The Problem with One-Sided Conversations
Can anyone hear me? Echo... echo...
Is it just me, or is it unnerving whenever you write something thoughtful and you don't receive any replies. I'm not talking about a long, heartfelt response, just a bit of recognition like a one-worded "thanks" or a vote would be enough to let someone know that they haven't wasted three minutes of their lives. I've already expressed my frustration about posts not being noticed, so I'll try my best to not repeat any sentiment here. What I'm going to tackle here is about the lack of interaction particularly in the comment section.
A Question of Validation
For a couple of weeks now, I've been quietly making a concerted effort to leave heartfelt (and mostly encouraging) comments whenever I find an interesting post or a post that's unfairly unnoticed. Now, I don't leave those expecting to get curation rewards (though it would be nice), rather I leave them in hopes of letting the poster know that someone took the time to read his post, and hopefully draw him in to read one of mine. I don't obligate anyone, if that's what you're thinking. Heck, I don't even link back to my blog post 98% of the time. So, I guess it's safe to say that my motivation for commenting leans more heavily on proving support.
I always make it a point to let people know that their efforts were not in vain, because I know how it feels when you make a lot of effort to make something and then nobody reads it. It's a terrible feeling that I don't want anyone else to suffer from. The world can be a cold place sometimes, and I just wanted to do my part to warm it up a little.
Personally, I've been a bit disenfranchised with Steemit for quite some time, but I'm still holding out for hope. I've been mostly trying to encourage fiction writers whose work hasn't been getting the attention it deserves, mainly because I envision a Steemit filled with creativity. I leave constructive criticism (you can check out my posts as proof) and I appreciate it every time I hear back. I doubly appreciate those people who leave their own comments on my work. That's the community I've been holding out hope for. A community that interacts by reciprocating what they receive.
This is not a question of self-worth, what I'm asking for is just a simple validation that I'm not just talking to myself.
A Growing Rot in Steemit
If everyone on Steemit adhered to this "look at me"-mentality without giving attention back, then pretty soon Steemit would be a barren wasteland of comment-less posts. Right now, it isn't all that prevalent, and maybe it's just happening to me and a few others, but an infrastructure's collapse always starts with the tiniest of rots.
This problem has even stemmed to steemit.chat, at least in my own experience. I understand that it's harder there since the stream of messages could be overwhelming, but still, there are lots of people who just paste link to their posts without giving much thought to actual "promotion." They just spam their links without bothering to check out other people's links. Sure they'll nab votes here and there, but still it's just one-sided.
Sure, there have been vote-for-vote initiatives here and there, but most people don't even bother reading the content. I've taken part in those but I made sure to leave thoughtful comments in their posts. Do I get comments in my own posts? Sometimes I do, and I do appreciate everyone who takes the time to do so. Do I get replies to the comments I leave? I do, but that's the thing though, they tried to market their post heavily and the least they could do is just respond. Most people don't, and that's what's disheartening.
I've discussed this briefly with some people on chat, and they mentioned some interesting points. People wait for what whales vote, and they vote for it without considering the content. It's a clever way to game the system, but that leaves a lot of great content unnoticed. The same applies for comments. Now, I'm not saying I leave "great" comments, but voting is being reserved to where other people vote as well. With whales not voting on comments anymore, people became generally uninterested in addressing them. That makes me think of this interesting post I read yesterday.
I couldn't be alone in thinking this, right? I hope those who feel the same way sound off in the comments. I'd love to hear your thoughts regarding this. We need to unite and interact amongst ourselves if we want to promote interactions for our posts. This is an understated fuel that keeps this community running.
Imagine if everyone followed that negative mentality or become disheartened from their comments not being responded to. What if all those people didn't leave comments anymore? Cue the barren wasteland from the beginning of this section.
22-hctaC
I don't know if everyone knows this, but comments help your post. If that came as a shock to you, I'll give you a few seconds to recover and let it simmer. Every comment, not just votes, helps in the discovery of your post. The longer your post is featured, the more readers (and hopefully interaction) you're going to get.
Time is the most precious commodity you could give someone. Someone could've done tons of other things with the five minutes they spent reading and writing an insightful comment to your post, the least you could do is to acknowledge it. If you can't be bothered with writing a generic "thanks", at least vote on it as if to say that you've read it. Sure, you don't have to vote all the time. I mean, if the comment wasn't something you liked, then by all means, don't upvote it.
