@jedau's Great Steemit Purge of 2017
(or @jedau's Year-End Unfollowing Extravaganza! patent pending)
Hey, everyone! How was your holidays? I certainly hope everyone had a bountiful feast :D I had just come back online after a short holiday hiatus to the sight of a recent post filled to the brim with wonderful comments. I certainly hoped it would elicit that kind of reaction, and I just want to say thank you to everyone who has left, is leaving and will leave their thoughtful comments there. You guys rock!
Oh man, this is a new record for me. This is the most times I've talked about Steemit in a month. In fact, I think I've talked about Steemit this month almost as many times as I've made a post about Steemit ever. I mean, I've gone months without even a mention of the platform and just focused on my own thing. I'm a big proponent of making posts that are non-Steemit related, and I still am, but I feel like this is a topic that's too important to pass up.
Before my schedule becomes swamped, I wanted to write about something that I have been planning for several months now. Seeing as it's that time of the year to start shedding that holiday weight, I thought it would be a good time to shed some weight here on Steemit as well. I have already made several posts about what's been dragging me down on Steemit, and while it was handled mostly by adjusting my expectations, I feel like another factor has been weighing me down a bit.
In my previous post, I talked briefly about my view on SUPPORT here on Steemit. We all have our own motivations, our own purpose and our own way of going about things here. The thing we have to remember is to just respect each other. Out of all our differences, one of the main similarities that we have is how limited our time is. The way we prioritize the people we support all depends on our approach. You can either actively support whales and hope that they gift you with a massive vote here and there, or you can support people who are equal or below you in terms of reputation and SP, build up a relationship and hope that in time both of you grow to become whales yourselves. I've already said too much about it in my previous post, so if you missed it and are interested in reading about it, I invite you to take a look at it: https://busy.org/steemit/@jedau/invest-in-steemians-like-you-would-with-cryptocurrencies
For now, I wanted to talk more about a recent milestone that I've just reached, how I reached it and my explanation behind it.
OMG! A MILESTONE!!
Yes, that's right. I've finally done it. After months of strategic moves, I have finally reached a milestone I have wanted to attain for quite some time now. No, not the 1000 followers thing. I mean, I have reached it yesterday, but that's not the milestone I wanted to celebrate. As of writing, I am only following... 25 people!
I know what you're thinking. How the hell would that be a milestone? Any newbie that starts today could very well surpass that milestone in a matter of minutes. Well, with people celebrating inchstones as milestones, I feel like it's only proper to celebrate a somewhat parody of a milestone. An anti-milestone, if you will.
The WHY
My feed is being cluttered by too many posts that I don't want to read about and by people that I want very little to do with. After adjusting my expectations, I was still haunted by a lingering sense of negativity. I tried to find the source and it led directly to my feed. Sometimes it feels like a marketplace filled with a lot of stuff I don't need. Often, I miss posts that I do care about and I end up feeling bad about it. What else is there to do but to shed the excess weight.
Inspired by @merej99's own purging from a number of months ago, I feel like it's about time for me to do my own cleaning up. Over my year and a half here, I have accrued tons of people I follow. 98% of the people I follow are the ones that I have interacted with at some point, and have proven enough to return support. At least, at the time.
You see, I am here for the reciprocity. That's my approach. Some people follow because they're fans of other people, some follow because they want to attract followers, thinking that it's a badge of honor to collect tons of followers. But, I don't. Don't get me wrong, I'm fans of many of the people I follow. Ideally, I want to be a fan of all the people I follow.
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Right now, I only average less than 30 votes (on a good day), with only a few different people commenting on my posts. As of writing I have more than 1000 followers. 1000 to 30, doesn't that ratio strike you as odd?
Don't use my very recent posts as a basis, because I have fortunately found myself in a very productive wave. While I want to ride it for as long as I can, I've been on waves like this before and I know that I have to make drastic changes to keep it going. So, yeah, I am thrilled and over the moon about the love I've gotten recently. I appreciate each and every one who has commented and voted.
Going back to the main discussion, what are followers for if they don't SUPPORT you? And by that I mean, vote, comment, resteem and/or view your post. It's like the follow is as good as, well... nothing. They're basically a statistic that doesn't translate to any sort of progress.
Sure, I get it that not everyone will have the chance to read and comment on your posts. After all, everyone is doing their own thing and you can't demand anyone's attention. I totally get that, and I'm the same way. But, that's why I'm trying to change all that. I'm lightening my load so that I could focus on the people who deserve my attention.
Again, I just want to reiterate. The way I filter out who deserves my attention is from my own perspective. I don't demand anyone's attention, and I certainly don't dictate my approach to others. It's been twisted before, that's why I feel I need to emphasize it every time, to avoid misinterpretation.
