If you're following me on Farcaster you may have noticed that I've been less active there lately. I have been quite busy with my day job, but more importantly, I have been a bit burnt out by all the attention farming that has come with the $DEGEN airdrop 2. Originally I didn't want to write about it, as I think it's blatantly obvious what is happening and maybe set up this way by design, but now I'm no longer so certain so I'll put my thoughts into a post.
What prompted me to write this post is I just listened to the GM Farcaster interview with Jacek and attention farming didn't come up once, even though there were extensive conversations about other types of farming, about spam, about increasing the quality of tipping, and so on. So maybe people are not fully aware of the dynamic that has been playing out on Farcaster for the last couple of weeks. Therefore, let me describe what I mean by attention farming, why I think it's bad, and what can be done to reduce the incentive to engage in it.
I define attention farming as the behavior of deliberately using your $DEGEN tip allocation to increase interactions with your casts with the goal of increasing your $DEGEN tip allocation. This is different from regular $DEGEN farming as the primary goal here is not to receive more $DEGEN tips (though this may happen as a side-effect) but rather to receive more attention and a larger tip allocation. Almost everybody who has or has had a meaningful $DEGEN allocation has engaged in it, including myself.
These farming casts generally have the form of asking for a specific behavior in return for $DEGEN. A common example is a contest: "Reply with your best meme about coffee. 5000 $DEGEN for the tree top responses." Another common example is a cast that rewards all responses: "Reply with your current works in progress. 200 $DEGEN for all on-topic responses." It seems obvious to me that many people have figured out that these casts generate so much engagement that they meaningfully raise one's ranking and thus $DEGEN allocations, and therefore spending the $DEGEN allocation on this type of cast is the most rational thing anybody can do. Moreover, and this is particularly insidious, for somebody with a large daily allocation it can be difficult to give away the entire allocation every day. Therefore, farming casts may seem like the most fair or most constructive way of dealing with this situation.
Now you may wonder how attention farming differs from regular marketing. What's the difference if I run a contest and reward the best responses with, for example, USDC or ETH? I see at least two differences. First, marketing expenses come with a real opportunity cost. I have to decide whether I want to spend my USDC on marketing or on something else. Such opportunity costs make marketing efforts self-limiting. People are not going to give away thousands of dollars left and right for a few likes. Second, marketing expenses don't directly increase revenue unless there's an actual product in the middle that people want to buy and spend money on. I can't spend money to buy attention and immediately make more money on that attention. The real economy doesn't work this way. But in the context of an airdrop, where the tokens are made up and somebody else foots the bill, I can use my token allocation to generate attention to increase my token allocation and round and round it goes.
Attention farming is not airdrop farming in the traditional sense. It is also not typically spam. Some of it presents as desirable content for the platform, increasing overal platform engagement. Nevertheless, I believe it's not desirable when a large fraction of Farcaster traffic turns into attention farming fueled by $DEGEN.
What are the problems? First, it fills up the feed with tons of "do XYZ for $DEGEN" posts. I don't mind those in principle, but I would want to see them only occasionally. When they take over the feed then the site becomes useless for anybody who is not primarily interested in maximizing their $DEGEN tips. Second, in the same vein, the farming posts usually get the most attention in any channel in which they are posted, so it's difficult for other content to rise to the top. This makes Farcaster less attractive for other users to post their content. Why should I put effort into carefully crafting art or blogposts or videos or whatever it is I'm doing when I know my posts won't be visible against the backdrop of attention-farming posts? Third, sufficiently many accounts engage in farming that if you want to have a meaningful $DEGEN allocation for tipping you have to engage in the behavior as well. So again, this is a self-reinforcing mechanism that increases the amount of farming at the expense of other interesting content.
I like the $DEGEN tipping mechanism and I would like to see it continue for some time, but without turning all of Farcaster into a useless morass of attention farming. So let me make two suggestions that are easy to implement and that I believe will lead to a meaningful improvement in tipping culture.