It's practically a win-win for every one involved, and all you need to do is to just respond. Your post's discovery time widens, you earn a reputation for someone who responds to comments which earns you even more comments, and the commenters won't feel like they wasted their time leaving you a comment. It's that simple.
I wish I have the option to delete my comments that have gone unnoticed for more than 2 weeks. It'd be interesting to see how much of the top posts adjust when the number of comments are decreased. Personally, I make it a point to respond to every comment I get, even if it's for an old post. Heck, I even respond to bots because there isn't anyone else who left a comment in some of my posts. I don't mind even if I upvote something that's just passed payout. I vote and comment on things that deserve them. Do people who don't respond back deserve those comments? Now, that' the question I'm interested in knowing the answer to.
A Collective Objective
Image Source
I loved the concept of "paying it forward" ever since I saw that movie. Giving something without expecting an immediate return is such a noble concept. In the big picture, you receive "good karma" in the long run, and that's something great to hope for.
For every heartfelt comment I leave, I don't expect an immediate follower, a vote, or a reward. My intention is to foster relationships that would support each other's future posts or endeavors. If my posts aren't making that big of an impact, I really wish that my comments would have that effect. I'm not asking for much, just that we promote interaction instead of just wanting our own blog posts to be recognized.
I was so glad when I stumbled upon @williambanks' #payitforward. Finally, here's an initiative that seeks to solve the problem that I was facing. It was a bit of a relief to discover that other people encounters the same problem of non-response that I suffer from, and hopefully this initiative really does alleviate that problem.
A shift in the community's consciousness is, of course, the long term solution. If we want Steemit to thrive and stand out against other social networks, we have to develop a community that fosters inclusion and interaction. We shouldn't just promote our work and not help others achieve success. We shouldn't just vote where whales vote. Most importantly, we should reply to every single comment to our posts. It shouldn't matter if it's from a whale, a minnow or a plankton. A thoughtful comment still took a minute or two of their lives. The least we could do is to acknowledge that those minutes matter.
I've explicitly included #payitforward to test if it really does promote interaction. I would love to hear your thoughts regarding the topic that I wrote above. I know it's a bit meta, and if you'd rather comment on a different topic, feel free to browse all my other previous blog posts. I'm retroactively including them in the #payitforward initiative. Feel free to link your posts here as well. I'd be happy to read and comment on them. It would be such a relief to receive responses for heartfelt comments. Let's spread the love!
Ironically I couldn't read through all the comments, do I'm not sure if this has been said.
I think part of the "hey look at me" without any other interaction is partly due to the feed going active. The more integrated or established steemit users are first searching/ voting their stream first and/or becoming pickier with votes. This then pushes the new users into chat, who are still in that learning phase where they only think of marketing and not networking.
I'll admit i was guilty of this too. Last week or so i made a conscious effort to be able to spend more time commenting on others posts. It's good to be a consumer sometimes :)
I hope to get a chance to get back to that tomorrow. My last couple days were filled with responding to comments.
Anyhoo, sleep time! :)
Hey @sykochica thanks for leaving your thoughts, I really appreciate you taking the time! Your response to comments is my kind of call to action on this post, so that's already a win, in my opinion.
It's very disheartening when you think about the pickiness in terms of voting. Makes you think that some users don't get a fair shot at scoring big. Personally, I feel shortchanged with the voting aspect, but I feel that the interaction aspect is the more important part. This post may not have earned as much, but hopefully, the interaction I've done in this post gives motivation enough for people to comment on future posts. I mean, would they rather comment on famous people who don't even acknowledge their comments or on an unknown who appreciates their thoughts and replies to every comment they leave? That, I guess, is a question of character, and something that remains to be seen.
Out of all the votes, there were only a fraction who left a comment, so that makes me think that a lot of people missed the point of the post. While I appreciate the vote, it feels a bit hollow if you consider that the vote was made blindly. I still feel like I'm missing something that's obvious for a lot of people.
@jedau Yes #payitforward does work and it works really well. But it seems to benefit more in the long term. Right now people spend the 24hrs their post is able to earn upfront, camping in steemit.chat and trying to promote their article. They don't seem to be exploring payitforward content until that period has expired. The net effect is that we are gaining momentum but it's mostly on the long term payout of the post.
Posts that are over 24hrs tend to be universally ignored. But #payitforward content sees a few extra comments and votes more than without that hashtag.
