Just About

Lanah Tyra 1/24/2025, 6:32:01 PM

Thanks Lanah Tyra, that's really helpful!

There's a fine line between rewards being specific enough to award and so specific they don't leave room for your own interpretation!

Our hope is for your submissions to be useful for you as creators, so we're keen to hear how your submissions are received on socials...maybe we could check in every now and again to see what's doing well for everyone?

BoomerMod1/28/2025, 4:50:33 PM

I think a checkup would be great, even just as a poll each months where you list the type of rewards you were running that month and people can vote which they liked the most or worked for them and then they can also leave additional comments?

But to give you an example, for me the time-lapse video worked really well! I tried to focus on making more guides lately, but filming it in the housing districts reminded me of how much I love housing in FFXIV and decided to make more housing content. And compared to how some of my other videos did, it got nice amount of views and even comments.

https://www.game-cities.com/virtual-cities https://www.heterotopiaszine.com/

It's great to hear the views and comments are up on that content 😊 It reminded me of this Virtual Cities book and the Heterotopias magazine...both very cool if you ask me! 😁

TheGreatestBanana12 1/25/2025, 12:54:43 AM

Sturmer 1/24/2025, 5:48:45 PM

Why not just make another YouTube channel?

Text it solid long-term content. Some of my text rewards appear in the Google index months after publishing.

Sad they are getting penalized in terms of rewards =/

BoomerMod1/24/2025, 5:57:56 PM

Lanah Tyra 1/24/2025, 6:29:30 PM

Yeah this is something we're considering now so it's a good time to share your thoughts! I can't say if or how things will change as it's still an active discussion, but moderating AI-generated text is a massive challenge we need to overcome.

How could we change text-based rewards so they're less likely to be targeted with AI-generated submissions?

dianthus 1/24/2025, 10:38:43 PM

Maybe they could be more specific in details? AI is more likely to be used for a generic topic like "review your favourite game" because then someone can pretty much just give a game title to chatGPT and ask for a review

But if you would ask for guides for a specific boss fight or write about one character that might make AI attempts stand out more and easier for you guys to filter out? Most likely chaptGPT will have less information on a specific character or fight than an entire game?

dianthus 1/24/2025, 10:42:09 PM

Yes! And for creative rewards, like a fanfiction contest, the requirements could include to showcase the game specific settings, like maybe it must feature a specific landmark of the game or something like that. I haven't really used ChatGTP so I can't tell, but I assume it would make something like a travel guide out of it and not a real story, while a human would write a story that's set around the landmark, or the story is about visiting the landmark, or the landmark is under threat, etc, the ideas are endless.

BoomerMod1/28/2025, 5:00:05 PM

I think you can also go for quality, like "publish an in-depth guide on...". I think genAI is better at fooling us when it's a shorter extract; if you ask an in-depth article on something specific like Lanah Tyrawas mentioning, the overall weirdness will be revealed.

Also, rewards that ask for a little introspection! Maybe something like "describe your earliest memory of video games" or "what do you remember of the first book you ever read on your own?". I don't think genAI is so good that it can fake the unique silliness or tenderness or any other feelings that is sure to transpire from such rewards.

dianthus

dianthus Lanah Tyra These are great suggestions, however longer text means we spend more time reading each submission, and more specific subjects mean we need to be able to fact check things that might not be so easy to check. Both approaches are time consuming and not something we can easily scale up.

The introspection idea is interesting. I also think generative AI will be less likely to convince us with this type of content, but it limits the types of reward we can offer.

There's no perfect solution but these are some great options! Thanks both for sharing them 😊

Sturmer 1/28/2025, 9:25:53 PM

BoomerMod1/30/2025, 1:34:17 PM

Boomer, before we dive into this topic, let me ask you first: Why are you (personally and as the JA platform) afraid of AI submissions? By getting to the very core of this, we might uncover a solution.

https://justabout.com/just-about/32966/ai-content-on-just-about

I'll try to answer this from two different perspectives - one deferring to our AI content policy and the other as an individual separate from Just About.

Paraphrased from the article above

If a member gives a reward's criteria to a generative AI and simply submits the output:

it lacks transformative human input, i.e. the member is earning value without contributing value - the same prompt to the same AI will produce largely the same response
the information is unreliable and often inaccurate or incorrect
it risks copyright infringement

We want to award human creativity, knowledge, and experience. AI can help with that, but it shouldn't be at the expense of the human contribution.

