Context on Periodic Confirmation
- The idea of periodic confirmation of followees was initially proposed as a spam prevention measure. However, this issue has been addressed through an adjustment in the reward distribution.
- At ICP genesis, all neurons were configured to follow DFINITY by default. Consequently, the suggestion for periodic confirmation has remained popular within the community as a method to trigger neurons to reaffirm or modify their choices.
- While there seems to be broad community support for this proposal, concerns exist regarding its impact on user experience, particularly for those users who use the Network Nervous System (NNS) infrequently.
Suggested Alternative: Soft Reset
@diegop recently suggested a simpler alternative that aims to achieve similar outcomes with less effort. Here is how the soft reset would work:
- DFINITY would establish a new known neuron for other neurons to follow.
- During a transitional period, DFINITY would vote with both the old and new known neurons. After the transitional period DFINITY would stop voting with its old known neuron. This period could be managed differently across various proposal topics, allowing us to throttle the process to effectively test and measure the impact.
- Concurrently, a user information campaign would be launched to ensure everyone is aware of the change. Furthermore the migration of voting power to the new DFINITY neuron and other known neurons could be monitored.
This approach would have the following benefits:
- Minimal implementation effort.
- Addresses the main concern of resetting followees without affecting user experience on a periodic basis.
- No modifications required to the existing NNS rules. This suggestion aligns with the expected protocol for following; if a neuron that someone follows stops voting, it does not lead to any unexpected disadvantages. It is the responsibility of the follower to ensure they are following neurons that align with their interests.
Additional Considerations
It is worth noting, mirroring comments from the thread above, that a soft reset or periodic confirmation of followees could lead to a at least temporary reduction in inflation. We view this more as a potential side effect rather than the primary goal of the proposal.
Conclusion
The proposed soft reset approach offers a pragmatic solution to the main issue driving the need for periodic confirmation—a reset of default following—without introducing drawbacks related to implementation complexity or user experience deterioration. We encourage the community to share their feedback on this approach. Specifically, we would like to hear whether community members believe this approach effectively addresses the main issue underlying the proposal for periodic confirmation.