If "ifs" and "buts" were candy and nuts... Continuing The Discussion Started By @davemccoy

You Throwing It Down?

Three days ago, I read a post by someone I admire for his indefatigable efforts on behalf of new users, those of us who came in around the same time as he did, and for the platform in general—none other than @davemccoy.

After reading through the post, I left a comment saying that I would probably end up writing a post of my own because I had a lot to say and didn't want to try to cram it into a comment. Those of you who know my comments will probably find that amusing, if not surprising. Dave certainly did.

He also may think he's in big trouble. Or not. As it is, I don't think he's got anything to worry about from me.

He and I agree on a great many things, and on the things we disagree on, we have always, rather easily, walked away from it in what I would categorize as a spirit of brotherhood and growing friendship.

I fully expect that after I'm done here, we will still find ourselves at worst, agreeing to disagree and being totally good with that, or actually agreeing wholeheartedly. If that actually happens, what I don't want, Dave, is for you to feel any need whatsoever to capitulate or apologize. Neither are necessary. You said what you felt you needed to say and I am glad you did.

The fact that I decided to do this, as a kind of sort of but not really that big of a rebuttal is more me being the stubborn old cuss I'm becoming, rather than any great umbrage I'm taking with Dave's arguments or conclusions. I certainly hope, and will do my best for my words here to turn out that way.

With that in mind, I will go through the points of Dave's post that I would add or say differently.

_{Image source—Pixabay}

Okay. Who put the raisins in my candy and nuts?

The Wind Up

Dave wrote about five different complaints/concerns/themes that have made the rounds here on Steemit, some more than others. I will not go through them verbatim (please refer to his post), but I will give a quick paraphrasing of each topic and then quote from his conclusions.

#1. If more of the whales cared more about the newbies and minnows, then we would have a vibrant thriving network of people that consume good content and reward it with their upvotes.

Dave, I feel, rightly assesses that we newbies and minnows should not expect that higher SP of any flavor should freely upvote everyone's posts. He ties it to practices that many here find improper or at the very least not very community minded. I would again agree, if any of the self-upvoting, circle voting, chronic use of bidbots or delegation leasing is going on with the sole purpose of getting personal gain, then yes, it's not good at all for the long term sustainability and health of the platform. It would be great, as Dave points out, if someday all the higher SP were to change their ways, or at least enough of them to make a difference. However, things being what they are, that's not likely to happen, so don't expect it to happen.

I agree. However, I think it needs to go a little farther. In fact, I would say, why are we looking around at anyone else on this platform but ourselves?

Just because we show up here, bright eyed and bushy tailed with energy to burn and excitement to the moon doesn't mean we're entitled to squat. The world out there is hard, and darn near impossible if you get right down to it. Why should the expectation here be any different? Why should magical fairy dust be sprinkled all over us just because we think our posts are so awesome, or worse yet, those with the higher SP somehow owe us something.

They didn't get where they are because of us. Some of them worked very hard for the last two years. Others bought most of their way in. Some got an amazing distribution before anyone else got a chance. Others received compensation for their development work. In the end, who cares how they got it. It's not ours. None of it belongs to us, and they can do with it what they dang well please.

Do I wish they would spread it around more. Sure. I think generosity is good for the soul, and frankly, that's what this platform is designed for. It's meant for people, all of us, high and low SP, to post, comment and curate. It's great that other apps are being delegated SP. It's fine that people are finding other ways to use the platform other than as a blogging site. Ultimately, though, the long term prosperity of Steemit as a functioning social media site that allows all of us to earn rewards for our work depends on moving the reward pool around.

I fully believe the higher SP knows that. I can only guess at why they don't do it more often. The fact of the matter is, I'm really at the point where I don't care what they do. I care about what I do. It's the only thing I can control. I will continue to be a part of the conversation, I will continue to try to persuade, and try to lead by example, and I know I will only be following others who are farther out there and along than I, because there are many of us on this side of the fence.

That's why a portion of Dave's conclusion of this particular topic struck me funny.

Expectation: Don't expect anything from the whales, orcas, or dolphins. If you get their support, from any of them, realize that it is a gift and truly something that is special and unique!

I agree wholeheartedly with the first part. Don't expect anything from higher SP. It's the rest I would tweak.

I'm not going to call it a gift, special or unique. I choose instead, to call it random recognition of my abilities. If the upvotes keep coming, then I'm going to work even harder to earn them. I'm not here for a handout. I don't deserve anything for just showing up. And, if it takes every last percentage of voting power, I'm going to find ways to reciprocate because I will not be beholden to anyone. I will build friendships, be part of the causes I find to be useful and beneficial, I will do my best to curate valuable and meaningful content, and yes, I will be thankful that people, anyone, enjoys what I do. But I will not feel like I was given anything. Their reasons for upvoting my work are their reasons. I choose to believe it's because I earned it. Nothing more. Nothing less.

