Hello everyone, I extend my warmest greetings and trust that you are all faring well. This post has been drafted in light of a recent issue that has been raised regarding myself and my mate @collinz and our activities prior to and subsequent to our departure from the Steemit blockchain. Our objective is to provide clarity and address any concerns, uncertainties, or inquiries that may exist in relation to our actions on the Hive blockchain, through this communication.
Our Pursuit on steemit
I embarked on my Steemit journey in June of 2017, while my colleague joined the platform a month later, in July of the same year. We both continued to be active on the platform when Steemit underwent its launch a year later. To be frank, I was initially ignorant about the workings of social blockchains, and my colleague (@collinz) was in the same boat. As luck would have it, we met at a steem meetup, and the blockchain brought us, along with others, together as a community. Although we weren't close friends at first, we forged a bond through our mutual interest in the platform. In fact, it was I who encouraged him to join me on Hive after I began actively participating on the platform two years ago.
The shared are some of the meetups we attended during our time as members of Steem Ghana. At the time, we were relatively new to the blockchain and individuals such as @tj4real and @kwakumax, @richforever and others assisted. They were actively involved in promoting Steem with the goal of onboarding more Ghanaians to the platform. As a result, we also joined in the effort to promote Steemit to them.
We eventually formed a strong and capable team of promoters, introducing numerous Ghanaians to Steemit and providing guidance to newbies in order to facilitate an optimal blogging experience on the blockchain. Even after it was apparent that many of the community leaders had relinquished their interest in Steemit, we persevered in promoting the platform and remained steadfast in our consistency. Our efforts transcended digital promotion, as we reached out to orphanages and hospitals, rendering support in various forms. Additionally, we conducted promotional campaigns at business centers, shops, on the streets, and at secondary and tertiary institutions, thereby exposing multitudes to the platform.
All of the aforementioned promotional activities were funded using our post payouts, and on occasion, we received support from other promo-steem advocates, such as @stephenkendal, who exhibited faith in our endeavors. We did not receive any sponsorships from the Steemit team for the work we carried out promoting Steemit or Steem. Our efforts were concentrated on sharing our content, and we were rewarded with upvotes.
Some may call it sponsorship, but we disagree. Most users on Steemit have received significant upvotes from the Steem curators, even if they were not actively engaging in promotional activities like we were. Therefore, we believe it is more appropriate to refer to these upvotes as rewards, rather than sponsorship. However, we have received support or sponsorship from the Hive Decentralized Hive Fund (DHF) for our work promoting Hive.
My active promotion of Steem earned me a position as a promoter at Promo-Steem and as a moderator for the Steem Ghana community. I carried out most of the promotional activities by myself, and community leaders incorporated any good projects I found as community projects. For example, I came up with the idea of Steem-branded books for promotional purposes.
The majority of the content we shared was focused on promotion, highlighting the potential of Steem and the numerous possibilities presented by the blockchain. Like many users here on Hive today, we had great hopes for Steem in the past and promoted it in various ways. Our content and work remained on steemit, and our user names remained unchanged even after we departed from Hive. Every detail outlined in this post can still be verified, from the day we began our journey until the time we left Steemit.
Following the Hive Fork
In 2020, I made the decision to have an active presence on Hive. This choice came about after it became apparent that the decentralized platform we knew was now in the hands of a private individual who controlled the entire system, leaving no room for users to have the great experience we had grown accustomed to. My mate(@collinz) and I were aware of the Hive fork and the numerous issues that arose at that time. The primary reasons or details for the Hive fork were not entirely clear as at the time we were very active on Steemit.
One of the main reasons many people shifted to the Hive blockchain was due to the issues surrounding Justin Sun's centralized controlled system. There were also concerns about cybercrime, with some users losing or having their steem locked. However, many Steemit users, including myself and my mate, were not well informed about the acquisition of Steem, as there was not enough communication from witnesses detailing the entire issue that had caused the split.
Knowing more about the details earlier would have made a difference since it would have been riskier to promote a scheme through which others could lose their funds, as it already happened to some who lost their funds. The main reason for us leaving Steemit was due to the issue of centralized governance as has been exhibited by the new management of Steem. Today, many other Steemit users have also joined and it was one of the issues that made them turn their backs on Steemit.
We promoted and introduced Steem to new users out of a genuine interest and passion for the platform, despite not fully aware of the issues surrounding the fork. Due to our previous association with community leaders such as @arie.steem in the Promo-Steem community and @njaywan, @oppongk, and @nattybongo in Steem-Ghana, individuals on Hive who have doubts about their administration would also have doubts about us and would use them as a reference point.
