Delegation Delegation Delegation

I really like delegation as an option for using your stake in Steem. I've enjoyed experimenting with a variety of delegations over the past year (I'm almost at the anniversary of my first steem purchase), and I've changed what I'm doing and what I'm looking for over time.

At the moment, there are two very good opportunities: @steemhunt, which is offering a 20% return in a mix of steem/SBD and tokens; and @ocdb, a distribution bot, which is returning all SBD income to delegators.

@steemhunt

Steemhunt has always seemed very professional - a clear business and development plan and purpose, a well-presented website, a great team of people and systems for moderating. The project is moving into the next Review stage of development.

I have delegated to steemhunt in the past and I have some tokens sitting in my wallet. With the latest trading and service developments, I've decided to start delegating to them again. I'm currently building my delegation as I move things around, but I'm aiming for a minimum of 200SP and let's see how it goes.

@ocdb

A new kid on the block (chain), @ocdb is a distribution bot, sharing rewards amongst whitelisted creators according to their bid (currently a ceiling of 35 SBD) and distributing SBD income back to delegators.

There is a 10% return for creators, and 10% less return for delegators than they would achieve through self-voting. The intention of the distribution bot is to grow accounts faster than they would organically, which offers new hope to smaller accouints, beavering away for not much in the way of rewards.

As the whitelist grows and the number of creators buying votes increases, the maximum size of the vote will decrease - in the past week or so, we've seen it dropping from 45 SBD to 35 SBD. If the bot is going to maintain those higher level bids, we'll need to see more delegations coming in.

spreading your vote to more accounts

Earlier in the year, I was delegating to @actifit and @dlike. One of the primary reasons for doing this was because it spread my vote wider to a whole range of tiny accounts who had a chance of a daily decent upvote.

Both DApps offer a weekly return of mixed steem/SBD and tokens for your delegation. I had a look at my @actifit tokens and, according to Steem Engine, they seem to have a market value around $2,000.

I stopped delegating for different reasons in each case:

• @actifit introduced a new voting system where the daily vote was linked to your delegation as well as your level of activity and the quality of your post. This changed the motivation for posting for me: it became I must post daily to get full benefit of my delegation, rather than I am posting daily because I am engaging in physical activity and that is a-good-thing in itself.
• @dlike seems to have gone through several iterations of its business plan, and it has a new direction, whitepaper and website. That's not unusual for start-ups, but I got a little confused and some of the planned developments, in particular, boards, seem to have disappeared. I like the new website, it's a classy way of sharing links and, sometimes, that's perfect.

There's a challenge for both these DApps that, as accounts grow larger and receive more and higher value votes, the incoming @actifit/ @dlike vote no longer covers the outgoing beneficiary rewards.

Investor's tingle

Like most investors - and that's what delegators are - I'm very sensitive to any messages that things are not quite as I would like or expect them to be. And like most investors, I tend to respond fairly quickly.

The most flamboyant example that I've been involved in was @dstors. Even before the gobsmacking car crash of customer/delegator relationships, my spidey senses were tingling and I'd been thinking that I must have a closer look at what was going on. The reaction to @whatsup's post confirmed my own concerns and my delegation was moved within a day or two.

I've just dropped another DApp. I was in the first round of delegators and promised a 3% vote each day. There's been several interruptions to this, all of which have previously been rectified after a visit to the discord channel.

But we're now on to the third or fourth time, it's been four days, four posts without a vote, two messages in discord with no response, and no general announcement explaining if there is a problem (it could be illness, a new baby, a bug). Sorry, but no. Time to move on.

Is this harsh? I don't think so. It's a really good discipline to building a robust, sustainable project or business. Things go wrong, of course they do - look at KFC's chicken chaos - but you need to work with your investors.

Investor's rant

For a while, I delegated to @steem-ua.
I was always ambivalent about this initiative, although I've never been able to put my finger exactly on why. There was something about, at the end of the day, you're buying a vote and dress it up how you will, that's what you're doing, so say it and stop pretending it's something else.

Now, I think @steem-ua is based on two flawed ideas:

• that everyone is going to be followed by a witness, sooner or later. They are not, it is simply not feasible. It also assumes that all witnesses are reputable and that you would want them following you.
• that the reputation system is broken. It's not. It's just a shorthand that gives you a starter for ten. Like any other social environment, you need to base your judgment on evidence collected over time.

Fundamentally, @steem-ua is an elitist voting circle where the rewards are funnelled upwards towards the highest earners. After receiving consecutive votes of 0.04, 0.07 and 0.05 cents for a 250SP delegation, I did some investigation: on the final day I received a vote, there were some 10,000 posts, 800 of which received a @steem-ua vote. Not even 10% of active accounts. The rest can't afford it, don't care or it's not relevant to them.

For me, this falls into the snake oil category: a dodgy premise that benefits some investors at the expense of others. The sooner this is abandoned and the delegations invested elsewhere, the better. My suggestions would be @ocdb and @steembasicincome, both much more transparent initiatives.

One Investor's Thoughts

Usual disclaimer: this is not financial advice and do your own research

I've mentioned @steemhunt and @ocdb above. These seem to me to be good investment deals. I haven't compared them to the promotional bid bots like @smartsteem. But these seem to fit the bill for initiatives combining a good return for investors with growing the blockchain overall and a straightforward proposition.

@steembasicincome

My other favourite is @steembasicincome (sbi). I love the premise that you buy two shares at a time - one for yourself and one for someone else - immediate win-win. It's a great way to support new accounts and make sure they're getting a boost, an incentive to stay with steem. I've also supported community accounts which distribute votes to smaller accounts with sbi shares. These include @needleworkmonday and @runningproject.

The other things I like about @steembasicincome are:

• you get a bonus share for every 2SP delegation, and additional rshares when you vote for sbi posts.
• your benefits accumulate and are distributed when you post. So, you are not compelled to post every day to receive maxium benefit. The rewards can fit into a much more flexible - two or three times a week - posting pattern.
• there are occasional glitches, but these have always been dealt with promptly.

Some other things to think about

I delegate to some things because they are a good thing to have around. Some provide a small upvote. Whether they provide an upvote or not, they all contribute to steem being a better place and that's worth investing in:

• @steemflagrewards I have mixed feelings about flagging. There's only been one occasion when I've felt I've wanted to flag a post and that had more to do with it irritating me (I went and made a cup of tea instead). But I appreciate there are things to be done and this is one way of contributing to the common wealth. It's like paying your council tax and getting your bins emptied.
• @steemclub-uk, @needleworkmonday, @chops.support and @isotonic: small accounts that support niche communities. I also delegate to @adollaraday which donates to charities.

Conclusions

How you choose to delegate depends on what your aims are.

Having tried many things, I'm starting to develop my criteria:

• straightforward, transparent premise.
• can demonstrate how it is going to contribute to growth of the blockchain.
• combines returns for investors with an egalitarian approach to the community.
• good communication and speedy resolution of problems.
• separates delegators' rewards from posting rewards.

As an investor, I like having a mixed portfolio of voting power to invest in individual accounts I enjoy and delegating to initiatives that are going to increase the value of my investment long-term by building the blockchain.

Edit: Daily Steem Delegation Statistics for 27 April 2019 follow @eforucom for updates.