Losing Steam on Steemit
My Steemit life is not a hobby or a part time engagement. I do this full time as I sit in front of a screen and try to read as much as possible and then comment/reply to it all. The idea is to generate as much interaction as possible because that is the only way a Red fish like me is going to get any attention here.
A man needs to know his strengths and limits, if he is to make something out of himself. I am not the most gifted content creator and I am okay with that. What I can do is to actually create a lot of decent interaction here on Steemit. So, my strength lies in writing and responding to stuff that creates interaction.
There is another thing – As a noob you comment a lot because that’s how you let other people know about your presence. Commenting also indirectly invites other people to your own blog. The thing about commenting is that you must do it at the convenience of other people. That means that you can only comment when other people post, and you have a limited time period to comment because nobody is going to read your comment if you make it two days after the post.
I think there are six components to commenting:
- Read the post
- Understand the post
- Try to understand what the writer is trying to say (basically listen to the other guy)
Without these three things the comment is basically a spam. As you can see that I also think that points 2 and 3 must be listed separately.
- Comment in way that adds value to the content already written in the post (if needed reply to the reply received from the author)
- Comment as soon as possible
- Sometimes you put your heart in a comment and do not receive a reply for your efforts. In this case please remember that nobody is obligated to reply back to you. Move onto that next post
This adds a lot of pressure, because you not only want to be the first one to comment but you also want to leave the best comment possible. Unlike posting, which you can do at your convenience, commenting must be done at the convenience of another’s schedule. Sitting and waiting in front of the screen for posts to pop up in your feed, so you can write a comment is not a sustainable endeavor.
Before commenting you must read the post and understand it. Once you do that, you will feel some of the things that the author was feeling when he/she wrote that post. This empathy for all the content that you are reading will also add up and take a toll on you. It tires you out mentally and emotionally because each post that you read will have a different emotional flavor from the last one and this constant ebb and flow of your own empathic mojo will tire you out.
This happens to me a lot. After four-five crazy days of commenting and replying, my mojo fizzles out. I slump back and can only come back after taking a couple of days off Steemit. This is what I referred to as “Loosing Steam on Steemit” in the title of this post.
My new strategy to counter this is to take one day off in a week and at least one weekend off in a month. I am pretty sure that even with these breaks I can achieve my target of reaching 500SP by September and 1000SP by end of 2018.
PS: @steemitadventure and @tarazkp have suggested that I also start posting a little more. I want to say that I was feeling the need to do the same and I consider their advice as a much-needed push in the right direction. Thanks for letting me know guys – you are the best 😊
nice post.
could you explain it a little more?
JUST KIDDING.
You're spot on.
Unfortunately very few people do what you recommend.
It's hard to tell them from 'bots.
(I hate bots)
Frankly not all the posts are all that long. If one is looking seriously at ..........say a 500 word post, the they can probably read, understand and write a reply in around ten minutes or less. I mean it also depends on the complexity of the post itself.
Its a bit sad to see that folks sometimes don't even do this much and then say that its difficult to get visibility here.
I've found that most people only read the headlines and VERY few people follow thru on any referenced hyperlinks.
I've checked...I've laid traps. Very few of the traps were 'spung'.
Unlike facebook where you damn well BETTER have your p's and q's straight.
I've found that short posts gain just as many votes/views/comments as long ones do.
Memes even.
Speaking of 'views'.....I find it sad that the 'view counter' was removed. Why don't 'they' want us to know how many times our posts have been viewed?
The view counter would have really been nice as it would reflect the true popularity of a post. Most of the posts on the trending pages are bot influenced. With the view counter we would have known if they are as viewed as the number of upvotes that they are having.
There was a view counter until recently.
then one day it was gone.
no explanation.
I believe those at the top know what they are doing. Even if a post doesn't generate any payout, one would have been able to know if his/her posts are generating the required views. Sometimes it's not all about the payout but the attention the post is able to get. Those that removed it should try and bring it back
Probably because it didn't work.
