The Great ByteBall Name Debate:What follows is taken from an exchange with some folks on our Reddit, encapsulating the essence of the great ByteBall name debate, and some responses which obviously I feel have value. I present this here in the hopes that it be a bridge to a place where we are all on the same page and moving forward in the most constructive way. My apologies if I seem a bit harsh at times in the larger thread [link below], but some issues have the potential to do us great harm. Especially with marketing efforts. I don't want that to happen. Let's fix things, even if only temporarily until we are a bit further along and much stronger.
Everytime the name or denomination issue comes up, we all pick sides and quarrel with each other. I am just as passionate as you about this outstanding project and I want my (our) investment of time and money to do very well. But, we must understand that Byteball is a huge endeavor with many, many moving complex parts, and the project is very young. It still very much needs to be nurtured. When we look at what has been accomplished in just over a year, who can say it's not breathtaking, but it is not a certainty - most especially if we quarrel amongst ourselves and allow others to distract us with issues that can be framed very differently.
Potential Investor:There’s no marketing for byteball How come IOTA? How come RaiBlocks? How come everyone else is to the moon but us?
Response:A shame you can't see how much is actually going around you. There are Translations, Video Fawcets, experiments with Textcoin, email money, paid article placements videos being made, articles being written and promoted and so much more it's hard to keep track. Things also have to be in place first for bigger promotions to have the best effect - I guess you're too focused on the price alone. cmon bro, get involved, do something to help your investment, go make a positive comment somewhere or give a few bytes to a buddy. we all got some work to do. Things are coming together perfectly. Things often need a bit of time for the pieces to come together just right. Why no moon for us yet? Markets are strange beasts that sniff out uncertainty and act accordingly.
Investor:ByteBall sounds like BITE BALL. Which normie would put serious money into something that sounds obscene. If in doubt about Byteball name, ask your mum or girlfriend for honest opinion :-)
Response:If your mum or girlfriend read the Whitepaper (
https://byteball.org/Byteball.pdf) (which you obviously have not), they would immediately understand why it's named ByteBall - it's named for what it is - Not so hard to understand. Say it out loud a few times with some good energy behind it. It's a FANTASTIC NAME! It Fits Perfectly! ... and we don't need normies who think we sound obscene. when they grow up, we will be here.
Investor:The name isn't just a barrier facing investors, it's also a barrier facing the average potential user. As many such users face the same decision, "can I really say 'how many byteballs?' to my barista / boss / mom," some will understandably choose not to use it. That's a real problem, that's adoption. Good tech is only one piece of usability; network effects of a payment platform is even more important. So while it's understandable that tech comes first, it's also important to realize good branding is a core part of the product itself for consumer products.
Really, they should just hire someone to handle it.
Response:It has to be understood that the whole "name & denomination as a big problem" thing arose after the price didn't skyrocket like so many other lesser offerings, leaving bewildered supporters to point fingers and quarrel amongst each other. Seriously flawed analysis IMO. The price was depressed for completely different reasons. Community infighting is one of the worst things that can happen to a project such as this - it has the potential to mess things up big time.
I've been in marketing my whole life and have seen first hand, over and over, how quickly & easily the right messaging changes peoples perception of things. This young project did not have that aspect properly in place, and communications have also not been optimal - so the issue has festered. I have also seen countless times how infighting can destroy a project. Let's not let that happen here.
It's time for this to change. With our help, messaging and communications will become more & more sophisticated over time, addressing the concerns of yours and others that the name is somehow sexually obscene.
For example, ByteBall is the platform, Bytes are the currency.
One would say to one's barista / boss / mom, "how many Bytes", will that be Gbytes, Mbytes, or Kbytes? In the same way, ByteBall (the platform) can use messaging that clearly presents it as Revolutionary New Technology, DAG - a
"Ball of Bytes" - an astonishingly flexible Platform for
Virtual Asset Value Transfer in the Digital Age - in short time there would be no issue at all.
Last thing I want to say is this: I have no doubt whatsoever that an even better name could be conjured, but
it is absolutely the wrong time to be having these debates. It is divisive, demoralizing and as counterproductive as anything could be right now, and those things had very little to do with the price - price was governed by entirely different factors, things are not always what they appear to be - at minimum, we need to put this on the shelf for a while. The most productive thing supporters could do right now is to move forward united & engaged in building this amazing thing together. If you are a contributor, your efforts are bringing enormous value to the platform. Thank you! Please shrug off any feelings of low morale you may have because of any divisive issues. Let's do our best work within the structure we currently have - all will work out just fine.
Wonderful things are happening all over the place. We are sitting on a Rocket. Let's get on with what really matters right now.
Reference:
https://www.reddit.com/r/ByteBall/comments/7pkwc0/wake_up_marketing_rebrand_learn_from_railblocks/
