Reputation. Is it really just a number, or maybe not?
I've read a couple of posts this week, whose authors gave some great examples of what "Reputation" really is, and if it should be taken seriously or not. So, from my point of view, it should be taken seriously and I'll explain the reasons why.
When a new steem account is given to you, your reputation is 25. So we all have the same starting point. What people need to understand is that reputation is linked to our wallets. What that mean is that the more rewards you have, the faster your reputation goes up. Especially in the beginning it is really easy to reach up to 50. All it takes is a few good posts, some decent rewards and Boom! You reach 50 almost in no time.
But it is also a number that can be gamed. How? By sending Steem / SBD to promotion services such as bots in return for big upvotes. What the algorithm "see" is that an account with millions of SP casted a huge vote on your post. Therefor you have big rewards. Hence your reputation goes up really fast. Now if you've paid hundreds of Steem / SBD's and by the time the post pays out you are on loss is a different story. This is exactly how it works.
And just because it can be gamed easily, at least up to a certain point, some people used their creativity and claimed a lot more "Byteballs" almost a year ago, in one of the biggest airdrops ever happened. On a side note its price back then was like 150$....
The rules were pretty simple:
Is your reputation between 25 - 29? You can claim X tokens.
Is your reputation between 30 - 39? You can claim 2X tokens.
Is your reputation between 40 - 49? You can claim 3X tokens.
Is your reputation between 50 - 59? You can claim 4X tokens.
Is your reputation between 60 - 69? You can claim 5X tokens.
Is your reputation 70+ ? You can claim 6X tokens.
So guess what. They created dozens of accounts, made a couple of posts on each one of them, bidbotted those posts really high and as a result they reached reputation 50 effortlessly....Unfortunately there were no free downvotes back then and nobody was giving a shit...That way thousands if not millions of tokens ended up being in the wrong hands...
Now the real reason I made this post wasn't to tell you about this story. This is probably known to everyone who has been around over the last 15 months. So yesterday in an attempt to find new authors to follow or even newcomers that might need a sort of guidance after visiting the new and the introduceyourself sections...I had a mini rant. Things look...bad over there...
So I said to myself. Today you'll keep searching. You'll also keep reading posts from people you already follow and you'll check the commentators. There is no way you can't find 5 worthy blogs to follow... And so I did...kept searching for the past 2 hours.
And what does reputation have to do with that ffs?
Oh, it does. You see I stumbled upon a few people whose reputation score was 70+. Being a 70+ simply mean that either you are among the very first people who joined this place (trust me I am stuck on 69 for months) or that you used to be / still are a bot abuser. Period. So I digged deeper. You see, blockchain never lies and thank God it's transparent.
Apparently they were not bot abusers. What that means is that their score reached that high because of their organic rewards. Some of them had pretty good blogs too. But unfortunately for them, they also had...empty wallets. From where I stand it's unthinkable a 70+ account to have an empty wallet and keep being active. And by empty I mean, they are holding something between 500 - 1000 SP.
Long story short, they had powered down everything. The funny thing is that they still have massive support which is kinda odd....And this is why, at least for me, reputation should still be taken seriously.
It feels like they have no reasons to "build" anything along with the rest of us here. Especially now, where Steem is sitting at the range of 0.16$. This is definitely the kind of people that I won't support or follow.
But that's just me....
Your Steem...your choice...
I am not suggesting that people should stay "vested" till the end of times. But Steem needs us now...more than ever, and by killing the price for a few pennies won't make things better.
Food for thought..
Cheers!
In a great economy, you have spenders and savers and investors.
There are many talented people who maybe live close to the edge financially.
In a tough alt-coin economy, many who live with Steem are supplementing their income with Steem and in terms of Steem's value that is an expensive thing to choose to do.
As the alt-coin markets heat up and we start to see some marketing reach... We will stop being so fussy about some people choosing to spend.
However, I do tend to support those who are invested with finances and not just time. Mostly due to the depression and the idea that those who are needing an income may not survive the end of this altcoin depression.
Oh sheesh, I am editing to say this comment was a response to those who might have a high rep and a empty wallet.
While I agree, there are some points where I also disagree. Like this one.
Reaching 78 organically is an achievement. That means thousands of thousands of steem landed in your wallet. It's one thing choosing to spend a portion down and another to have a completely empty wallet.
Empty wallet means also: Hey keep upvoting my stuff while I will contribute to no one around here...
On a side note...would it be a good idea if we could raise some funds for those who are proven on the edge? I would happily contribute.
I know that there are people who live close to the edge. I wish things were better for them. I really do. I wish things looked better for each and everyone of us. But almost all fiat economies are broken. Literally all...
Excellent point. Level 78 and no steem is milking. :)
I agree. I was thinking at 70, there might be decent reasons.
By the way, I also was 69 FOREVER. 70 went by quickly. Weird how that works, I almost wonder if 69 is broken. :)
Damn...and I thought I was the only one who had that feeling
On second thought...69 is #sexy! :)
HAHAHA after reading all the comments I think this is very good for a good laugh ..
