Make meaningful comments! Engage people in discussion!
Why do so many seem to have no concept of what to do on a social network?
I mean, sure this isn't Facebook, but it's not hard! You comment something more than "nice post", something that engages discussion, and then they might upvote you, or comment back. If you actually engage them in a discussion, they have a much higher chance of checking out your blog. So many upvote without commenting, and many of those that do comment don't leave one that engages discussion.
I'm bad at this myself sometimes, but I'm trying to change so that others are more likely to interact with me. This brings in new followers and gets upvotes, but I just like interacting with people and having discussions, so it's good to try harder to engage with people.
All day people ask in the general room of steemit.chat what they can do to get more followers/votes/etc, and it starts at something this simple. Go out and socialize! Engage people in a discussion! Make friends!
There are of course real posts walking you through all of the possible ways, but if you just do the basics, you'll do alright on here.
Also, hanging out on steemit.chat or one of the Discords can really help.
It's a fair point, I think people get a lil tunnel vision when they hear they can earn from posting... What they don't realize is that your comments are posts as well. Even if they don't get as much attention as a normal share would, it's important to note it has the same potential...
I like how you said "your comments are posts as well." And I agree money as rewards can get some people but a little patient and a lot of work will pay off way more than begging for votes and follows.
I don't think it's the same potential. It's different potential, that can be just as important. It's targeted attention. You're posting to the person writing the post, and those reading it.
Nice post dear, you have opened my mind!
In all seriousness though, i couldn't agree more. Lately, i have been lucky though, and have gotten some really nice feedback on my posts (the feedback i did actually get), that was truly valuable to me, since it helped me improve. But more often than not, the vast majority of comments are a copy/ paste variance of "follow you, follow me", or "updoot for updoot", or something like that....
This has to be sorted out somehow. Flagging might be too hard, but it would be nice to give those accounts less room to breathe on the platform.
I have engaged in some great discussions on here. Some of it has been in my own posts. Some in other's.
It just strikes me as odd that so many don't seem to get it.
I have flagged before, and I will again in the worst cases of shitty botting. They don't even read the replies anyway, so it's not worth it to try to tell them it's not helping or anything.
I just stopped responding to them. I imagine the big fish have it way worse when it comes to this, i likely just slip by unseen for now.
It's simply because of money. If people believe they can make easy money, they will try to do so. They just haven't yet realized that it won't work.
I honestly believe most never will. Most will just stop at the point where they think it sucks for minnows, which is does, and not get to the point where they figure out how to get past that suckage.
Like you have said it's usually a challenge sometimes , but I have found what works for me is finding articles that interest me, instead of the generic 'great post'i can add onto what the article is about or ask a question about something in the article or even suggest a follow-up article, it's really not necessarily the number of followers that one accumulates but rather the quality of followers one has, and that's where the network is.
Better few but strong and loyal followers than many and not so much value being added or given.
Exactly.
The articles that I have found where I wanted to add something to, it actually often resulted in a good discussion, and a big upvote, from more than just the OP.
Even if you completely disregard monetary rewards, it's much better to have 1000 interactive followers than 10,000 who only rarely see your stuff.
I would post a reply that would be worth while reading, but all that I would say has already been said by either you or other people that replied. So I'm just using my reply to state that I agree with you. I remember you suggesting this in chat once and since I've been trying to improve my commenting skills and I did see change in people starting to follow me quicker.
I'm just replying because the nature of the post kinda tells me that I have to.
Yeah, making worthwhile comments actually does get you more followers.
So...um...how about that local sports team...they really know how to goal thingie.
By your post does this mean we are now locked in a vicious reply circle? HOW WILL IT EVER END!!!?
Yeah... I love how that one does that thingy so the other one can't win
IT WILL NEVER END!
MUWAHAHAHAHAHA!
What thingie? Did this just get sexual? (covers bum)
WHAT HAVE I DONE!!! SHIT!!!
Well you know the thingy where that one guy does like that thing with the thingy in the thingy to achieve a thing you know?
O.O Um...MOMMY!
you sick pervert.... is this really something you want to include your mom in?
Wow...it's disturbing that your mind went there. Mommy issues?
I honestly enjoy commenting more than writing sometimes. It's the easiest thing to do; just read what someone possibly took hours to write and provide feedback. If you at least read the post, you WILL have something to say. All it takes it reading the posts people. C'mon.
You know, I have a few people that I look up to here and tend to learn from what they do. I wonder who these spammers are looking up to; for them to think that BS commenting will work 😧 Maybe that's the problem, they don't have anyone to look up to and that's 100% their fault.
I also enjoy shamelessly upvoting my comments for visibility. Makes me feel cool.
Hahaha some say it's OK if you're not a dolphin or a whale and if you think your comments are adding value to the post and the discussion!
I think people's votes are their own to use how they see fit, but you get more value from voting on others. It's just more work to seek out the people making content worth voting on.
My problem is getting myself to actually say what I think. Sure, I have commentary, but I usually keep it to myself.
I think some of them are working off of what works on other social networks, to get followers. Problem is that they aren't quality followers.
I was thinking about this just yesterday. I actually think that the monetary aspect is part of the problem. Now, I'm a newbie, so I might not be getting the full picture, but most of the comments I get are from spammers trying to get up-votes.
"Good post...
I will resteem...
Carry on.."
This gives me an uneasy feeling even when people are legitimately adding to the conversation (asking a question for example). Are they just posting for the same reason, but in clearer English? Usually it's clear that they didn't even read the post, but rather, the skimmed it for guessed at it's content.
Sometimes it is a good question, but I don't have any voting power, so I respond.. then feel guilty that I didn't even give them the 0.01. Or if they did get their 0.01, then I feel like they're responding just to get another.
It's not that I'm overly suspicious of peoples motives.. it's that if there is any incentive at all, it effects how people behave. I worry that we'll all end up like the spammers, worried to say the wrong thing and incur a flag.
The pessimist in me says it's because they're idiots.
Even someone with poor english could reply better than the majority of them. Of course, even people with good english skills might occasionally reply with something like "Awesome post!", but the platform quickly teaches us that there's further incentive to elaborate, and at least say why we thought it was a good post. If you don't learn that quickly, I question your intelligence.
Yeah, the platform creates a motivation to make better comments, and engage people more, but I don't think that's necessarily bad. There was always that motivation, it's just now it's monetary, so it's obvious.
That incentive can push us to try harder to make connections. Maybe there are some that will just make a ton of fake friends, but there are others that will just be pushed a little, and make real ones.
The whole fear of flagging already effects people on here, in being too nice. I flat out reject that behaviour and am probably a bit more uncensored as a result sometimes.
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