Gaming the System by Voting on Promoted Posts
I'm sure I'm missing something, in which case the good Steemsters here won't hesitate to set me straight. But, it seems to me that the new post promotion function creates some interesting incentives, especially for whales and dolphins. Here's what I mean:
Each of us have a limited number of highly effective upvotes (at or near max voting power). Someone motivated purely be economics would want to use those upvotes in a way that maximizes potential return, right?
And people who choose to promote posts must burn Steem Based Dollars to do so, and burning those dollars benefits everyone in proportion to their stake in Steem, right? And, by definition, the more expensive it is to boost a post to the front page of the "promoted" section the more SBD that's required, right?
So wouldn't a person motivated purely by economics, and especially a whale who could influence other voters with his/her vote, choose to vote only or primarily on promoted posts (assuming the content there is decent)? Wouldn't this offer the whale better odds at a higher return? If the post does well (an it would if whales pile on), then the whale earns not only the curation reward but also benefits from the burnt SBD.
And, wouldn't a person motivated only by economics, especially a whale, want to encourage posters to pay larger and larger amounts to boost their post by especially rewarding those posts that "bid" the highest (burnt the most Steem) for the privilege of the whale's attenti0n? In other words, assuming that two posts are of similar quality, shouldn't whales favor the poster that paid the most?
And, if whales voted ONLY (or even just primarily) on promoted posts, everyone would quickly learn that the only way to make any money on Steemit is to pay to promote. And, since that's where all the money is being earned, and since whales are favoring the people who pay the most for their attention, the cost of promoting those posts to the front page would skyrocket, right? And more people paying higher amounts of SBD to promote their posts means more return to all Steem holders (in proportion to their stake, disproportionally benefiting whales), right?
Given these incentives, why would a whale, or a dolphin for that matter, vote for anything BUT promoted posts, and why would he/she not favor those promoted posts that paid MOST for the priviledge?
Finally, if this were to happen, would people continue to post on Steemit even though they have little chance of earning money unless they pay to promote? I imagine that many would. At that point, Steem would truly be a lottery as much as anything, with the people paying the most (and still posting decent content) having the best chance of "winning big."
Welcome to Vegas.
(Photos by me)
Wow nice photos! I Like your logic on this one, But I feel like most whales won't do that. They have the biggest stake on the platform. Doing something like that would hurt the platform.
I agree that they won't do something that they believe hurts the platform, but I'm not sure this does. It may even benefit it.
How would whales only upvoting promoted posts benefit the platform?
If you have to pay to get rewarded, this changes the narrative of anyone that's talented being able to create content and earn. And without that, I think the quality of the content degrades and the platform loses its value.
All else being equal, whales should favor a promoted post over a non-promoted one. But all else isn't always equal. So, non-promoted posts are likely to get votes but they may have to "work" harder to get them.
I'm not arguing if this is good or bad yet. I'm undecided. Think about the alternatives for authors:
1). Facebook, etc.--100% guarantee of making no money.
2). Own blog--could make a little money via advertising revenue, but only if you get lots of page views, which is hard.
3). Publishing --paying and/or splitting revenue with a publisher/editor/agent.
4). Writing for someone else who gets all the potential upside if something goes viral.
Compare those options to Steemit where the author has a shot at making money, can pay for eyeballs (via paid promotion of their content) directly rather than paying a publisher, and retains all the upside if something goes viral. Not a bad deal.
How funny, my girlfriend and I just got back from Vegas yesterday and had that same view at Cosmopolitan.
Cosmo, huh? good taste
Good point, Sean. The burning of steem dollars via promotion helps keep the STEEM DOLLAR inflation under control and those that promote their posts with cash are putting something at stake, showing they believe in their content. After checking my follower feed, I check promoted posts before the third section of new and trending posts.
I promoted My latest post just because i wanted to see how it worked now I know it doesnt work very well, That's what I get for being nosey
I agree, I wonder how many people check it. I personally do. But I am not sure if my promoted posts have actually done better as result.
I won't be doing it again, I had to search the promoted page for my post, It was si far down no one would go that far to read a post so it was a waste of time and money for me, You have to be able to afford a lot to get your post at the top so the well off win again
These are great questions! I wouldn't know the answer until I see some actual change within the system. So far, I would assume it would be an opportunity to redo, low voted posts, and then promote them to give old post another try. It's a good way to feed the platform, making it stronger. IMHO
I've decided to not vote on promoted posts, unless the post was promoted by someone other than the author. As I think that "Promotion" should be a way that people can feature other peoples work... but maybe I am being unreasonable with this line of thinking.
Why? Economically, that's the least rational thing you could do (assuming the post is otherwise worthy of an upvote). Selfishly, you should want people to burn their SBD promoting posts, and the only way to encourage them to do that is to reward them with upvotes.
Thats.. a good point that I had not considered.
I have been doing this for my posts. It makes me think about what the "true value" of my post is, assuming it were to actually be seen. Everyone wants to get their stuff seen, but the reality is there is a lot of crap content. If I am overvaluing my own work, then the Steemit community will benefit by me burning my SBD trying to get noticed. If I am right though, then hopefully the amount I spend increases the attention my post gets enough to pay back my investment, and hopefully earn me even more 😀
Yes. This precisely.
I hope it works out for you!
I think the main and key driver is still quality of content. Content is king. If you post good content it will attract votes, hence anyone should vote on that early because that's what's profitable (and also feels right ).
That said it will make it easier for people to notice you when you promote. That I think is the key reason why whales and anyone should check out the promo page first when looking to vote on things.
Unless your post goes viral right away, it disappears very very quickly. If you have followers u might still be in luck.
But if you have a decent post and no name then it's likely worth a shot to promote.
Yesterday I paid 50-60 for two post that I thought could be sticky. One was about photography and it only earned $2. The other made me $80 and the money and votes grew continuously over the 24h. I would have only made a few $ without the promotion. So this is valuable both for me and the curators. Of course there is cost to this as well.
I think the fact that money is being burned, is not enough of a factor to actually change behavior.
Meh, I hear your concerns, but let them have their promotable posts. I still believe that most of the good content will come from the 'minnows' among us who do not promote their posts.
I didn't say I had "concerns". I'm just simply noting that the incentives are very different than before, and ultimately people will act in the way that rewards them most.
Vegas!!!!!!!!