First, the tip allocation curve that determines who receives what allocation should be much flatter. People who are active members of the Farcaster community should not be given a strong incentive to use their $DEGEN tip allocation specifically to farm attention to get a larger allocation. For example, all accounts with the power badge could receive the same allocation. I know this suggestion will get push-back from the accounts that currently benefit the most from high $DEGEN allocations, but I am strongly convinced it's the best way to incentivize interesting content over attention farming.
Second, I think the time window for allocations should be longer. Instead of turning over allocations every day, make them turn over only once week. (Everybody is given their tip allocation at the beginning of the week and then has the full week to give it out.) In part, this would counter-act one issue from my first point which is that nobody would have very large allocations. People who wanted to make larger tips could do so maybe once a week, rather than every day. I think this would be good for many reasons, including the previously mentioned difficulty of having to give away large amounts of $DEGEN on a daily basis. Doing this once a week is much more manageable and can still be very meaningful.
I'm sure this post will be contentious, and people will find all sorts of reasons why what I'm suggesting is bad and a strong culture of attention farming is good. Some may argue that channels can forbid this behavior. (This is correct, and /art does, for example.) I'm happy to listen to these arguments, and I'll keep an open mind, but I find it doubtful that I'll change my perspective. I would much rather see less incentive for farming overall than the majority of channels having to implement specific moderation policies. And I'd also rather see the occasional give away or contest than forbidding these types of posts outright.
Over 100 subscribers
I have read the entire paper and I wholeheartedly agree. Here's my experience! I recently started a channel with a friend on the theme of cats (a topic we are legit for, I should add), and one of the methods we launched today is precisely the method criticized in the article. We don't employ this method because we're evil, but because the system encourages this kind of behavior, and I feel like I have no choice if we want to gain visibility, as those who farm extensively hog attention illegitimately. Furthermore, they then use this attention to sell hundreds of editions of works, which, allow me to judge, are sometime poor artistic and/or technical quality. For artists like my friend and me who work hard to produce good quality art, it's very difficult to live alongside these people who profit from people's gullibility at stratospheric levels. We must stop this as soon as possible, I implore you, because deeply, I assure you that I would prefer not to have to do that, so yes !!! Flattened that god damn curve !
This has been the cast with by far the most engagement on this platform ever for me. Maybe I should stop trying to write interesting blog posts or make cool art and instead just offer degen tips. 1/2
To be clear, I still fully stand behind everything I said in this article. I think tip allocations are too large and too concentrated towards the top. I don't think it's good. And I don't want to give out all this degen every day. 2/2 https://paragraph.xyz/@clauswilke/attention-farming
Great Article Claus!
Just subbed! I remember reading this when I signed up for wc and didn’t any ⛽️ to collect at the time. I agree with a lot of it. I wish there was a way to donate unused tips to people who need it. The big allowances go to the 1% and the average artist is still struggling to pay rent
100% I haven’t read the article. But top loading degen along with this “zero spam” policy from the app that limits visibility to those with land and titles is all off putting. I have gone from just posting here back to spreading my posts around.
Nice write-up. Followed. Content on FC has certainly felt better this week than it did most of last season to me.
Just read this article and it's very Insightful, only if the dev could take it into consideration.
I really feel bad for relying to the original (in addition to failing to make a joke in that reply).
It's the lack of a joke that I can't look past. 🥸
only if you want to purely be followed by bots and beggars. don't give in
I won't. I actually really dislike this type of engagement farming and was trying this mostly as an experiment. I'd rather spend an hour writing a blog post than tipping random accounts.
It’s a bit of a push/pull thing. when you have the numbers it’s good to post them like that because otherwise they might not go to anyone. but it is an ouroboros. thank you for helping me out when ya did, sorry if I came across beggarly.
I like the idea of being able to assign your tips to someone who does like going through all the posts and dolling out degen. Basically you can back a curator and they spend your allowance for you. It also means me and my 5 degen can get rolled into something meaningful (or at least not insulting).
