Steem is an Asset:
A Point of View for Consideration:
Steem is a Cryptocurrency
- Steem/SteemPower is an Asset
- It is bought and sold on our Internal Market as well as at Exchanges
- Anyone can buy it
- There are no moral obligations when you own it to build a "website"
- There is demand for renting, buying and bidding on Steem
- It might increase the value to Steem to build content site(s)
SteemIt is a platform used to distribute Steem
- One use for Steem is to hold Steem Power which gives you influence in the distribution of new Steem
- Holding SteemPower gives you the right to vote, sell, rent, lease that voting power
- Bidding Bots are just an Internal Market for selling voting power.
- It is up to the end-users of SteemIt to curate content
- upvote
- ignore
- flag or downvote
I don't think you can build a mainstream website based on expecting people to conduct themselves in a certain way. We can discuss it from now until the end of time, but buying votes is a viable business with a huge demand it will happen on or off "Chain". If a product is for sale anyone has a right to buy it, not just those who are deemed worthy.
My Opinion
Trending Page:
I LOVE the idea that anyone can invest in SBD or Steem and get their article visibility all the way to the trending page. I don't think the trending page was ever about content and I find it more diverse and interesting now. When I don't like something that makes it to the trending page I flag it and carry on with my activities. The community can choose to flag you off the Trending page, but they can't stop you from getting there. Isn't that Freedom?
Distribution:
Whether or not you like how the Steem is being distributed, it is getting to new and more hands. I think that is a win in the Mid to Long-Term. By distribution I mean Steem is landing in the hands of more people, some in large amounts and some in smaller amounts. (It has never been my goal to stop others from earning large sums.)
- Investors may buy Steem just to use it for business reasons, like selling Voting Power
- The bots hold powered up Steem
- They are allowing others to gain Steem
- Some of that will be sold and some of that will be held and powered up
Voting Power is a Product
If something of value is for sale, why wouldn't I buy it? If a Whale has some voting power they don't want to use today, and I am seeking more voting power, it seems reasonable for me to buy it.
Finally:
To sum it up, in my opinion SteemIt, Inc (fondly known as STINC) is working on building the blockchain, not managing SteemIt. Some refer to SteemIt as a Firehose, a view I have decided to adopt. I went through a disappointment period while I accepted this, but it is what it is. Now we have others building other platforms on the Steem Blockchain which might be better managed and include better features, moderation, etc.
Personally, I am willing to let the experiment unfold and to continue to practice and understand the challenges of a decentralised economy and community. I am not saying you should accept my point of view, but at least consider it.
See you on the Blockchain
I get what you're saying, and at the same time I am learning still. I see so much potential here it is crazy and I will be a part of it.
And this is the beginning of the end, for so much pain and suffering. :-D
When our expectations don't match reality, pain is inevitable.
Some people see the pain as the signal to scream out and cry more. To struggle against what is and shake their fist at the world.
No. This is not always the way. More often it is time to see what reality is and accept that it is what it is. It is not malevolent or prejudiced against us as individuals. It is just a fact of our current state.
When we release the anger and opposition, we can start to work with what is real and present, rather than what is not real and imagined.
Wise words. I'm not good at decentralized authority in a Market space. It sounded so nice also.
I think a huge element I am struggling with is "knowing" how to be tolerant of other points of view, accepting of decisions that get made that I disagree with and letting things develop.
Speaking figuratively, there used to be a saying I loved: Pray for Patience and God will make you wait. (Because that is how we develop Patience)
Its an interesting point of view, if you compare the trending page of steemit to Reddit's hot, It's a bunch of shit memes...
Instead of focusing on fixing the trending page, we need to view ahead and build a system similar to subreddits where content can be relatively moderated which I hope it is how hiveminds will eventually work because right now the only way to find decent content is browsing tags and even then tag spammers ruin certain tags.
The 2 people I feel for are those trying to escape public society here, and those trying to earn a living right now using STEEMit.
The first have to realize that though this is a blockchain application, it is those very people they are trying to escape from who will be calling the shots and dictating the culture of the place. It is what it is.
Second, the earners now are challenged and understandably frustrated because of the wild west nature (like all blockchain/crypto) and the drpressed value of STEEM/SBD. I am kinda glad I am just building an empire and legacy which does not have to pay any bills now. It will go / and then it will go . Then it will go / again! It is what it is.
I have said it before so taking the risk of repeating myself, I have used bit bots respectfully to promote the content I produce. We all know you are more likely to toss a quarter into a case in front of the entertaining artist who already has some quarters.
I love the experiment and the CONSTANT learning on this blockchain as much as the power of networking and the great folks I have virtually met. I am proud of my feed and the folks I have chosen to follow and look forward to what the future will hold in the way of grumpy cats, guys named Dan and Banfield, rebels and bots and arguments and a vibrant community.
You make some interesting points. My only addition here would be about truth in labeling. "Trending" is misleading. Most items in the Trending feed are promoted content. "Trending" (at least to me) suggests the sitewide most used tags (for example), not individual posts.
Maybe there should be a Most Valuable posts feed, and a Trending feed. Or maybe the Trending feed should be the posts with the greatest number of upvotes, not the most rewards. Although that could be gamed, too.
=^..^=
STINC I love it!
An interesting read and viewpoint and one for the most part I agree with
The trending page I see as often a who you know or who you pay page rather than a trending or interesting page, but as you say it is what t is
Thanks for this viewpoint. I'm a newbie, and am learning about the pros and cons of things like bid-bots. Steemit is a complicated system, and as you said, the experiment is unfolding.
I'd still rather be here than on aceFay ookBay.
I agree with your logic @whatsup.
re: bots are going to "ruin the platform".
Regardless of how the Voting Power gets spent, it gets spent. Or I should say, if the holder of the VP is smart, they will spend it since it costs nothing to do so.
Perhaps we would be better served if people would stop pointing fingers at all the problems and create solutions for themselves and others.
Steemit is a Laissez-faire business based on a social media platform using STEEM tokens for exchanges and bartering.
The problem with the trending page is that bid bots are now sending any post from anyone willing to pay for it to the trending page so I at least don't even visit the page to see what is there any more, and I believe a lot of people feel the same way.
Play along, go look at the posts, which one do you think has better or worse quality than before? In my opinion, it is a wash.