My personal take:

I like people. I love finding out about the things they know, their experiences, and, most of all, the ways they express their creativity. I'm not the best writer (just ask Rich! 😆) and I don't speak any other languages, so I can see how AI helps people to express themselves and communicate with others.

That said, I don't want to find out the person I'm talking to is actually an AI, as it doesn't know, do, make, or experience things. It just takes and imitates while trying to fool us into thinking it knows what it's on about. At that point I may as well be having a conversation with a fictional character - it might be cool at first but their world isn't real, so anything they contribute is either false or an amalgam of truths taken from other people...I'd rather talk to those people.

Does that make sense?

Sturmer 1/30/2025, 7:02:22 PM

BoomerMod2/3/2025, 11:27:33 AM

I'm not defending or arguing, just trying to understand people's reactions. Here is a small sample of content, related to Eve Online. Please note, the first text is not a 'role-play'. My friend just expresses his ideas like that :D

Version 1

Aight so like listen up, ya wanna make isksies in this game, ya gotta do some grindin, like real heavy liftin ya know. Dunno which way’s best but I kinda just run around, buy low, sell high, all that Wall Street suit-and-tie junk. So yeah, you dock, ya check the market, buy wut ya can. Oh and like, ya gotta check other stations too or you’re gonna get scammed lmao, super important. Anywho, load up, haul yer junk over, sell it off, and boom, isk. Subtract wut ya spent and there’s yer cut. Simple, innit?

Version 2

My favorite method to gain ISKs in Eve Online is to trade goods between stations.

Step 1: Dock at a station, scan the market for low-priced items, and mark them.
Step 2: Compare prices at nearby stations to find profitable trade routes
Step 3: Buy as much as you can, do not risk more than you can afford to lose.
Step 4: Haul the goods to the next station and sell them at a profit
Final Step: Deduct costs, calculate your earnings, and repeat

__
Both deliver the same information, but one is structured, precise, and easy to follow, while the other is a wall of text with poor readability. Also, 2nd text is keyword-rich, meaning it will serve well in the web index too.

So, what matters more for JA - proving a human wrote it or ensuring content is actually useful?

Sturmer 2/3/2025, 11:52:34 AM

I'm not defending or arguing, just trying to understand people's reactions.

That's totally fair! I don't see this as an argument. It's more of a structured discussion around a complex topic 🙂

Using the two examples you shared above, what would stop the first from being AI and the second being human?

You rightly say that the second example offers clear, keyword-rich information, but that doesn't necessarily make it AI generated. Similarly, the first provides a stream-of-consciousness response that's typical of a video transcription.

Both have their merit and we're accepting of both (and other) styles. In my mind it's less about the structure and formatting of the content and more to do with the source of the value it provides (AI or human).

BoomerMod2/3/2025, 12:23:41 PM

Yeah, but if we break it down using the "5 Whys" approach, the real issue isn't who or what generated the content- it’s how helpful it is to the reader. Does it solve their problem? Did they learn something useful from it?

Search engines typically figure this out through experimentation and bounce rate analysis. If a user searches for "how to tie shoelaces with one hand", the index provides multiple links. If they click one and stop searching, it suggests that the content answered their question. Over time, similar searches reinforce that result’s ranking.

But who are the judges?

Unlike a search engine, we can’t rely solely on community opinion. We've seen cases where my content is dismissed as "useless and toxic" even when research and effort were put in. That leads to subjective judgments - 50 shades of truth based on personal bias.

I propose a hybrid system inspired by EVE Online’s Project Discovery and Coursera-style peer review, where participants cross-validate and assess each other's work. This would provide a broader dataset and statistical validation. If 8 out of 10 users confirm that a post meets reward criteria, it’s probably a legitimate and valuable contribution.

If this idea sounds interesting, I can outline the system in more detail.

Sturmer 2/3/2025, 3:22:02 PM

That hybrid system is a really interesting idea and one I'll be sure to share with the rest of the team.

The only push back I would make is that content doesn't always need to be useful. Photoshopping Rowan Atkinson into an unrelated film poster was fun but it wasn't useful. Content utility is essential if we were a knowledge hub like Fandom, but we're also serving the social and creative goals of our members.

AI is often inaccurate and it doesn't contribute to the social goals (see my point about fictional characters), but there's no denying AI can be a tool for creativity. In those terms AI is a paintbrush and not the painter, and our mission is to reward the knowledge, skills, and experience of the painter.

