[Guidance] : To comment or not to comment?
Did you really read that?
Writing comes in at a close second but it doesn't matter if you can't read a post and understand what the writer is trying to say. Being able to relate and get on the authors level will allow you to spark epiphanies, encourage, and spread joy with your comments.
As a writer, you could go to a library, take out a bunch of books, copy out the text into an article and click 'Post'; but when somebody asks you about it or tries to engage with you via comments, you are well and truly stumped. Can you see what I'm getting at? The interaction and back and forth between yourself and the author is what helps you both grow.
Try to understand that reading is what you should prioritize above writing. With better reading, comes better writing.
Flourish
How do you improve your writing by reading? You will partially improve without even knowing it. Your subconscious will develop a better understanding of words, and their structures within sentences, the more you read. You will gain wide perspectives of other writers views, which you will then express in your own way when you write. You'll also notice different formatting techniques and uses of images, dividers, and spacing from the massive variety we have here on the platform. By soaking in a variety of elements from different authors and creators, you will form your own style which will evolve and transform over time; just like you do as a person.
But how do you really get better at writing through reading? QUESTIONS
I don't mean sitting there with a notepad with a list of questions to ask yourself when your reading. What I'm trying to get at is; what questions are you asking about the post as your reading down through it?
Do I like the way that this is spaced out?
Could the author use this word instead of this one?
I wonder what this piece would be like if he added this body of text first?
If you aren't being critical of other peoples work (to yourself) when you are reading it, how do you expect to improve your own work? Challenge your thoughts and don't take things at face value. Anything can evolve.
IT'S TIME TO STOP
Please. Just stop.
I notice certain comments on my posts that are quite frankly; a waste of space and effort. Yes, thank you for dropping by and saying; "Good work! I liked the picture at the top." You really added some value to my life with that comment and you brightened up my day... you do realize I can travel over to your account and see that you've posted 30 comments in the last hour that are all shorter than 10 words? Not only have you wasted your time, you've also just ticked me off.
Steps into the firing line.
"But @calumam, they have 1000 followers and 2500 comments and they get a consistent payout on their posts."
Yeah, good for them. Do they have any real connections on the platform though? There is nothing unique or difficult about heading over to all these posts and leaving half-arsed comments for idiots to answer too. Yes, it might work for some, but in the long run, it's destructive for yourself, it's boring, and you'll always be known for your crappy comments that could be replaced by a robot. Nothing is deleted on the blockchain after 7 days.
What makes you different to BOT's and AI? Authenticity.
You are a human being and you can express true emotion and feelings with the use of your words. What makes you smile? What gives you a warm feeling in your chest? What fuels your fire to keep you pushing forward with your writing? What makes you human?
Seize every opportunity that you can, to express honestly and encourage those around you to carry on.
Is this even worth my time?
Everyday I try to stop by a mixture of posts and really soak in the content so I can leave a comment. Do you know what I do if I get half way down a post and I lose interest? I close the post down and find something else. Why would I leave someone a comment about their post if I'm not interested in it. That's just a total waste of my time and ultimately; theirs too. If my comment is just flattery at best, how does that help them improve honestly?
Consider what effects you have on other people on the platform. Human interaction is a complex and winding rabbit hole. You never know what type of result your words can have on somebody elses growth.
As full disclosure, the hyperlink above is a referral link. You will receive 50% more tokens for the first 12 months when signing up through this link; I will receive more tokens too. Get yourself set up and feel free to use this banner as a format for the bottom of your posts.
Thank you for your post. :) I have voted for you: 🎁! To call me just write @contentvoter in a comment.
IT'S TIME TO STOP
:)
I don't have the SP to waste flagging you.
You could report it to Steemcleaners haha
You don't like irony, do you? :D
I appreciate the irony when it has come from somebody sincere who is making a sarcastic and witty comment.
You just dropped by my post and left a copy+pasted comment. You showed no signs that you read my post and the pure irony of it, was that this post is exactly about that.
You don't understand irony, do you?
Yes, that's the irony. You got it, haha.
I flagged him a little. @ironshield
Thank you @ironshield, it is definitely flag worthy but I'd love for it to stay at the top of this post to show people exactly what I mean.
Irony can be a great learning tool too.
I find this to be true. There's is something about some people's writing that instantly show that they are engaging and serious about their topic. Also the formating makes a huge difference. Good use of white (or black) space. Good headings that allow the reader to 'get the gist' at a glance. An invitation for discussion at the end. These are all things that I enjoy in a post and have somewhat adopted on my own posts.
