This place sucks: A lot.
Steem sucks a lot, there really is no denying it. There are so many problems, so many issues within the community that need addressing and so many changes that need to be considered and made that it sucks so much of my time into it. It sucks and sucks.
A lot of people come in here with the expectation that this is much like other centralized platforms where they can sign up and get using without having to do much else. Essentially, most platforms work similarly to a platform game like Donkey Kong where there are levels and obstacles but the user is guided through the maze with no control over where the game goes.
The newer games like MeinKraft Mine Craft seemingly break this convention by creating free-roam worlds but, it isn't actually true. Even though within the game essentially anything can be built, it is still bound by the code of the game and they create channels that influence at the least but generally dictate behavior.
Steem doesn't behave like that because of the decentralized and largely opensource nature of the system which means the possibility to create and experience here is much more free than any other social media site in existence, as far as I know. Yes, competition is coming, arrived and is closing in.
But, this freedom goes beyond the ability to create content or even apps, there is a chance to directly effect the community in any number of ways by building projects, initiatives, discords, and whatever else to gather people and to greater and lesser degrees not only effect their experience on the platform but, effect the platform itself and the way it operates.
Spend enough time here and you will not only see what goes on in the real world replicated, you will start to understand how to influence it too and perhaps learn methods and approaches to changing interactions in the real world. If you are spending a lot of time here and this isn't affecting your behavior in other places of your life, you are likely not paying attention to the crossover possibilities.
What I find is that the more I learn about the mechanics of how this place operates and how the community moves and changes over time, the better I am able to predict behaviors and affect change in the workplaces I operate in for my business. Over the last year, there has been quite a lot of overlap between Steem and my business approach in several areas and my real world job has seen companies make some large improvements in their day to day operations as well as the overall feel of the workplace.
People are slowly taking more responsibility for themselves, relying less on others but, more actively seeking for collaborations with others rather than lone wolfing it. Essentially, there is a growing sense of trust between people and even though there are some very stressful circumstances, the sense that each player is doing their best to make sure that objectives are met and, they are met together, not despite other players. This is especially notable in the middle- to upper management levels I work with.
There is still a division that is essentially the Us versus Them mentality between management and production staff but, this is mostly the legacy of the past and the expectations held that maintain the status quo. But, even this is slowly changing as the interaction line between office and factory floors is being blurred. and conversation is becoming more effective and therefore, relationships are becoming stronger.
Pretty much, our entire world has been set up like Donkey Kong with a series of platforms to reach, ladders to climb and barrels to jump in order to advance through it. It is an engineered system that is always going to favor the creators of the game and no matter how good you are at playing, we are all still within the system of it.
The only way to be outside of the system is to stop playing the game and, change the game played. Not just play it in a different way because that just means that a few tweaks from the designer and, we are jumping barrels again. Changing the game is often spoken about when it comes to technological advancements but, how many truly do change the game?
The difference in the technology introduced this time isn't that it is a product that is brought in to enhance our place within the platform, it is a new platform that is built from the ground up from the players themselves. Yes, there are still rules and it still has to go through a process of development alongside the current system but, it is a process that can be directed by users. With enough development and support, this has a chance to make an entirely new game that is driven by mass interaction rather than a narrow peak dictation which level we must aim for next.
The status quo situation now is one where the masses are essentially ignored and controlled by a very few. Decentralization slowly increases the inclusion rate of people who can have a growing influence on the systems in play until at some point, a critical mass is reached and the scales can tip. It isn't going to be an easy task nor is it going to be a smooth transition which is part of the reason the status quo position can hold so firmly. Humans aren't designed to put themselves into discomfort and if changing the system is made to look painful, very few are going to make the changes necessary.
From my perspective, the reason this place sucks so much of my time is that it provides me with a pool of knowledge and resources that continually connect to the changes happening in my real world position, changes that I am both noticing and affecting. A lot of the problems Steem as a platform faces are identical to what the real world faces to because, people come in and play this place like Donkey Kong so as to get the value to buy back into the status quo at a higher level, rather than build it into a new game that has yet to be seen. One that has the potential to benefit and empower countless more.
None of this happens overnight though and it is likely to take much longer to mature than I have years left in my body but, don't all great movements? We forget that those empires that got torn down in the past took centuries to come into existence and, get take out again. Very few large scale movements truly reach their goals within lifetimes and even though we have the added support of lightning fast communication and knowledge sharing, so do the empires trying to maintain their status as rulers.
If there is is one thing that people should aim to do here is, think differently. Different thoughts lead to different results.
Or, just keep jumping barrels thinking you are getting somewhere.
Taraz
[ a Steem original ]
The problem is the bulk of the users on here are about themselves and pure greed. If they stopped and belonged to a community maybe things would get fixed. There are a few that care but far too few.
This is the mechanism of the status quo, "be greedy and you might jump the barrel, climb the ladder and join us up here."
The ladder is quite long though but worth the climb.