And neither should anyone else. If high SP decides to upvote you, think of it as you earned it, just like every other upvote from dust to $.05 you got from everyone else. The amount makes no difference. We don't set the price of our work, others do.

#2. If there were no bidbots, then it would be more fair because "trending" would stop being a farce.

Again I agree with Dave about the trending page. As long as people can determine themselves whether or not their post can be seen, calling it advertising, or sweetening the curation pot, or whatever other contrivance they can come up with, the trending page is worthless. The only way it stops being worthless, bidbots or not, is if somehow posts show up there because human curation puts it up there.

The trending page is about the worst way, in this day and age of pinpoint advertising (sometimes to the moment you'd be looking for it), to waste your hard earned SBD/STEEM on. It's like display ads in a newspaper, or the ads on TV you hurry through with your recorder. Only the highest paying posts are going to be anywhere near the Top 20, and the ones who are predominantly looking at the trending page are the really new newbies. Because that's what they see on the way in and they don't know those folks bought their way to the top.

I don't think I need to take any harder line on the arguments here. Instead, it's part of the expectation we're all supposed to have that I need to weigh in on.

Expectation: Bidbots are here to stay and people will use them to drive up the value of trending posts. Recognize it and move on, because complaining about it will only lead to frustration and disappointment. If you truly want to make a difference, work with the bot leaders like yabapmatt and themarkymark to improve the rules and enforcement on their end.

First, what I agree with. Complaining about bidbots absolutely does no good. Constructively criticizing them, continuing to have the conversation, great. Letting their mere existence and usage upset us, not worth it.

I refuse, however, to except the permanent existence, or lasting existence of bidbots. And moreover, I will do nothing to legitimize their existence. Anytime something get legitimized, they become 'okay.' Well, maybe we should be taxing them (did he just use the 'T' word?!) and assessing fees and regulating them into oblivion, then. As long as any of them take any form of payment to use, they are not solely around to give the little guy a boost. Organize them, give them some rules to live by, you legitimize them, and the more they will be used.

#3. If the system had more distribution of power (less at the top and more at the bottom), then we would have better satisfaction.

I think I addressed a lot of this under #1, and I don't really have anything substantive to add to either the arguments or the expectation. The power distribution is what it is. When we earn more of it, we can do with it as we please, and hopefully, if/when we have it, we'll get it right, instead of perpetuating the problem.

#4. If the system had defined "fair" and "normal" behavior, then we wouldn't have rules that seem to apply to those with the greatest reputation.

Again, I agree with the arguments Dave makes and their conclusions. We can't say we want fairness and then turn around and have things handed to us. Or, because the cause is just, we can't just go bending or breaking the rules, either. How easy it is for the moral compass to slide when it's us some rule affects.

#5. If fulltimegeek had kept his power (instead of delegating it out) and fought haejin earlier, then he could've stopped the selfishness and ended the "whale wars" that many people see as so counterproductive.

I guess I'm one of those people who feel this flagging has been largely counterproductive. But to blame any of the flaggers for doing what they think is their duty and what is right is like blaming real soldiers for fighting a war they think will keep us from tyranny.

Agree with or disagree with anyone commanding a high percentage of rewards, flagging doesn't work very well. You need high SP to do it, and you need high reputation to do it. Otherwise, not only do you lose your VP without taking off more than a few cents, but you leave yourself susceptible to retribution. It becomes less about a disputation of rewards, and more about personality, vitriol and acrimony. None of that, from either side, is good for the platform, especially when so many seem to revel in their contentiousness.

So, no single person is to blame for haejin, even haejin. He's in the unenviable position. He'll lose some reward money, but as long as his main benefactor does what they do, and haejin does what he does, I don't see where this ends without some kind of code change. Incentivizing flagging somehow, giving it it's own reward pool, I don't know. The problem is the rule of unintended consequences engages and I for one think we have enough of that going on already.

I watch it, but I stay away from it. Those who wish to do it, go for it. Those who don't shouldn't be made to feel like they're scum of the earth. As I said before, someone has to move the reward pool around. Can't do it as effectively if you're too busy using your SP for other things. So, who does that leave?

Little old us.

Conclusion

Just as Dave said, we do need to have realistic expectations. We need to use our abilities, our wits, and expect nothing from no one. When higher SP drops some dollars, appreciate their patronage, but know you earned it. They thought so, so should we. No one owes us, and we owe nothing to anyone else. If you want to be generous because that's who you are, then be it. Don't expect anyone else to be. There's a lot of good causes here all competing for attention, just as there are a whole bunch of posts competing to be seen. This is Steemit. Your post isn't all that until others say it is all that, even if it is a $0.01 at a time. And your cause or personal situation is yours to further or resolve until someone else picks it up and helps carry the load.