Living in my own little Steemtopia : why I don't Self UpVote
When I first started on steemit I was confused by the Upvote post checkbox on the Posting page.
It seemed like an odd thing to do. Wasn't it for others to decide if my post is worthy of an upvote?
Then I asked around but everyone told that was the right thing to do. So I checked the box and upvoted my posts.
But it troubled me. It seemed to go against what I thought steemit was all about - encouraging creativity, rewarding good content and being different to the outside world that is so focussed on money and greed.
I had obviously read the wrong rule book!
Then I came across a post by @stellabelle where she declared that she was stopping upvoting her own posts.
@stellabelle is a longtime member of the steemit community and someone whose views I respected. So this made me think.
Then around the same time I saw the post by @jerrybanfield where he likewise announced that he was ending self upvoting.
These two posts convinced me. If members of the seniority of @stellabelle and @jerrybanfield were aligning behind the No SUV banner I would do likewise.
Since then I have not self upvoted. At that time of course it was financially irrelevant. The couple of cents my vote was worth really wasn't going to make any difference.
Now, having invested some $$ in steem, my vote is worth around $0.12.
12 cents is 12 cents but I live in the UK with a moderately well paying job. I don't want to be boastful but in reality it takes me only 16 seconds to earn 12 cents in my day job.
Do I need 12 cents that badly? No, I would much rather pass that on to someone else who has spent considerable time crafting a post that is not getting the rewards it deserves.
It is not hard for me to scan a few dozen posts in the New feed or in one of my favourite tags and find a post from a deserving fellow minnow that is not getting any attention.
My 12 cents upvote might just make that person feel just a little bit more appreciated on steemit and hopefully make them stick around a bit longer. And if I can engage with their post with a useful and relevant comment all the better.
I'm sure some reading this will just think I'm trying to give myself a huge pat on the back and massage my own ego.
Sorry, but I thought steemit was somewhere different. I thought it was about encouraging creativity, making connections and helping others.
I didn't think steemit was just about looking after No. 1 and making money as fast as possible. I've got the whole of the rest of the real world for that.
So I've said my piece. I've got it off my chest.
I'm sure most will just ignore this, many will disagree with it, a few might even take the time to post a comment telling me I don't know what I am talking about.
Maybe, just maybe, there will be a few that will agree with me. I know there are still a few great steemians that don't self upvote like @timcliff, @pharesim and @lyndsaybowes.
http://steemreports.com/outgoing-votes-info/?account=timcliff
http://steemreports.com/outgoing-votes-info/?account=pharesim
http://steemreports.com/outgoing-votes-info/?account=lyndsaybowes
To those with a 0% No SUV score I salute you. I respect and admire you. And I thank you for playing the game with the rulebook of The League of True Steemians.
If you found this post useful or interesting please do upvote, resteem and follow. Thank you.
You might also be interested in some of my other posts :
Homesteaders & Preppers on steemit - 230 members and rising - v9 [08 Oct '17]
MSP Waves Radio : Pennsif's (Alternative) Lifestyle Show : would you like to join the team?
What went wrong for Tsū - any lessons to be learnt for steemit?
SteemTowns - connecting the virtual with the reality - would it be possible?
[graphic generated from steemreports.com/outgoing-votes-info]
As a perennial devil's advocate, I am forced to point out a huge flaw in your logic.
"If members of the seniority of @stellabelle and @jerrybanfield were aligning behind the No SUV banner I would do likewise."
By this logic, we should also end all progressive taxes.
Think hard about how top .1% Steemians "ending self-upvoting" is much like enacting regulation or licensing in an industry to maintain competitive advantage and keep new talent/investors out.
The top .1% being able to afford to do something is not a reason for the other 99% to do it.
"we should also end all progressive taxes."
Well....we should.
But that's another topic entirely. ;)
It just seems masturbatory to self upvote, so I don't. ;)
I have no problem if people want to masterbate in private, but self-voting is masterbating in public, saying aloud and to the blockchain. The whole use-case of the steem token is a community where value of information is judged, self votes give no information to the community.
Much like Diogenes, I masturbate in the public forum.
That is a good way of putting it 😉
I agree wholeheartedly. Upvoted yourself just seems wrong. I think all good content should be rewarded. I upvoted for a few days in my early time here and it just seemed to be pimping myself. I gave up and haven't done it since.
Good words, good words. I totally agree.
