I Think We Have Missed an Opportunity on Read
It seems to be quite the sad state of affairs these days on read.cash, with little activity, little interaction, and virtually no tipping.
No. Not from Rusty. From you, dear reader and fellow other writers.
Of course, part of the drop off of activity on read.cash is relative to the lack of participation by the people who fund the site giving their money away to us for the joy of spending a little bit of time here.
I think we missed the point, right from the start. And I realize that may be a controversial thing to say depending on who's ears that statement lands in. Not all of us, of course. But a good many of us. We missed the point. And the site we have now is directly a result of having missed it.
How many times did someone read an article and upvote it but not tip it? How many people simply wrote but never interacted, seeking tips for themselves? How many people weren't interested in reading or even writing and instead were only interested in gaming the system?
The idea, I think, was not necessarily just to have Rusty do all the tipping. The idea was for all of us to engage in the practice, to grow our own stashes but also share a little bit of that with each other, further advancing the benefit and the incentive of offering up good content that people want to read.
It was supposed to be about people helping other people to grow and prosper and share. Not to simply gather up a pile of BCH from one man who was giving his all to the site—with no other interest than to promote BCH in a fun way. The hope for them, I suspect, was that they would see more of others on the site doing what Rusty was doing.
Simply sharing.
Of course, the opportunity is still there to make it right. I mean, among those of us who are still here, actively engaging, actively tipping, actively writing with a purpose, and genuinely interested in keeping what's left of read.cash going.
How can we fund it? The operation, if you will? We work and we earn real money and we invest some of that in BCH. We earn BCH through faucets and other means. And we offer a portion of those proceeds to funding read.cash. Or the noise.app even.
Because ultimately that is the only way something like this will ever work.
If one guy is the source of funds, those funds will not be forever. While it is not akin to socialism, the thing that Margaret Thatcher once said about socialism easily applies to the situation we have here. "Eventually you run out of other people's money."
Eventually we run out of Marc DeMesel's money. And is that really fair to Marc DeMesel? Is it fair to his vision and what he tried to do?
No. It's not.
Ultimately what Rusty may have been was a "starting off point." Something to get the ball rolling and have others sort of follow a path similar to the one Rusty took. "Okay, here's a little something for your troubles, but then once you have your feet on the ground it's time to return the favor."
I think the site still has a chance to be what it set out to be. But we have to understand the role we play in making that happen. Because it's been left up to us now to get it done. It has been left up to us to take it to the next level and truly be something of interest and value as a community—a real community. Supported by everyone. Not just by Rusty.
If we do this, not only will the opportunities be endless. So will the funding.
Lead image by Porwest. A bad chair in a hotel that missed the opportunity to provide an attractive place to sit and work.
I'm guilty, in fact, I never have emptied my notifications by reading them. most of the time, I am caught up with my physical life and other platform.