However, we would like to clarify that our involvement with them is limited to community events like Steem meetings and promotions, in which we actively participated. We are not involved in their personal actions on Steemit. As previously mentioned, many of us were already enthusiastic supporters of Steem before the fork. The only issue that caused us to remain as Steem promoters despite the fork has been explained in this post.
Our Pursuit On Hive
After realizing that the system we had been promoting with passion was no longer what we thought it was, I joined Hive. The platform, which had once been inclusive, was now controlled by a centralized Steemit team such as the steemcurators. We were obliged to obey their guidelines, and failing to do so resulted in no votes or votes being removed, as well as no assistance for community members.
For many of us, this got oppressive, and despite the fact that some of us might have joined Hive, we stayed engaged in promoting Steem. It was challenging for me to move away from Steemit, considering all the work we had done promoting Steem, and it was even harder to transition to a new blockchain that was forked from Steem, Hive.
Despite my initial skepticism and lack of information about Hive, I decided to take a risk and investigate the platform deeper. When I discovered that there were relatively few Ghanaians using Hive, I knew that extending my promotional efforts would be advantageous. This would attract not just people who were still on Steemit, but also those who were unaware of Hive. I established Hive Ghana, as a way to enable Ghanaians and those who are still on Steemit to recognize the reality about Steemit that does not make it suitable for them to live there.
I discussed my plans with my mate @collinz, who had also given up on promoting Steem and was considering joining Hive. Starting this work was challenging, given that some may feel we had disappointed and betrayed Steem. On the other hand, the Hive community may also find it difficult to trust us, as they may doubt our credibility due to the work we did for Steem or because we promoted a platform that could have jeopardized many investors' investments.
Hive Marketing Materials
Despite the risk of harsh responses from both sides, we started sharing our promotional content and resources on Hive, some of which were identical to those we utilized on Steemit. The Hive community loved these resources, and many Hivers were already aware of some of the work we had done on Steemit before we made considerable success in our promotional efforts. We have no motive to conceal or misrepresent ourselves on Hive since the blockchain is transparent and nothing is concealed from anybody.
However, our credibility is now being questioned because some of these materials have resurfaced, even though we had no intention of using them for any dubious purposes. Our primary aim was to spread the word about Hive and grow our user base as we empower communities.
Hive Boreholes In Ghana
Currently, one of the most talked-about projects on Hive is the Hive Boreholes project. We have shared a lot of information on Hive about this project, including pictures, videos, and links that showcase the various activities surrounding the boreholes. It is considered one of the events with real use cases that future generations will always live to see.
Many people have been aware of our presence on Hive as a result of these initiatives, which have had an influence on the lives of individuals in roughly seven Ghanaian villages, and we are now on the eighth. These projects were not executed without the scrutiny and oversight of the Hive community, as proposals are always open for everyone to read and vote on.
We have been transparent with everything we have done so far and have endeavored to answer all questions that the Hive community has raised regarding these projects. It's reasonable that some people just concentrate on or assume that the amount stated in Hive and dollar terms is solely for the construction.
However, this assumption is incorrect, as the project encompasses much more than just the construction aspect.
We shared information about the three phases involved in the borehole projects through all our project updates. Each phase involved a series of work and other engagements. Each step required a lot of labor and other commitments. However, some people who had never looked into the idea or asked us to discuss the facts have suddenly emerged and started looking into it since they discovered we formerly championed Steem promotion. The reason for all this scrutiny is due to our previous activities on Steemit. If we had not engaged with Steem promotions before, would there have been a reason for the probes?
If the Hive boreholes project is being scrutinized, what about other proposals and projects that have been submitted and approved? Have they also been investigated? And what about projects that have no real-world impact or are just one-time activities that significant amounts have been used to fund? Have they been investigated as well? We have involved several stakeholders in the Hive Boreholes project, and we have worked well together to ensure its success.
Conclusion
We have made sure to communicate clearly with the Hive community throughout our projects, even involving the media. However, there has been a concern brought about by our previous work on Steemit and whether people should cast doubt on our current work. As previously indicated, we were inexperienced and poorly communicated following the fork. After realizing everything for ourselves, we decided to leave Steemit and aid others who were in the same predicament as us.
