Blue Buzz? What's that?
Recently, with the return of ads to Civitai, we introduced a new type of Buzz called Blue Buzz. Unlike Yellow Buzz, which is directly tied to real-world value and can be purchased, tipped, and traded between Civitans for services (Bounties), Blue Buzz has a different role. It’s awarded to new accounts upon sign-up, and can be earned by viewing ads while you browse.
While Blue Buzz can’t be transferred or cashed out like Yellow Buzz (details on that to follow!), it’s still a valuable resource on the site, supplementing your Yellow Buzz to power certain features and services across the site, such as Image Generation, and now LoRA Training.
So What's Changing?
Previously, you’ve been able to collect a daily amount of Yellow Buzz through the "Claim" button in the Image Generator, as well as through community interactions like giving reactions, uploading images, and following creators. Moving forward, these "active" rewards will now distribute Blue Buzz instead of Yellow Buzz.
But don’t worry - Yellow Buzz isn’t going anywhere! You’ll still earn Yellow Buzz when others engage with your content, such as by collecting your models, posting images to your models, or helping keep the community safe by reporting ToS violations.
Additionally, Yellow Buzz will remain the currency for Creator Buzz Compensation, Image Generator tips, and direct tipping on images or to creators. Bounties will also continue to use Yellow Buzz.
Improved Blue Buzz Visibility
When Blue Buzz was first introduced, it wasn't included in your Buzz Dashboard, and could only be seen in the bottom left corner of the Generation Panel. We understand that this was confusing and quite inconvenient!
With this update, we’ve made it easier to manage your Buzz by bringing Blue Buzz right into your Buzz Dashboard alongside your Yellow Buzz. Now, you’ll see both balances clearly displayed, and Blue Buzz will also appear in your recent transactions list, so you can keep track of how you’re earning and spending.
Why Make These Changes?
There are a couple of important reasons for these updates. First, it's a step forward in our ongoing battle with "Buzz Farming" bots; bad-actors exploiting the system by creating automated scripts to farm Yellow Buzz through new accounts. This behavior undermines the integrity of the platform and makes it difficult to implement a sustainable Buzz buyback system, where users could get paid real money for their Yellow Buzz. To ensure this feature works fairly for everyone, we need to prevent this kind of abuse.
Secondly, it’s important to understand that allowing users to claim "free" Yellow Buzz and then cash it out would be like printing free money! You don't have to be an economist to see that’s not a viable business model in the long term. To keep things balanced, think of this update like a system you’ve probably seen in many games. Most games today have two types of currency: one tied to purchases, and another used for in-game services that doesn’t have any direct value. Yellow Buzz will continue to be your "premium" currency, while Blue Buzz is like an in-game resource, allowing you to interact with certain site features without any direct cash-out option.
These changes are necessary to keep the platform fair, sustainable, and growing in the right direction.
What This Means for You
We understand that this is a significant change, but we’ve been mindful of timing it to minimize disruption. We waited until Blue Buzz was fully integrated into both the Image Generator and LoRA Trainer, and trackable in your Buzz Dashboard, before making the switch.
While you might notice you're accruing less Yellow Buzz, rest assured, you won’t be locked out of our most popular services. You’ll still be able to interact with the community and access the tools you love, with Blue Buzz.
Blue Buzz + Yellow Buzz for LoRA Training. Blue Buzz will always be taken first, before yellow Buzz is used, for both LoRA Training and Image Generation.
In short, you can keep earning and spending Blue Buzz, and Yellow Buzz will remain available for key activities.
The Future of Buzz
Any adjustments to Buzz are thoroughly considered and debated before decisions are made. These changes are designed to ensure that Civitai remains a sustainable platform while also introducing new ways to support our incredible Creator Community - that’s you guys!
Our goal is to keep building a platform that benefits creators and users alike, while maintaining a system that can grow and thrive for the long term, and we appreciate your support!