@happyme, I don't think Steem is dying, but it's somewhat "endangered" due to some trends here on the Steemit platform.
Part of the problem is unrealistic expectations created by those who actively market the platform. They go out there and say "Blog on Steemit and earn money!" and then use Jeff Berwick's infamous $45,000 post from last year as "bait." Which sets up utterly unrealistic expectations.
I've made pretty good progress here... but that progress includes spending three hours on a post that ended up making... a bit fat $0.00... and numerous posts in my early days that made less than $1.00.
What threatens Steem isn't so much a shrinking rewards pool or rapidly growing membership... but the expectations of many of "money for nothing." And then the willingness to spam and game the system, rather than simply USE the system to build a following around your own unique quality content.
To make a more fair comparison... I used to "time waste on Facebook" for maybe 2-3 hours a day... in applying that to Steemit for six months, I have gradually gained a decent following, I stick to following real people (no trading follow-4-follow BS), and I'm pretty much here every day. So I could be on Facebook, making ZERO... or I could be on Steemit making $5 to $15 a post... it's a no-brainer to me.
But it is not... and never was... a "money for nothing" gig, for me.
Hello denmarkguy and thanks for the response. I'm glad to see people are still reading my post.
Have you actually read the full post or did you simply skim over it? The reason I ask is that you seem to suggest that I think Steem is dying. In my conclusion I specifically said that I don't think it is dying, but it is not well either.
Jeff Berwick made $45,000 on 1 post??? Wow! I never knew that. The most I ever saw was close to $3,000 and even that is outlandish money! I doubt the author spent anywhere near 2 months to write that article.
Anyway... to get back on track... you stated:
was what is hurting the platform and I agree with you 100%. This is also what I was trying to say in my article. If you look closely, I go so far as to say that all those who partake in vote-buying (either buying or selling votes) are hurting the platform. Buying votes is just one more way to 'game the system', but many don't want to see that as a problem. My comments about the shrinking reward pool and rapidly-growing membership were simply back-ground to why there is frustration and a desire to 'game the system'. Now there is word coming out about possibly illegal or at least immoral pre-mining and that just enforces the notion that greed is good and doing whatever it takes to get earnings fast is just simply being SMART. Anyone attempting to 'play by the rules' or at least earn rewards without 'gaming the system' is just not smart. So in the end, anyone with a conscience is left feeling frustrated as those who use all the 'tricks' shoot past them in earnings.
You should feel fortunate that you started on Steemit when you did and were able to earn
less than $1.00on numerous posts. I started just before HF19 and noticed a huge difference after it. Anyone starting after HF19 or just before is lucky to make 10 cents on a post. It takes a lot of minnows to add any real value to a post even with the VP increased by 4X. Essentially, without the votes of a few dolphins or whales, it is almost hopeless. It is that feeling of hopelessness that makes people feel like the only way to succeed is to buy votes or otherwise game the system. After HF19, the social side of Steemit seems to have lost the battle and the bots have taken over.My mission is to try and alter the perceptions of the public and attempt to re-instill that feeling of community. I am trying to get a group of people to think differently about how they vote and to spread their votes amongst the participants of my weekly give-aways so that everyone supports everyone else and we all grow together. With pay-outs of 10 cents or less, there is not a lot of monetary incentive to go for the prize, so I'm trying to get people to up-vote each other for a guaranteed gain. Hopefully I will succeed and as more and more people see the benefit, their attitudes will change. As we all grow, our VP will begin adding more and more to each other's rewards. After several weeks of seeing the same people, perhaps some friendships will even develop!
Thanks again for commenting and I hope I have explained things better now.
I actually ended up here in a roundabout sort of way at the recommendation of someone else, and was slightly surprised to notice that you had linked to one of my own posts about the same issue... so yes, I did read your entire post... and I think we're on the same page in agreeing that Steemit/Steem is feeling a bit sickly at the moment. However, there seems to already be a groundswell building in the community (mostly among the "dolphin" layer of users to both re-educate and otherwise flag obvious spam and copy-pasta.
I look at this through two sets of eyes... in addition this (my original) account I also manage a far "younger" (about 50 days) old account for my wife's and my independent art gallery... as it is very much a "niche" account, I am building it with a completely different set of (art focused) content, and trying to build a following among a different (and very specific) set of users. My point being, I get to see the site through the eyes of this "junior dolphin" sized account and a "minnow" account, simultaneously.
What I have noticed most since HF19 is that many people have gotten stingy with their upvotes, especially on comments. I curate quite a bit, and I upvote loads of comments... other people not so much; I check steemd.com regularly to keep up wth my voting power... try not to finish the day with it any higher than 85%, as that would mean I'd start "burning" votes before morning.
Anyway, kudos to you for your initiatives... ANY effort towards building community and encouraging engagement is good; anything to highlight people and push bots into the background is good.
Absolutely! I think this is what I have noticed most. Before HF19 I was able to give out multiple awards of 5 SBD from one post! Since then, rewards are declining drastically.
Being able to see things from a minnow's perspective, I'm sure you noticed that even the minnows are not voting on each other much any more. It seems they are all trying to impress a whale or 2 instead. I honestly believe the reduction to 10 votes has really hurt the platform a lot. Yes, I've read about how some whales write that they are not bothered by it because they simply adjust their sliders to get more votes. That's like a billionare adjusting his tip from a quarter to a dollar (or more accurately, the other way around). Of course its no big deal. But the minnows don't have a slider. Even if they did, what good is it when their 100% vote is only worth 1 cent anyways? Reading that sort of comment just makes the minnows feel worse. Now if they had 40 1-cent votes, they might feel better about themselves and start to hand more of those votes out! After all, 40 cents is a lot more that 10 cents.