Most SteemIt Game And Contest Hosts Are Breaking The Rules! Are You?
The bigger part of the contests and games hosted on SteemIt are not compliant with the SteemIt Rules. Find out if you're doing it right.
One Short Sentence
I come across them every day: contests or games that require an upvote to be eligible to play. There are hundreds of them.
I’ve known about that short sentence in the FAQ from the beginning. That one short sentence that states that contests or games that require an upvote are considered to be abuse.
Find it in the FAQ hereI’ve also been wondering if I should write a post on the topic or not, since, you know, nobody seemed to mind.
I had been discussing it with some people earlier today, and just now I discovered that there was at least someone who cared. It was @isteemithard who had left a comment on a contest, making the host aware of the rule.
Good enough for me to finally write a short post about it.
Why Shouldn’t You Require An Upvote?
I and my fellow members of @newbieresteemday and @newbiegames tell newcomers that one of the best ways to get started here on SteemIt is by joining some contests and games. It’s a great way to expand your network, and you might win a prize while you’re at it.
Now, we all know how hard it is to keep that VP above 80. If people need to upvote every game or contest they are joining, there won’t be a lot of VP left to vote for other things. And there are contests that not just ask you for an upvote, but for one at 100%...
You can imagine how fast one's voting power is drained...
On top of that, you’re blackmailing people to give your post an upvote, by telling them they can’t join without.
Many contests and games are sharing part of the earnings with contestants, but by requiring an upvote you manipulate the rewards you’re getting from that post.
So, you shouldn’t. At least, that's my opinion...
What To Do Then?
Instead of requiring an upvote, you can just ask for it. If people like it and have VP to spare, they will upvote.
Personally, I like to put it like this:
An upvote and a resteem is not mandatory, but would be appreciated.
You can mention that upvotes will help to grow the prize pool, and resteems will increase visibility.
Or you can get creative and give away an extra prize amongst people who upvote/resteem the post, just to give a little extra incentive.
To do so, you just take all names from people who have upvoted or resteemed (see: Quick Tip: How To Find Who Resteemed Your Post In 2 Simple Steps) and add them to a random name picker to select one.
Here are some examples of random name pickers:
Chances are you will get more contestants for your game of contest if you don’t make an upvote obligatory.
Please note that - after further investigation - it appears these FAQ are not so much rules, but 'etiquette guides' and are not enforced by SteemIt Inc. at this point in time. Also, they apply to the SteemIt.com website only.
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This is a great point and it also helps to highlight the fact that these rules apply to posts made through the steemit.com website only. There are no such rules for the Steem blockchain in general.
That means you certainly may post a contest that requires upvotes to enter, or anything else you want to do really, on another site that uses the Steem blockchain, or just post it to the blockchain directly, without breaking any rules.
That post will still show up on steemit.com just like any other post. SteemIt, Inc has the right not to show that post if they want on their website because it violates their rules or for any other reason, but it's still always possible to post to the steem blockchain and there are no rules other than what the blockchain allows and what it doesn't.
All of this is kind of a moot point at the moment though since SteemIt, Inc doesn't enforce any of these rules on the site anyway.
It doesn't seem that Steemit enforces anything right now. For instance, I see most of those rules broken constantly.
Threatening users with any type of physical violence.
Allow me to upvote you for viewing purposes, as I agree ENTIRELY with what you are saying.
Thanks. When I started the list, I wasn't planning on doing the whole thing. Then I realized that I saw basically all of these actions every day in my experience. I think it goes to show that Steemit leadership/management/whatever is at best ambivalent about the platform. I think that would be one of the biggest obstacles to getting the price higher... there's a perception that the founders don't care, and it shows in how the community is running. It doesn't matter how groundbreaking, earth-shattering, or amazing your product is... if you don't give a crap, most people won't buy it. :(
And I'm not saying that everything needs to get fixed overnight, but they could be more active in getting the spam/scams off the platform. That would be a start.
Then maybe do as I am doing, if you can, rent a server, and become a witness, if you want to change it, the only way you can is from within, ready for a journey? or just happy complaining? hands mic to you.
That's a good point. I said my piece, so I'll let someone else have the soapbox. I don't have the funds to get a witness node running right now, so as I've at least brought it to the attention of the masses, now I'll learn to make the best of things.
Good for you for having the resources and being willing to spend the time and effort to set it up so that you can make a difference. Not all of us are in that position and it's great that you are making an impact. Thank you!
I added you to my follow list, I have a feeling you will do well here, and by the way, nice to meet you.
Unfortunately, everything you're saying is absolutely true...
Dan created a system and then left because he doesn't care anymore. While the cat's away, the mice will play.)
Hmm a form of Deism ?
I agree, rules are being broken all the time...
And even if I disagree strongly with things like scams and phishing...
I remember being a youngster before google got "smart" about their picture search,
basically typing any female name would provide me with, uhm I mean "expose me" to naked women... No one arrested Google or Altavista as far as I know... But yeah people should wise up and make sure to use the NSFW tag...
