Reputation

This is a purely social incentive model that will also drive long-term hosting. By awarding reputation and displaying nodes on a leaderboard, the community fosters intrinsic motivations such as prestige, altruism, and social recognition.

In this model:

• Each node starts with a base reputation (e.g., 1,000 points).

• Reputation can grow through positive actions like consistent uptime, Amount of data pinned, and Consistently submitting storage proofs.

• Reputation can decrease through downtime, unpinning, or community disapproval.

• If a node’s reputation score drops below 300, it becomes ineligible for continued recognition or participation (as defined by the governance rules).

• A leaderboard ranks nodes by reputation, with the highest-scoring nodes at the top.

Leaderboard & Visibility

One of the core social rewards is a public leaderboard:

1. Top Ranking Nodes

   • The highest-reputation nodes appear at the top. This visibility fosters a sense of competition and accomplishment.

2. Dynamic Updates

   • The leaderboard is recalculated (e.g., daily or weekly), showing how node rankings shift over time.

3. Transparency

   • Each node’s entry shows key stats:

     • Current reputation score

     • Uptime percentage

     • Content volume/age pinned

4. Deactivation Impact

   • If a node’s reputation dips below 300, it no longer appears on the leaderboard, prompting the operator to address issues or face permanent removal.

Social Reward Mechanisms

Because there is no financial reward, the value of reputation must come from community recognition and personal motivations such as altruism, historical preservation, or academic goodwill. Possible social incentives include:

1. Badges & Titles

   • Nodes can display official “Reliability Guardian,” “Master Archivist,” or “Champion Host” badges on profiles or in community forums.

   • Badges can also be minted as SBTs for verification.

2. Highlight in Community Directories

   • High-reputation nodes appear at the top of official node lists, gaining visibility and prestige.

3. Voting Power or Influence

   • A node’s reputation could factor into governance votes (through delegation).

4. Public Acknowledgment & Leaderboards

   • Show top node operators publicly on the protocol’s website and on a public dashboard.

   • Encourages friendly competition to remain on the leaderboard.

5. Invitations to Exclusive Events

   • The DAO will host in-person meetups, conferences, and hackathons where high-reputation members receive priority or early access.

6. Social Media Recognition

   • The official Twitter or social channels regularly shout out outstanding node operators, strengthening their public profile.