Don't Turn Steemit to Shee-it: Mind What You Curate!

Steemit is content freedom, but with freedom comes responsibility.

I'm reminded of this principle when Vice-President Pence recently gave the commencement speech at the University of Notre Dame. Predictably, many among the graduates disagreed vehemently with the Republican administration. However, a select group of students walked out on Pence, disrespecting not only him but the office of the Vice-Presidency.

Friends, I don't know what your political affiliations are. But I think we can agree that irrespective of deeply held views, there is a time and a place for politicizing. Certainly, the 2016 election was disappointing for much of the country, but again -- isn't this the same for any other election cycle?

Every four years, we have winners and we have losers. How we respond to these setbacks is what defines our character, and how we respond is our responsibility.

Steemit is What You Make It

In life, you will not always get what you want. This is a lesson most of us should have learned in childhood, but apparently, in this generation, it takes far longer. So be it. But if we want to create a country and a community that truly respects the democratic process and the will of the people, then it is incumbent upon us to hold ourselves to the highest standard of behavior and decorum.

I believe this is the same for the Steemit community. So many of us content creators jumped on board Steemit because the alternatives -- namely, YouTube and Facebook -- were content unfriendly. With Steemit, individuals with insightful, utilitarian, or thought-provoking material could find a wider, appreciative audience, and receive compensation to continue their work.

However, this is a two-way street. If content viewers and curators continuously upvote and curate crap, Steemit will turn into Shee-it. I'd really hate to see that happen. Unfortunately, as the base popularity of Steemit grows, so too does the junk material. Indeed, the banal and the boisterous are outshining and "out-rewarding" the poignant and profitable.

Why Responsibility Matters

Some may argue that that is the point of Steemit -- to have a truly open-source platform unencumbered by censorship. If the people want crap, and want to reward crap, then that is their will.

But my friends, if Steemit only serves the self-congratulatory, the narcissist, and the loudmouth that says much but offers very little, how does that make this wonderful platform any different than YouTube? Indeed, by rewarding junk content, that only incentivizes true content creators to jump back to YouTube -- or wherever platform from which they originated -- because the competition there has lessened.

Perhaps we're already seeing the consequences of this unmitigated proliferation of mediocrity. Why should the STEEM currency be valued beyond a few cents -- if anything -- if the underlying Steemit platform is no different, results-wise, from YouTube? Parent company Google can squash us if that became the case.

Let's not forget that the Steemit concept is not unique. Competitors are rising, and will continue to rise. If Steemit insists on being a conduit for junk content and a mouthpiece for the personally dynamic but substance-vapid, two things are guaranteed to occur -- one, competitors will gain market share, and two, true content creators will leave.

Obviously, that would bode poorly for the community and the STEEM currency.

So What to Do!?

I'd like to ask my fellow Steemians to stop rewarding crap or junk content. YouTube and the Yahoo commentary board are the trash heaps of the internet. Put your waste there, and don't throw out the Michelin-star filet mignon!

Be especially careful of YouTube "stars" that are migrating over to Steemit. Many of them are straight-up charlatans. You know this because they post 15-minute videos reading up other people's content, making patently obvious inferences, and packaging it in a format that appears original, but is not. Again, this is junk content, but operating at a superficially higher level.

Be aware that our collective actions do have consequences. By rewarding "junkers" and charlatans, we suffocate the opportunity to hear truly free, truly original, and truly innovative content. That only serves to push such affected people to competitor platforms.

And the STEEM volatility that we're seeing now will only get worse.