Total Prize Pool: 9,000 USDT
Theme 2: Create your own Standard.
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Status
Ended​
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Duration
July 1st till October 9th
Contest tags
#interaction
#reputation
#trust
Template
Draft your entry for theme 2 with this template
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Prizes
$3000 in USDT, 6 winners! Awards for the two top stories for each tag
Theme 3: Break ties with the Status Quo.
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Status
Ended​
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Duration
July 1st till October 9th
Contest tags
#coordination
#governance
#system
Template
Draft your entry for theme 3 with this template
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Prizes
$3000 in USDT, 6 winners! Awards for the two top stories for each tag
The Opt Out Writing Contest
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Ä€ut Labs and HackerNoon are glad to announce "Opt out": a call to all "hacktivists" and thinkers who dare to question and challenge the status quo, the societal construct where we live in. Using decentralized technology and collective autonomy to shake its very foundations - made of bureaucracy, institutions, and authoritarian legacy.
The Opt Out competition grants $9000 in USDT to the best writers, and it expands over three (3) main themes for nine months - making it one of the longest writing contests in the history of Web3.
It combines the core principles of decentralized technologies, inviting hackers and writers to push them forward - exploring these concepts from a creative and/or technical standpoint alike.
We start by opting out of a system that doesn’t represent us, and after 9 months we arrive to define a whole new #system shaped through collective autonomy.
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[Active Contests: Create your own Standard & Break ties with the Status Quo]
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Rationale
Decentralized technologies are designed to implement “unstoppable, self-enforcing rules (and logic)” at a systemic level - pretty much the very definition of Autonomy. And yet, a quick buck or a brief moment in the spotlight constantly draws us back - with enthusiastic disclaimers about “crypto main adoption.”
💡 Reminder: we won't take back our rights by "dialoguing with institutions."
Opt out goes in the opposite direction, and it’s a way to genuinely reclaim the ethos behind decentralized technologies, communities, and economies.
Decentralization gives us the chance to rebuild a more human society from the ground up - from financial systems to governance and the very concept of “state.”
We have the responsibility to use that chance, and do something with it.
So don’t settle. Don't negotiate. Don't compromise.
Opt out of a system that doesn't represent you.
By “opting out”, we commit to more than a mere gesture – we are opting out of a society that doesn’t represent us, and in turn, we're accessing a web of trust where connections and actions are verifiable and intentional.
About AÌ„ut Labs
Ä€ut is a collective building decentralized standards for self-sovereign Identity (SSID, IAM), Reputation and Communities (DAOs, Hacktivists, Network States, etc.).
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A laboratory of experimentation, pushing the boundaries imposed by the status quo.
Our protocols are designed to implement autonomy and personal freedom at a systemic level - in an effort to accelerate the transition from hierarchical power structures, to self-organizing forms of coordination.
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3 Contests, $9000 (in USDT Prizepool), 18 Winners!
There will be a total of 3 contests. These contests unfold over nine (9) months, with three (3) core themes. There are 6 prizes for each thematic contest.
With the “Opt Out” program, we want to give people a feeling of excitement, and anger, and rebellion. Letting them feel how we've been weaved into an interwoven cage - where we individually hold the thread, but we can't districate it amongst the lines; therefore, we sew our own labyrinth that ends up strangling us in its grip.
How we've been trapped in a nightmare, giving up our own true freedom to exist and act, in exchange for an intermittent dream amongst those visions of despair. As if we were Winston Smith in 1984, "Opt out" is that empty diary that we find - where with angry movements, we scrap "FUCK THE SYSTEM" over and over again, in the impossibility of formulating a structured thought.
Opt Out goes beyond the mere act of defiance, the rebellion of oneself towards a faceless enemy. It's rather the evolution of that initial angry scribble into a coherent, structured narrative. It's a non-place where the chaotic energy of rebellion is channeled into the creation of something a-new. The journey from a primal scream of dissent to the articulate, collective voice of revolution.
Theme after theme, month after month - writers contribute to this collective diary. Not just by rejecting the nightmare they've been handed, but rather by re-appropriating their own power - re-awakening to their own potential to reshape reality. Here are the details of the three thematic contests:
Theme 1: Opt Out of a System that doesn’t represent you.
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Status
Ended
Theme 2: Create your own Standard.
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Status
Active​
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Duration
July 1st till October 9th
Contest tags
#interaction
#reputation
#trust
Template
Draft your entry for theme 2 with this template
​
Prizes
$3000 in USDT, 6 winners! Awards for the two top stories for each tag
Theme 3: Break ties with the Status Quo.
​
Status
Active​
​
Duration
July 1st till October 9th
Contest tags
#coordination
#governance
#system
Template
Draft your entry for theme 3 with this template
​
Prizes
$3000 in USDT, 6 winners! Awards for the two top stories for each tag
[Active Contests: Create your own Standard & Break ties with the Status Quo]
The Opt Out Writing Contest Rules & Guidelines
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Who Can Enter the Contest?​
Anyone over the age of 18. There are no location restrictions.
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Can I Write Under a Pen Name?
Yes! You can either use your real name, or a pseudonym when setting up your HackerNoon profile.
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How Can I Enter the Contest?
1. Signup or login with your Web3 wallet. Details here.
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2. Enter the contest with either of these templates, or feel free to submit multiple entries using both:
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3. Write your piece and ensure it aligns with the theme you choose.
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4. Each entry must include the topic-specific tag (e.g., #interaction, #trust, etc.) along with the general competition tags (#optout).
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Can I use AI to write a story?
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Sure, you can! We will notice it, though, and you will be disqualified 😇 Humans can write beautifully - and we can’t wait to read beautiful human submissions.
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How Long Will the Contest Run?​
The final stage of the contest will run for about 3 months.
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For the final stage:
Submissions open: July 1, 2024
Submissions close: October 9, 2024.
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Can I submit more than one entry to the contest?
Of course! Each story submission will count as a new entry into the writing contest.
You may also submit multiple stories per theme or take on all the themes simultaneously. The choice is all yours.​
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How are the winners selected?
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After submissions close, we’ll review all the received entries and select the finalists.​
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Next, the finalists’ stories will be voted on by HackerNoon staff.
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A total of 12 winners will be chosen: 6 winners for each theme, with 2 winners selected for each tag or main topic.​
Learn More About HackerNoon
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View Other Contests
HackerNoon Top Stories
Sponsor a Writing Contest (Contact Us)