As we gain more players it will of course have more impact on your immediate earnings. But just consider it a longterm investment in your posting that only needs 13 extra keystrokes in order to enable.
One other thing. Make sure you're also looking for other #payitforward enabled content and doing the crosslink back to your content. That's a vital but powerful step most people seem to be missing. But it's the defining point of the game and what makes #payitforward more powerful in the long run than other initiatives that attempt to curate with a single call to action.
It's this tit for tat system of upvote, comment, crosslink and follow that provides #payitforward with it's long term potential. Make sure you do all of those to maximize the potential. :D
I'm curious, what is the word limit for a blog on steemit? My chapters average about 2000 words, since I had to split them up to post online in another venue.
@casandrarose The limit is not words, but KB of text. Each character or letter, including each character in image URLs and each formatting character and white space etc, counts as a single byte and I think the total limit is 4096 bytes. Although Mud Blood & Glory which you edited is pretty much the maximum length of a posting.
@williambanks yeah, that was my thought as well. You can really see the benefit when your old posts that were ignored get renewed interest. It's fun trying to connect the things you wrote with what other people wrote! :)
It's been a busy couple of days, but I have commented on other #payitforward articles as well. I try to at least comment on one per day. It's strange, but I really get more interaction whenever I comment on other people's posts (which I do for the majority of my time on Steemit) as opposed to posting my own content. Before, I don't really see a huge effect, with only a few people whose post I commented on take the time to read my posts, but hopefully that number would increase exponentially with #payitforward . I've been using comments as a way of motivating people and urging people to have a look at my own posts as well, without outrightly forcing them to do so.
I don't see any real benefit with just getting votes on my own without giving back, and I don't really get the motivation of people that do that sort of thing. Most of the time, I'm the one that initiates interaction through my comment, and hope that it cascades from there. That's why the #payitforward model feel like it's built exactly like my approach :D
Hello.
I am a user of the chat, and I can only agree: lots of messages ! And mostly links without descriptions.
When promoting I always try to write 2/3 lines but it remains a one-way discussion.
At this stage, and maybe bc it is 6:50am here, I don't really have solutions to propose.
Maybe reducing the flow by subdivising promotion per topic (with the 5 most important topics used on Steemit). But there will still be some abuse.
I likes your post, I will promote it i the "others" section of the chat !
That's a good suggestion! The #payitforward initiative aims to circumvent that as well. I included the link of @williambanks' post in the article. Its objective is to let users freely comment their links so that we could avoid our posts being lost in promotion. Check it out :)
I have spent hours on a heartfelt blog, and earned a few tiny pennies and a couple of comments. I even get votes and comments from a whale and still get pennies. It's very frustrating.
Then I realize that I'm mostly here to get my thoughts out, thoughts that have been rolling in my head for years. It feels good to see them in black and white (well, that's the color of my screen). It's nice to have anyone read them, and maybe be a little inspired.
I think as time goes on, people who really want to be here will stick around. There will be communities of friends who upvote each other. Hopefully the rot will be overcome with the antibiotic of friends.
#payitforward Check out my post, https://steemit.com/politics/@casandrarose/biff-tannen-for-president-yikes-what-would-really-make-america-great
I'm not normally much into politics, but I find it shocking and disturbing that such an evil man is so popular... then I realize Trump likely bought his way to his position.
I'm replying here because the other conversation you commented in is too deep to reply to.
It would be awesome if you share it on Steemit! Tag it with #fiction so that other fiction readers and writers get to read it. There has been some interaction there, but not a lot. The community is still growing, so let's try to be patient.
Yeah, it's been pretty weird lately. This post had quite a few whale votes, and while it held steady at $110, it plummeted to $75 at payout. I guess we need to readjust on how we approach posting on Steemit. I have often been frustrated with my Steemit experience so far, mainly because I've focused on the number of readers. Though I can't say for sure, the readers (and rewards) will come in time. Just focus on posting content that you want to share and eventually, you'll get a lucky strike. At least, that's what I'm hoping for. We just have to stay positive.
Your #payitforward post is noted, I'll share my thoughts there.
Thanks! I'll try to post something in fiction this evening. Unfortunately, I'm a single mom who works full time, so my time is pretty limited for posting and commenting. But posting something I've already written would be an interesting experiment.