Regards
:)
Maybe coincidence but I just posted a celebration post about reaching 60 rep 😂
I chose the hard path and try to contribute for a natural growth of my reputation.
Maybe it doesnt say a lot, but at least I keep building my rep as well as sp.
I understand the arguments of people who think rep score is not very reliable because of the bidbot usage. But if you check out the users posts you can easily see if the score is based on natural growth or bidbot use.
Posted using Partiko iOS
Congratz @lion200 :)
At the end of the hard path there is always that...great view my friend.
Reached 60 eh? Sweet!
:) I hope so.
Hello my dear @mindtrap interesting article you share today, very good story, but I did not know about it, I arrived in February 2018 and I remember a few months ago the rise of the Bytebal, I could never get, because I was a rookie trying to navigate to safe harbor but Without a compass, I didn't know where to go.
I found myself @crypto.piotr when I was about to leave the platform and embarked on an initiative called "project hope" saving me from leaving the platform, since then I have been struggling to survive by striving to bring quality content.
Woo good initiative, continue urging on this platform, I am sure you will find some really valuable accounts that are worth following and supporting.
My reputation so far is 58 and it has cost me a lot to get there, if you check my wallet you will not find large amounts of steem, if you check my blog you may find some publications that interest you.
In agreement with you, we must make an effort to keep generating content in steemit, we love this platform more and we must move forward so that it continues to grow, particularly this platform has given me a lot, more than income, training and interacting with people very valuable with which I have learned many things.
@fucho80
I share a lot of what you tell.
I also came to this network a few months ago and was taking blind steps. I was glad to meet people who would guide me and give me ideas on how to integrate into the community.
Hi @mindtrap
Wow I think I am able to find out something I did not know about the comment of "Byteballs" when they launched that, my reputation was 40, but little by little I have managed to get where I am.
I do not deny that I have used bots, but since I do not have much steem to pay for those bots, I do not use them, I also started to get the accounts of the performance of that payment and the payment of them and I realized that I was losing, so That was another reason not to use them anymore.
At the moment I have a reputation of 63 but it cost me a lot to get there and much more it costs when I don't get to be seen even though I give my best and much more of me in my publications. I have succeeded with many but I also fail with others, however here I will continue, steemit for me and my family changed my life for the benefit and quality, I must mention that I live in Venezuela.
But I must also recognize that this change of HF21 in my regard has been for the best, the thrill of seeing a publication of mine exceeding $ 10 is somewhat insurmountable, since my publications did not exceed 1$.
Now I can say yes, and that fills me with much happiness and also increasingly increases my reputation.
I hope to continue doing what I like inside steemit.
I send you a big fraternal hug from Venezuela.
I started on stemit for an invitation that came to me months ago, I did not think much, but I reasoned that I was already writing on other platforms without monetarizing the content I shared, so I thought there was no reason not to participate in this new network.
And here I am, meeting interesting people, sharing and commenting on news that caught my attention and writing everything that I find interesting.
Personally, I still don't understand the effects of the HF21 change, but when my posts rarely exceed $ 1, but I guess I'll see it sometime.
I thank you for recommending me this publication to be able to understand a little better the issue of reputation within the network.
Thank you so much for your input my friend
Hi @mindtrap
That's indeed valid topic. I was wondering many times what other users think about reputation and if they even bother to look at it, or do they only care about size of wallets (SP).
not to mention that reputation doesn't really affect and mean anything. 50 or 60 or 70, really there is no difference. Our publications are not getting any extra visibility if our rep is higher. Our upvotes do not have more power. Our votes on witnesses are also determined on something else.
In my personal view, reputation indeed is a very broken and miningless measure.
Upvted. Cheers
Piotr
While it seems meaningless at the same time it’s also an indicator of how people operate their accounts
For me given the fact that it grew organically it counts a lot. If for example somebody downvoted me and from 64 went let's say 55-60 it would hurt. If on the other hand i had built it with bots i wouldn't give a fuck whether it's 70 or -50
Ahhhh, byteballs... The cow that still keeps giving! I am so glad I had many old ALTs the time the airdrop took place! And now, after a year of patience I continue to make money from them:D Not my fault their airdrop was so easy to exploit. When you run an airdrop you must make sure you get something in return and somehow get people to actually get involved and like your project. They didn't so everyone just dumped. 😂😂😂
As for big accounts with zero wallets, I had made a similar rant a month ago or something. So many 70+ accounts, with zero wallets.. the irony is that the ones who still have support often preach how awesome steem is (yet they sell every last steem they make instead of vesting some) and the ones that don't have support anymore complain the whales got greedy and don't vote for them anymore. 😂
Having alts and take advantage of this isn’t your fault. Creating hundreds of alts when you found out about it, pump them to 50 by bidbotting and take advantage of it makes you an ass...
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