MY 2 KOBO: What I think a community should be.
What is a community?
the condition of sharing or having certain attitudes and interests in common.
Although steemit can be said to be a virtual ecosystem comprising of different people from different spheres, with different interests, I find this definition more appropriate because it highlights the agenda of a community. The steemit ecosystem is a collection of smaller communities striving to improve the overall wellbeing of the ecosystem and their niche as well--a dual mandate.
For the past few months we have been talking about building communities and a steemit middle class. I can say a lot of amazing work has been done. I have recently joined communities/initiatives like the @pifc and @minnowbuilder because I believe in what they are selling (or proposing).
However, what I have noticed in some other communities or individuals claiming to be community orientated, and what's hampering their progress, in my opinion, is the undertone of their activities. Most parade themselves as being community orientated whilst covertly they work on their agenda to build their personal accounts or that of accounts they are affiliated with. There is a lot of nepotism going on on this platform if you ask me.
However, there is nothing really wrong in wanting to grow your account by helping others, but how you go about it can be questioned. There is so much pretence on the blockchain and that will not get us far as regards community building. Favouritism has never been about merit and when the right people are not giving the support they need it makes a sham of the whole system. I left a server on discord because of this issue. They preach so much about red fishes doing more but they give little or no incentive to keep them motivated. Whether we like it or not, if one is not motivated it's only a matter of time before they fall off the path they've chosen. This is not about feeling entitled, which I know is the line of argument some may want to explore as regards this issue. I dare to say that most people only feel entitled to certain things because they deserve it. So let's dismiss this talk about entitlement which has become an escape route for selfish people.
The support I got from accounts like @minismallholding @kevinwong @markkujantunen was instrumental in solidifying my foundation on this platform. I did not have to do the usual arse-licking most top users demand of smaller account users to thrive and I am better of for it. A month later and I'm still here despite my low earning, this is because these set of person supported me during the early stages of my journey on the blockchain.
What I think a community should be?
A community should offer all it's members equal opportunities. It's not about gathering support from many small users only to leaving them hanging at the end. Communities are not supposed to be encompassing, they should be a group of selected individuals with similar goals. Because, let's face it, most new and old communities do not have the resources to cater for all their members, this leaves some members feeling cheated.
You are as strong as your weakest link.
Yes, if you do have members in your community that are getting no support from the community then that community is not doing enough in my opinion. Support is not restricted to upvotes, commenting can help, holding live chats discussing vital issues regarding the blockchain can help.
Communities should be about we not me. This is the approach most community leaders should adopt. The fact that everyone is catering for each other will lead to better circulation of the community resources. So, I'm really skeptical about people who try to use community initiatives to push their personal agenda. If you want to grow your account there are other ways to go about it, but if you claim to want to help people then you should really be willing to give more than your receive in monetary terms.
I also believe that one must earn their place in their community. This is contrary to what's happening in most communities. Many people join different communities hoping to benefit from the community's resources without contributing anything significant. I am of the opinion that nothing goes for nothing. If you want to receive you have to give. So the question I'm putting to red fishes like myself is: what are you giving?
The strength of a community does not lie in its number but the quality of its members. You might have a community of 10 persons doing far more better than a community of 1000 persons. I applaud those communities who open their doors to every and any person but this will have an adverse effect on the community's goal in the long run as they bwgin to heap up dead weight(s).
In conclusion, communities are important to the advancement of the steemit blockchain. We need more vibrant communities. There is need for old and new communities to review their activities and come up with efficient ways of achieving their goals.
Question of the day: how do most communities gauge their performance?
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I completely agree with many points you make and one that probably stands out is this:
Except it's not even dead weight that many end up taking in, but worse they take in cancer and leeches. Everyone knows that person who is just cancer, everything around them always turns to crap because they make it so. Taking in this type of person with negative attitudes can be a major drain on any community. Then you have the blood suckers who come in and only care about how much they can drain from others and have no interest in giving back. They take and take which then leaves others looking at what they are giving without getting anything in return so then they look for ways to take more creating a downward spiral if left unchecked.
We have had a few leeches and cancerous people come into and since be removed from the @pifc community. Don't think you can stop them from arriving it just takes some diligence to notice them and then remove them asap.
As for how most gauge their performance....not sure. But PIFC will be all about supporting the growth of those involved with the community. So down the road it will be all about how many minnows and dolphins we are able to help build. We naturally can't do it on our own, but working together as a community we can build minnow after minnow and from there dolphin after dolphin. Can't wait to see what things look like in 12 or 24 months from now.
well said. I also hope this community grows as I have partaken in your contest and the reception I got was great. Every week i try to find new content creators to nominate, the whole process has a ripple on the steemit ecosystem and encourages interaction amongst various classes of users.
Thank you for the mention, Nonso. I'm pleased I've made an impact in some way, as I know that my upvote isn't very impactful. :D You've answered a question I was hoping my support of you would answer and that is, can a minnow make a difference? Monetarily, probably not a huge one, but I guess it's more than just about that.
I'm interested to see what the changes bring with the communities changes that Steem Inc have planned.
You're so right that communities don't work so work as they grow beyond a certain point. Countries are a good example of that. More and more rules end up being created to try and stop certain behaviours and some will end up missing out.
I see wafrica finally got a comment right! Lol
I also see you managed to get onto the Minnow Support project. Nice one.
I hope your exams and studies are going well.
Lol, wafrica finally came to the party, thank God.
It's not all about money. You've played your part. You introduced me to @pifc and other helpful tools on the platform, so you've done well by my standard.
Exam begins on Monday. Preparation still slow but I will excel still
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Thank you for supporting the #minnowuprising initiative. I am providing you an upvote to motivate your commitment to the #Steemit community! As the platform continues to expand, it is imperative that we come together and support each others content. It is a long process to become a minnow here but also a journey well worth taking as the knowledge and learnings achieved are beneficial for our personal growth as well as a step forward to improving our engagement on the platform. Please continue supporting the #minnowuprising initiative by posting content as well as curating and upvoting content of others.
well thank you very much I will continue to do my best.
Congratulations! This post has been upvoted from the communal account, @minnowsupport, by nonsowrites from the Minnow Support Project. It's a witness project run by aggroed, ausbitbank, teamsteem, someguy123, neoxian, followbtcnews, and netuoso. The goal is to help Steemit grow by supporting Minnows. Please find us at the Peace, Abundance, and Liberty Network (PALnet) Discord Channel. It's a completely public and open space to all members of the Steemit community who voluntarily choose to be there.
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Very well said @nonsowrites! And you are most definitely correct. I wish you could have seen the progression with @pifc to where we are now. It's amazing. With every group, there are few individuals that try to take advantage of other's kindness.
@thedarkhorse and @wolfhart have the biggest hearts I have seen. They honestly and truly want this to become the norm. (I might need to hide for letting out secrets LOL) All of the long-term members who helped build this up are all wonderful people, you can ask them just about anything.
that's good to know. Let us see how far these projects go. I am optimistic about them but only time will tell what becomes of them. Fingers crossed.
We just need more people like you :) Someone that wants to help build an interactive community. Supporting each other, if we all had a pay it forward mentality, work on engagement and talking to each other like this. This is how initiatives like this survive. It does take some work and dedication. In the end, I think it's worth it.