It would be interesting to see. I can't wait to get a chance to read it. It's very hard juggling different roles, so I applaud you in finding a right balance. Thanks for taking the time to comment on my work. I just want you to know that it really means a lot, and is deeply appreciated.
Great post. Looks like you got some comments after all!
Great point. A lot of us have been saying this.
Strictly speaking you are just supposed to post your links in those channels - at least the ones that are being moderated. Any other chit-chat can get your messages deleted.
That is admirable and I do that too. I think sometimes when a post has a colossal number of comments it becomes very hard.
I think most people probably don't know this because they don't really understand how things work.
It's a great concept and vital for a strong and vibrant community.
YES! This was exactly my intention when I wrote this. Part outlet of frustrations, part experiment to see if it fosters interaction. I'm really glad about the reception.
I knew some people shared that sentiment, but I didn't realize there were a lot. It's a comforting thought knowing that we're not alone. Since we're a lot, I'm pretty sure we can band together and do something about it. If people insist on sticking with that mentality, then maybe we can avoid indulging them even for a bit? I know it goes against my stance with regard to inclusion, but I just thought about it as a means to teach a lesson to those kinds of users. What do you think?
Yeah, I get your point. But really though, I've seen more chit-chat in the moderated pages than in the ones labeled as "with conversation", which is ironic. If everyone just posted their own links without checking other people's links, then who would check out theirs. That's what I was trying to get at.
I figured that it does. But, that's the thing though. If your post achieves a colossal number of interaction, don't you owe it to your readers to thank them for supporting it? Okay, let's say not all comments are positive, but they still contributed to your post being labeled as "active" or "trending" because of the activity. Doesn't the poster owe the commenters for their part in making it a success?
Sure, it's mostly the content itself that made it a success, but if the post remained unnoticed, then it wouldn't have achieved any of the acclaim it has amassed. In my opinion, I think it's directly proportional.
It's a shame, if that's the case. I hope an improvement to the system where comments are rewarded not just by the votes it receives, would be implemented. If monetary incentive is the current way, then I hope it would be provided for those people solely motivated by that. That is, if that's what it takes to promote interaction.
Right? Check out @williambanks' posts regarding that and participated as well. So far, this first #payitforward post of mine has been great in terms of interaction. I hope it permeates throughout the community, as it fosters a sense of inclusion and belonging.
Thanks for leaving your thoughts, I really appreciate you taking the time!
So, I did not come here as part of #payitforward , since I'm not yet sure I really want to participate in that just yet, but I understand your sentiment.
I might be able to offer a bit of insight of my own on this though.
The first two weeks have mostly been "me" mentality for me on this site. First, the rush of content that my friends made, curated, and suggested. Then, a torrent of writing the likes of which I havent experienced since I was in grade school. Along the way, I made a couple of new friends, which seemed to have an exponential effect on the amount of content I had to review.
That was a huge part. The second part was something that I just kinda realized last night, while feeling disgruntled over some of my own content not getting comments or upvotes. Browsing through my profile, I finally noticed that there was a whole section devoted to seeing the replies other people had posted on your content. Since I'm used to other sites (and even forums) that flag you with a little number or notifications icon to let you know when people have mentioned you or interacted with your content, I suppose that I has a sort of unconscious state of mind where I thought that since there was no notification icon that no one was really commenting.
Now, I know SOME people were commenting, since I had a tendency to refresh my own posts every few hours to reply to what was there, promote my post, pine for upvotes etc. But since I didnt have a nice big number at the top of the page notifying me, and generally not much hand holding available to teach one the ever-changing finer points of the site, I totally missed a number of replies on OLDER content that I had posted, and felt terrible.
The final bit, is merely getting over the ego-hump and moving to the point where I'm content with just posting to post, and then treating this more like a social network and less like a bloghosting site. Now that I've hit that phase, I feel like I'm more willing to interact with other people, and review content on my own behalf instead of just what other's say I should upvote.
That transition from ego-maniacal instagram "me" fest to a real social platform is going to take different amounts of time for everyone, if they get there at all. For me it's recent, and I feel bad for missing conversations, but at least I'm more aware of it going forward, hopefully able to repair that which I may have damaged in the past.
That's a great observation! I haven't thought of it that way. The "Replies" section could really do with an unread notification to make sure things don't go unnoticed. I'll request for that feature on your behalf, if I can't code it by myself. Man, I consider that a gamechanger in terms of unnoticed replies. Thanks for bringing that up. I can't believe that went unnoticed.