So yes, reading posts lends to much better posts. @ironshield
Totally! Reading comes first, then focus on your writing. I really like discussions in posts. That really opens up the post to discussion.
Finally saw the updated post and some time to comment! This guide is a great tool for improving writing - no matter what your end-game is. We all like the SBD/Steem, but we are here for much more.
I started writing poetry on Tumblr, and it took me a while to realise that through reading, I could learn other ways to shift my poetry. Different writing styles, new vocabulary - it was rich of ideas. Apart from that, I joined some other communities where people gave me feedback, and I could learn from my mistakes. I could also criticise others and that way I helped learn what I did not like about my poetry.
Commenting is helpful throughout, as you said. And if you try to comment for upvotes, we all know that a "good job, wonderful post" won't get you an upvote, nor a follow. You're only wasting bandwidth and time. Better to leave one meaningful comment than 10 spammy ones. Trust me. I've made some great friends! And by friends, I don't mean just people who will upvote and comment on my posts, but also those that talk to me on Discord and care about my personal life.
@calumam you are a great person and I am glad that I have come across you and other wonderful steemians at the @buddyup group <3
I'm glad you appreciate the post, I really wanted to hit home about what it means to leave a genuine response. I think it gets lost with some people.
Your poetry is amazing and I can tell you've had a lot of feedback over time with it. It's polished, free-flowing and meaningful. That takes time and constant improvement to achieve. I'm grateful that you leave me feedback and help me to edit my posts (if you're reading, @poetrybyjeremy helped me edit this straight after it was posted too).
At this moment in time, I rarely upvote comments because I don't have a slider handy. I think I will do it more when I get to 500SP but right now it's usually saved for very good comments. I appreciate all feedback and I usually leave a genuine reply to respond instead of the vote right now. The people I know appreciate that more.
Thank you very much pal! It's great to have you in the community :)
It's my pleasure to be helpful and honest. I truly appreciate the connection that I build and our earlier conversation. A huge thank you for that. As for the slider, I understand the issue. Usually, I tend to go onto busy.org (set up Gina to send me to busy.org in fact) so that I can vote slightly on comments if my VP is looking nice or the comment is truly worth.
And I'm honoured that you look for my editing and do edit the post according to my feedback!
This is so true on every level.... I'm so glad that it seems like the pendulum is swinging from quick money to lasting meaning. I hope it continues!!!
@shadowspub and I were discussing this last week when we were talking about how to tweak the Hunt... Comments are crucial. If there is just an upvote...how can I tell if the person even read it? Comments are a better indicator!
And I'm glad you caught my shutterbug! Hehehehe I'm also taking more ♥️
Fun! Hehehehe
I really hope that pendulum swings more! There is still a lot of misguidance for people who come straight from existing social media to here. We need to have our fishing lines out ready to snatch them up into BuddyUP ;)
I totally agree. Comments>Upvotes all day long. Save your $0.002 for someone who needs it, i'd rather hear what you thought about the post and how it helped you.
It was super inspiring to hear on the PYPT show, you just have to go for it!
Reading and understanding what you read is the key to progress.
I actually think that the lack of reading Steemit articles before posting comments or before voting should stop. And I also think that it will never totally stop.
Reading and writing are closely linked together. Our brains adopt the writing techniques, the formatting and the ideas only by reading and comprehending read material.
I wrote before on @rebeccagraham's account of tools for personal development (and I strongly suggest everyone to visit her article) about the phases of writing a successful and engaging article. I am very interested in community making and organic growth and I can assure anyone who is reading this that there actually is a core group of people that reads, understands, appreciates and uses the things they read.
And that organic growth is something real, that can boost you much more than anything else, because you are building on the neural network of your own brain.
Supporting people that are worth it will benefit you in the long term, while voting and not reading articles will get you nowhere. Sadly, to understand that reading is key, you need to read. And this is why I have added that headline in the beginning.
Well said! Extremely helpful comment to add to this discussion.
Flattery and low-effort comments don't add any value to the honest growth of anybody and it's a misconception held by many people that that will help them grow too.
I am going to head over to @rebeccagraham's account and check out what she has to say. It's great to hear that there is other like-minded people sharing valuable advice across the platform. Thank you for letting us know @alexdory.
In order to change other people's mentalities we have to show them that it's not out of the ordinary to think this way. More like us will uncover themselves and other people will learn. What is this if not a learning/ teaching tool.
I agree completely. This is why I designed BuddyUP to help newer users see that we get more from encouragement and engagement than we do from the payouts.