Our self-promotion on Steemit, which got no financing, was welcomed by the promo-steem community leaders who supported us. We engaged without fully understanding the consequences. While we accept we made a mistake in not understanding or finding out more about Steemit and the Justin Sun fiasco, we also feel that a lack of clear communication about these problems contributed to many individuals, including ourselves, being in the dark.
However, despite all of our efforts to make a significant difference in the lives of Ghanaians and raise awareness for hive in Ghana through media publications, the only concern someone has expressed about this impactful initiative is to make claims about our promotional activities over the years on steemit.
We are ready to be probed and are willing to answer questions regarding our initiatives if our prior steemit actions cast doubt on our image and continuing Hive activities throughout Ghana. We welcome @theycallmedan, @acidyo, @tobetada, @guiltyparties, @stoodkev, @nathen007, @acidyo @starkerz, @guiltyparties, @dswigle, @steevc, @ackza, @adetorrent, @neopch, @taskmaster4450, and all others in the hive ecosystem to this article. Thank you very much.
I had not heard of anyone challenging your commitment to Hive. I was a big promoter of Steemit from 2016, but when Ned sold it to Justin Sun it was soon obvious that things were not going well. I ended up having my account there censored so my account does not show the thousands of posts and comments I made. It is no longer decentralised and, from what I have seen, there is very little development there.
I would like to see more forgiveness for people who continued to support Steemit after the fork. Holding grudges is not healthy and this social blockchain sphere is still pretty small. I think we could do more to persuade those who joined Steemit later on that Hive could be better for them. Of course the Steemit whales will be desperate to support those who do join so they stick around, but they may find their stake loses even more value.
It should be obvious to all that you are doing a lot for Hive. I want to see it grow in Ghana and other places where it makes a big difference. Keep up the good work.
Thanks so much @steevc. Here's a link to the issue raised against us and for the view of everyone who is clueless of what's going on. But we're are of a clear intention to empower communities, improve lives and promote the hive ecosystem. Hive must rather be interested in the identity and credibility of the person who raised this against the hardwork we have made. There are many of people who's identity remain hidden and claim to be helping the blockchain. We have proven ourselves in all aspects including meetups, pictures and videos of ourselves to the blockchain. I wish they could all do same by proving their identy since they're potential ghosts of deceiving many, not us who are interested in making lives better with hive.
https://hive.blog/hive-181335/@orianagua/ru5uzj
I think the important thing is to honest and up front about what you do. If you had tried to hide what you did before it would get found out anyway.
Yes. That's why we have been honest and transparent about our activities.
Wow! Very interesting test of your stamina and perseverance. You pass with flying colours. Good karma always look after you! Have no fear of storms in a tea cup. Bad karma will also attract consequences according to karmic law.
I had a hard time trying to find out about the depth of what was going on and the horrific actions by the dictator! It took me six months to come upon more detailed information. It was quite a shock to me as well. Who would have thought reality could be so scary and terrible.
You have lots of energy and stamina for continuous good work. I envy your capabilities and inner resources. I wish I could have contributed to the well being and peace of all humanity.
Best wishes.
Thanks to you too. We are excited to see you pass by. Your supports are sorts of motivation and inspiration to help us keep doing more to empower villages with hive.
Sorry, I have been very busy this past month and too much stress surrounding me. Life is getting tough but one has to survive the best one could. Trying to catch up with my sleep at the moment.
I am tossing and turning about having a borehole at the back of my garden. The drought and heat this season get me quite worried about the future. Money is hard to come by and the cost of living is rising. I guess most people around the globe would have to weather the coming sudden changes in the near future.
Take care.
We found ourselves in the dark when many issues between Steem and Hive were unfolding. Many people had no clue of the issues until they switched to Hive and things became evidently clear. Even before that, on Steemit, we had experienced the dictatorship of the new governance of Steem. I believe this is the main reason why many users of Steemit switched to Hive, just like us.
You’ll be surprised to hear that most of my Thai friends still haven’t got a clue of what has happened. You see, they couldn’t understand English, it isn’t our second language.
Some of my old friends are still on the old platform, they could understand English but they just didn’t follow any key players. They just post and upvote!! I tried to tell them it’s better to move to the new place. But they thought it’s such a hassle with all the keys and followers!🙀
Upgrading to HIVE from STEEMIT is like trading a 1974 VW for a new Porsche
I mean essentially if you can use Steem to build these amazing projects I have no problem with that. It's just as you pointed out that Hive is the more decentralized community with a brighter future (imo). I am glad that you are promoting Hive in this way as it can lead to more projects getting funded and built as our ecosystem an community grows.