Sure 🌸👌
keep going fren 69 $degen
yeah, I try not to run with the "here's my tip allowance" posts as they tend to just get flooded by bots tbh however, your allowance mostly stems from your social capital score (which bots don't impact too much), and your personal degen holdings - the 5 degen limit is a default until you get tipping. 200 $degen
Is there any information about how degen holdings affect tipping allocations? It's the first I hear of it.
Was posted by jacek over on /degentokenbase a while back - don't believe exact figures were given, just that your holdings have an effect on it.
Economic incentives are a great way to get engagement but it still feels like cheating.
Danger zone ⚠️ of financial incentives 😉 Question is - engagement from whom?
😅😅😅
Still say stick a heavier grant process and a lighter tipping process
Down a bit on yesterday but still a generous amount. I really feel we need a more stable system that is less sensitive to change. Something that averages out over a longer period. Otherwise it feels like constantly treading water to stay afloat and people will get tired.
Can attest, I grew tired and lost a ton of allocation.
Already tired as fuck. Cant properly focus on building what i want
😬 And you just had a holiday mate! 😬 Yeah I need time to make more art that is for sure. 200 $DEGEN
Couldn’t agree more - especially when real life gets in the way, it’s hard to have to maintain the same level of activity and engagement on a daily basis
Im dumping too,I think our yesterday allowance was wrong! 50 $degen
thats awesome! whats your secret?!
I'd love to share it with you but I actually don't know 😁 100 $DEGEN
haha😆 😆 😆 it was so funny❤️ 😁 🙏
wowowowowowo
I agree, there was a reduction here too. I think something weekly might work better. Have a great day my friend.
Awesome stats Rick, you deserve more 🔥
yes, i agree and it feels like the system as it currently is wont be sustainable since people will eventually tire of constantly having to hustle and engage for keeping their ranks up.
rick i just followed you because i love your point if it continues this way, people would wouldn’t have the vibe to continue any longer
Hi 👋 Yeah, got to find a nice balance somewhere!
The Degen tip allowance is proportionally scaled across all users. So yes, the bigger accounts will receive a bigger proportion, and can use it to get more the next day. Also, as Degen holders increase, that means less allowance proportionally for everybody.
There were calls to "flatten the curve" and reduce the disparity but seems plans to do so were shelved? I still think it would be a great idea. https://paragraph.xyz/@clauswilke/attention-farming
You seem to get it right, Ryan It was already my concern a few days ago. 100 $degen https://warpcast.com/theonlycakeone/0xe8cf8a7e
I'm not a big fan. I think the cap is a good idea, but: should be 3 or 4x higher, and accounts that don't tip regularly should receive less (there's lots of popular people getting allowances they don't use)
I agree I would also suggest banning any kind of Money Gun. But that's probably an unpopular opinion.
Thanks for the insight! I think maybe the additional users per day is something I wasn’t thinking about enough. 20 $degen 🍖 x 50
Welp it's only people with 10k Degen , I wonder how many of those there are given that tipping is dying off... I should check
Anecdotally, I looked at imthedude and ace (big tippers) just now, and their allowances appear to be trending down (based on jacek’s Dune query). So maybe my hypothesis is disproven.
who thought of this as being a good idea? imo, a lot of people will just quit, as i ve already seen happening around. is there any benefit i m missing out on ??
It became pvp when allo got slashed 20x. If there was enough to go around, the rat race to the top wouldn't be as important. They reduced them too much imho.
Interested to hear where the discussion regarding possibly flattening and expanding the allocation window is for next season. I think changing up the game will be fun and interesting! from @clauswilke https://paragraph.xyz/@clauswilke/attention-farming?referrer=0xab3627317c43d394eb171170f818153b976d28a3
and changing what??
read the article?
yes tnx
Nice one 🙌 69 $degen
interested in how the right most allocation curve would play out
🙃
Just finish read the article from @clauswilke and I'm agree with him about how he would much rather see less incentive for farming and also rather see the occasional give away or contest than forbidding these types of posts outright. Full article in the link below. https://paragraph.xyz/@clauswilke/attention-farming
sad เลยเหมียววว
ก็ว่าเหมียวหายไปไหน นึกว่าโดน shadow ban ไปแล้ว 😁
👍 😍
Cheers bro 👍
Thank you for good article 🙇
😍 😘 👍
Hello bro 🙇
🥰🥰
Interesting reading, now crypto space is full of this
들렸다갑니다!^^
The 40% cut in DEGEN daily allowance is overall a net positive. It's very difficult to meaningfully distribute as many tips as what was being allocated to top accounts. The reduction challenges me to evolve my strategy and makes me more intentional about what I'm tipping. One step back for two steps forward.
