Feeding frenzies and future friends

Today's training session was good and considering I didn't understand a lot of it, there was a lot of value in seeing how some of the other trainers approach training, one even has a similar style to myself so I think I am going to leverage their skills and see if modelling a little will help me get up to speed on some things faster. There are so many things to learn that I have to make sure that I can cut uptake corners where possible and have more time to focus on key points. Normally a feeding frenzy requires many, I feel like I have to eat it all by myself at the moment.

It is really weird not being on Steem as much and barely even having time to check in during the day. With so much going on I am having to batch respond at the moment as well as do something I really discourage anyone trying to grow their account, post and run. I see quite a few people that want to develop their position on Steem who are posting and running and waiting sometimes days to answer comments, if they answer at all.

It is unlikely going to work out the way they want and is much like doing only half the required work. As I see it, building an account has various parts to it and while someone might like doing some bits of others, they all need to be performed adequately. There are people who post great content but don't reply in a timely fashion, others that reply but don't add anything of substance and many who never get off their own blog, even though they don't get a huge amount of comments themselves. Engagement across Steem is a massive part of building a solid network.

But the building is only one side of it as when it comes to having a good and enjoyable experience here, it is the interaction with others on the blockchain that facilitates it. Those who are purely her to earn will nearly always face the problem that they lose motivation as price decreases whereas those who have social interaction, friends and communities to mix with are much more resistant to the ups and downs of both Steem and the emotional FUD that flows through the chain at various times.

As I said above, modelling desirable patterns is a pretty good way to get a foundation built quickly and if you look for the accounts that weren't here at the beginning and still managed to build a decent network, that is a good place to start. What I like to see is when there are new accounts who go through the work, develop their approach and consistently interact until they start attracting more and more support, more comments, more shares and of course, a more enjoyable experience for themselves.

There is often an expectation problem here that people assume that they show up and the platform does it for them, all they need to do is post. While that might work on the algorithmic platforms to some extent as they suggest users and the like, even there there is a great deal of work involved to monetize adequately and that work takes time and investment also.

Part of the premise for Steem and decentralized blockchains is of course the taking back of responsibility and action for the self. While it sounds good in theory, many people have been so programmed by the platforms and societies that do a great deal of designing to make us dependents on them. Little things like account security we outsource and rather than protect ourselves we allow them to ask, forgot your password? and then give a 'click here' option.

While applications can of course tackle this issue in various ways, I use it just to demonstrate that on Steem, there is a lot more up to us as individuals to perform, our Steem lives are our own. While this can be a hurdle to onboarding and retention for many, for those who do the learning they will likely find like I did that taking control and responsibility for our own Steem experience opens us up to be able to be much more creative and play in areas where we might not have had access to otherwise. Responsibility of action is the real definition of freedom in my opinion.

At work it is my responsibility to get myself up to speed and even though at the moment it feels like a Wikileaks data dump has landed on my desk, sorting through it and developing my approach is up to me. Yes, my workplace can support this but the largest opportunity is going to be through me developing good relationships with my colleagues so that they are comfortable in supporting me so in the future, I can support them. What I am doing is integrating into their community and in time, they will leverage what I can offer also however, it is not their responsibility to chase me.

Yes, we want to support new users on Steem but people also have to remember that this is a place that is meant to encourage freedom of thought and action, not being stepped through and crutched for the journey at every point. What I have found is that those who have taken the journey and fallen a couple of times are the ones who do the best in the long run, while those who get support consistently from the start never learn to stand on their own two feet and, soon give up if that support stops.

For example:

If one is going to sell a "MASTER" class course on "How to be successful on Steemit", they might really want to be in a position where after 24 hours they have more than two comments.. and one of those is sarcastic, the other his. THe other thing that one might want to understand is,

STEEMIT IS NOT STEEM!

 
It is people like this who are public, outward-facing users who purport to know what they are doing while spreading the wrong information about Steem and the wrong practices, that are confusing the Steem message. First of all, what is "success" on Steem? That definition is the users responsibility to discover, not someone who's only way to get attention for himself is to buy visibility. How long til he leaves I wonder? Maybe if Steem hits 5 cents these people will disappear. But, he has his approach and does what he does and no one need pay any attention to him at all. It is all part of the game.

Some people will come in and model themselves on the likes of Joe and Jerry (it could be a cartoon) while others will find role models that will help them develop for the long-term. It might be slower but over time, it is likely much more rewarding from not only a financial perspective, but also from the social relationships and friendships built.

To each their own though as that is part of freedom of action. As are the results.

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]