@tipu curate
Upvoted 👌 (Mana: 65/85) Liquid rewards.
Our promotional activity on the hive blockchain stands out in comparison to what we carried out on steemit while we were active. Steemit never funded anything we accomplished by our own efforts. We're pleased we realized the truth later and left to join the hive. But I'm curious why someone would raise problems against our efforts on steemit years ago after the hive fork and undermine all we've done on Hive to a better life in Ghana, giving the hive blockchain the exposure it deserved. We are confident that the year will bring to fruition the significant projects we have in the works to improve people's lives while also promoting blockchain to the rest of the globe. We however regret that we remain ignorant about the cruelty of steemit and were left in the dark just as many people are in the same situation now. I appreciate your reaction to this, sir @tobetada.
Keep doing the good work man, I hope you will show me Ghana one day. I want to visit.
We will be glad to see hive fest in Ghana one day, to show every hiver all of the projects in the various communities. It will be a great honor to be in Ghana to witness the hive borehole and the impacts created on the blockchain.
Very cool, keep on going!
Thanks for passing by.
Seeing the impact of Hive in Ghana gladdens my heart. Many things are going on there and are still going on.
It is beautiful seeing these sorts of news.
We are glad our efforts are bringing much attention to hive. It is unfortunate that people whom we don't know their identity are rather going around questioning our efforts because we once promoted steemit years ago. It is really bad that the hive blockchain is working and dealing with people who we have never known their identity.
That's one thing about life. People will question. It doesn't matter if you know them or not.
But l think hive must be careful with people we do not know their identity. They are the possible scammers who can always do harm to the system, not those of us doing videos and sharing pictures of ourselves in all efforts we do to promote the blockchain. But we are glad that you have seen the good works and impacts hive has done in Ghana.
Scammers? That's bad. Let's keep Hiving
Guys, not sure why you tagged me alongside the top people on Hive and I also knew nothing of this 'drama' going on! Im flattered though :-)
From what I read, at face value it's a great project that benefits so many people in your country. Good work guys :-)
As I said, I've no idea what goes on in the gossipy discord rooms but my suggestion to you is to simply carry on, stay transparent and trust your own conscience.
At the end of the day, if you remove the politics and posing, Hive is doing good things for people in need AND getting very positive publicity. That's being facilitated by you. I wouldn't worry too much, someone else will be getting scrutinised next week!
Thanks for your motivation and support for our activities. We hope to make lives better and remain transparent to everyone in the ecosystem.
Thank you for your kind words. You were given mention in this post:
https://hive.blog/hive-181335/@mcsamm/yocqvffq .... everyone who was mentioned has been tagged in the post. Perhaps reading through the comment section would provide more information and help you understand the latest development that led to this lengthy post.
@nathen007
https://hive.blog/hive-181335/@orianagua/ru5uzj
Bro, this is what you have built for you and hive. I loved the read. So one day of someone questions what hive is and what it has done. this will just be a little of what will be poured on them.
Your work here can never be undermined. We have seen it, the world has seen it, and the communities we have helped have seen it. Let it defend you. Great read. We hope for more great projects. Hive to the world.
We are grateful to you too bro.
Yay! 🤗
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Thank you.
I've never seen an HBD development project proposal for y'all, but I would vote for you if you made one!
Thank you always sir.
I'm sure this write-up will go a very long way to explain things to people that question the credibility of your work here on Hive...
I'm so much interested in individuals on hive who's identity is hidden, like @orianagua who has raised issues against us on hive. They're the potential ghosts who hide behind to scam the system. We have appeard in numerous videos, pictures and interviews in the name of hive to empower communities. We wish you could show us what you have done positively with hive to impact lives. And show us your identity just as we have done by even appearing at a hive meetup in london. This tells the transparency and our dedication to what we belive is impacting lives. We will keep working harder to improve the innocent lives of people in Ghana with transparency and hardwork.
Well said bro
I and many other people are more interested to know who are the people behind Steemcurator01 who has feed you for two years. Why don't you tell us about them or if someone is feeding you doesn't matters to you? LOL
Wow how genius you are I died in 1943 and become a ghost, I tried many time to take pictures of myself but each time I failed to do that because the camera does not catch my reflection. I am sad I can not fulfill your wish but believe me I have done many good things for the Hive. One of the most common is saving the Hive community from the scammers like you. If you don't trust me you can ask your friend @arie.steem or you can find many more things that you are wondering from me but unfortunately you are not capable to do that because you spent your most of the time to corn the people with your fake promotional drama.
