The Celebrity Promo Trap
I've been around the platform for quite some time now. By now, I consider Steemit much like a community that builds families. I cheered, argued, debated and got to know some members on a deeper level. It is my belief that this kind of interaction is essential for any healthy relationship whether it has to do with the "real" or online world. This approach of mine also helps to separate the weeds from the chaff. Perhaps most importantly, it enables real bonding — the glue that holds any community together.
When many celebrities came aboard on Steemit, I felt the need to debate their ideas. Their approach seemed, to say the least, ...off. There was a sense of charlatanism and superficiality in every sentence. No real arguments, no objective analysis. Skin-deep approach with plenty of rhetorics seemed to do the trick for the cheering masses. They were overwhelmed by the cashflow and they expressed this excitement about Steemit passionately.
If we wanted to make Steemit look like a scam, really we couldn't have accomplished it better. Fast & Money is always a bad combination for any business when it comes to promotion. It literally raises all the possible flags to most "serious" people's minds. If its too good to be true, it probably ain't.
I understand that exposure is vital for any idea to grow — hence why some people with thousands of fans outside of Steemit got heavily rewarded. Most of them had a libertarian approach that went against the current status quo and rhymed (at least superficially) with the philosophy of the platform. Ideas of decentralization and independence were heavily embraced in their posts. The investment on them came short though. Value was not properly actualized.
Celebrities or not, people get spoiled quite fast. Once a high standard is set, one can only long for higher rewards, not lower. Being overpaid from day one with mediocre and repetitive posts doesn't leave much room for growth. Hence, when a storm eventually broke, they couldn't handle the shake.
Their ideological presence had no solid foundation other than what they got served for free — money. A brief fluctuation in price caused them to leave immediately. Their fans vanished as fast as they appeared. This pattern is not endemic to Steemit. It is observed everywhere in nature whether we are dealing with cats or spoiled brats.
Although common sense dictates that a celebrity would promote the platform positively, this is not always true. Steemit has a different psychological architecture due to the monetary reward system. A celebrity milking the rewards pool will soon leave the followers drooling. They will too try to do the same and fail. Over-excitement becomes bitter disappointment lightening-fast when it comes to your average groupie's psychology.
![](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/http://iphonescreenrepairtampa.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/fancyline600png1.png)
In order to understand why this happens, we need to properly examine the nature of the groupie. A person who follows a celebrity lacks first and foremost critical aspects of individuality. Their identity, heck, their whole world, hangs around the celebrity persona.
If their idol aspires to an idea, then their entire life revolves around them. If the celebrity gets disappointed, the effect ripples through them thus affecting the entire ecosystem. What was once organic growth that could spread beyond a narrow community becomes a poisonous infection. What was a good overblown excitement and promo talk to a friend becomes negative and bitter propaganda. We have a saying in my country that goes like this "It takes 100 good deeds to erase 1 bad". Humans can indeed be very unforgiving, especially when it comes the internet.
A celebrity is first and foremost an empty shell. Whether they are politicians, actors, models or anything else is irrelevant. A person becomes popular when they are continuously presented as generic and as sensational as possible. This is the only way to connect virally.
Finding the unique aspects that bind the masses together and then repeating the shit out of them becomes a necessity. This is the reason we often hear celebrities talk about the same concepts that revolve around trust, love, compassion and freedom. Add these magical words to any idea and you can even sell ice-cubes to an eskimo.
Thing is, celebrities know this. Having been around for quite sometime they know the tricks to keep their audience interested and excited. They know how to attract the biggest idiots that will make the most fuss — those that will attract even more idiots and consequently, revenue.
Whether we are dealing with a political party or a model, the weakest and most desperate of all groupies will create the biggest momentum. You might be wondering why you see sometimes the stupidest newsletters. Just know that they are not selling to you but rather to the fellow that is not so ...bright.
Celebrity groupies are not ideal for content creation, the heart and soul of Steemit. They are dependent on others to even exist. This is why after all why they are groupies. What they know and what they understand is what the leader propagates. They rarely have the necessary skills or motivation to form their own ideas. They had no real value to begin with and so they became parasitic.
![](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/http://www.mecohen.co.il/images/post.jpg)
I believe that Steemit needs first and foremost content creators that also like to interact with the community. I am extremely proud of this platform and this is why I am so critical. It is understandable that the growth will be slow but this is a good thing.
Celebrities can be a huge gamble. On the other hand, strong content creators that see their rewards slowly increasing based on effort and commitment, will be more likely to stick around than (sh)ill-spoiled celebrities. Content creators are also the ones that can demonstrate their hard-earned progress to others. The very fact that their experience is a demonstrable challenge (not-for-everyone mentality), will attract the right people that can give Steemit the right momentum and credibility.
