Improving Quality on the Blockchain

Yesterday I posted about the need to bring more readers to the platform if we want to add value to Steem. However, it is important that we all start taking a serious look at what readers are going to find when they get here. Of course things like alternate UIs, better search functions, and other tools like that could help make the reader experience better, but those aren't things the average Steem user can influence right now. So what can we do?

_{Created by bex-dk using Deep Dream and art licensed with Creative Commons}

I already mentioned a bit about making quality posts in yesterday's article. I also previously wrote a bit in A Steemit Future for Fiction. @tinypaleokitchen added many great points with Rights and Responsibilities. Additionally, I strongly recommend reading the @thewritersblock post about Ethics in Publishing. I think everyone should keep these various points in mind before they hit that Post button.

Our next step, once we improve the quality of our own posts, is to help look at what else is on the blockchain. It's easy to moan and gripe about spam, but complaining doesn't have any real impact. So I'm trying to do more than just complain.

Be a Good Example

Instead of trying only to focus on getting a bigger piece of the pie, focus on making the pie bigger, so your piece will also increase.
---@thinknzombie

The first thing each and every one of us can choose to do to help improve Steem is to think about our own actions. New users will imitate the behavior they see. If we self-moderate by posting good content, making intelligent comments, choosing tags wisely, and prioritizing growing the pie over simply making sure that we get more ourselves, we will help set that as the community standard and have newer users imitate it.

Educate Others

Not everyone who is comment spamming understands their behavior is not accepted here. If we make an effort to educate before flagging, it gives them a chance to learn.

New users may not realize that they should say more than "nice post." Especially when we remember how the environment is on other social media, we can see the learning curve involved in the Steemit adjustment. As for myself, I was here for a while before I realized I got payouts for comments. This concept is pretty foreign.

Report Abuse

@steemcleaners, among others, is working hard to combat plagiarism and other forms of abuse. But we can help by making careful reports of the problems we find. I do mean careful, because erroneous or insufficiently-researched reports only add to the work load.

Remember that everyone is human and makes mistakes, occasionally mistagging posts because the field autocompleted with an earlier tag choice or just interpreting a tag differently. But you can comment and remind them to change it, if it isn't the first comment.

Plagiarism is always wrong. How would you feel if someone else made money off your content?

Image copyright infringement might be ignorance that can be stopped with simple education. If you aren't sure about what's okay, refer to @rhondak's excellent article.

Combatting these issues is also essential for the growth of the platform into a respected resource. If people continually find plagiaristic articles and copyright infringing art, other content here may be tainted by that tendency.

For more information about Steemcleaners and for specifics about what qualifies or doesn't as abuse, please check out their Abuse Guide.

Encourage Others

Curating those who provide original, polished, and quality content, especially new and unique content that either does bring readers to the platform or at least has the long term potential to do so, is essential. Without quality, original content, Steem is just another crypto.

Look at posts before you upvote. The initial paragraph may be misleading about the content or quality of the post. If a post is worth upvoting, isn't it also worth reading? Don't upvote just to get a share of curation rewards or because you think the post has the right title and tags to be worth money later. Do it because the post is worth reading and adds value to the platform.

If you are unable to spend time seeking out quality content on your own, consider supporting a curation trail, following someone else who is working to curate original content, or delegating some power to a curation organization or a user who upvotes wisely. I believe that some users may begin to feel entitled to autovotes and be inclined to post more content just to get them. Upvoting manually or following a real human who is doing so and whose voting choices align with your own preferences allows you to consider the power you have available, avoid encouraging spammy posts, and prevent dependence on autovotes.

If you do choose to autovote some users, be sure to check back frequently to make sure that those users continue to post only the type of articles you want to support. Remember that when you upvote them, your name will be permanently linked to the content you have upvoted.

Also consider adding an intelligent comment. Tell the poster what they did that attracted your upvote. If it isn't someone you interact with normally, it is especially valuable to let them know what about their post brought the positive attention. While I love seeing upvotes tick in on one of my posts, an intelligent comment means far more to me. Nothing beats having a comment pop up on an article that is long past its seven day upvote window. Those comments tell me I really did provide something valuable.

Commenting is also important when you are low on voting power. If you find a great post, let the person know what you think of it, even if you can't upvote them right now. But comment wisely, so you don't become a comment spammer.

Support new users with the occasional resteem of a great post, with upvotes (even if only a low percentage vote), and most importantly with real interaction. I recommend initiatives like that started by @gmuxx to introduce new users who write interesting introductory posts to his network.

Encourage someone by being helpful. For example, if someone has formatting issues, give them a tip on how to fix it instead of just ignoring the post. Remember how it felt to be new when everything was confusing and overwhelming! Perhaps you have the link to a post or organization that you found helpful and can suggest they look at.

Keep Learning

I am sure that this article hasn't covered everything we can do. It covers what I know about it so far. My goal now is to continue learning about adding value to Steem and increasing quality on the blockchain. I also want to keep on learning how to make my own posts better, so I continue to add quality myself.

If you have suggestions I've missed, please comment. I am certain this article is not exhaustive, as I am still so new to this myself.

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If you want to work on improving your own writing, be it fiction, poetry, or some form of nonfiction, consider checking out The Writers' Block. The Block offers peer review workshops in several genres.