Making Sense Of The "Experiment" By A New User
I came across crypto-currency when I was introduced to steemit and joined around 6 weeks back. I have made a total of around six posts during my time here and have "powered" up all the steem I received as payout for them. Anybody who is the same state of discovery as I would know that the learning curve to just use the platform is pretty high on its own, but gets magnified a hundred fold when the "crypto" aspect is thrown in.
Though I have come across many posts from good people here who have offered help in their posts, I have tried to navigate through the information on my own and not bother anyone, and I have enjoyed it. There is a lot of help on the site for newcomers like me which gave me the minimum necessary to start with, and I learnt a lot on the net about crypto's in general.
I started posting, slowing understanding how the community moves and discovered that there are a lot of people here whom I would love to befriend. But I have been known to be, or have been called in the past, an introvert and find I cannot just rush to make friends with anybody, and end up taking a longer time. Once I started my postings, I started to relax and was on the verge of reaching out to some of my favourite authors to engage and possibly end up being friends.
Image
Then I seem to have walked into "the experiment" which was polarising the community right in front of my eyes, and I could not do anything about it. I saw posts calling for a strike while some users were saying they would not write for a while. But the worst were posts where some even seemed ready to leave.
I saw people happy when the price of steem finally went up, as I was too when my modest $48 dollars went up to almost $180 and has now settled down to around $130. And I saw a lot of posts where everyone seemed happy that they were now giving a few cents with their vote and were feeling empowered.
As a new member, I can only hope that this community does not implode in itself as I have read about other crypto communities on the net. I am not a techie in any way but I understand this is an effort to build a social media platform and also to build a community. But a community is built with people and managing the human aspect should be a priority. But some of the comments I have read have shocked me, and I hope we will start with being more civil.
I hope the community wakes up to the fact that any conflict leaves a scar which might not heal for sometime and if the community is to prosper, we need to have respect for others opinion and actions and be civil about our responses. And if we are to have a community which can blaze a path for the future, then we must avoid conflicts of this type at all costs.
Because from where I stand, I see the start of something meaningful, and visionary, which might make a big difference to the world. And we should not forget that, and strive to make steemit successful, while keeping the community intact.
Well that was my two cents, but I truly hope we get over all this and move ahead.
Nice post. I am an introvert by nature as well. But Steemit has changed me a lot. I now post and comment like a normal human :). It's a great place to be. I do try to stay away from the politics most of the time. It kills my positive vibe! Steem on!
Thank you for your response. As I found myself embroiled unwittingly, it did manage to affect my "positive vibe" and I feel hesitant to reach out again. I hope it abates and we can get back to normal. :)
I joined a few months ago and one of the things that appealed to me most about steemit was the community and how supportive it was. If I joined today and read some of the recent posts I am not sure I would think the same. Your 100% correct and I think we need to do better.
Yes a lot seems to have changed in these few days, but the most troubling for me was the callous attitude some seem to have to people leaving. That should not be encouraged and we should go back to the welcoming and supportive environment you mention.
Also, thank you for your endorsement of my opinions.
I am new to the Steemit community and don't fully understand "the experiment" but the concept of this community and the rewards for participation seem novel and potentially revolutionary. We will all benefit if it realizes its potential. I hope we can stay focused of the larger prize and not self destruct. Greed, envy and jealousy are 3 destructive emotions.
Yes the future sounds better than the present at least and I sincerely hope we as a community can steer it in the right direction. But welcome on board, this is gong to be quite the ride :)