Anyway I might be a bit foolish, but I feel that there is still something cool about being a part of this crazy community of "fishy-outlaws" and "scurvy-rebels" who break all the rules and use bots etc... Kind of like in a Star Wars movie or something!
image source
So if I understand correctly you can require an upvote if you post through Busy.org or Zappl, for example?
Yes, unless those sites have similar rules as steemit.com which I don't believe they do.
Okay, thanks.
Would you mind clearing something up? I’m a little confused now because you refer to the FAQ as being the rules, and @valth refers to them as being the etiquette guide (see comment below)...
Yea sorry, you're probably right - if it's from the FAQ then it's just an etiquette guide as @valth says. SteemIt.com does have an official Terms and Conditions for the site I believe which constitute more official rules (many of which are also broken regularly and not enforced I'm guessing).
In any case, SteemIt, Inc can decide what to show or not show on their site and who can use it and who can't in any way they see fit. Currently they allow everything and everyone as far as I know. I just wanted to make the point that they only control the steemit.com website and not the Steem blockchain or any other sites or services build on top of it.
Thanks for the info I'm more clear on the distinction between steemit and steem now. I wish steemit did enforce the rules though as it would improve the steemit site which is the front of the steem blockchain. I know the whole point in steem is unmutability but you could always use busy.org or similar for that then steemit could be a better platform. Anyway added you to my witness votes as your a helpful person.
Thanks for the clarification, @yabapmatt.
I love this post @simplymike! It has stirred some passions and helped people to reflect on their views of things. It is also good that you had @yabapmatt as a witness see our thoughts and interact here with many.
I also think it is a good idea if @abh12345 @paulag @danielsaori @goldendawne @qurator @gktown @jackmiller to see these type of interactions so that we can focus the good witnesses on communicating directly with the minnows! We may not have the votes, but we have the best interests of the platform at heart, so it is good if they see how we feel! :)
Again, great post @simplymike!
Interesting point, but one thing to keep in mind is that the Steemit FAQ is not rules per se, it's more like guidelines on how to behave on the blockchain. Anyone can choose whether or not to follow this etiquette, but I find that most people do not flag contests who require upvotes for entry.
They don’t indeed. Still, it’s not really fair to everyone to ask for one...
Maybe I should add a little nuance to the post...
I have a question, though, before I do so: if SteemIt FAQ are not the rules, but the etiquette, why does it have the question ‘Is there an Etiquette Guide for Steemit’ with a reference link to an etiquette guide?
Good question. Anyway, the FAQ is created by Steemit Inc., but it is not a list of official rules for the blockchain. This means that Steemit Inc. apparently considers upvote contest a type of abuse, but they cannot really do anything about it other than potentially flag the post if they want to. So no one has to follow the guidelines in the FAQ, but going against them can obviously lead to some flags if users find the content to be abuse.
There are however official rules for using Steemit (see point #15). If you break these rules you can be banned from Steemit.com, but your Steem account can still be used on other websites such as busy.org, dtube and the other apps who access the blockchain.
Thanks for clearing that up. This was a very useful answer. I will think about how I can update ythe post to make the message more correct...
Quite a disclaimer they have - lol
‘Attempt to circumvent any content filtering techniques we employ,...’
That raises some questions :0)
Cool, thanks for the info @valth.
The laws of a country are more like "guidelines" if you are rich, ha ha...
So true!!!!!!!!
That actually made more sense then I expected quite impressed with myself...
The rich part, and laws being a guideline. It's very relative.
I saw that and most contests that I ran before did not have that kind of condition because I was paying the prizes out of my own wallet and it I get upvotes then hooray for me.
I did ask for resteems and in hindsight was a bad request because there are some people that didn't enter because of that.
Asking people to be a follower as well because you strip away the choice if someone really wants to follow you.
I did once wrote on a contest of an account that I was following, that I would qualify for all the requirements expect the re-steem part. I explained that I do only resteem post, which do really touch me, or the one I do find important enough to share with my followers! He took it fait and did scratch the resteem requirement.
Normally when hosting a contest I do only requirement an genuine comment! Nothing more nothing less. But of course, last contest I did bites my in the ass in this case. Cause I did request an upvote, to pay for the prices!
I would never ask someone to follow me because follow-you-follow-me are just not my cup of tea. People should follow me voluntarily, not by request!
Edit: I am not chasing you, but I do believe that I did reply for the second time today on one of your comments! Really a coincidence :)
Ahaha so as you can see that I am so delayed in replying to comments so sorry!
I'm guilty of doing that as well of trying to get upvotes to increase the prize pool. I used to resteem like crazy. This was of course a taint by one of the first crappy groups that I was in that required all their members to resteem all posts.
Later as I gained more followers I had someone ask me if I liked the content of all the people that I resteem and said not necessarily but resteem it out of habit. So he patiently explained to me the power of resteeming and the effects of flooding the feed of those that follow me.
From then on a light bulb turned on and I acknowlegded how it should be used.
Better a late reply than no reply at all!
Normally I only resteem when I do find th article great!
Love that your wrote this guide @simplymike. We are on the same mindset with the upvotes and resteem. If they want to do so, then awesome. If not, it doesn't mean that they are not supportive of the individual. It just means they may not have VP, or in my case, am sharing the account with a team and don't want to resteem so many things. Perhaps that is why we get along so well..great minds think alike! ;)
Lol. I meant it to be a FAQ post, not an opinion post.
