They’re Killing SteemIt! We Need To Act!
There’s a lot I don’t understand about SteemIt (yet), but there this one thing in particular that really bothers me...
A Lot Of Work, Small Rewards
Although I’ve been active on SteemIt for 4 months now, there’s still a whole lot that don’t understand.
I know you can earn by posting, upvoting and commenting. I also know that when you get more Steem Power your influence grows and you get more comments and upvotes so you will earn more. I’ve learned that social interaction really pays off, and that you should be careful when delegating SP if you also want to vote manually.
I’ve just transferred to a new account, so I’m going to need all those things I’ve learned to get this account up to the level of my previous account - @mike314-0005 - in the shortest time possible.
So I’ve been working my ass off trying to write good posts - which is not as easy as you should think, since:
A) there’s nothing in particular I’m good at.
B) I only know little of many things. There’s nothing I’m an expert in.
C) English isn’t my native language.
I’m not the greatest writer, nor the smartest person, but I give it my best to try to deliver posts that meet up to some standards.
What’s Bothering Me
One one side I see people with a reputation of +65 create posts that contain no more than 5 lines (regularly about a crypto that has gone up or down). Or they post only a video (created by themselves or someone else) - without even adding an intro. Or how about those that simply take a screenshot of the Coinmarketcap website and call it a ‘high quality article’? Nevertheless, they are generating 40-80SBD for every single one of those posts.
On the other side I see posts made by people in a kind of English that is almost impossible to understand, let alone that one can figure out about the content quality. It’s pretty demotivating to see those post generate 5 times the amount my posts generate.
Am I Too Soft And Naive?
I’m absolutely aware of my limits and I have accepted the fact that’ll never become a really big player here on SteemIt. I simply don’t have the knowledge, nor the writing skills to become a big whale. But that won’t stop me in my quest to reach a point at which I can turn my posts into real pofits.
I realize my articles aren’t top notch, but I really hope that in the long run, my posts will become of more value than those of copycats and people who bring little quality but get high rewards, simply because they have a community around them that upvotes their post no matter what, either because of politics or popularity.
But then again... maybe I’m being too soft and naive. Maybe I should simply play along and don’t bother about ethics. Everyone knows it’s not to good guys that win the game...
There Is Still Hope
I see more and more people trying to raise awareness, and I’m very thankful for that. Mainly because it’s becoming more obvious every day: if we don’t manage to turn this around,
we’re going to KILL SteemIt!!!
I truely hope it’s not too late already, but if we want to save SteemIt, we need to take action.
So this goes out to all the people that care about SteemIt and are willing to step up in order to reset the balance between quality and earnings, and to discourage spam posting and commenting: speak up, try to increase awareness by any means possible. Write articles, create banners (like for example the one I add to the end of my posts. Feel free to use it if you want to), run contests, set up a challenge, ... Try to come up with something, it doesn’t matter what, but make sure that you’ll be able to say that you have tried.
Below, I’ve listed some initiatives I came across these last 2 weeks. Check them out to get some inspiration and to get your creative juices flowing. Then, get to it, because there’s a lot of work that needs to be done and we’re running out of time...
Initiatives:
Steem Aware Contest by @itwithsm
Steemit Comment Challenge by @danielsaori
Social Experiment: Mining Brain Power with Comment Farming via Rewards! by @anthonyadavidsii
Interesting articles and comment sections:
We Have the Opportunity to Make Steemit Our Own! by @bullishmoney
ABUSE ON STEEMIT... WHAT CAN WE DO? SPAM, VOTING ABUSE, REWARD POOL RAPE, DRAMA, AND FLAGS! by @charlesfuchs
Here's why Steemit IS NOT Perfect by @croata
Images source: Pixabay
Ya u r right bro we all have to take action on that !!
I don't get it, you complain about misuse and then buy tons of upvotes.... lol
Since I transferred everything to a new account, I need to start from zero (actually 25) again. I want this account back up to my old status asap.
But I never said I was against the use of bots. I’m against no-quality articles or spam content. The high payouts on the posts I mention in the article can indeed be a result of using bots, I didn’t think of mentioning that in the article, but not entirely. I see a lot of real people upvoting those posts, over and over again.
Good to see you got the account change happening @simplymike to grow is everything you mentioned.
Some arrived early and started straight away, now they have a better footing than most.
Keep going and build your own in communities and sharing.
Solid advice, thanks!
I think there are some great initiatives happening in this regard, and I think there may be a slow culture change happening.
Keep in mind that influence is determined by the amount of SP...... so some of these folk have probably invested a lot of money into STEEM.
Also check out the Minnow Support Project and Humans of Steemit
It’s true: more an more people are setting up initiatives to change the tide...
(I didn’t know about Humans of SteemIt yet. Gonna check it out instantly)
Steemit is definitely a place I feel to relax & take it easy on yourself in relation to posts. Do what comes naturally to you & you will reap rewards!
You're so right - this is a huge problem for the community. Not to mention a dick move for the people who are abusing their power in that way. An account I follow - which I won't name - just posts selfies and pictures (1/day of course) and gets 40-80 SBD per pic. Now, that is too much.
That money could go to quality writing, instead. And it would be far more deserved, if you ask me.
Don't do that. Why would you? First of all, it sets a wrong mindset. If you think you won't win, you won't.
Second, if people can become big by posting a video or a selfie, I'd say it's not that hard to make it, just keep at it. But always quality over quantity.
Honestly, I think these posters will disappear eventually, or at least I hope so.
Anyhow, it won't stop me (and I imagine you) posting my content, which I know is good.
Rock on ;)
You’re absoluely right. I shouldn’t let these things have such an influence on my mindset, and just go for it :0)
I do not understand how these short posts like the 5 liners or the screenshot posts can make this much. It takes me about an hour or so to put together a good post not to mention taking the time to take pictures or find just the right picture and it yields pennies compared to those types of posts. I just keep on doing what I feel is right and try to make good posts. Hopefully, it all works out in the end.
We should make people aware to stop voting that crap. But it won't be an easy job.
Keep on doing what you're doing! It's people like you who will help SteemIt to survive!
Correct, its all about vote for vote lately, but I hope its just a fase. The platform has a great potential, but lacks some basics for now. Remember its only the start ;)
SteemIt is indeed still in beta. I wonder how long it’s going to stay like this... 😉
You got a 13.39% upvote from @mercurybot courtesy of @simplymike!
Well you may not feel you can create much content but one thing you can bring to the table is good taste. If you see quality content upvote, follow and resteem (that last one is especially underused). People will then want to follow you as a way to bypass all those exploitative posts and get to by good stuff.
Please check out some of my articles and it you see anything you like please like and share it!