RE: Steemit Reward System 2.0 - It is Time to Evolve
If there were ever a post worth several $100s or more in payouts I would think this would be one, but I see it is not unfortunately.
Your analysis shows you must have a much deeper understanding of all this than the vast majority of users, myself included.
One of my first conversations about Steemit I remember concerned limiting abuse of the system with ideas of disabling self voting and bots, and to have a form of tax, "bad word" beyond certain levels, but I was admonished that such things were not consistent with the open system of cryptos.
Without some consistent consensus and governance that is as yet discouraged I do believe this system will eventually fail, and be exposed for the "pyramid scheme" that so many cryptos are accused of being.
I think many of us believe (or perhaps we want to believe) initially that Steemit is different and actually a place that can do good, or as in my case, at least a place where I can share some creativity and photography that some other like-minded may appreciate.
Don't get me wrong I do believe this is a great outlet for creativity and I do think there is potential (and here's the big butt), BUT what I have seen in my short time on Steemit is that those who may have been here longer or learned to game the system faster are really the only ones who are prospering...so far.
My perception is that there are far more people, who understand the system or not, and abuse it than there are those willing to play fair.
At this point seeing the ugly whale wars Steemit begins to look much like a wonderful experiment demonstrating the principle of a few bad apples ruining the bunch.
I can speak to the real world lunacy of having to deal with unyielding idiocracy of those on top with power and wealth, and the self-centered arrogance and blindness that comes with it. Defending that position can become more important than survival itself.
I have to admit to beginning experimenting with bots and such in my novice understanding of this all to see what difference it makes. I thought I heard that it helped those who upvoted you as well as yourself so that it wasn't a bad idea. And quite frankly still don't understand what I am doing, just copying some of what I see seems successful when I randomly run across it.
Hell, I don't even understand how to use Discord or groups. I just got into this because my son said I needed to get into cryptos and now I know what my Mom feels like when I try to teach her how to use a smartphone for gods sake...but I digress.
To make a long useless comment even longer though I really do hope your ideas can find some traction with those who may be able to actually have an impact.
I'd hate to see this really good idea be destroyed by a few self righteous or self serving yahoos who just happened to be lucky enough to get in early enough to manipulate and control the system with their extreme wealth.
That, by the way, is also one of the main things cryptos were created to avoid I believe.
Thank you for your time and well thought-out post. I will look forward to following you.
Thank you @ohicklin:
I had really thought that this post had slipped too far deep into that fog of 'will never be seen again' to gain feedback - and so you made my day. ^_^
You would be surprised at how many 'deserving' posts make a pittance and, inversely, how many shovel-posts by the more 'influential' get showered upon.
Then again, judging by your comment - maybe not. :c)
In any case I have learned to "manage my expectations"...
Thank you kindly for your compliment. My knowledge of the way Steemit works is limited to my observations and information picked up this past seven months - but even new users would have an easy time telling that 'something' is not right.
I would not 'quite' put it at 'pyramid scheme' status - as while the Steem ecosystem is enriched by new users - it is able to thrive without fiat input (or so I think). Yes, it does favour first-comer by virtue of its design but it makes sense that persons who have invested early will have a first-comer advantage - even if at a much lesser effort level than newer users.
I've not ever touched a bot (although I have touched @qurator as a steemit-based service - which kind of counts) so I couldn't tell you much other than that it doesn't take much effort to see that paying to get curated is somewhat of a hollow exercise. Lots of people do it - and many consider it legitimate.
Taxation is a topic that stirs emotions due to the negative connotations it has - and its association with governance and crypto's tendency to posit itself as being uninvolved in governance can fuel disagreement. That being said taxation, lie many other things, is simply a tool that can be used for better or for worse. I like to think that the above is an example of for better - but the jury is still out on that (they have mostly yet to arrive).
Your comment was not useless, in my opinion. Thank you kindly for sharing it. :c)
And thank you for your efforts to keep people thinking about improvements if possible. As you say it doesn't take long for newer users to realize not all is necessarily well. I just hope there can be some improvements before too many are turned off by the negativity that becomes apparent after a while of exposure to the system.
All in all I still believe there is great potential for creativity to show itself here.