curation malpractice?

Hey Steemians!

After being part of the Steemit platform for 246 days and reading many posts made by various levels of minnows , dolphin and whales and see different opinions, I had time to asses, see the benefits and the shortcomings of this platform. I have seen many communities of varied interest form since my beginnings, that is truly amazing to watch and experience. How we can connect with like minded individuals all across the planet and the opportunity to earn pennies for doing it is a gift. Here in Canada, these pennies aren't worth much and does not really make much of a difference but the friendships and relationships made are priceless. It can make a difference in countries with oppressive governments and with little opportunity to earn and give their citizens a means to get ahead in their personal journeys.

With all the wonderful opportunities this platform brings, it also has big shortcomings that could sink the platform in the future. I recently came across a post that made me think and enough to write something about it , I will not say by who, but lets call them Mr whale, I'm sure he's not the only one with this mentality nor was it much of a surprise at all for that matter.

Mr. Whale made a post on how he found 4 great posts that only earned pennies instead of fair value, instead of up-voting, he ignored them because they have no potential for curation rewards and instead made a post about them as to why he will never vote for them. Like I said, not much of a surprise, I already noticed the behavior myself, it's easy too look at the trending page and see the same crap from the same posters day in and day out only making it to the trending page due the the whale circle jerk of up-votes or paid votes. Some deserve to be there but we can all agree lots doesn't belong in the trending page and much better content could be there but continues to get ignored because there is no incentive to give them a vote for their solid effort. I'm not saying all whales and dolphins are of that mentality but far too many are, I see some that put great effort into helping minnows with a boost and visibility along with being responsible for great curation projects and I am thankful for them.

I understand those with great power want ROI but perhaps this is a shortsighted mentality. Steemit has seen much growth in new accounts created, but how many of them actually stay? Are they quitters or do they think for them to pour their heart and soul into writing their ideas simply worth more? I have pondered that myself to be honest, many days I wondered is my stuff crap? should I just stop posting? I still see the the fun in interacting with others and I'm not here for the money but I certainly have scaled back in posting frequency and only post when I feel like it rather than take it seriously. Frankly it can be discouraging looking at the trending page for the average minnow and most of us know we wont ever make it there or ever be somebody. Those minnows who believe they will are in denial, those who recognize such and can't accept the reality leave and move on to better things . How many good writers has the platform lost because they felt undervalued and just writing for themselves to read?

Here is how I see it affect the value of the platform. You can continue to up-vote your own post $100 10 times a day or support those who you know will get you great curation reward regardless of post quality, sure your SP will grow in return but confidence is what gives that SP value. As a potential investor into the platform, I haven't done so yet because I think these practices are bad for business and bad for the platform's growth overall. It really is just supporting those at the top and ignore the rest, just like what most of you complain society has done to you that made you come here in the first place and I'm sure I'm not the only one with that line of thinking. At the end of the day, I don't care what my vote is worth or how much my posts bring in since I'm just here for fun and supporting the content I value regardless of what price they fetch, that is supposed to be the whole concept behind social media in the first place. If everyone comes here and sees that sort of behavior, it's probably more incentive to just not bother with it and you will end up with the same user voting circle jerk but nobody wanting to buy and invest time or money into the platform...how much will you gazilion SP account be worth if nobody else but yourselves believe in it? If you really value the platform and truly want it to do well to in return give you an actual return on your investment maybe it's time to think long term and rethink your strategy instead of just looking at how much you can make in 7 days in making a decision if you should up-vote or not.

Let me know your thoughts on the subject.

That's my rant for the day. Peace xox