How Steemit is helping me to avoid tarbabies and focus on content

in #steemit7 years ago

Over the last several weeks, I've noticed a curious inhibition to post much of anything on Facebook or Google Plus. No longer am I drawn to the debates of old style politics. No longer do I care to debate Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives.

I just use Facebook to promote my posts on Steemit and to keep up with family news. I still use Google Plus and Twitter, but most days, all I ever do is post links to my articles on Steemit. I have a quiet smirk on my face when I do that because I know that every post on those three platforms is a tiny paper cut for them. Multiply that times thousands or millions of Steemian posts and it starts to count. They don't want us to know that we could get paid for doing social media. Not yet anyway, or maybe not ever.

I came to Steemit out of curiosity. I saw a very interesting ecosystem and decided that I wanted to learn more. Now, a bit more than a year later, I'm still here. I'm earning phone booth money. I split 50/50 now for rewards, and whenever I build up $10SBD, I send it to an exchange and buy some cryptocurrency.

I was once afraid to invest in cryptocurrency. I thought I needed a wallet on my computer to get started. Then I started thinking about computer security, how to use the wallet and when. I went on like that for awhile. I'm really small potatoes, folks.

Then I found out that exchanges will build a virtual wallet for you. I also learned about the perils of the hot wallet and how exchanges are working to prevent their hot wallets from being stolen. I finally figured out how to use OpenLedger, to backup my wallet and that OpenLedger doesn't have a hot wallet. It's a decentralized exchange so there is no need for a hot wallet. It is just an interface to the blockchain.

I'm building a portfolio. I'm doing research. I'm finding currencies that align with my interests. All of them share one thing in common: the potential to disintermediate fiat currency and centralized banking. I believe in the decentralization of power. Currency is ground zero for that battle. Cryptocurrency is our best shot at making that happen.

I'm learning that there are some issues in this Steemit community. People are worried about how the reward pool is being distributed. Once or twice I got involved in the debate, and now I see the distraction it is.

Some here on Steemit have expressed jealousy and rage surrounding the reward pool distribution. Some people have figured out bots and how to program them for upvotes at the right time for the maximum reward. Personally, I don’t care much for the bots. I don’t use them. I don’t want to use them. This platform should be based on manual curation, nothing more. But if that’s how you want to do it, go for it.

As for me, I’ve decided to let it all go. You want to go for maximum extraction? Good for you. I’m just here to write. I won't say that I’m sorry I even got involved at all in the fracas. But I do think that bitching about “reward pool rape” is just as negative as the people who do it. I know this because I've done it. They are two sides of the same coin.

The more we focus on the problems of Steemit, the less time we have to focus on the quality of the articles and the meaning of them. There are teams of people working on those problems and they can afford to do it. All of that, I've found, is a huge distraction away from what really matters about Steemit. At least to me, anyway.

This experiment, Steemit, is really a test of our ability to adapt. Do you want to become a good writer? Focus on writing, not just the form and presentation. Focus on how you feel when you write it. Are you passionate about the subject matter? If not, change the subject.

Do you want to become an expert on timing your votes for yourself, your family and friends as a business venture? You will do that at the expense of your ability to create quality content.

We have only so many hours in a day. Every decision we make during the day requires a discrete amount of energy. It is not easy to be good at both writing and programming rewards from the pool. In a sense, it is a matter of adaptation. Do you want your mind, body and soul to be good at one thing or the other?

So I’m going to leave that question to you, brothers and sisters. I’m done with the debate on the bots and reward pool. I’m just going to focus on writing about what is important to me when the time and energy avail me. If you show up, I’ll show up. If you stop showing up, then I stop. It’s really that simple. I will let my audience grow organically from comments to posts. I don’t need a robot.

There may be some advantages to robots that I don't know about yet, but humans are the best curators. I don't think it will ever be possible for a robot to do what a human does. Robots don't have a beating heart, a grumbling stomach, or a burning sensation in their chest when they hurt someone else by mistake. Robots do what they're programmed to do.

In a sense humans do what they're programmed to do, too. But humans have the capacity to make choices that robots cannot make. Humans have love, compassion and an instinct for survival. Robots do not have all of those. Yes, you can program those things into robot, at least you can try, but it's still an algorithm, limited to what can be expressed by code. A robot will never know the beauty of a sunset, the sound of falling rain or the smile of a child. It's just not something that you can program into a thing.

