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Access Denied
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People who have tried to message me in Discord probably think me an asshole for not replying or simply ignoring the requests, and maybe the label is warranted. But I get quite a lot of message requests in Discord and I see them a bit like phone calls, where I will screen them before answering them, because I don't want to spend the time engaged with cold callers.
The first red flag is if I do not recognise the person messaging, which could be because they have a different handle than their Hive username. If this is the case, well - too bad, because I am Hive first, not Discord first. If I don't recognise the name, it is because they haven't engaged with me on Hive, which then means that they are cold-calling and want something, and that something is in their best interest, not necessarily mine. In Finland, I do get plenty of calls from unknown numbers, but if the number is not coming from a Finnish number, I don't answer. Ever. Because I have zero reason to get calls like that on my private number.
Access denied.
The second red flag is the way they start the conversation, where "Hello friend" and "Hello sir" which indicates that the people have no idea who I actually am and again, they are looking for something, like a magazine seller, or a scam investment advisory service. I hate it when people call me sir almost as much as I hate it when people call me "dear", as was the style of many in the recent past who were vote begging.
Access denied.
Discord is a great tool for many reasons, but it is also a secondary tool to Hive for me. If people really want to engage with me about Hive things, they should do it on chain because that is where I want the conversation to be. If it is something personally sensitive sure, Discord can work, but one would have to first engage with me on Hive before they will get any private Discord time. And then if we then move to Discord and it is actually not personal and it is just looking for some kind of Hive support or charity, then it isn't going to go well. I don't mind helping people, but if asking for Hive support, do it on chain - be transparent - otherwise, it has little chance of being trusted.
Having said that, I am not a big fan of charity on Hive, where people are not accountable for what they are claiming. I get that many people are struggling in many ways, but the thing is, most people are struggling in many ways, meaning that if everyone gets unaccounted help, it just doesn't scale. This doesn't mean I don't encourage people to be charitable, quite the opposite, but also do not be naïve and do not trust blindly. That isn't being a good person, that is empowering and incentivising people to scam.
Be aware, be engaged, be discerning.
I have been at this for almost nine years now and I have seen all kinds of things happen on and off the platform, all kinds of scams, all kinds of good intentions turned into bitter experiences, and all kinds of attempts to manipulate both on and off of Hive. It is fucking tiring. And I just don't have the patience or the will to continue on dealing with people who are looking to take advantage of me, as I have better things to do with my life than constantly monitor for scam.
Pretty sad, eh?
And this is the problem, because every time a scammer is successful, it encourages more scam. And every time a person realises they are scammed, they become more bitter and less trusting. It generates a breakdown of social connection and increases isolation, eroding trust and goodwill amongst people. And obviously, this isn't only happening on Hive and in Discord, it is happening everywhere, at a global level. And while we can all communicate across the world which is amazing, it also increases the ability and accessibility for scammers to operate, in increasingly sophisticated ways.
We are our best line of defence.
And as such, I am careful with how I engage with people and am very wary of asks. I have been burned in the past too, helping people who were unworthy of my support at all, but manipulated me enough to get it for a time. Though I am careful now, the bigger reason for me to not take every request that comes into Discord is that it just takes too much time from the things that are actually valuable in my life. And because nearly every single time it is some ask of me for value of some kind, it is also quite soul-sucking, to only get contacted when people want something.
I talk to a lot of people on Discord and spend a fair amount of time in there also, but the people I engage with I consider friends, even if we haven't met in person. This means that the conversations I have in discord are personal and not suitable for the chain. They are like the conversations I have on the phone with friends who are in my contact list. Those conversations are not recorded.
Essentially, if people don't want to get denied Discord access, they best at least engage with me on Hive first and build up some kind of relationship and rapport, otherwise they will be subject to my first heuristic of ignoring the call. And if all someone wants is a vote or a transfer, well... I think that speaks for itself.
We all have our "auto responses" when it comes to certain behaviours, so this is unlikely to be unique to me. I know a few others who behave similarly on Discord because like me, they have been around the block as well and seen far too much and have too much time wasted in their lives also.
How about you?
Taraz
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