Most Voted Authors by Whales - This Week's Data (Aug. 22 - Aug. 29)
Last week I started analyzing the steem blockchain with Python. I wanted to find out who are the most voted authors by whales. Here's the post.
Here I am going to do a follow-up of that post to see how the dynamics have changed since last week. I'll also discuss what I think about the trending page, followers, and the most recent feature of 'promoted' posts.
Specials thanks go to: @bitcalm, @furion, @heimindanger, @trogdor and @xeroc.
Most Upvoted Authors by Whales
The reiterate the process:
1. Get ~30 whale usernames from steemwhales.com
2. Analyze their votes only made on posts (ignore comment upvotes: if permlink[:3] != "re-")
3. Ignore all votes by non-whale users.
In the analysis you will only see whale votes as they are the heaviest. Should I have included all votes by all users, the situation may have been different. So, here's what I found.
Number of Votes Given By Whales - Plot
Number of Votes Given By Whales - Table View
Number of Whale Votes Received by Authors - Plot
Number of Whale Votes Received by Authors - Table View
In terms of votes given, whales have been slightly more generous compared to last week:
- total whale votes this week: 6124
- total whale votes last week: 6076
What I notice in the authors list:
- the top 5 has changed since last week
- some authors have received significantly fewer votes compared to last week
- some authors have received significantly more votes compared to last week
I don't want to be more specific. You see the data. You can make your own judgments and drive your own conclusions.
The Code
You can find the python code behind this data in my github. I don't want to unnecessarily fill this post with computer code.
Thoughts on the Trending Page, Followers, and Promoted Posts
To be honest, in the first week I joined steemit (late July) I would spend a lot of time scrolling through the posts of the trending page. I wanted to comment and vote so that I would generate curation rewards.
First and foremost, I was very frustrated seeing posts that would get hundreds-to-thousands of SBDs while I would make almost nothing with my posts. I would spend hours writing my posts while some of the posts on the trending page would simply be a photo or a short-summary of something. Really, it was extremely frustrating...
Second, there were a few people whose posts I was interested in most - people with similar interests. But it was no simple task to get their updates. I would have to type in the steemit author link to get to their blog. That changed thanks to the introduction of the 'follow' and 'feed' features.
My point is that the majority (if not almost all) of new authors face this kind of frustration. It may have been easier to get up from the ground in the first 2-3 months of the platform. Now, it's not as easy. It's least likely, in my opinion, for a newbie post (no matter how good it is) to be seen by a whale when the whale already has various trusted authors to vote. I assume they don't want to risk their reputation. And I think that's normal.
Several proposals have been made by @razvanelulmarin and @dana-edwards particular to this issue. They involve complex curation strategies and vote delegation, but until we find a good strategy for the retention of new authors, I'd recommend them to stay away from the trending page.
Instead they should look for people/authors who write on the topics of their interest and start following them. They'll be more naturally inclined to vote, comment, and socialize with these authors. The trending page is discouraging...
Ending Thoughts
I came to these thoughts by looking in retrospect to my own strategy. I stopped routinely visiting the trending page about 3 weeks ago. As I gradually started following more people, I began spending most of my steemit time on the 'feed' page and on reading the posts of the people who I followed.
I think many of you guys are doing the same thing, but if a newbie finds this post, it may be helpful to them.
Secondly, I have no strong opinion on the new 'promoted' feature. I somewhat think it will not live up to its expectations. Why?
Steemit is a platform that incentivizes its users, unlike most other social platforms.
Basic human psychology tells me that your average user is not going to be driven to the 'promoted' page simply because of the possible negative strong associations with a 'good' that is being marketed to them.
We are inclined to be more skeptical when we are being sold something. I'd suspect your average user is more likely to frequent their personal feed, and, by a long-stretch, the 'trending' page.
I'm sure some of you disagree with my thoughts, which is why I encourage you to come with counterarguments. I'd be very happy to see different perspectives on this, especially if they spring from rational arguments.
Oh, and if you have ideas for analytics similar to those from above, I'm open to suggestions.
To stay in touch, follow @cristi
#programming #statistics #analytics
Cristi Vlad, Self-Experimenter and Author
Hi @cristi,
You have been chosen as a featured author by the @robinhoodwhale initiative.
Learn more about the Robinhood Whale here!
Keep on Steeming more amazing posts!
Goodluck!
