Reputation
As an example, I have watched my own Reputation score climb slowly since I have been here and it is now 58. I am very proud of that, as I have been working very hard to support others while networking and growing on the platform!
Another Steemian who joined the platform about the same time I did shared the triumph that they had reached a Reputation score of 60 recently. Another Steemian who joined two months after me is already a 62 Reputation! Don't get me wrong: I am very happy for them, no doubt! They deserve it! But, it also made me wonder what I might be doing wrong to not be there, too, simultaneously.
According to the FAQ on Steemit:
- Your reputation goes up when accounts vote on your content.
- Users with a lower reputation score are unable to affect your reputation.
- Every time another user upvotes one of your posts or comments, it increases your reputation score. The more Steem Power that the voter has, the larger the effect is.
So, apparently, the Steemian that reached Repuation 60 already has done so because more higher-rep people have upvoted their content than mine. The FAQ goes on to say:
- The reputation score is one way Steemit measures the amount of value you have brought to the community.
- The best way to earn upvotes is by adding value to the Steemit community.
Well, darn it, that is what I thought I was doing. I take great care with my posts. The post you are reading now has been crafted by me, carefully, over the course of a roughly four-hour period: thinking, typing, proofreading, changing, tweaking, formatting, proofreading again, moving things around, re-formatting, re-proofreading, and so forth. I would not be happy with it, otherwise.
I also feel that I am generous with my upvotes/comments to others' posts. If anyone disagrees, please let me know!
- I proofread my posts multiple times, before posting as well as after posting, for errors in spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
- I make an effort to construct my sentences in a manner that makes my point clear, without ambiguity.
- I make an effort to refrain from using idioms that might be confusing to those whose first-language is not English.
- I make an effort to carefully balance the formatting of my posts, so that they flow easily and are pleasant to read.
- I make an effort to keep my content interesting and understandable by explaining things in simple language.
- I make an effort to include at least one photo/image with each post so that it is not merely dry-text.
- I make an effort to include as many of my own photos/images as possible, and only resort to using a borrowed image when necessary. On those occasions, I make a conscious effort to cite the source of the image/photo.
- I make an effort to ensure that my posts are always interesting in some way: either from a helpful viewpoint, an educational perspective, or from entertainment value.
- I make an effort to post frequently-enough to keep a decent flow of content coming, but not so frequently as to drive people away by the sheer quantity of posts.
- I never engage in "tag abuse" and always carefully pick the main-tag and auxiliary tags for my posts. Even when posting from Steepshot where more than five tags are allowed, I never add them frivolously and without thought.
Yesterday, @lynncoyle1 mentioned Where Do Your Upvotes Go?, a post by @abh12345 which offered to generate a pie chart showing how any given user's outgoing upvotes were being distributed among other Steemians. The pie chart he generated for me shows that most of my outgoing upvotes are aimed at Redfish (those with less than 500 SP) and Minnows (those with less than 5000 SP) vested into the platform.
• MY OUTGOING UPVOTES, CHART BY @abh12345 •
| CLASS | STEEM POWER |
|---|---|
| Redfish / Plankton | < 500 |
| Minnow | > 499 & < 5000 |
| Dolphin | > 4999 & < 50000 |
| Orca | > 49999 & < 500000 |
| Whale | > 499999 |
Thanks again to @abh12345 in Where Do Your Upvotes Come From?, I learned that my incoming upvotes chart looks like this, with very few Dolphins, Orcas, and Whales upvoting me:
• MY INCOMING UPVOTES, CHART BY @abh12345 •
Perhaps I need to start paying more attention to posts of people with higher Reputation than me, to foster support from them rather than those with a lower Reputation than mine? However, that sounds rather pretentious and like "gold-digging" to me. Besides, if few of us reach-down to help pull others upward, how will those below us grow?
What I am doing now is to network on Discord and the Steem blockchain, upvoting what naturally comes my way that is of value, without looking for posts by any particular Reputation or vested-SP.
Regarding networking, I am in The Alliance, Steemit Bloggers, Steemit Ramble, PALnet, VO,TU, Steem Sugars, Golden Project, L❤Â, Steem Community Coalition, Helpie, Whaleshares, The Steem Experience, AIR-Clinic, T-Pot, and a double-handful of other communities. People who join servers often say to me, "Oh! You're here, too? You're eveerywhere!" So, networking alone does not seem to be the problem.
I encountered another person on the platform not long ago that was celebrating his becoming a Dolphin with 5,000 SP after only six months on the platform. Heck, I've been here eleven months and have yet to break 800 SP — and about 60 SP of what I have was purchased by me when the price was low a while back and I scraped-together a little to invest. He attributed his success to "working hard," but I have been doing that, too, almost all-day, every single day since I've been here. The only difference is that I haven't made $150 here, $60 there, $300 yonder, on posts like he has miraculously done, yet his posts are no more quality-content than mine, per my own estimation.
Am I incorrect in thinking that my blogs have quality? Perhaps I am blogging about the wrong things? Do I need to make longer posts with even more research than I am doing now? I have no clue.