I want my feed to be filled with posts that I have either voted or commented on, or both. I'm in this for the interaction, and while I'm a fan of many people here, I prioritize supporting people who know that I even exist. With this, I hope to clear out clutter and hopefully add more people to SUPPORT. Moving forward, I would be more stingy about following people so that I wouldn't need to mass purge ever again and I would immediately unfollow people who won't return support.
Look at me talking like I unfollowed hundreds of people. I've only unfollowed a miniscule amount compared to others who are following at the high hundreds. Interested in knowing how I filtered out who to unfollow? Read along.
The HOW
Now, I'm sorry if I misled you a bit. I won't detail the exact algorithm I used because I'm mulling over whether or not to create an open source project about it. But, I used criteria like how many comments and votes on my posts, how many times I commented and voted on their posts, etc. Basically, a quantified look at our interaction. I made a list, included a few exceptions, then just went wild.
The way I see it, if the interaction score between two people are low, then it's been a long time since they last interacted or they don't even interact that much. I don't have unlimited time, and I only get to interact with only a few people on a daily basis. But, I want interactions to mean something, that's why I leave thoughtful comments every time.
During September, after I first mentioned this on my birthday post, I tried to actively engage with people who I have lost touch with. I went through my following list and I tried to figure out who of that are actively following me as well. I gave people two to three thoughtful comments on their posts and recorded whether or not they comment on my posts or even reply to the comment I left on their posts. I was quite disappointed at the turnout, so I extended my one-month experiment to four.
Now, this may seem a bit calculating and methodical, but I urge you to just respect the process. I don't judge you for how you go about things, so I hope you would spare me the same kindness. This is how I evaluate people, and while this may seem a bit cold or not genuine, I assure you that this is only done for efficiency. Every follow and every comment I leave is 100% genuine.
The WHO
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No, not the band. While I won't detail everyone I unfollowed, you can clearly see the people that remained. If you are among those that were unfollowed, please don't take it personally. According to the algorithm, you won't even care at all since it's been a long time since you voted or commented on my post. For some, the same goes for me. If you wish to appeal the unfollow, feel free to do so by stating your case in the comments section. I doubt that you will, but for those who do, I would very much appreciate it and I'm looking forward to possibly actively engaging again. But, if you don't wish to appeal, feel free to unfollow me as well. Our interaction is low enough that suggest that I've given up interacting with you beyond the three-comment test I did. I thank you for your time following me, but that didn't yield to tons of interaction. I do wish the best to you moving forward.
I do hope that this provides some sort of catharsis. Seeing people I care for brings me a lot of joy, but I can't help but feel some resentment towards people who doesn't bother returning support. A part of me either feels slighted by them when they lured me to follow them, and when I continued to comment and vote on their posts, they just stopped returning the support. That's not cool. That's not cool at all. Not a view, not a 1% vote. It's best to just cut ties and spare ourselves from further negativity.
Also, I would be readjusting my witness votes based on the idea that @lukestokes posed a couple of weeks ago regarding what would happen should Steemit Inc suddenly vanishes as an entity. Would the witnesses you're voting for be able to restore and maintain the STEEM blockchain? Are they just riding the coattails of other more technically-adept witnesses? What do they offer on the technical end? These are questions I hope other people would ask about their witness votes.
The PART WHERE I TURN OVER A NEW LEAF
I wanted to do this before the end of the year so that I could welcome 2018 with somewhat a reboot. I'm keeping my friends close and letting go of other people I used to follow. With all this weight gone, I feel lighter already! I'm excited to keep supporting the people I'm already supporting, and to meet new people that deserve support :D
What has two thumbs and is a Top 10 STEEM witness? @lukestokes.mhth of course! Help keep him there! :D
Me: Did I make the cut?
Me: WOOO HOOOO!!!!
** looks around innocently **
Erhem. I've definitely got to give this steem-purge a try. Seems like it could be quite helpful in the grand scheme of time saving.
Of course you did! You're one of the most recriprocative, interactive and genuine people I know here, so you're an auto-lock in my opinion. Definitely try it and see the effect. My feed feels cleaner already two days after purging. I could easily see posts that I want to vote and comment on.
Aw! Thank you for your kind words, @jedau! I've pruned a little the last time I was able to get online. It looks like this will be a slow process. LOL.
#turtlepower
Turtle Power indeed! Man, TMNT is such a huge influence in my life haha!
Michelangelo was my favorite. But, his nunchuks were too dangerous for a klutz like me. Leonard wore blue and had katanas, so that's cool and safer. LOL.