~RHW~
thanks RHW ;)
another great, complex and underappreciated post....
ah well, it doesnt matter. as long as someone finds this useful :)
Thanks for sharing!
I think the "Promoted" page will draw people to it who are looking for posts that the authors believe are good posts and deserve attention. And I think that's how the authors need to be treating that page. It shouldn't be expected that any post that is boosted will earn more money simply by being on that page. If treated as a marketing strategy for valuable content, then I believe authors will likely see a good ROI when using it.
For example: If I use the "Promote" option to boost my 5000-word essay on conflict resolution in a voluntary society, and I know that there is a large market for the content, I truly believe that my essay is very well-written, and that the argument is strong, interesting, and persuasive, I could reasonably expect that my investment in the promotion has a good chance of being rewarded. And if I truly believe in the power of the message and writing, I might put a considerable amount of money into promoting it - with the hope that readers will in fact appreciate the thought and even enjoy the read.
If I'm simply throwing a dollar or two on a post that's just a short paragraph about giving my dog a bath today, I wouldn't expect there to be a large crowd of people interested in that. I also shouldn't expect that my $2 investment will do a lot of good when competing with other writers who are putting $5, $10, $20 or more into their essay or entertainment posts.
It's really just basic marketing. If you have a good product and want it to be seen and upvoted, then you'll have to put in a little bit of work to attract followers or put in a little money for marketing - maybe a mix of both. As a user who appreciates good content, I'll look for it, especially on the Promoted page. I want to see authors who value their work.
We'll see some of this get worked out over the next few days and weeks. There are a lot of people testing the function and they'll learn whether it works for them or not and at what prices. There's a lot of content on there that I have absolutely no interest in (and that I don't think is good), but that's just my preference. If others feel the same way, then their ROI will be poor. If the same people continually promote their posts and continually receive no attention and no rewards over the course of several weeks, then it would be safe to say that their particular content or style is not in demand by the users on the platform.
Not everyone will be a successful creator. If it was easy, we'd all be rich and happy. This platform offers an opportunity, but it doesn't guarantee success. There's still a lot of work to be done, but the potential is enormous.
Anyway... </essay comment>
Thanks for the info! I like seeing stats like this. Good job!
Yeah, I'm going to be experimenting with Promoted a bit in the coming days - I think I'll just shell out whatever it takes to put a good article to the top, and see if iy comes anywhere near paying me back.
I appreciate you taking the time to provide such detailed feedback. thank you! you're throwing good ideas here. You may have a point: it's not all black and white as I might initially have thoughts. only time will tell if and when such 'promotion' strategies will work. If the feature is persistent, I may further test with it on my posts as well. but, currently, I'm not that inclined to do it...
Yeah - if you have the SBD to do it, then it wouldn't hurt to try it out. But right now, there are a lot of other people doing the same, so you may just get lost in it all. I'd wait for it to settle down and maybe give it a shot in a few days.
good thought! thank you :)
Good job organizing and presenting all the data.
You definitely got my attention!
thanks!
Awesome list with some well deserved rewards!
Thanks @cristi
excellent post! keep on posting this information. it is highly useful to me and others will eventually realize the gems in it! thank you
thank you!
This is great! Thanks for doing this. The "guest author" stuff has started to bother me a little, as neither the promoter nor the whale voters seem to be paying close attention to quality any more.
it's being actively discussed behind the scenes...there are pluses and minuses. anyway, good content creators should focus on their craft. IMHO
I just hope the bot operators hold their beneficiaries accountable.
it wouldnt be easy to tell :)
@crist thanks for a peek into the stats. I know it can be a time consuming endeavor so the work is very much appreciated.
I guess in many ways I am a bit different in that I never really followed a curation strategy. I was more interested in finding authors with whom I had some kind of connection (discovered through their content) and generated content I genuinely loved. Once I found the "new" tab, that's where my search for content to check out begins and then I generally work through my feed as well (thankfully you are an author in my feed).
Maybe I'm just a treasure hunter at heart or maybe I root for the underdog, but I prefer to channel my upvotes towards content I love rather than a curation strategy. I think my hidden gems speak for themselves. I don't earn a thing (generally peaking)- it's a labor of love, but I hope it keeps those struggling authors writing and at least motivated to keep pushing out their content.
Upvoted.
well yes, that's why we all have different tastes, likes, and habits. I also enjoy curation, but mostly on the links of people who I follow :D
followed and upvoted