Happy I found you here on Steemit! I know I'm two days late with my comment, but as they say, better late than never... :)
I found you and this post while looking for candidates to feature in my comment challenge. And what an excellent post to feature in a contest about commenting.
Have a great end of the weekend and a good start of the new week.
See you around!
Glad to have you here buddy :-)
I am so happy to see my post getting featured on your contest and your blog. Its actually a small honor for me to have my post put up for a contest like this :-) Thanks for this my man!
I see that your post is now 4 days old, so against your own advice, I sure hope that you read this comment haha
Kudos to you for figuring some of this out! I have walked in very similar shoes, and realized that I was actually feeling pressure from steemit...who knew that was even possible?, but like you, I decided to take one day off a week to recharge my commenting batteries. So now, I check in at @abh12345's Curation League Sunday morning, comment only on that post, and take the rest of the day off. That one day has been a lifesaver for me, and I'm assuming you feel the same! I've been doing this for several weeks now and still manage to continually inch closer to the magic 500 SP. The advice given to you to post a bit more is good as well; now that you've managed to get "noticed", earning from your posts is obviously advantageous ...or at least that's what I've noticed in my own wallet :)
Isn't funny how a mere 24 hours gives you the rest and energy that you need? And do you notice that you actually miss it too? :)
A huge congratulations for taking commenting and engaging seriously! In my humble opinion, it is the only thing that builds a genuine community for us all :)
Thanks @lynncoyle1 !
It great to see that I am not alone in my predicament and I too feel that it is kind of miraculous to get up and running just after a day of rest when you have been draining yourself for a whole week.
You're definitely not alone @hashcash; I have a feeling there are many many folks who would say the same!
Hello! I just read this post. I just wanted to let you know that the comments that you leave really do bring value to this platform (at least for me). What you are attempting to do is inspiring. Take as much time as you need in order to do what you wish to do effectively. Because, as you have clearly noted, it is in the quality not the quantity. However, I will say that in order to reach your goals, it might be beneficial to start posting seriously. I would recommend finding a topic that you enjoy and you can turn into a series. Maybe you could combine the two together and start posting articles researching into the same topics that you read about (for example, if someone posts about their opinions on something, you could post your opinion on it). Anyway, I hope this comment helps as much as your comments have helped me! Have a nice day off (whenever that is in the upcoming week). You deserve it!
I am going to try to improve my posting habits in the coming weeks. I am looking to establish a rhythm of posting regularly and I think you are right. Perhaps bringing my interests here on Steemit will be a effective tool to do this.
The thing is that I am not sure if my interests are all that interesting.....Robotics, Physics, Fiction, Maths and such. Now I say them aloud they don't sound all that bad to make out a post of.
I'll do it................thanks for suggestion buddy!
I'll be sure to check back for content on the topics you suggested. I find those kinds of things interesting as well! Good luck!
I read all the comments even if they come “late”. ☺️ I suppose my philosophy is everyone is on a different schedule, why stop the conversation if it continues later than expected.
Reaching 500 and 10,000 SP are HUGE ambitious goals. Though if steem is your full time gig aiming for the stars seems like a great way to succeed.
Good luck! 🍀😊
I have to agree with @dfinney here. A later comment is still more interaction than o comment at all. It's value still holds true that it encourages engagement and also has the benefit of letting the author know that their work is not gone and forgotten shortly after it's posted.
"Aim for the stars" seems to me like a good way of thinking :-)
......... as they say - "if you miss, you'll probably land on the moon"
you are my fav commenter ;)
Oh man!!! You finally came by! I mean you come by often and you give me much needed upvotes, but I think this the first time you have left a comment on my post and that has me excited!!!
Thanks for dropping by dude :-)
Well, I see your name around the community a LOT, so you're doing something right. This IS, after all, the "attention economy."
