Some thoughts on this subject:
I do agree that this is a significant obstacle.
From my understanding the issue is not so much concerned with making sure there is a human on the other side, but rather concerned with limiting the powers that are granted through the distribution of Rep. In particular, voting.
With an automated system that grants Rep for onboarding, we can add new members through a simple one-click application process.
However, there would need to be a strict framework of limitations and obligations:
(1) Defining the minimum amount of Rep necessary to meaningfully contribute to the DAO.
(2) Limiting X amount of Rep that can be distributed to Y amount of new members within Z amount of time. (Maybe only allow at most 5 new members a month. This parameter can be altered through proposal? Have an application wait-list?)
(3) Have an active slashing system that takes away Rep from users, who, after being admitted, fail to contribute in a meaningful way. (Perhaps creating a mandatory slashing proposal for new-users to be voted on by the community after Z amount of time.)
(4) Create work for new members to contribute toward. (A to-do list that contains a myriad of tasks such as writing articles, creating memes, participating in an active WG or helping further the work of other DAO’s in the ecosystem, all of which grants new users a sense of ownership within the DAO).
An automated system that contains the incentives to participate, the consequences of non-participation, and a process for sustained and incremental growth will be vital for scaling DAO’s.
I think the creation of such a system is extremely important, and should be prioritized by the current GenDAO members.
#I believe that (4) is a critical link to creating decentralized cohesion. It’s one of the reasons why Ethereum has become the platform it is.
Almost every successful Blockchain protocol has a decentralized community that contributes toward its success. For those that don’t contribute, they immediately seek another community to join.
A byproduct of decentralization is that of granting the end-user with the mobility to move from one community to another (shifting attention).
The ability to “move across” various protocols (as well as DAO’s) results in communities whose demographics are constantly changing as new concentrations of unique individuals with different incentives begin contributing to the efforts of that community; this evolution of decentralized demographics within a community has the potential to create instability and limit the cohesion of a projects purpose, direction, and culture.
Ethereum has done a great job with creating ‘work’ for the members of their community, and has incentivized that participation through the funding of projects and enabling collaboration among the many groups building on top of the protocol. These methods of cohesion (creating meaningful work) need to be defined if the DAOStack protocol (and the DAO’s within) hope to create a thriving cohesive community that contributes toward the original vision for this project.
