Dear Minnow, Steemit Whales Are Not Your Problem: An Open Letter
Dear minnow, I know you're familiar with that feeling, the feeling of frustration that comes with putting up quality posts that get only a few cents in upvotes. You often wonder why those with hefty Steem Power, the whales, do not upvote your post to compensate for your precious time. You begin to naturally dislike the whales whom you consider selfish and inhuman. You accuse them of self voting and, sometimes, vote selling. Dear minnow, the whales are not your problem.
You forget, dear minnow, that those whales did not pluck their SP from wild trees like oranges or guavas. Most of the whales invested thousands of dollars, some even retirement fund from several years of labour, into their SP. It is why there is hardly any whale on Steemit who is less than forty years old, I assume.
So you expect these whales who took the risk of putting their life savings into crypto, one of the riskiest investments on earth, to just shower you with dollars? You must be kidding. And do you even know that there are thousands of posts from minnows everyday? So you expect the whales to wake up in the morning, brush their glittering teeth and start to comb through the endless queue of posts to find you and have you upvoted? Really?
The whales are not your problem. The whales are not here for a tea party nor are they here to mark the scripts of your posts. My friend, the whales are primarily here to make money, although you may get their upvotes occasionally.
So, if the whales are not your problem, who then is your problem? Yourself. Other minnows like you. You minnows go about commenting on and upvoting the posts of the whales, the big guys who don't care about your comments and upvotes. You neglect and despise the posts of your fellow minnows. You peddle hardship in the process.
I know your alibi. You complain that your voting power is weak, just $0.01. You say that's too small to help anyone. Yet, you outnumber the whales. You forget that little drops of water make the mighty ocean. You forget that if you get 100 minnows to upvote you with $0.01, your post will be worth $1, which is not very bad for a beginner. You forget that there is strength in numbers.
I'm not saying, dear minnow, that you don't need the votes of some of the whales and dolphins here to grow. All I am saying is that there is need for minnows to unite, to look within, to support one another, to grow together. Dear minnow, your problem is not the whale; your problem is your failure to look within, to support one another. Pardon my bluntness, I wish you a FULL STEEM AHEAD.
Kindly follow the peerless vocabulary lessons presented by @majes.tytyty, and get rewarded with upvotes for your participation.
Vocab-Ability – "Introduction to Vocab-Ability"
Are you a minnow and you're already thinking of giving up on Steemit? Please don't quit. Kindly follow @Steemitcentral and use the steemitcentral tag in your posts to get some upvotes.
I am @gandhibaba, the young man who goes about carrying his magical pen, not his gun, in his pockets.
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Gif courtesy of @artzanolino
Hi @gandhibaba,
WOW!
You've blown my mind out of my body.
You have just spoken out FRANKLY the inner voices of nearly three quarters of a million Steemians.
If this beautiful, transparent, true-to-the-core publication doesn't bring any change to all of us, then nothing/not any post can bring a change in our minds.
An awesome blogpost blockbuster by all standards!
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Marvellous comment!
@majes.tytyty..... Thank you so much for your kind words.
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Thanks for lovely comment. I am humbled.
Welcome Sir. Always!
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Dear @gandhibaba
If you add the fact, that majority of those so called "whales" do treat others like worse sort of people, then it's really easy to dislike them.
You've said that whales are not our problem. Personally I think many of "our whales" are our serious problem.
I've witnessed already several accounts that were abandoned by their owners because someone with large SP started targeting them. Naturally there always is a reason.
Large SP means power. And power is always being abused by people. Especially if there are no regulations to protect those who are vulnerable (all minnows).
Most of them were rich from the day they were born. There is very little people who can become really wealthy if they didn't inherit wealth (that also usually comes with education, connections, assets, money etc).
Indeed they invested into STEEM blockchain but it doesn't make them "good people".
Seriously I found your approach to this subject ... let's call it "very unique".
Yours
Piotr
This fine post could probably instigate a world-wide socio-political revolution. Let's hope it does.
But first of all, let's hope that any and all minnows who read it take heart, and persevere. As you say, most whales also passed thru some very trying and disheartening times on their way to the top ... and even on their way to the middle.