The "Replies" section does seem to look very discreet, and I hope that change will rectify it somehow. I'll send you a DM in chat with the screenshot of that request.
I'm sure glad that you've already gone over that hump! Welcome to the other side. I have no doubt that you haven't damaged enough that you can't repair. This shift in consciousness is what I really wanted to have with this article. Having your reply go unnoticed by the poster can be really disheartening, since you spent some time crafting that comment. I can't speak for anyone else, but at least that's how I feel.
It's great you pointed out that "me"-mentality, because I feel very strongly about that. Social networks by definition are meant to promote socialization. I don't know when it came to be but it evolved into something more of a place to showcase ones own thoughts and work. That's all well and good. It's human nature, and every one has the right to do that. But, the problem starts when everyone just focuses on themselves. All those promotion bombs without checking other people's content. There doesn't even have to be long conversations or relationship-building, there just has to be some sort of reciprocity to acknowledge other people's effort.
Yours is probably the longest comment this post has received so far, and it that doesn't scream thoughtfulness, I don't know what does. I really appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts regarding this!
I have noticed it too. I will #payitforward. I hope others will too.
Awesome! What did you think of the post though? I would love to hear your thoughts. Feel free to leave a link to your post with your thoughts as well :)
I know you read a lot of my stuff, and usually end up commenting. To be honest, whenever I'm in Steemit Chat I try to Upvote and Comment on things that interest me, I don't just Upvote every post I see. I do my best to comment on the things I do appreciate, and almost always comment back when someone comments on my things. In my opinion, I don't think anyone should go around throwing votes and comments willy-nilly, the whole point is that you do those things for stuff you're interested in.
And that's what you should continue to do. I'm selective on what I upvote as well, and I always read everything and not just blindly vote on it. Did it come across that way when you read the post? It wasn't my intention to incite blind vote-for-votes.
My main gripe is with people who don't comment back whenever there are comments on their posts. But, you've replied to all my comments, and I really appreciate that.
I've noticed this as well, and it's rampant in chat. It's a lot of, "Hey, I upvoted your post, NOW UPVOTE MINE!!!", but with an added unspoken thorn of "but I want YOU to really read MINE, unlike me - I just voted yours so you'd pay attention to me."
It's a lot of "I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine...but I don't really have any nails, and my back is hairy," without any regard to content.
So, I tend to try to keep my chat time short.
Yes! I'm glad you pointed this out, Kent. I hope I conveyed my message in the post clearly, as I really don't want my stance to be misinterpreted. Personally, I really take in other users content. I don't only vote, but I leave heartfelt comments on their post, mostly to show them that I appreciate their effort in putting up a post. Sure, that has the subtext that I hope that person notices my post as well. That they comment and share their thoughts, not just blindly vote, but I don't obligate anyone to do so.
I really still don't get why people are stingy with their upvotes. It doesn't cost anyone anything, and they're not losing any money from replying to comments. If they don't like a post, okay sure, by all means don't vote for it.
I like your backscratching analogy, it really drives home the current climate. I really hope this changes for the better, or else risk Steemit going down the path of other social networks.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and for the upvote! I hope that you enjoyed reading, and I really appreciate you taking the time to comment.
I have been having this issue a few times. I noticed that some of the people that comment don't actually read my post. They just take a look and write a quick comment. In the beginning I used to reply to bots too :)
That is an old movie. I saw it, and liked the concept but can't remember many details.Maybe I'll watch it again soon.
hey @anca3drandom, definitely check out @williambanks post on it as well. I linked it in the article. Yeah, sometimes it can't be helped. It's a matter of attitude, I guess. But, at least people leave comments on your posts, and you always reply to them. The same can't be said for a lot of people.
Yes. It is nice when you get a reply or a vote at least, as you said. :)
Right?? :) It really means nothing in terms of the monetary aspect, but as least you get a feeling that you didn't waste your precious time commenting on someone who doesn't even recognize it. Even with your success I hope that you would still continue replying to each person who comments on your posts.
Well I admit I had one post that I didn't get to reply to everyone because I was away for the weekend.Bot I try to reply to each person. It feels nice.
At least you made up for it, that's all that matters. It doesn't matter if your response is hours or days late, what matters is that you replied, which is more than I could say most people do. You're already doing great making everyone feel included, so just continue what you're doing :)