In the end, though, I must admit that I am having fun on the platform, I value the networking and friendships that I have made, and I have accumulated crypto-value that I did not have before I came onto the Steem blockchain. So, I am grateful for all those things, despite my lower-Reputation score and lower-SP than some others who on-boarded the same time as me, or later.
Critique and comments are welcome. Thank you, in advance!
😊
a big hug is due to @enginewitty for designing the following personal banner for me 🤗
I hear exactly what you are say @thekittygirl and here's my two cents worth ...
Don't compare yourself to others here; there's too many invisible things going on. Some buy sbd/steem and that can increase their rep. Some use bots on their posts, so they get a bigger post payout and their rep increases quicker. Not long ago, I compared myself to others who joined about the same time as me, and it did nothing but make me go crazy and question what I was doing, like you are doing here.
Your pies from @abh12345 show a lot of attention downwards, which is awesome, but as you are well aware, the votes coming in are smaller too. The great thing is that you have developed that community around you and as they all grow, so do their upvote value. There is something to say though about looking upwards as well as down. That doesn't mean attaching yourself to the big whales like an annoying barnacle haha (I know you totally never would do that!!), but I've found one 'bigger' person whose content I love, and he now supports my posts ... sometimes. But those times make a difference.
Stick to what you're doing, and do what you love here. The rest will all fall into place in good time ... or not haha, but as long as you're enjoying the people here and the relationships you've made and continue to make, what else really matters? That's what I've decided anyway :)
I have said for a long time that the REP system needs overhauled. When a person can start with a REP of 25 and by the time their intro post is done 7 days later and they have surpassed the 55 or 60 mark with that one post that wasn't that great to begin with something is wrong.
I think it is fine with what ever money they get on the post but I think that REP should not be jacked up that quickly, because it is supposed to be a reflection of your reputation in the community.
I remember one young lady who came on here and her bikini clad body that was well tanned got her REP well past my low 50's score in like three days. She never made another post after that and never even claimed her earnings the last time a checked. My guess is she never bothered to secure her password and keys so when she logged out she was locked out. Very deserving of the high REP? I don't think so and I think their are plenty of others who would agree with my take on it.
You do excellent work and help in more places than anyone could shake a stick at, so keep at it and keep your head up.
Keep at it. I read and appreciate your posts. Although there are amazing initiatives on the Steem blockchain that are designed to reward quality, the actual reward going to even those posts is often not commensurate with the effort put into the posts. I'm afraid that many wealthy users are simply delegating their SP to make passive income. Of course, there votes go to people willing to pay--something that has little to do with quality of posts.
Some will tell you that in the publishing world many don't make it at all, even those of high quality. While true, the inequality on Steem means that even if you get a lot of upvotes, they are likely to be from very small users who don't have much more to give than .001. Then over the week, due to those vote sellers and buyers, your reward goes down even more.
Some will say that its ok because facebook doesn't pay anything; however, very few people spend much time on facebook posts. My typical payout on Steem would be great for a 30 second facebook page, but simply doesn't work for a 4 hour post.
The end result is that you have to find ways to compensate yourself for you work, such as through affiliate programs, or by using Steem posts to point readers to things you might be selling.
It would help if Steem supported upvotes on old posts, since then you would have a chance of continuous rewards and it may break the chain of the vote buyers.
I have started to add a note at the end of my posts for readers who want to upvote old posts. I tell them to leave a comment that I can reply to. Then they can upvote the comment.
Proud member of #steemitbloggers @steemitbloggers
Reputation hardly matters...many people are using Bidbots on their shitpost are rapidly moving high on reputation....Feel good that you are giving so much time in so many community..the backbone of steemit...👍 you are the google search engine with every details with clicks of your finger....really appreciate your presence
Posted using Partiko Android
howdy this fine Saturday thekittygirl! I agree with the commenters who have already spoken and I would echo the lovely and wise lynncoyle1 by saying that you are doing everything right. I mean everything..and you are a great role model for us younger steemians to follow. Just keep posting what is meaningful to you, it's a blessing to us all.
Your posts are good quality @thekittygirl and you do a great job of engaging with others on the platform. It seems that some higher SP voters don't find you frequently.
I find that for the most part, I just keep on doing what I do and seeing what happens while having some fun.
well from what I've read of our posts, they are always well written, and I can assure you I don't spend the time you do on any posts I write, unless it would be a tutorial on something.
I try not to post too often, usually once a day, sometimes twice... I just like to write.
We are SO proud to have you as a member of our
FANTABULOUS @steemitbloggers family!
uvoted and resteemed!
❤ MWAH!!! ❤
interested in joining the Steemit Bloggers Community?
Who knows what is going on the background to affect the numbers that we see (rep, sp and reward payout). Where the votes and from or who has paid who. Also, sp can be bought on exchanges as well, so that is not really a good thing to compare either!
I know it is an easy thing to say, but don't compare those numbers, it is only going to be a depressing path... I know that sometimes I do as well, and I really have to stop myself. Social media envy is such a toxic thing to fall into...