow and it's helping the forum either ways.

I don't believe that everyone on this forum have interest in signature campaign, I have seen too many that doesn't care about wearing signature, and some are not getting paid to wear signature, they just do it for free, if you understand what reputation means you will know why not all signatures are worth wearing.

[Ultegra134]

The traffic and active users would obviously decrease; it's normal. I noticed in a few replies that some users claimed that spamming would be reduced; however, I'm not 100% sure about that. On the one hand, signature campaigns provide an incentive to quality posting, but on the other hand, this isn't guaranteed and is subject to the campaign manager. A quick look at 1xbit's users is enough, since it accepted those without any requirements and those who had absolutely zero chances of being accepted elsewhere.

Generally, the spam issue derives from newer members who believe that entering a signature campaign and ranking up is effortless and from those participating in bounty campaigns, the majority of which have no requirements at all.

Personally, I'd still visit Bitcointalk because it's a great source of information, although I wouldn't be as active as I am right now.

[SatoPrincess]

I don't believe that everyone on this forum have interest in signature campaign, I have seen too many that doesn't care about wearing signature, and some are not getting paid to wear signature, they just do it for free, if you understand what reputation means you will know why not all signatures are worth wearing.

Of course scam projects is out of the question, OP is talking about the impact of removing signature campaigns from the forum, I’m sure this will have a significant effect on the forum because there are more people wearing paid signature than those that are not. You can easily notice reply on threads in Beginners and help, almost all of the people who replied are wearing paid signature, I’m sure if signature campaigns things will change (but not for the better).

[Gallar]

Therefore, I ask, what would the forum be like without signature campaigns?

Would it be more sanitized?
Would it be less filled with spams?
Would there be fewer alternate accounts?

I think this forum will be as active and busy as usual, because the people who join this forum are mostly people who are currently investing in crypto and beginners who want to invest in crypto and all of them also want to add insight through discussions in the this forum.
However,this signature campaign has proven to be more encouraging for forum members to be more active in this forum. Because besides they discuss to add insight or solve a problem, while they advertise a particular site and they get paid. I think this signature campaign has had a good impact on the growth of the forum, because forum members have become more enthusiastic in competing to make posts that are very high quality and useful for fellow forum members.

And when it comes to spam posts or alternative accounts, for several years there have also been moderators whose job is to organize and filter every post. Even though for example there is no signature campaign, I'm sure the forum members who are appointed as moderators will definitely continue to filter spam posts and alternative accounts in this forum.

[Cuenta Alternativa]

Maybe there were less pointless posts. But I wouldn't take it for granted.

There are many forums where people don't get paid, have a lot of traffic and a lot of pointless posts, like this one:

https://forocoches.com/

Would it be less filled with spams?

Not sure. On one hand if you take away the incentive to frequently post, there would be less meaningless topics and replies, which reproduce themselves, but on the other hand, you would also take away legitimate users who do help (and don't have the time to do it voluntarily obviously). Check topics from 2012-14, when there weren't signature campaigns, and tell me if you'd rather have that. I wouldn't. They are dead posts, and there's barely a constructive one.

Like the forum I mentioned. I agree that getting paid for writing is a double-edged sword, on the one hand you incentivise low quality posts but on the other hand you also incentivise constructive and high quality posts. I think with the introduction of the merit system the spam problem was reduced quite a bit, although it was not completely eliminated but it's pretty good for what it was in 2017 or 2018. Wanting to get rid of low quality conversations on forums and at the same time maintain good traffic seems to me to be an oxymoron.

[Asuspawer09]

Have you ever wondered what the bitcointalk forum would be like without signature campaigns? I have thought long and hard about this question. There have been numerous controversies regarding post bursting and spamming just to meet the weekly post count and other vices on the forum, all in the name of joining signature campaigns. As a result, many users have faced punitive measures such as temporary or permanent bans, registration tags, and more. The reputation board, which is the court house of the forum, is brimming with disciplinary cases, most of which are related to users in signature campaigns.

Therefore, I ask, what would the forum be like without signature campaigns?

Would it be more sanitized?
Would it be less filled with spams?
Would there be fewer alternate accounts?

In my opinion, it would be better without the signature campaigns, for sure it would be a normal forum without any money involved so most of the users would just post for knowledge, experience, questions, tips, etc. which is surely a great thing since we are getting all organic post. There will be fewer spams for sure even though there will still be spammers, multiple accounts will still happen for sure.

But it would be great in my opinion because the community will be solid for users that are interested in trading, bitcoin, or cryptocurrency. I mean it would be nice to see a great discussion on every thread just because your posting because you just want to learn about it.

[Coyster]

In my opinion, it would be better without the signature campaigns, for sure it would be a normal forum without any money involved so most of the users would just post for knowledge, experience, questions, tips, etc.

I beg to differ, i don't think the forum would be better without signature campaigns, let us be honest, the forum activity is going to drop quite significantly if that happens, thus who is going to share knowledge on the forum or answer important questions of newbies about Bitcoin. Signature campaigns and the merit system are two things that have helped this forum greatly to maintain its high standards, to join signature campaigns you must earn merits, and to earn merits you must make HQ posts. Mind you that there are spammers on every platform, and even if there's no signature campaigns here there'd still be spammers, thus if you think spam posts are a problem in the forum, use the "report to moderator" button more frequently.

[Cryptomultiplier]

Bare! I reiterate, bare. The signature campaigns is one distinguishing factor that seperates the forum from regular social media platform.
For those of us who upload our avatar during campaigns, the fact you can do so, shows you have been patient enough to endure a duration to at least full member spot inorder to be worthy of a campaign signature and avatar.
Bitcoin talk would be a simple social media platform without signature campaigns.

[darkangel11]

If you compare this data with any other board, you will find that by removing signature campaigns, the number of content in the forum will decrease by an estimated percentage, and 95% of accounts may stop posting.

Comparing the activity between these boards and any other board will show you the difference.

I think that your assumption is incorrect in this matter and I'll give you some examples of why it is so.
One thing to consider is the fact that before the campaigns became popular, in 2011 and 2012, people were still posting a lot. It of course increased as time went by, but saying that it all happened thanks to signature campaigns and not the growth of bitcoin presents  a very one-sided view.

Maybe people aren't posting in Ivory Tower because there aren't many interesting topics there. Maybe the best topics pop up in other sections and there's not much really left to put in there? It's a newer part of the forum established just a few years back, so maybe it simply wasn't necessary, maybe it was an experiment that did not work.
There's a thread that continues to be very active despite signatures not being displayed (Wall observer), so saying that Ivory Tower isn't active because there are no signatures there is again, not showing the full picture.

[Merit.s]

There will be less quality post,less alt accounts,less number of forum members,less fun, less information,less contributions and less knowledge to tap from because it is going to be boring for those that can't afford to buy bitcoin. The community wouldn't be as big as this. There will also be less goods and services to render. Unlike now that the forum is a big bitcoin community with different services to render and goods to buy. There will also be less gambling activities because,it is only those that have enough to loss that will gamble with cryptocurrency.