Katanas are safer? Hahaha! I tried out all of their weapons, and the back of my head kept getting hit by nunchuks. I still have mine, but the chain is rusted out. I think the sais were the safest ones to use, even though it has pointed edges. The bo staff became a favorite of mine after avoiding it for years.
Leo was my favorite, btw haha!
This is a great time of year for a clear out. I've cleared out the "cough, cough, I'd rather not say how many" open tabs in my browser. Next will be an email clear out. After that, I probably better get onto the 3 boxes of papers that @sift666 cleared off my desk a few weeks ago. Then maybe I'll get to my Steemit followed list. I am beyond honoured that I made it onto the list of people you're still following, and promise to do better!
Great to see the Kiwis clearing out the clutter the same time I did! Now that I've cleared out a lot of the clutter, I finally have space to discover new people to actively interact with. @sift666 is definitely on that short list. I've been meaning to actively engage with him for quite some time.
It's embarrassing to have to admit that 14 days have gone by and the purge hasn't moved any further on. But hey, I've got all year...
No need to rush it! @meesterboom had mentioned an awesome alternative of unfollowing 2-3 people a day to manage his feed, maybe that'll work for you :D
I think the key here is patience ... be noticed on the page and every day insist on good material. In the end, the record will bring its reward...thanks bro!
That's right! Patience is indeed a huge factor here. I've been here for a year and a half now, so I should know. I think the love isn't that spread around yet, but it's getting there. Just keep posting what you're passionate about and the rewards will come. Thanks for taking the time to leave your thoughts! I appreciate it :D
I totally understand. It really depends on your goals here. The fact that so many people post such a variety of topics and so frequently (and that this behavior encourages itself by payout and the chance of being lost in a cluttered feed) means it’s easy to get lost in everything and also be forgotten unless you Steem almost full time. Since I’m happy to do that right now it isn’t a problem for me, but back when I was busier it felt like relationships built here, especially with more popular users, were so flimsy.
Now I use Steemify to notify me when my favorites and close friends post, about 20 people. My feed is more about browsing more random stuff, interacting with new people and making better friends out of acquaintances . I may do a purge one day but 25 seems like a very very small number!
It really does. I hope that translated well in my post. I would never dictate my goals to anyone, I'm just merely sharing mine. I do agree with your assesment about the cluttered feed. This is one initiative I make to rectify it for mine. Undoubtedly, a lot of people would post more daily to get a larger piece of a pie, so that really takes up a ton of space.
You know, and I don't mean any offense to the popular users, going back to my assessment of Steemians as cryptocurrency, I do believe that "buying low" is the way to go. But, it goes back to what you said about goals. For me, I feel like building relationships from the ground up is a way more sustainable approach. It's hard to get in with the popular crowd especially if they feel like you have very little to offer them. That's the sad truth.
With my purge, I wouldn't need to use an app. My 25 is technically your 20, so yours is even smaller haha! You just don't broadcast who those 20 are as opposed to my 25 which the whole world can see. That's cool though, I respect your approach. Mine's a bit more abrasive, I get it. I run the risk of offending people, but I've made my peace with that. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, man! I appreciate it very much :D
I still engage with the other few hundred when I have time haha. I just want to prioritize the people who I can have a real friendship with. I’m also probably going to grow and shrink my steemify list depending on how busy I am, it’s likely to change too with users habits" if a good friend starts posting lots of things I’m not interested in I may resort to just checking in on them once a week.
I’m sorry I’ve been posting so much recently, don’t want to clutter anyone’s feed. I just feel ultra excited about this whole space recently. Especially with all the comments I got the past two days
You actively engage with a few hundred!? Wow! That's no small feat! How do you manage your time?
Some more actively then others!
How do I manage my time? I don’t! Hahaha
Hahaha! Somehow I expected that reply haha!
What a great idea.
I have been noticing that I have missed some great posts because my feeds cluttered with the "tricksters". Members who got my follow by showing some support and a comment or two. But they just don't come around anymore and share the support.
Might make a new years resolution to review my list.
Right!? Those really piss me off. That's why I've been stingy about following for the past months. I've cleared up the clutter and I've noticed that I wasn't following you this whole time! My bad, man. I was surprised that I was able to keep up with Jingles even without the follow. That has been rectified now and I'm up to 26 people. Moving forward, I hope to be able to vote on all of the posts on my feed.
Definitely consider it, man. I feel better already! Haha!
No biggie, just shows you that following isnt the be all end all.
Active engagement is more important.
Oh yeah that's right!! Man, I didn't even think about it that way. Because we in constant correspondence, I've commented more on your posts than most of the people I followed haha! I guess that's what I said about engagement in full display.