It takes diligence and persistence and a bit of hard work. In other words, it takes what everyone can bring to their blog.
To All MINNOWS – Best of luck, all. Keep at it, and bring yourself a successful future. (Resteemed)
You always manage to put a smile on my face.
Keep smiling!
First off @majes.tytyty I sincerely appreciate your delegation to my humble account.
As I minnow I can say I don't despise whales or really vote for them or comment their stuff unless I find it to be a good post.
I didn't come to steem for the rewards, sure I'd welcome them, but that wasn't at all my intent. I do tend to upvote the steemians I feel appreciate and respect what I offer the chain. I feel this is only natural and builds a sense of community.
I'm not going to get into the economics of steem so I'll just keep it positive and say we do need unity on steem, that I can agree with. The tone of the post was a bit abrasive but it should be noted that this is a pay to play system and dpos. Sure, it's pitched as a place to get paid for content but anyone with a lick of common sense knows it's far more complicated than that alone..
How many businesses profit in the early stages? Especially without investing! The problem has been the steem dream that was sold, if people can build on the censorship resistant platform and development of communities and tokens built on the chain we'll be headed the right direction. Both whale and minnow and in between..
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Thanks for your input. I'm glad to hear that you are so enthused about building the Steemit community.
On a related point, I'm not sure I'd agree with you about the post being "abrasive." I know @gandhibaba is always willing to speak out directly and forcefully, and the same goes for his above post.
Please don't interpret it as being "abrasive." Take it as if it's a pep talk from a fired-up coach, who wants to motivate and encourage those who need to hear such words.
Upon close reading, you will see that many of gandhibaba's points are valid, and even he admits that he's being blunt. And as for being "abrasive," I've seen him get that way only when dealing with certain power-crazed whales. When it comes to minnows, he's generally very supportive, generous, and helpful.
Cheers!
Yes, indeed I am fine with a good kick in the pants motivator. And am generally quite blunt myself. Perhaps abrasive was a bit presumptuous of me as I didn't take it that way personally.
All this eip talk has many knickers in a bunch and quick to get defensive.
The points are valid and the message is well received..
Cheers and thanks for the thoughtful response..
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Yes, your well written comment indicated that you had a clear perspective on the matter. It's just that I wanted to clarify @gandhibaba's character and intention in this post.
Cheers!
Thanks for your fine comments and resteem. I am humbled, to say the least. Let's hope that more minnows will read this post, change gears, and make this platform a wonderful place for all - regardless of class or race.
The above summarises it all. Words such as this has kept me going. Thanks.
Jeder, der sich auf Steemit angemeldet hat, hat es wegen dem Geld getan.
Es gab keinen anderen Hintergrund.
Alle wollten wissen, wie viel Geld mit Posten von Beiträgen verdient werden kann.
Das Wale den "Neuen" helfen, finde ich "bemerkenswert!!!"
Das heißt aber noch lange nicht, dass Wale ihr Geld für Andere ausgeben müssen, oder?
Jeder sollte einmal darüber nachdenken, dass er selber auch irgendwann mal ein Wal sein kann.
Sich dann von Neuen ansaugen zu lassen, weil die nicht richtig Posten und Kommentieren, bzw. für "nichts und Blödsinn" Geld wollen, ist sicherlich nicht Sinn und Zweck, wenn man Wal geworden ist.
Jeder hat dafür etwas getan.
Wer es sich erlauben kann, Geld zu investieren, der hat halt die Pole - Position!
Na und? War schon immer so!
Also weitermachen und durchhalten.
Vor allem aber nicht betteln, sondern selber etwas auf die Beine bringen.
Einfach mal anders denken und anders handeln, oder?
Der Filosof
Thanks so much for your post; I appreciate the time you took to explain something that people take for granted is common knowledge. There is so much that goes on behind the scenes - at least that's what it feels like to me , together with all the jargon and posts about hardforks and the pros and cons going back and forth - and it's all very overwhelming.
I am happy to read your feedback and to see that you even find this post worthwhile is heartwarming. I visited your blog to give you some upvotes but oops! You don't post too often. See you next time. Regards.