When people see other people sharing and showing off what they enjoyed about others, people on the sidelines will start to click on.
Steemit is great and it has a system that rewards engagement, it just has both sides of the engagement coin; without a true focus on guidance.
This is why we are here, but we could use some help from them. I have unconfirmed info about the future of steemit, some fellow steemian (@dannyzen) got nosey into GitHub and found some upcoming good details.
https://busy.org/@dannyzen/steem-update-communities-are-coming
You'll like it!
Oh yes. That is a brilliant update about the upcoming features, thanks for that!
Good times are coming!
Steem is one of those places where it rings true that if you have nothing good to say don't say anything at all. I do think at times I am not a good commenter for my lack of commenting but it is only because I tend to try and say something different and mostly supportive if a post has a 100 comments with the same line of thought I would rather just move on unless I can differentiate myself by providing a different insight or same insight but from a different perspective.
So I end up reading many posts and never comment, this is also at times the author who creates something that I can only describe as rhetorical since it is good and can have an impact but unless you downright want to disagree or praise then there is not much else to say. Assuming the posts are original content well thought out and not just some form of cliche that hits you in the face around every corner.
I stumbled onto this all because @calumam dropped this onto our BuddyUp discord server looking forward to seeing you in there at some point.
:)
I totally agree! Sometimes it's best to just float on off into the sunset without leaving a comment at all. If you don't have the time... come back and comment! There isn't a timer set for you to do it all at once.
I've noticed that you read an awful lot of posts since post-spot has been active. You were telling me lately as well about how you find posts and it's great to know that you dig deep and look for the obscure ones. Can't wait to see more of them in the community.
Reading is the key, especially for users who are English as a second language. Even those of us who are English as a first language can learn from reading varying types of materials posted on steemit.
Personally I don't critique posts in the comments, I will in discord with private messages, but that is just me.
Good topic you have here mate, enjoyed reading your thoughts on it.
I have to agree with you there. Reading is important no matter what.
I'm very much the same, I will use BuddyUP for giving feedback and keeping any advice off then blockchain. This just keeps things from getting sour/personal. Not to mention, anybody who reads through the chats can learn from the feedback too!
Thanks for stopping by again @sultnpapper, it's nice to hear from you again.
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STOPWhenever I get comment which is less than 10 words on any of my posts, I am tempted not to answer. Like you stated earlier, my first instinct is to think that it is not worth my attention or time. Then I remind myself that I am always pressed and I imagine everyone else is. That's why I and end up writing back to the person who left me a "spammy" comment, thanking them for taking the time to do even those 10 words.
That's probably because on Steemit you get more than the FB like button. ;-)
Some users understand faster the importance of networking (they get involved in the Discord channels and groups and make real friends), while others try to only get up voted. Sooner or later they reach the conclusion they have wasted time and burnt some bridges.
I agree that one should not make a comment without actually having read the article. I have seen some lengthy comments that had nothing to do with the post itself. Either the person did not understand what the topic was all about or did not read everything.
Both ways it looked bad on him!
You have a good point and it's totally right, sometimes the time element comes into it a lot. I don't mind smaller comments when they are sincere, just like @dawnsheree said above. I just feel as though leaving a comment on shorter comments all the time just encourages that type of comment, but that's just my opinion.
I feel as though it's better to leave it until you do have time and come back and say something about it then if you need to. It would be great if leaving an upvote, of any percentage, was seen as an expression of true gratitude and not laziness.
You're correct, if you aren't reading the post, don't be wasting our time ;) The platform helps you get better at reading, if you aren't reading you're missing out big time. Interaction with others is great but it doesn't mean jack-shit if you can't read and understand what they're saying.
If you don't have interest in the topic, you will surely leave a crappy comment in the end.
Many people just go about commenting on random posts to find favour in the sight of the author. It is essential that you find articles that are inline with your niche and are of interest to you. It is only by doing this you can leave meaning contributions.
I hope a lot of people see this and act on it.
I agree with you somewhat. You are right in saying that you need to find certain niches that you like but at the same time, you shouldn't put yourself in a box.
Being able to expand your mind and read anything that is presented infront of you (as long as it is A: legible and B: somewhat interesting) is important. It helps you learn new things and express yourself about topics you never thought you'd think of before. It's amazing how certain elements of topics are transferrable to others. If you can find a way to soak up the content and add further value to the dicussion, you are doing well.
Just like you just did, I appreciate you dropping by and leaving your thoughts for us to think about.
Hmm... I never really thought about expanding ones horizon, until now.
That's a good point.