The goals you've set seem challenging, but realistic. I wouldn't have the nerve to pretend to be doing this "full time," but good for you. I don't know if you're part of Asher's ( @abh12345 ) curation and engagement leagues... might be something to get involved with if you're not; a lot of Steemit's very active and INTERactive folks participate there... I've seen more than a few newcomers enjoy fairly swift rises to strength.
Anyway, your approach seems spot on, and leaving engaging comments is definitely a good way to pick up the right kind of followers.
I am glad to know that my name is being mentioned at the right places :-)
There is a slight chance, I am not entirely sure but I might I actually exceed my target if my SBD is taken in account as well. Obviously I would love to see that happen but there is no guarantee. In any case............
I joined Asher's curation and engagement league a while ago and it has helped in more than a few ways. One of them is to let me know that there are people (newbies like me) out there to whom I am not even close to reaching even after all these hours. Although a little intimidating but this factor has been a great motivator.
I'd say you're on the right track about getting away just enough to keep your steam going on Steemit. :)
I also think you've nailed this as far as how to comment. Read the content. Understand it, and listen to what the author is saying. Very good.
There are a few times where I've wondered, outside of spam comments even, if people have read what I wrote. Most of those who regularly comment on my posts actually do. That's when things are at their best.
It might be time to post a little more. I'm not at all an expert on that part. I've been trying to crank out as much as I can, too, but also try to keep the amount of comment up. It's not the easiest of balances, because while quality is subjective, you still want to put something out there that you can be happy with living forever on the blockchain, as well as it being something people might have interest in reading. Getting that all figured out also takes time.
I wish you good luck with your SP goals. It's good to have them and push for them. Tempered with time off and maybe a dose of humor, you'll get to where you want to be. That's my hope for me, anyway. :)
To me comments are one of the most genuine metrics to judge a post by. unlike upvotes, comments display the level of engagement of the reader in the post. Upvotes and Flags are of course necessary but they are binary. It either a upvote or a flag but comments are more detailed and can even be indicators of complex details like, whether the reader found the post to be of merit but they are not happy with it.
Of course reading a comment and writing a comment are two different ball games altogether. It is definitely not easy to generate comments that can be value addictive to the post and thus the platform at large.
Thanks for reading my stuff man!
I agree about the comments. They're not easy to do so that things continue. Partly, you have to want to do it, and look for the ways to continue it and still add value, and then you have to entice the other party to continue too. It's quite possible that one side or the other is doing most of the work. But when both, are and something meaningful is being exchanged, well, that's where the gold is.
Yeah, as far as upvotes go, that will say there's a general like of something—you, the writing, the topic, the conclusion, etc., while the downvote can be for similar but opposite reasons. I wonder how many people upvote for an upvote? I think that happens. I know retaliation downvotes happen a lot. It's amazing how much you can suddenly find that is not becoming the STEEM platform when yours is suddenly deemed as such. :)
With the ability to autovote, a lot of engagement is being lost. Throw in a growing predisposition not to read, and engagement takes yet another hit.
Haha yeah if we do this full time we can get burned out. I too need a day or two of not writing otherwise I won't feel like writing anything for almost a week. 😂
I write here and in another site so time off from writing is important.
Posted using Partiko Android
I think as long as one can be regular, even a relatively small amount of time spent here can result in a lot content over time. Spending too much time here definitely has its pitfalls :-)
Well, Sadly but people or newbies don't understand this thing. It has been clearly written in the #steemit welcome page that comment is the best way to engage with people and to make relations. But newbies don't want to do hard work, because comments take a lot of time and hard work. Here i want to quote Example.
" Suppose you have opened a Shop but you haven't told anyone about it.Will anyone visit your shop? unless you tell people about it "
Thanks.
Thanks for reading man!
Yeah you are right. Good comments are hard work but they can be extremely rewarding too. Bringing in upvotes and creating genuine engagements are just few of the advantages. Then there is also the fact that comments can be a source of advertisement. The example you used in your comment is a great indicator of that.