I like Steemit because what I read here has expanded the scope of debate for me. No longer do I care for the old politics. No longer am I concerned with what is at the surface. Down here, far below everything else in mainstream media and popular culture is the question of how we choose to get along. Steemit is about that to me.

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I pretty much hid everyone on Facebook last year. Now I only see videos of dogs and food recipes. I think that people are ready for a change when it comes to social media, and i think Steemit might be the change these people are looking for. I barely even use Facebook anymore and havent checked it since I started here. I also started reading more about the negatives here on Steemit a couple days ago (I am new here) but I think that all new technology has some growing pains and there will be more changes coming before it hits the masses. Facebook was sooo primitive when it started. Regardless of the negatives right now, I still think Steemit has a very bright future :)

Well, I haven't gone so far as hiding everyone on FB, but I don't partake in political debates anymore. I just note what I see and use it to keep track of the family.

I agree with you that we need a change and Steemit (or busy.org - the other interface to the Steem blockhain) is that change. I agree with you also, about the growing pains. It's all code and the code will evolve over time. With enough nicks, scratches and bruises, Steemit will shape up to be a fine social media site.

Excellent article. Not everyone is a writer though and social media is also about fun and engagement. So, there are many ways to get involved in the Steem Blockchain.
I also can argue both sides of the rewardpoolrape debate. (And have)

Also, I learn through other opinions and debating, and I sometimes change my point of view.

I enjoyed your point of view and lack of "Right Fighting".

Thanks, @whatsup. On the point that not everyone is a writer, you might have noticed that I flipped between the terms articles and content as I wrote my article. During the writing process, I was thinking of myself as a writer and others, whomever they may be, as content producers.

I do learn through reading other opinions, too. Steemit has been educating me on anarchism and non-aggression. I'm not quite an anarchist yet, but I'm certainly leaning that way, and I do try to err on the side of peace.

I do have one question for you though. What is "right fighting"?

Right fighting is.. Arguing that "Your point of view" is the only way to see a situation and if others would just wake up and see it your way, everything would be fine.

I'm right, you are wrong. (we all know that guy) :)

Yeah, I've been that guy before and I might still write an article from that perspective from time to time. It's a habit that dies hard.

My focus has been to plant seeds. When I want to promote an idea, I have it in mind that once a fact is learned, it cannot be unlearned. So I just put it out there, as a trial balloon, a mind experiment, just for your consideration. I assume that people will take what they like and leave the rest.

Then I wait and watch to see what happens. I don't cling to the result. To me, that waiting and watching is the most interesting part.

Thank you for clarifying the term, "right fighting". I will keep it mind going forward.

I am also "That guy". I think we all think we are right, after all if we didn't we would change our minds right.

For me the key is trying to understand the other person's vision before I toss it out as wrong.

Anyway, great conversation.

Write on. :)

You sir indeed are a writer. It's a pleasure to read your work.

I am currently of the opinion, voting bots are probably going to cause much more harm to the system than most can conceive of yet. That being said, I have no hate for those using them. It's very difficult to get noticed here and when people see others seeming to "rake in the dough," who can blame them for wanting in on the action. It is what it is.

I am currently deciding to go with the "organic" approach as well. It will be harder but i'm sure that if I was to start to pay for votes then there would be many real people who would rather not give me theirs. Being that I am currently writing a #steemitnovel, ultimately I am seeking long term and engaged readers, not short sighted profits.

So it is the dance of interacting with others while finding time to actually write my story, which I will be attempting over the foreseeable future. I'm also trying to hone my writing skills. Like the total newb that I was and still currently am, my first couple of post I didn't even know that I could edit once I had posted. HAHA

I'm getting off topic, and could see myself going into a rant of some variety, so I should stop. @digitalfirehose I enjoy your work and will be doing my best to stop in and give you some feedback.

@imjustsaying, Many thanks for your reply. I'm glad to see you heading in this direction. I believe that the "organic" route is the best for the simple reason that if I must get to know someone for any measure of success on Steemit, I cannot automate that process. Relationships on Steemit are built one keystroke at a time.

I think I can say with some confidence that writing a gratitude list and morning page have been two very useful tools for honing my writing skills. The gratitude list is an expression of gratitude for the things that I have. The morning page is basically a memory dump of whatever is on my mind. Both allow me to practice brevity and to bring the most salient points to the page. Both allow me to get whatever is on my mind, off my mind so that I can be available to listen to others.

If you're getting off topic in a comment, then you must be a writer. ;)

Write on.

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