![](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/http://iphonescreenrepairtampa.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/fancyline600png1.png)
Growing fast is almost never sustainable anywhere in nature. Evolution has employed specific mechanisms around us that work time after time again for billions of years now. Much like everything strong and long-lasting, Steemit can become antifragile if we nurture it properly. It can even withstand a major cryptocurrency shakedown due to the fact that it is the only currency with a solid product. It is understandable that the crypto community is packed with short-term speculators — hence the similarities in the celebrity pump and dump mentality. Nonetheless, if we are to make a dent into the current crypto-sphere we would need to drastically change the way upon we are promoted. Celebrities shouldn't be attracted by the money we give, but rather the people we can provide.
![](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/http://i64.tinypic.com/j7spk2.png)
Articles like this are much more valuable for the platform than the presence of celebrities. But Ashton Kutcher on Steemit would not hurt :).
thank you. I sense a "chikoupaouaouo" moment from your part :)
Celebs are like Pharaohs of old sitting pretty on their pyramids and slaves, I quickly lost interest in worshipping celebs when I started questioning the world
similar story here.
Hey @kyriacos! Your article hits on several important issues for the Steemit community.
Excellent comment. Couldn't agree more.
Great comment. It really summarizes the article of @kyriacos!
Awesome article as well ;)
thank you man
"Celebrities shouldn't be attracted by the money we give, but rather the people we can provide." Very well put, @kyriacos.
I do a fair bit of work in social media and online advertising these days and i would hate for celebrities and "influencers" to be the focus of steemit's marketing strategy. With the right amount of money, they will promote anything. Just look at the Fyre Festival and how quickly that descended into a farce.
You make some excellent points. My favourite one is here:
I'm sure there are people out there who have big followings who might understand the potential of something like Steemit. If they truly "get it" they will not abandon ship when things get tough.
They will likely not be true celebrities as such - I don't think those kind of people need to come on to a new platform until it is already mainstream.
We should therefore concentrate on the kind of people who are more appropriate.
couldn't have said it better myself
Yeh it's a tough one, I would like to see celebrities coming in at a slow pace but also having artists, proper musicians, writers and people who really add to this site. Unfortunately how could we ever control this and we don't want to control it really. But I dont know maybe if there are measures in place whatever they may be in the future to guard against some of the negative aspects then this place will thrive well.
time will only tell. for now we can only be vigilant.
This is true for almost every member. I've had many come to me and say "my first post was rewarded x posting rewards, why the others so much lower??"
Absolutely this. Many have asked me why I don't promote Steemit so much on youtube/twitter and waste time on Twitch, but I feel the streamers there are hands down some of the best to communicate with their audience. Not sure if its because of the only gateway being the live chat compared to youtube's spam of comments filled with 50% trolls or other sites where the audience doesn't get much connection with their "celebrity". This often depends on how big of a celebrity they are or how big they see themselves to be, this is also very different for many.
I know youtubers and streamers who have subs in the thousands yet take the time to interact with their audience and base a lot of their content around them while there are others who think tens of thousands are good enough for them not to waste time on them or maybe even have an assistance do all the work pretending to be them.
That difference can also play a big role in what you were talking about the celebrities that know their audience and abuse them knowing they don't know any better to believe them, some celebrities abuse it more than others while possibly being a complete hypocrite about the content they preach. It all comes down to the big Fake vs. Real which is being bent and abused so much in the world lately it can make it confusing to the best of us.
A few days ago I stumbled upon a video about instagrammers using fake weights to try and get that extra fame and attention. There are no boundaries on greed or integrity in the world anymore, I hope we as a community will be more careful with how we spread our value along this time around but I am sure that with a bigger user-base and a delay in posting rewards being paid out it will do much better than before!
Great post, btw. I might've gone a bit offtrack with my comment.
funny, I was just about to add a comment to this and see that @michellectv beat me to it! I was going to add that even as our YouTube channel was approaching 100,000 subs, we still took the time to respond to comments as best we could, especially if they were meaningful ones. Of course, at that level it does get increasingly more difficult, but it's still important to stay humble and show appreciation to those who helped get you there in the first place. Plus, it's a two way street as some of our best fans were also a great source of knowledge, inspiration, and insight as well.
Excellent response, really! I would add that a) content is crucial, but equally important is the quality of engagement from followers rather than quantity that matters most... and b) having big numbers (unless it's in the multi-millions) really doesn't amount to much on many social platforms anymore because most followers/subscribers no longer receive notifications (e.g. YT, Twitter, FB pages)...I could also add the issue of bots to this list... they can be beneficial until they become inauthentic, spammy pariahs (e.g. Instagram).