Even though that's the case, the hybrid system you proposed could still work. I have no idea how much work it'd take or if it's the direction we're moving but I'll definitely bring it up 😊

greybill 1/24/2025, 7:14:41 PM

Alright, I'll make a concept then

For me, the best mix of being creative, creating content, and having fun is image-based stuff where I can work on my editing skills. The result is also easy to share and doesn't require a longer time commitment from the audience like text, audio, or video.

Especially video is often too much work to fit into my schedule. But I admit that's also a skill issue since it's not my daily business. When I do video, I still want it to be of some decent quality.

If I had to make a rating it would look like this: Image > Text > Video > Other

BoomerMod1/28/2025, 5:06:17 PM

greybill

That's fair 🙂 Which of the image-based rewards have you've enjoyed the most?

greybill 1/28/2025, 8:19:56 PM

Horror and Cats 1/25/2025, 2:04:53 AM

Anything that qualifies as propaganda.

Weirdly photoshopping Rowan Atkinson into a Teeth poster got me like 50 follows on Twitter lol.

For my viewers the videos where I talk unscripted usually do really well, so rewards that encourage the telling of an anecdote or story would be nice. Would encourage me to do more stuff like that.

BoomerMod1/28/2025, 5:11:24 PM

Horror and Cats

I don't really know what to make of that! 😆 Should I even ask who those new followers are? I hadn't realised there were so many people calling out for Rowan Atkinson-themed body horror content!

How about a channel where you do dramatic readings of horror film scripts, and you layer in sound effects from a Rowan Atkinson-themed soundboard? 😂

Horror and Cats 1/29/2025, 2:42:55 AM

Sturmer 1/30/2025, 7:07:12 PM

I'm actually in the process of recording a short story about helicopter pilots encountering a dragon in 2003 Iraq and for April Fools, I'm going to make another version labeled as "remastered audio" where I'm just making all the helicopter, missile, and dragon noises myself lol

Horror and Cats

Remember that bounty to recreate an epic movie trailer for a non-epic movie?

To avoid copyright strikes, I went with an old film under Creative Commons—His Girl Friday (1940).

And guess what? That video racked up 5K views in a month—that’s 100 times more than any of my other videos. 😂

https://www.youtube.com/embed/kbZEZnhXGfY?feature=oembed

Horror and Cats 1/30/2025, 8:13:11 PM

mastercesspit 1/28/2025, 2:17:46 AM

Damn haha

my channel is not monetised, i don't cultivate or ask for followers, it's just a hobby, i don't need money, i'm not "wealthy in the common perception, money in the bank "wealthy" but i've lived by the words "money burns, knowledge doesn't",

having said that, my friends and family who view my channel, have increased watching since i've been interacting on JA, now the main thing they view is the weekly rewards, mostly the elite kill reward, it's become like a weekly program on tv, so it's the weekly rewards that have sparked more interest for me, we need more rewards that generate return viewers on a regular basis, rather than just random quests, just my opinion, but people like constancy, just like people tuning in to their favourite show, i was toying with the idea of a series each week of a specific ship, a day in the life of a corvette, or t10, or any ship, but, that's a lot of work for an old grandad like me atm

so i'd like to see more regular rewards like best kill, as i think that the viewers would be more likely to return each week for their "fix" of whatever floats their boat.

have fun 07

BoomerMod1/28/2025, 5:14:45 PM

mastercesspit

It's nice to hear it's become a moment to bring people together. I imagine the day in the life of... format would do quite well!

mastercesspit 1/28/2025, 11:14:30 PM

TheMortonMan 1/28/2025, 5:14:33 PM

there could be a category for all vocations, combat, trade, powerplay, ax, ect. of course the vids would be overly long, but a limit might be imposed, it would encourage people to improve their editing skills, (me probably, lmao) and produce a condensed version for the relevant time limit

This being in regards to SMITE 2 specifically, the God guides and build guides are really good for my viewership. This is due to the fact that SMITE 2 just became free to play about two weeks ago, and we're getting a large amount of new players in the community that, understandably, have NO idea what they're doing. These guides are meant for them, and now that the target audience is larger, it really does help us, as creators, have a reason to do them (aside from the reward from Just About, of course!)

BoomerMod1/28/2025, 5:22:23 PM

TheMortonMan

Excellent, perfect timing! 😁 It's probably worth going back and creating God guides for rewards that have ended. I imagine having a complete set would make your channel more valuable to your followers. Just make sure to create new ones for our rewards 😄

How has your viewership changed since SMITE 2 became free to play? I'm curious if it's leading to views at irregular times, more or different types of comments etc. Are there any of your videos that are doing particularly well?

TheMortonMan 1/28/2025, 5:38:57 PM