Hey why don't you ask the same question to your sponsors for the Hive Drama like the guiltyparties who are also hidden behind a profile and did you met them in Hive Fest? or did you asked for the @valueplan's funds which you are getting for this so called promotions? Some stakeholders has decided to fund you by stealing the investor's money which is same as some people rob a bank for promotion of the bank. For You and your fake impacts it is like someone rob a bank and says it I robbed it to help poor people lol.
No one stole any investor's money at any point, that's not how the Hive protocol works. You are more than welcome to come message with your own promotional idea. Your attention is appreciated but let's keep it constructive. There is an active investigation on right now into how this happened and we're trying to figure out some of the answers to what you've asked as we're asking it too. I have to finish interviewing everyone before I can say anything more.
I'm not sure what prompted this post, but I'm sure the entire Hive community sees the good work you're doing with the borehole projects and recognize your genuinety. Might not mean much, but I know you and I know you love Hive and are passionate about the borehole project and promotional works you do.
I see that there's been some extra articles linked for nathen's consumption. Going to take a look at those to have a proper grasp of what's going on. Keep up the good work, guys.
Thanks for your addition to your view on our activities on the blockchain.
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWW What an incredible showcase of your intentions and achievements @mcsamm!! I am new to hive by a month now and seeing this level of dedication is nothing short of inspiring!!!
I admire your transparency. Language and failed communication have wrecked and destroyed nations before so it is good that you highlight this human failing!
This image, speaks a thousand words!!!!!
Like I said, I am new here so I am not clear on the challenges which you have faced, but from where I sit and look, your dedication is unquestionable!
All the best and much love! <3
Thanks for passing through dear. Hive is happy to hsve people like you. It's yours to explore. Do more to impact lives and bring great changes to yourself and those around you.
What you are doing and what you have done is just incredible. Admirable!
Hey I bet if someone were to go though most of our posts, there would be plenty of pro steem content to be found pre hostile takeover. Including myself.
You and collinz are good in my book.
You're right sir. Except for people who just joined hive and blockchain for the first time, most of us came from steemit and believed in the system until we saw the truth behind the cruelty. There are still individuals on steemit now whose lives are in complete jeopardy and we're the best people to help them discover the truth. Their coming to hive does not make them illegitimate simply because they operated on steemit. This l believe is not the right way. Thanks for your contribution.
Thank you for your comment. I have shared more about my personal life on Steemit and continue to do so on Hive. I believe in transparency and feel there is no need to hide our activities. If anyone follows me on Steemit, they can see my unwavering passion for the platform. It was a life-changing experience for me after leaving school, as it was the only thing I could depend on. Unemployment is a significant issue for many youths in Africa, and that is why I joined those who passionately promoted Steemit in its early days. It was a great platform for peoole to earn something for themselves, and that is why my Steemit posts are filled with promotional content, becuase I wanted people to learn about it. I continue to do this on Hive because I want others to discover the opportunities available to them as well. If it weren't for the hostile takeover and the resulting centralized system, I believe many of us would still be on Steemit today.
For someone who had never been on a blockchain joining steem was the only option for me until I knew about hive.
Leaving steem and moving to hive has been one of the best decisions I’ve made about social media. I think we need to do more to get people who are still blogging on steemit to leave steem and move to hive; a decentralized platform.
You're right buddy.
Thanks Bro. for clarification of matters that arose few days ago. The details in this post clearly spelt out your genuine of activities in the Hive Blockchain. The proof of work of various projects embarked by you and your teams are showcased in the various videos, pics and media coverage.
It was with your aid that I eventually left steemit and fully joined the Hive community, and I’m grateful for that, the work you are doing here is commendable and I’m happy to be part of the evolution
It hurts to see that many were still left in the dark after the exit. We still hope that many people will still get introduced to every truth to make the hive blockchain the truly decentralized system they hope to see.
It's just... too boring of a drama, raised by a single individual?
tbh even if you were doing something disingenuous, I literally wouldn't care lol, cause the results are evident, and to me that's all that matters.
I wonder if that's because... Ghana is going through hyperinflation and its currency is literally worth half what it was a year ago XD
We're committed to showcasing hive with these projects where many generations would see its impacts on the society they live in. Thanks for your addition to the discredit of a single individual to the many achievements we have all gained in the name of hive. This will forever be a life changing used case for the hive ecosystem.