:) It's the "Only Upvote Others Athon!" Big love and respect @pennsif :) :) Way to break the mold.
Thank you Lyndsay. Molds are for breaking 😎
I'm with you. I find there's something quite narcissistic about SUV, and ever since I started on Steemit, I was aware of that. I have upvoted a few posts which, after a couple of days, have only gathered a few cents in rewards, but for the most-part, I avoid it.
When I see self upvoting going on all around me I have been tempted. But then I take measure of what 12 cents means to me versus what it might mean to someone with next to nothing on their post, and my question is answered.
@pennsif my upvote is not worth much financially but hey that didn't use to matter before we came on Steemit :)
Thank you for your upvote. Have one from me for taking the time to comment, and because I like Parks and Rec 😊
TREAT YO SELF!!! ...Wait, so that mantra doesn't apply to SUVs? Sorry I'm late to the conversation, the Ledgerman wouldn't let me go.
HEAR, HEAR! I have long been in the NO SUV camp. I don't clap at my own performances. It irritates me to no end when I see it. I have votes for OTHERS not myself.
I do however, vote my own witness, but the logic there is, I have more than a dozen people proxied to me, who want to vote for me. So I kinda have to.
Good to hear this. The Witness proxy bit is quite rational.
How is it going with the @YouAreHope humanitarian aid project?
All things considered, it's getting started up nicely! Thanks for asking!
Interesting perspective you have and also a question thought about a lot. At first I didn't upvote my own content because I felt if I was writing it, then of course I liked my content. However after a while I have started upvoting all my content, (just my posts) just because every bit helps in the long run.
Now, I only post 2-3 times a week and I'd say 90% of my steemit activity is spent commenting or upvoting others content, so this is why I feel like its not a big issue. I only upvote my posts, not comments. Like yourself, my vote isn't worth too much, but over time it will grow. I feel that as long as I am active and the large majority of of my upvotes are helping people out then I don't see a problem.
Everyone needs to be fed, including yourself. @stellabelle, @jerrybanfield and @timcliff are all well established, so they are receiving enough votes that they don't need to self vote, but for us little guys every SP counts. just my opinion though.
tip!
Thank you for your comment and for the tip.
The problem with the argument that the bigger players get enough votes so they don't need to self upvote is when do you stop?
Would one stop self upvoting when you regularly get $5 on a post? Or when you get $25, or $50?
Where is the line in the sand?
That is a good question and I think everyone has a different answer. For me, I don't think there would be an amount where I stop upvoting. My outlook is that the more SP and value my account has, the more I am able to help others.
If I was just self voting my content daily and then logging out it would be a lot different, but as long as you are making an effort to help other steemians, I don't see the problem in only helping yourself. No point in giving all your food away if it means you will starve to death
So should all steemians at all levels self upvote - even right at the top?
That would drain the finite reward pool even faster - and those at the lower end would get even smaller crumbs to feed on 😊
I don’t think there is a definitive answer for this. I think as long as you are giving more to others than you are taking for yourself, you are not doing anything wrong. For example, say my upvote is worth $10. If I upvote 9 other posts a day while giving myself one upvote, I’m doing a 9:1 ratio. I see no problem with this
I completely agree with you. If you spend the time to put together a good quality post, by all means give yourself an upvote and well done. You just took the time to add value to the community.
@stellabelle
https://steemit.com/steemschoolkc/@stellabelle/today-is-steem-school-kc-class-at-2-pm-in-kansas-city-don-t-miss-it
@jerrybanfield
https://steemit.com/eos/@jerrybanfield/eos-ico-token-distribution-system-and-result-for-bitfinex-trading
Upvoting their own post.
So, I call
Bullshit!
I wouldn't disagree with this. Note, I didn't include these in my list of current non SUV'ers
The key is, they stopped auto upvoting their posts, not completely stop upvoting their posts. They move their upvote out to the 15 minute window so that they can get the best curation value for their upvote.
Yes self upvoting to me i think it is bad, when I first joined this platform not quite long ago I didn't really think of self voting myself, knowing that what I bring is things I quite know fully and would be able to explain if asked but looking around seeing people with vote worth $2 self voting themselves changed my views a little and then there is still one at the end of the day writing and uploading picturez worth about an hr of your time and still getting 0 or nothing tends to change your view also, well they say if nobody appreciate your work, you could always appreciate yourself but thinking of it now, if top members upvoted themselves I dont think they will be recognized today just saying though.
Thank you for your thoughts on this.