Definitely on track because really, this is all what has comes down to. People simply got bored of the old way of following. They need engagement. Real comments, Real interaction. The "ice cold" mode of the author being disengaged for more 'prestige' doesn't work. It looks duchy. If you are that busy to not be able to interact with those who support you then you shouldn't be earning that much to begin with.
I think Steemit can take this REAL value, human interaction, the most valuable asset along with the content and monetize the shit out of it. This is what it all comes down to.
"I think Steemit can take this REAL value, human interaction, the most valuable asset along with the content and monetize the shit out of it. This is what it all comes down to."
Yes.
:)
Let's become antifragile, Steemit!
Taleb would definitely like that you need to have "skin in the game" aka Steem Power in order to benefit properly from the platform.
Would it go against your entire article if Taleb started posting here instead of medium?
Eventually high-profile, quality content creators will start to migrate to steemit (sorry, medium).
I'm thinking if people like Taleb, Sam Harris maybe Tim Ferris or similarly-statured public thinkers/intellectuals started blogs here, I think that would be a good thing. Maybe the leaders within each of the communities created around those people would also become bigger fish on steemit?
Maybe creating steemit wealth within that community instead of focused on the main person is possible?
I certainly agree with the main thrust of your post, but I also don't want to scare off every person with a following. The individual communities that could be created within steemit could benefit everyone. Maybe we just need to not shower them with upvotes right away? Make them earn their stripes?
I don't know what the right answer is, but it's certainly worth thinking about as steemit continues to grow.
Thanks for your posts! I've really been enjoying them. You're one of the reasons I'm making steemit my first stop online these days.
Very thoughtful comment! I am also thinking that they will be valuable IF they get to enjoy with the rest. The point here is to get the RIGHT celebrities.
Yes, the ones that understand the platform and are looking to add value and share it with their community. Not the ones looking to milk their followers for more money. I think we're on the same page.
"Celebrity groupies are not ideal for content creation, the heart and soul of Steemit. They are dependent on others to even exist"
But couldn't you say the same about the non-celebrity content creators here though? I mean, monetary value or not, people publish largely for notoriety, if they didn't they'd just write the stuff down and hide it in a drawer somewhere.
It's the engaging kind of content creator-cum-interactors that you refer to here that's needed, in order for Steemit to thrive, and I don't necessarily think being a celebrity nor being only interested in the financial benefits of the activity precludes someone from filling that role. The popularity of Reddit's AMAs is one example that springs to mind - most everyone participating is shilling for something or another, but they pay for it with their time and their willingness to interact beyond a cursory level.
LOL I do have boxes of stuff I've written and never shown anyone. I don't publish for notoriety, but to learn. The value in comments to me is criticism. I'm rarely wrong, because as soon as I find out I am, I change my mind.
I need people to tell me when I'm wrong, so that I can get right. That's a lot of why I write posts. So I am just as dependent on people as any celebrity, but, I think, for all the right reasons.
One of the greatest potentials of Steemit is to break the Celebrity model. When all the commenters receive some benefit from their comment, the community is strengthened. Concentration of wealth in one party is a failed paradigm, but it is the way of the world nonetheless, because Steemit just got here, and it isn't completely jiggered properly yet.
On the Alaskan island where I grew up, the Chief held a potluck to share out the wealth of the tribe before all the fish started stinking. Ostensibly the Chief owned all the fish, but fish aren't a very durable means of storing value, and this forces equity sharing.
Steemit can capitalize on that concept, and is. There remains a problem that does need to be addressed, though. The Chief couldn't give a brave he thought was leering at his squaw a -fish. He could give him less fish than others, or no fish, but he couldn't downvote him.
That's a change Steemit needs to make, because it's gonna cause a whole slew of problems, and preclude broad adoption in the long run.
So, not everyone seeks adulation, and celebrity is the enemy of equity. Steemit can be a cure, by promoting an more egalitarian sharing of the value of content.
This demotes the Chief, but still shares the fish.
The difference is that those authors try to show. The "effort" factor is huge. Followers know this. If they see a content creator that tries over a period of time and gets only some rewards while another earns thousands by just popping in the platform, then this creates the false impression about what the platform is all about.
Celebrities don't even bother to do that. They rather separate themselves from the crowd. This also has been demonstrated here from a few celebrities.
Exactly.
Some very interesting posts. The celebrities are a gamble. The groupies that get attracted purely due to celebrities can be a problem, in the ways you describe above.
On the other hand, celebrities increase the visibility of the platform even to those who are not groupies, but rather just have an interest for some other reason.
Visibility alone though doesn't quite cut it. We saw this for over a year now. Like I said, if they get disappointed they are more likely to spread negative rumors.