I was Just thinking today about this! I noticed that lots of big users are casting 1% votes that are not worth anything!! Right now it feels like people do not want to help others out and small accounts/users do not matter at all. Yeah, it's great to get 60 or 70 upvotes, but if the payout is 35 cents it really makes you wonder. Money is not everything, but when you see bigger accounts acting like that it's not cool at all.
It isn't the bigger accounts alone because, there really aren't many large accounts here. What you will find though is many, many small accounts trying to maximize at a very low level rather than cooperating to build themselves together.
To me, even 2000 USD account is a big one as I'm still plankton. But yeah, it's incredible how dumb people can be! But it's fine, I will grow eventually, it will just take longer than expected.
I have done it now:
WOW! Thank you so much! I feel super grateful right now!!!
When you have earned another 60 SP or so, consider upping the delegation to them to get 4 votes a week and then everything over that keep using to support others here.
I will definitely do that! Thank you so much <3
There are only about 15,000 accounts over 250 Steem Power. anything over 500 SP is a 1%. Sad considering how many more have earned a lot more than that. Too many small accounts powerdown which means they can't support others.
On a side note:
I am going to delegate 50 SP for a while to you so you can join @steem-ua at no cost to your SP. It will get you two votes a week from them.
It is really easy, here is the Steemconnect link:
https://steemconnect.com/sign/delegateVestingShares?delegator=&delegatee=steem-ua&vesting_shares=50%20SP
and I will delegate to you now.
This.
How come there’s no large scale Venezuelan community all over our feeds.
All happy with the little which held them but no interest in harnessing the power of one for all, all for one.
When are you going to power down and turn it back into money?
Lol. How about never. When I need stuff, I'll buy it with upvotes.
There are going to be a growing number of ways to use Steem/etc to purchase with and at some point, the fiats will break and there will be an explosion of options.
I'd say that's the crux of it. We're often too full of expectations, preconceptions and comparisons. "It's Facebook, but you get paid" (it doesn't seem much like Facebook to me). Why does it need to be compared to something that already exists. It has the ability to be whatever you want to make of it. Why make it into the world we already live in? Perhaps we cling to the familiar.
PS: I'm fascinated by the picture. Are they gorillas?
I think it comes down to habits and learned patterns. Hard to break the bars if all we have known is a cage.
Yes. I took the photo at a zoo in Tenerife .
So what is think differently to you? Agreeing with everything said? That's usually how it goes which is the number one biggest problem here, you have to agree with issues not debate them. Just like in the real world you are expected to be a sheep.
Thinking differently for me is, me thinking differently. It has nothing to do with the way you think, act or behave. I can find new thoughts from many sources and many perspectives.
My thinking changes daily, yours?
Depends on whose inspiring my thinking....lol.
this is the issue if people stay in echo chamber types situation as most is support for what they already think. and when they go out, they don't look to learn different perspectives, they look to push their own agendas. stereoptypical left/right political behaviour.
That's fair to say. There'd been a day when I thought the majority of people deserved to lose their jobs. I was a work alcoholic, loved my management hated by the employees but it was always me going out the door. Why? Because it was always easier to get rid of one then it was to replace hundreds in a ever disgruntled work force that didn't enjoy having to work harder as a result of my performance. A work force who trusted in the echo chambers of the government agenda and never stopped to look at a different perspective that we were under way to get sold out. Decades later the rationalization has finally set in, the damage is done, the fight is no longer about what they did or didn't do or what they deserved the fight is about turning it around and the future that will be bestowed upon my offspring once I leave this earth. I was what my parents termed a incubator baby, a born fighter I will die a fighter.
Steem sucks, because steem emulates the real world, And the real world actually sucks.
We can either complain or do something about it.
This is the thing.
Master Taraz... greetings. We have been jumping barrels for years. The routine is boring, but the view is addictive. I’ll be back tomorrow.
I was reading about your prepping management the other day. Consider this a part of it :)
It's unfortunate that Steem does reflect the real physical world totally. I was hoping it wouldn't, but it does. Shame, because that was one of its huge selling points.
Steem never pitched that it would do away with human nature.
Steem doesn't, the community does. Steem can be many things and takes the form of the community that uses it.
My mistake ! You're absolutely right of course, but that makes it somewhat worse when we have this amazing tool' at our disposal and we use it to mimic a failing system.
Right now, I'm finding it all a bit depressing, and worse than that, am finding very little of any interest to read and learn about.
Tomorrow's another day :-)
Many are, find people who are interesting and add value or, be interesting and add value =)
There is a good reason I need to find people who are interesting.... lol ;-)
But.. Jumping barrels is fun!!
You've got it right - think differently. The Status Quo is not going to get us where we want to go (if where we want to go is building a community who supports one another and quality content actually hits the trending and hot pages and we support quality over "friends").
It sounds like you're well on your way to teaching your own philosophy classes at the university. We definitely see a lot of the same behaviors here as we do in the "real world." People talk about how it's supposed to be different, but there are still people involved, so until we change as people and become better, we'll still have a lot of the same issues.
People can change though, and if we build a community (not a system) in a way that rewards or affirms behavior that is positive for the community, then we may see progress.
People don't change through code alone as you said. It takes a community and even though not everyone can play the same roll, all can have a place.