DTube - Don't use it for the wrong reasons.
Sometimes what you write just doesn’t pan out, not in terms of the quality you perceive it to contain but possibly in the eyes of others and more poignantly in its rewards.
To be honest I do OK on Steemit now, with the bundles of words I write gaining an average of $4 - $5 or so.
We all say, ‘were not in it for the money’, but don’t fool yourselves or pretend that’s its not relevant. You may as well be doing all this on Reddit or somewhere else if it didn’t hold some importance.
I know what some of you are thinking now... . ‘Stop complaining... you do better than me’.
I know that I do indeed gain more rewards than many, but with anything that interfaces into the STEEM blockchain that relates to writing (Steemit, Busy, Esteem), it’s a case of the more STEEM you have the more rewards you will get.
Is this a generalisation? Possibly it is, but you the reader know that deep down that it is the truth.
The little guys may get a @curie occasionally but with the
@hendrikdegrote account not having the same potency as previously, even gaining a ‘big’ @curie is not the same as it used to be.
This sounds like a right old moan doesn’t it?
The crux of all this is my last post looked like it was not doing so well. It was at $1.85 in rewards and contained the @dtube tag. I don’t do many vlogs as they take more effort to produce.
The dTube dApp is rather basic when it comes to adding content other than video content. You need to run Busy.org up as a separate app, then add your images and text utilising their hosting services, and when its all ready, copy the code out and add it to dTube. Its cumbersome but it works.
As well as the vlog content, I don’t want to ‘cop out’ of the regular story and photographs. 500 words is generally a bare minimum as well as 35 or so photographs for an Urban Exploration write up.
I have seen so many dTube vlogs gain that ‘big vote’, so I was watching mine with anticipation and felt deflated when it didn’t happen. I shouldn’t expect the vote and it’s a bonus if it happens, that’s the spiel and that’s the rules.
I was like a grumpy bear that night. ‘How dare they not give me a vote’. I’m kind of laughing at that thought now knowing its completely ridiculous.
I don’t know any of the vlog people and haven’t made any effort to connect on Discord. Why should they take any notice of me?
I don’t perceive that my vlogs are good either. I’m not confident in front of the camera and wince at the sound of hearing my own voice.
That evening I vented my frustration to @steevc (we communicate using other methods), and I could sense he was saying, ‘Stop the fucking moaning!’.
The thought of @dtube taking 10% of my cut, didn’t really help either.
After conceding it just wasn’t going to happen I did what I always do when frustrated by any leisure activity. Walk away.
Writing things on the STEEM blockchain is just that to me, a leisure activity and a hobby. Sometimes you need to get a reality check on things. If you play a computer game and get frustrated, just walk away too.
My post did OK in the end and is currently sat at $3.90. As for dTube, well I don’t want to ever feel like that again or have any expectations that may not be met so that will be my last vlog.
The moral of this story is, 'If you want to produce vlogs, then do it for the right reasons'. I realise now that this was NOT the case for me.
At least I don’t have to do double takes, using video and photography. Less work for 10% more rewards. That sounds good to me!
If you found this article so invigorating that you are now a positively googly-eyed, drooling lunatic with dripping saliva or even if you liked it just a bit, then please upvote, comment, resteem, engage me or all of these things.
I'd say, keep vlogging, but only when you really feel like doing do. I do think that the occasional vlogs add some additional value to your posts, just for the fact that I can finally see you as a person, not just an avatar.
Okay, that sounds kinda wrong, but you know what I mean... Can't really explain it differently due to not being a native English speaker :P
Just do what feels right, if it means no more vlogs, so be it.
I know what you mean, but in one sense its a relief. Doing vlog's is not natural to me and @bingbabe tells me, 'your voice is strained and not how it usually sounds'.
I do feel confident in what I write as a couple of non-STEEM people have mentioned that I can spin a decent yarn. Keep to what you can do comfortably I say.
Your writing is very entertaining and I often come for the wry little comments that will be in there as well as the lovely photographs. Enjoy what you do :)
I don't understand why a vlog would get less votes (if not a big dtube upvote) than a usual post, unless it's as @bingbabe says, you don't sound like
your googly-eyed slobbering selfthe handsome fellow you are :) xThe only thing that stops me Dtubing are the technical issues. I can't get my videos to upload, and there's only so much time I will waste on that. The fact that my video camera broke is another issue, but a new camera is in the post which I cannot wait to use. But I'll be uploading to YouTube or Bittube. The size of the upvote is not something that bothers me - not that the rewards are not important, just that I see it as a long-term thing.
Believe me, everyone thinks that, even the most successful vloggers! Take a look at some of the most popular YouTubes and ask yourself - what percentage of them are slick and professional? Answer: a very small percentage.
When I made my first ever YouTube I felt so embarrassed, I recorded it in my car, parked in an industrial estate in the evening. That video of me pouring my heart out about a health problem has now had more than 1,300 views lol.
"it’s a case of the more STEEM you have the more rewards you will get."
I thought that too, but I am not so sure I agree with that now. I think I get some consistent votes because I have built some relationships and I have delegated to the right places, but I don't think it is because my SP has grown. At least they are related the way I once thought they were. Maybe I am just not reaching the right people. Perhaps I am not as charming and witty as I think I am :) I hear you about the vlogging thing though. I just can't bring myself to do it and I don't want to feel like have to do it because that is the only way to make money on Steemit. If that were the case I would probably scrap the whole thing.
