Steem and boosting and bumping uglies

It was mentioned today that Steem doesn't have the same quality of content as Medium which is obviously a bit of an obvious statement, but some people forget that there is more to the story than that on the centralized sites. I do agree however (although I don't frequent Medium) that the quality is likely higher because there are many professionals writing there, whereas on Steem, we are a pretty eclectic bunch.

What would be interesting to see however is what is the average of these sites as I am sure that there is plenty of ugly there too yet, most visitors don't see it because it gets filtered out by the algorithms. For the most part, Steem has no algorithms and if you want to see a horror show, scroll through the "New" feed for an hour or two and have a look what is on offer.

but, the other thing that people might not consider is that it is the ugly that is compelling. I don't mean the incessant complaining or physical ugliness itself but instead, the unique, the out of the ordinary, the unusual.

Show your ugly unique bits

Much like in dating, people have preferences and while many publications are looking for mass appeal, what is likely going to be the success factor for authors is not mass appeal at all, it is niche appeal where an audience can connect with the author. As said, this is much like dating.

When it comes to dating websites, the people who hide their flaws in their profile pictures and appear 'hotter' get less engagement than those who show off what makes them unique, whether it be a big nose or, different coloured eyes. The reason is that while the pool of potentials is smaller, those in the pool are more likely to find the "flaw" attractive as they have preferences for it.

I see this the same in writing and while some people are looking for mass appeal and trending, those who are likely going to do the best long-term as a writer are the ones who are able to engage and retain a committed audience. This isn't just for writers of course, Apple did the same with the iPhone.

I have seen your type before

It used to be that people would come onto Steem and start trying to copy what they saw in Trending as they would see the high values, put 2 and 2 together and say, "I can have some of that" without understanding the relationships and conditions involved. Now it is largely projects and bidbot boosted posts that get up there and if you do happen to stumble into Trending, you will see that a lot of them don't get much engagement, even with all that "exposure". Then, if you look at what kind of engagement there is, it fills the story out a little bit more.

There is a lot of crap on Steem and a lot of it is of the variety that if anywhere else, there would likely be no audience at all because, it is generic. It doesn't really matter much about the genre of the content either. It could be about self-help, space, technology or right wing propaganda packaged as truth - There is already plenty of it on the internet. Generic.

What about you?

What I like about Steem though is that there is more to the writing that I read than what I will find on Medium and that is, it is personal. On Medium and similar, it is engineered content designed to be thrown out onto the internet for mass amounts of eyes but, it is like Facebook updates. It isn't made to really be responded to as the author doesn't care. It is like the news and while people do read the news and talk about it, they don't talk about it with the news service.

I find Steem to be more discussion based between people where the author is included in the discussion under the post. That makes the writer much more approachable and also vulnerable than the writer who posts content with very little intention of actually engaging with the readers. Of course, this depends on the type of account and the conditions applied.

There are plenty of authors here who earn well but do not engage with the audience at all because they have their own stake or a circle to back them. Those same authors coming in fresh would struggle, even if they did engage. But, there are also lots of authors here who have been grinding away building up a following and even though it might be small group, that group can be engaged and active.

NSFW and Eve

When it comes to stickiness, engagement is more valuable than the price because, the price can drop significantly and if engagement is adequate, the author will feel appreciated. But, not all content is going to get engagement based on a whole host of factors, no matter what effort is put into it - or not put into it as the case may be.

For example, porn is pretty popular on the internet I have heard but browse NSFW (https://steemit.com/created/nsfw) and there doesn't seem to be a great deal of votes falling that way. @eveuncovered does well - not that it is porn but it is NSFW occasionally. Yet, it isn't just because she gets her kit off though as, she is also active around the platform.

When it comes to dating or content creation, it is probably best to be yourself and see how that pans out because even if you are an asshole, there could be an honesty in it some people may connect with. I find on the internet there are fake assholes too as that is an approach people use to boost what they consider "controversial". Generic.

Write a life

We all may have quite different lives from each other and finding the points that are unique and can be compounded against each other can help find ones voice and in so doing, a level of authenticity that people can connect with. One doesn't even have to be a great writer to connect, just have a compelling enough personality that interests some people. Of course, if one is also looking for votes, that is another story altogether as that is going to largely come down to supply and demand or staked benefactors.

In the distant past, many artists had patrons that supported their artistic pursuits because they felt that the work was deserving of being created and seen. Of course, what is beautiful for one is not for another and there could be a large difference in audience between renaissance oil paintings and cubism. On Steem, there are some larger accounts who still manually vote and take the concept of patronage into account when voting. I have been fortunate to have some of these drop by from time to time also.

Many eyes - decentralized

What I think is going to be a future strength of Steem isn't that it is going to have millions of eyes on an article but rather, it is going to have millions of eyes spread across thousands of articles. Yes, some will do better than others in views and support based on demand or public appeal but, many will be able to develop strong niche followings.

This means that on Steem it will be possible to have a wide range of content supported without having to use centralized algorithms to filter out what is not suitable for the site's target audience. Yes, algorithms will be used too depending on the application but there will be more variety and opportunity for a greater range of people. For example, if you browse the Korean tag (https://steemit.com/trending/kr) you will see that there is a lot of support on that side too. Most users on Steem are not Korean I would say. This is the future of Steem.

When it comes to support on a dPOS platform, stake is required to add value and that means that those who want to have more niche content types are going to have to make sure that there is stake to back it up and support it. If one day when Steem is 50 dollars I choose to use all my stake to support a Latin dance community, I can. Oh, I don't write about Latin dance? Not often but, I do dance and I might one day feel that the platform is ready for a dedicated community. Who knows but, if I want to support niche, I have to have stake behind me, not just rely on whales with no interest in dancing.

Love me, even if you hate me

This is the funny thing when it comes to people expecting whales, orcas and even dolphins to vote wider as they expect them to vote on their content without consideration for the personal preferences of the voter at all. People want and expect value added to their post without considering if anyone is interested in it at all. Maybe your content is similar to what they vote on already? Sure, but what would compel them to change their voting habits for more of the same?

Developing a niche takes time, effort and a great deal of consistency - just like building any strong and healthy relationship does but, most people give up once the honeymoon mood shifts. That is the way of the tinder generation, the way of those who feel that they can buy everything they need, without working for it. That is fine but, you have to have the money to buy and make sure, you don't run out. Yep - STAKE:

Apologies

If you read this far, I apologize that it isn't as polished as a Medium article with editors behind it that has been cherrypicked for its likelihood to appeal to you and many others. This is just another free write of thoughts that I put together on the fly without having to spend anytime researching because it is based on my experience, and that travels wherever I go and is always with me.

Are you experienced? Write about it.

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]