Yup. The people who take to the challenge will do great and do great things. People who can't adapt are gonna have a bad time. It will keep changing; none of us have ever done this before.
But does it make sense for the smaller accounts too?
https://paragraph.xyz/@clauswilke/attention-farming?referrer=0xab3627317c43d394eb171170f818153b976d28a3
A flatter curve would be a big improvement
yes its totaly disapointed
Lower inflation better for price also
I like the positive energy sir and agreed 🤝
100% agree. Furthermore we all knew this was coming, all part of the plan.
Right 💯
Ya it’s great 1 $degen
Pretty simple imo, either we fix the system so that everyone benefits as much as possible, or the system fails and none of us benefit Doesn’t seem like a tough choice tbh
Facts. But you'll see a lot of people complaining with that change 🤔 🤔
They will complain either way
I hope we all move to vote towards the purple app's longevity. See you around my friend, GN!
Yes.. this or that. Theres no middle ground 🫶
Nah bro I’m with you. Everyone or nobody
400 $degen
Well, when you put it that way! On the other hand, some people would rather watch the world (the purple app) burn rather than implement those kinda changes. Sighh
Exactly. Had to provide that hot take as well today. This is a good thing!
which system are we talking about?
Was wondering this same thing
https://paragraph.xyz/@clauswilke/attention-farming?referrer=0xab3627317c43d394eb171170f818153b976d28a3
the road is hard but we must show the right ways here.
Maybe we should address this issue with extra quality metrics. I'm fine with people receiving more if they consistently produce great content, but I'm not okay with seeing click farmers with low enforcement or giveaway spammers getting a large share just to dump it on the next claim It’s hard to accomplish but worth
Top $degen allo accounts coming to terms with the proposal to nuke our allocations in favor of a more equitable distribution
where isthis info?
written by @clauswilke https://paragraph.xyz/@clauswilke/attention-farming?referrer=0xab3627317c43d394eb171170f818153b976d28a3
thank you so much
i will keep you warm
😂😂😂
Cut it in half they said 😭😭😭
I think these could be really good changes
Same tbh
Where can I read more info about the proposal?
“No one man should have all that power” 🎤🎶
where is the convo?
Roll it out to power users! 100 $degen
I know how this scene ends. I am not a top allo but I volunteer as tribute for the middle position in the sandwich. Credentials: I am not picky about bread or toppings.
This is a very accurate assessment of the engagement farming on here and how to solve it, written by @clauswilke https://paragraph.xyz/@clauswilke/attention-farming?referrer=0xab3627317c43d394eb171170f818153b976d28a3
Very interesting reading, Stella. 🖤 Thanks for sharing it! Every day I learn something new thanks to you, literally. ✊ 100 $DEGEN
1299 $degen
thank you!
interesting point, mostly agree, thanks for share Stella😊 420 $DEGEN
thanks 😊
what's nice about the current process is that it's more democratic. If we gave less allocations then what would happen is gated communities. Important "voices" blessing only one or two peeps or only their favorite creators. So that's probably worse IMO
flatter curve means more for everyone imo
Ahhhhh...
Right on point, hopefully the devs will make the necessary changes.
@wake seems very interested in it
More importantly, the community is /very/ interested in it and on board with the recommendations. I'll let the convo simmer a bit, then send it up the ladder to degen daddy.
fully believe these proposed shifts will bring about a more sustainable + approachable tipping experience. remove rank, level the field, give us a week long allowance. let’s all get back to tipping great casts. https://paragraph.xyz/@clauswilke/attention-farming
https://warpcast.com/mbranson/0xfa69a81f