You know this was actually one of the "pros" when I was weighing a list of pros/cons when I switched over to the new account. I had 800 followers and was following 130+ and I noticed the same thing, namely that I was missing content - or more specifically the person behind the content - because my feed was filled with tons of things and lots of other people who I was following were resteeming and clogging up my feed. I think this is a good move - for me I also decided I am only going to make comments that I feel like making, in other words, I'm not going to go whale chasing (I'm not judging that) and constantly commenting on all their posts hoping that they'll eventually take a notice to me - I primarily don't like it because it feels fake (it is fake to a degree!) and inauthentic which is the thing I dislike most about Steemit.
On another note, I finished another piece of art that was standing in the way between me and our collab lol (but I still have 3 more to go!)
Switching over to a new account does have that benefit of starting fresh. You're already off to a great start there, brother! Only good things from here!
No pressure there! The discussions are coming along great, and I think it would be for the best if we let it run its course without rushing anything. I'm definitely psyched about getting it going though!
I agree, the future is looking bright! Looking forward to discovering the awesomeness that awaits us together!
I'm with you there! Onwards and upwards, brother!
I’m with you 100% on this issue. I keep a low list of those I follow and try to interact and support them as I see them in my feed. I do have many now that could be purged. I pick up newbies that interest me only to find they give up. Anyway, good post, I wish everyone had a similar philosophy.
Maybe that's why we get along! Apparently, we operate under the same philosophy. Hopefully, with the lighter load, I could focus more on supporting the people that deserve it. I've just gotten back and I'm still catching up with everything. It seems like you were most active when I was away haha! I'm glad to see that your posts have been doing very well, Dale!
Whilst I have cut back on the number that I follow, it is still somewhat more than 25. That's quote an achievement. And I get why you do it. For the same reason I went from about 400 to less than 200. And still need to cut back. I don't get the whole idea of having as many followers as possible. I have 1000, and I hear actively from maybe 5% at most. They're the ones I consider my true followers. I hope to be able to be more supportive of these ones myself over the coming weeks and months.
Unfollowing 200 people is way more than the people that I had followed before. Like right now, the autovoter is out, so if I wouldn't see the posts of people I'm actively supporting, they would get lost in all of the clutter. Now, with the decreased number of people I'm following, I could easily spot the posts I've missed.
Yeah, I don't get that either. As of writing I have 1070, and yet I only have 14 view and 4 comments on my latest post. The disparity is quite astonishing. That's great to hear about your upcoming initiative. I count myself as one of your true followers, considering I have yet to miss an edition of the Notes (except for the ones I'm catching up on) and according to my last reading I'm your most loyal follower according to SteemSpectacles haha
Who can blame you for choosing whom you want to follow. I'd say that even if you wouldn't want to follow what I write as it does not contain the most entertaining topics right now. I guess the Steemit does not have the the policy where you are obliged to follow someone or a certain number of people.
For you I have a special policy. Only once I was able to find your post on my feed. Usually, I click on you name, visit your blog, and then do what I normaly do. Strange enough, you are the first person whose blog I read and have contact with, that made me realize my age. Strange realization. I usually just fell me even in front of younger people.
Don't be too hard on yourself, man. Personally, I feel the same way about my posts. Even though some have earned a good amount in terms of payouts, as you could see from the reads and comments, not many people read my posts. I don't know if people are just not interested or they don't care. Expand your horizon and just interact with people. Who knows, you might find your niche that way.
Wow man!! Way to go dudester!! I am slowly winnowing down my following amount. I follow many a hundred and gradually I have been winnowing them down. I still have like six hundred odd which is fucking terrible. It makes my feed a right mess. I figure if I can unfollow about 2-3 people a day I should have a manageable feed in no time! lol
I never thought of gradually unfollowing people. That's a proper idea if I should say so myself. Yes, that is a proper idea. Looking at the comments here, it doesn't seem like I rattled any cages so I guess I'm all good. Here I was thinking a chap or two would be raving mad because a fine fellow such as myself unfollowed him. But, it seems that's not the case. Which I'm quite disappointed at actually. Quite disappointed.
I understand the disappointment!! I am doing quite well. Ultimately I want my feed to be like you have yours where it is only people I am definitely interested in appear in it. It's just that in the early days I added so many!!!
If I didn't go on hiatus, I might be in the high hundreds myself! Thankfully, the feed is more manageable now. Even with Steemvoter going down a few days, I wasn't able to miss out on voting!
Yeah it makes it so much easier to see who counts!
Also, it's easier to count with only so much to see!