I guess I’ll need to make some changes, though. Look at the comments on this thread by @valth and @yabapmatt.
Now I’m all confused...
It's very confusing but worthy of thought especially with the way things are evolving. I think it's awesome that you broached the conversation, especially because you're super popular and a rockstar :)
Lol, you crack me up, @omitaylor.
Let's hope we will rock this post into the past very soon... ;0s
I personally use the other apps and adhere to their terms to my knowledge, and I use steembottracker directly for my interfacing using bidbots, not Steemit. I browse on Steemit, I bookmark in busy, I navigate the systems— keyword, systems... who has rule here? Let's discuss.
I have a choice to not participate in anything.
I can use the blockchain through my own app and regardless of downvoting or upvoting that happens on other apps that see my transactions, I can still do whatever I want to do using my app. And I can also use my app to go find and hunt down whoever downvotes me and send a 100K account to downvote them to hell. Such is the jungle.
Nothing can prevent me from setting up a witness and nodes and making 100K accounts for .1 steam each today. Nothing. Steemit Inc can't even stop me.
This is one of those things I feel regular users of crypto and blockchain technology really need to consider— the fundamentals of anarchy, capitalism, and decentralization are predominantly Ayn Rand-esque. It's a fallacy anything can be done to clean up Steem, because the people who made it built it this way and it's to their advantage, AND they're not stopping others from doing what it's really made for. They're essentially covering their butts with the TOS so the US government doesn't hit them with a big DOWNVOTE (lawsuit.)
LOL
I just don't feel these things are unfortunate. I am in the middle I guess, somewhat a centrist on the matter. <3 Thanks for entertaining my firey BS. LMAO
Nice point dear🤓 That's why i clearly mentioned in all my contest posts that it's not compulsory to upvote,resteem and follow because their is no means of a contest if we take it as a way to earn extra sbd and gain fake respect.
That is funny, this FAQ and these rules "incriminates" pretty much every Steemian...
Every plankton who is new is asking/begging/"promting their content" (or how ever you want to sugarcoat the vote/view-begging/asking) etc...
And the minnows are all using bidding-bots or a whale/dolphin is selling and delegating their SP to bots/creating bidding-bots, etc...
As you can see in the comment by @themanwithnoname, he could check ALL the boxes...
Okay @simplymike, I started arguments with so many people here in your comments I am loosing because there is so many of you, I am just too exhausted to argue, I agree with everyone and happy days! =)
It’s not about winning or losing, @friendly-fenix, it’s about tiring the opponant so he’s say you’re right ...
Just kidding ;0)
Wouldn’t the world be a dull place if we all shared the same opinion about everything?
Not all of us have asked for something. I have only asked that robots be overseen, and post once only until such time as their drivers have discussed with postee whatever similarity was found. That any person should use robots to bully any other person in a community, just says that every other community member who does no-thing to down vote or communicate the bullying to all members, is guilty of condoning terrorism. May the blessings be. 😇
Keep on keeping on.
Jesus christ, the vocabulary/lingo people here use to push their opinion is sometimes a bit extreme...
But I get it @simon62 I am guessing by your reputation that you have been a vicitim of some kind of dispute/flagwar?
While a newbie, with no computer experience beyond my new phone, I had reputation points stolen by moronic robot drivers who still refuse to discuss openly any specifics they might think they've found. My followers know my position and the robot cheetah@ first helped my research by finding a plagiaristic-almost, on www. That site does not explain it's source nor it's publisher half as well as I did, once it became clear. My early blog was a tribute to our WW1 veterans who taught me in my early years all that I now practice. Had they read the content, the driver would have more politeness or less excuse for their bullying. All my posts are here. I refuse to go to another site to plea innocence. They have not opened any discussion of sense here before the community they purportedly serve. The robot has a wallet of thousands. The driver posts no personal blog and only resteemed one per two or three weeks. The robot is NOTHING but a spammer, shouting the same old same old. But, that is my point, Adolf Hitler was said to have said, 'if one tells a big enough lie, and repeats it long enough, it will be accepted as truth.' which thereby makes the robot drivers terrorists. You live with these lies and do nothing as does all the community. Poor people bullied by NON-human robotic morons. The drivers should be fined and the proceeds added to community bank. 😇
That's interesting. I hadn't heard that before, so thanks for sharing.
Personally, I don't think it should be an issue to require someone to upvote to enter your contest. Yes, there's limited VP to go around, but there are also limited prizes available from the contest. If you want a chance to win a limited prize, give a limited vote.
It's the same as entering a raffle. I see lots of them on here, but I don't feel comfortable giving away SBD for a chance to win the prize. Since I'm not comfortable giving the money, I shouldn't be eligible to win.
If I were to do another contest, I would say that anyone can enter, but if you upvote, you get 100x the entries. Therefore, the odds of someone winning who didn't upvote would be slim. ;) Ha ha.
Good post, @simplymike!
This post has received a 1.38 % upvote from @booster thanks to: @simplymike.