@bozz the relationships help and meeting people also helps, a lot. if you can attend a get together then do it. But back to that statement that you highlighted.., everyone has their own set of ethics and rules, some you make like and others wont fit what you expect.
I like to reply to comments, but others never do. If they don't, I wont comment on their posts as its a pointless exercise.. you get a feel for each person after a short time.
If you suddenly became a quad-Orca overnight (200,000 STEEM), do you really think your average reward will be the same? Its a fact that people look at your wallet size.. tell me otherwise?
I don't disagree with that, but I think you hit the nail on the head, it has to be a pretty significant increase. I bought some STEEM and went from 200 SP to 1000 SP pretty quickly, but the increase in rewards didn't follow suit. My feeling is it doesn't apply unless you make dolphin status or higher. Minnow 1 and lower people just don't care about. Which is really a shame.
It's taken time for me to get these votes, even powering up to triple or quad dolphin didn't show a great deal more for me.
Not so long ago, I was looking at a certain Minnow 1 account. The full vote of said person was 48c. That's a little more than mine now. It wont always be like this, keep telling yourself this.
I know, I am just saying I thought it would be more directly proportional. In fact, it is actually more of an inversely proportional curve. Heading out from the axis though, not towards it....
I've long had a problem with the dtube upvoter - they do tend to upvote random shit with little care for quality.
They're basically a discord anarchist - no logic to the way they wield their power.
Nathanmars seems to have had a successful word - his family seem to get regular upvotes. I have mixed feelings about that - well intentioned but a lot of bland and mediocre posts getting $10. I wish I cld mute his resteems.
Then there's people like @canadianrenegade putting his entire housebuild on dtube - very interesting stuff - no dtube upvote.
I had one once. I think I'm on the radar for moaning about it. Vids not my thing mind.
I wish @ned had removed that dtube delegation.
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Ooo.. your more sore about this topic that I am. We will need to talk about this at 'Camp'.
I think NathanMars is a good bloke, he promotes STEEM religiously on Twitter and has got me doing some tweets.
Yes I agree with this, mentioning no names I see the old regulars getting sustained daily votes.
However, dTube can do what they like.. but I wont promote it or use it anymore. Just dont want to feel like 'that' again.
Comparing @dtube rewards = feeling like the monkey on the left...
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I wish I could play this but being at work... I dare'nt ;)
It's safe - a 1 min clip from a TED talk.
It also explains the low retention rate on steem IMO.
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Well of course do it for the fun! Heck I have been on YouTube for 6 or 7 years and most people on there make nothing. Like a few bucks here and there. I get a bit more now but I am pushing close to 2 million views lol.
I rarely get the DTube vote. There are a a growing number of people who feel the same accounts get the vote every day. It is sad but true. Would be better if they did it more how Busy does the rewards.
Exactly, its their system and they can do what they like.. but for this reason I wont partake in it anymore. @busy have got it right to some degree, though with me being a latecomer to Steemit.. I dont get the same as people who have more followers.
It's funny. I have several video programs that I've downloaded when I was going to make some dtube videos, but I've never made one yet. Once in awhile I will crank one of them out and begin making one but I always give up halfway through. I know I just need to make my first one and then I will have the process down but until I actually do it it's kind of downright frustrating to try to get started.
Its quite self-educational making them, addng titles and fades etc... I can take that from it at least, but I wont be doing any more.
I think it is natural to feel like that. I still consider myself a shitty vlogger especially when compared to the others I see on YouTube but I vlog anyways. Why? Well, I remember when I first started writing in 2010, it was shit. I hated what I did. I compared my self to everyone else that was better than me. However, I stuck to it because I enjoyed and I can say I have improved over the years and I bet the same thing will happen with vlogging. I enjoy vlogging. I'm not very good at it but I enjoy it nevertheless, and for me, that's what matters. If I do enjoy making vlogs then chances are I will take time to improve on certain things. So it won't be a bad idea to give it a try again. Feeling like shit is normal. Feelings are temporal things, they are in a constant influx. So rather than focus on that, do what you want. It might be for the money or the fun of it but just do you.
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Do you what you enjoy I say. I like the writing side much more than the vlog's, though doing all the production was educational.
Yes well said!
Thank you.
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Loads of self reflection there Chops, but you are super right in the end. You must vlog because you want to vlog..not for other reasons
It's my second vlog and I felt the same the first time (no vote). A few STEEM isn't worth feeling shitty about anything. There's more to life that all this!
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Imagine the folks who use dsound and counted upon the platform upvote for income!
With so many joining and leveraging dtube as they progress, I can see the popularity contest meaning that I probably won’t get that upvote no matter how much I am promoting its use and contributing to the platform.
Can’t remember ever getting it so no loss but it would be nice if they had a new/small user watch upvote account that welcomed new dtubers to the platform with a little vote.
Definitely good to step back and regain that perspective though.
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dSound are the ones that lost the delegation right? I guess that's @sequentialvibe your referring to as one of those people. I know he did a lot of original music stuff and used dSound a lot.
I have seen that you have managed to get dTube votes in the past, but have you come to expect it? It's the 10% cut that 'cuts' me I suppose.
I can't recall getting that upvote but you may be right. I guess I don't look too closely for it.
Yes @sequentialvibe is one of those dedicated dsounders that has had some tough times.
@davedickeyyall is a prolific vlogger and has strayed from dtube because of the 10% skim.