On the Eve of Hardfork 19, a Look at "Making Money" vs. "Earning Rewards" on Steemit

This morning, I was reading a brief post by @prakashghai concerning Hardfork 19, which is scheduled to become the "current" version of Steemit tomorrow, June 20th.   

His point was that people are expending a lot of energy worrying about how HF.19 is going to affect the money they make, and that too much emphasis is being directed at "money," rather than "content."

Let's Examine the Psychology of "Earning Rewards" and "Making Money"

Reading his post inspired me to revisit a topic I brought up for discussion a couple of months back-- the issue of how we look at our activities on Steemit, and how that-- in turn-- impacts our success.

It is my firm belief that when we look at the issue of how Steemit "works," it is almost inevitably a better strategy to focus on "getting rewarded" rather than "making money." 

This is the exact same line of reasoning I use with potential new members I am trying to interest in setting up shop as bloggers content creators on Steemit.

But Isn't that Just Two Ways of Saying the SAME Thing?

No, it's really not.

Allow me to show you how:

Let's start with the fact that it's obvious that rewards and content walk hand-in-hand on Steemit, no denying that. 

However, the thing I remind myself of-- and would like to remind everyone who's "worried about the money" about-- is that I was never offered a job here; Steemit is not my employer and they "owe" me nothing whatsoever for my efforts. Which is why I always advise people-- newcomers and veterans alike-- to trade in the idea of "making money" for "getting rewarded."

Think about it, for a moment: If you are a writer, artist, graphic designer, poet or other creative... if you create something with the possibility that there might be a reward, how do you approach what you're doing? If you're anything like me, you put your heart and soul into doing your very best... and odds are that your creation becomes seen, appreciated and rewarded.

At the very least, you feel good about what you've contributed.

However, when you're "posting for money," something changes. The approach immediately become more formulaic; what you're engaged in is a more calculating process of "if I do X, I can get Y results." Much authenticity goes out the window... and the content may even become sort of stilted and mechanical. And-- oddly enough-- even though it was "created to make money," it often ends up not doing as well.

Again, this is just my opinion, but it's rooted in 20 years of working with "social content."

Why "Adding Value" Matters!

Of course, there's a school of thought out there-- typically supported by those who are just "in it for the money"-- that creating content to "add value" isn't necessarily the objective of Steemit.

My response to that is mostly that such an approach may be valid, but is also short sighted. 

Ask yourself this-- in the long run, why are we attracted to web sites? Why do you choose to be part of a web community? Is it because it is cool, and adds value to your experience in some way?

My guess is that you're not attracted to web sites filled with "arbitrary crap!" 

So, sure we can feel free to post formulaic things of no value, but I'd feel pretty confident in saying that future potential Steemians would look at the site and think "What a load of garbage," and then not sign up... meaning your "posting strictly for money" eventually will kill your ability to earn money from new members... because there won't be many.

It's a simple idea, really. Create quality content and you will be rewarded, and the community will thrive in the long run. 

Create crap, and you might discover a magic formula to game the system and make money in the short run. But when the site fills up with junk, people will stop joining the community, and your source of "making money" will dry up and go away.

If course, I'm not an expert an may not know what I'm talking about. But I have been on user-generated content sites for close to 20 years. All but two (of about 100) failed. Rewarding junk content was often the cause.

What do YOU think? Are you looking at the implementation of HF19 from the perspective of what it will do to the money? Or are you just busy creating content? Do you feel there is too much focus on "making money" on Steemit? Or do you see this more as a money making venture than a content creation venture? And yes of course both can apply! Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- start the conversation!

(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for Steemit)