The Currency of Steemit Isn't Steem Power, STEEM, or SBD
The Real Currency Here Is Relationship
I, like many here, joined Steemit full of curiosity and a healthy dose of skepticism. My first entry to the Steemit blockchain was a Facebook thought with 21 likes and 9 shares about Independance Day. I tried it out here and made a little over $1. Cool! I finished reading the Steem white paper and got a lot more excited. My second post was on non-violent communication and Dan gave me an upvote. $34? WHAT? That's awesome!
Next I was on to my introduceyourself post, and it did rather well (who can complain about $144?!?) but it also wasn't the huge money maker I saw elsewhere at the time. I kept posting with comparatively little success. I didn't quite get how all this works. I was asking questions in Slack and answering as many as I could as well. I kept posting and tried to highlight helpful stuff like using github gists for long draft posts, building product pages on Steemit, or a functioning banlist to help someone who was being abused here. I also worked on some PHP scripts for understanding the economics of Steem Power (which I incorrectly called "interest" but is actually share dillution). Things were starting to take off a bit. Some of my posts were being noticed, others not so much. I didn't really get what was working and what wasn't or why.
And then, it started to click.
It's All About Relationships
I've been constantly connecting with people in the Steemit Slack and on Steemit, replying to almost every comment, adding relevant comments to posts I like, and, in a very real sense, building relationships. I connected with other PHP developers, anarchists, technologists, and philosphers. I was promoting undervalued posts I'd find in the Slack postpromotion channel. One time I even promoted a post on crocheting just because they replied to a comment of mine, and their art was pretty cool (I know nothing about crochet). I want to see more diverse content on Steem, and aparently I'm not alone because that post eventually started trending.
As you can see from my posts activity, I've been really active commenting and adding value to other people's discussions as best I can (to the detriment of my sleep and business). This stuff is addictive, yo.
This Really Is a SOCIAL NETWORK
It's all about connecting with others and creating value through conversation. Just last night I was explaining Steemit at a Liberty on the Rocks meetup here in Nashville, TN. I followed my usual script. Start by explaining how money is a ledger and "blockchain" just means a decentralized, distributed ledger making it the best form of money ever invented. Then explain tokens of value and tell the story of a pizza which sold for 10,000 bitcoin that would now be worth well over $6 million. Position Steemit as the first killer app for blockchain technology mass adoption. After all that, I described the quality of the conversations here. An analogy that came to mind is how when you're playing poker with fake money, it's not a very good game of poker. When you're playing with real money, things get real. The same thing happens on Steemit. People put real time and effort into conversations and relationship building because they represent real actual value.
In a world of anonymous trolls, Steemit is about reputation.
The real currency of value on Steemit is relationship. I realized this even more as my wife @corinnestokes started posting and not seeing much in response. We were both confused. Why had it come so easy to me?
But It Hasn't Been Easy
I've been commenting, reading, curating, talking in Slack. I've been building relationships.
According to Steem Whales (thank you @heimindanger!), some of the names you recognize have been working HARD to not just publish great original posts, but also actively comment and connect with others. Example:
I've still got a ways to go on the post rewards list (currently at #324):
But as far as post count, I'm at #50 and actively building connections:
It's not about quantity, but quality, and I feel my quality is rapidly improving.
I didn't realize it at the time, but I was also highlighted in a post by @pfunk over a week ago. Maybe that's why people were finding my posts? @pfunk was thinking in terms of relationship, connection, and networking. I started to see more connections of people consistently voting up my more recent content. It clicked. I was working at building relationship and my wife, so far, was just trying to put out good content.
Side note, go ahead and comment on something of hers to say hello. She's kind of an introvert! :)
Ultimately, if you want to build something here, think in terms of relationship. Add value to those around you. Don't forget, this is a:
Social.
Network.
Be social. Connect. Comment. Promote others. Get involved with the real currency of Steemit.
Hi Luke, found your article really helpful and unlocking the heart of what steemit is about - i just wrote something in a similar vein "the true power of steemit, building community, empowering change - thought you might appreciate some aspects of it! https://steemit.com/anarchism/@willstephens/the-true-power-of-steemit-building-community-empowering-change
As I am new here any help you can give me to get on the ladder would be for ever appreciated, have a beautiful day ;-), Thanks, Will
This article has changed my orientation. Treat it like a social media and not a money making machine. Thank you @luckstokes
EXCELLENTLY done on this one. you've really hit the nail on the head.
saving this one in case I curate another list of recommendations for newbies, as the point you cover in here is such a fundamental one to the success of both members and the community as a whole.
I have a strong feeling you are going to create much value for this community... :-)
Wow, thank you @rok-sivante! I really appreciate that.
While the post is right on the money, in terms of what it takes (proper relations / networking), on an ideal level it's a step back from absolute meritocracy.
If, say, friends vote friends, then good content by people who have less friends => don't get the same. So, in a way, that's creating a "need" to "slurp" others, "connect", "get in the proper circles", etc etc.
True. I've struggled with my idealistic, hopeful perception of reality where everything is a meritocracy contrasted with what we actually see in a world run by cronyism, greed, and back-door deals.
I want to believe the world is one way, but often when I step back, I realize it's just another flavor of wanting the world to be the way I want it to be. Some would prefer it to be different where their people skills trump my programmer skills (as an example). I think the openness of blockchain gives us a glimpse of what's possible. Hopefully we can create a great example here of balancing both words of idealism and reality.
On a certain level there are "penalties" associated with the use of non-meritocratic ways. Whatever we do consciously, the subconscious is observing and processing it.
For example, if I steal, the subconscious sees that and concludes "If I'm stealing then I'm useless to create wealth on my own - otherwise I wouldn't be stealing". And this lodges a self-limiting suggestion on a subconscious level that then "blocks" my expanded potential and instead demotes me to a parasitic mentality.
Likewise, if I pride myself for my ancestors, the history of my nation, the success of a sports team which I am aligned with, what am I imprinting? That since I'm trying to pump self-value from something that I didn't do, then I'm not very able to give value to myself on my own = I'm useless.
In a similar manner, if I try to increase my success through networking, the subconscious will observe that and say "well... if I'm going down that route, this means that I can't make it on my own - otherwise, obviously, I wouldn't be doing it with others/through others".
Most of us have no clue on how this mechanism is working and thus our decisions are based on a simple game theory on which decision brings the best outcome at any given time. We balance the potential risks and rewards and make the choice that will bring the best combo. What's absent during our decision making progress is the hidden cost of our subconscious imprints. These kind of subconscious admissions (which are automatically generated based on our conscious thoughts and actions) are very powerful both in limiting and expanding our human potential.
If they aren't factored properly (and few people are even aware of their existence) one may be making what appears the best possible choice but in reality the hidden cost may involve some kind of self-crippling that goes entirely unnoticed.
Thank you for sharing this idea! The concept of subconscious imprints is new to me and it surprisingly makes a lot of sense. It is that mysterious missing brick of "irrational" behavior, which limits the applications of game theory.
Very interesting analysis. Have you also factored in our nature as a social/tribal species? I would argue there are also deeply rooted evolutionary / biological responses that are somewhat primitive and reward "going with the crowd." Networking could be seen as a personal limitation, as you described, but it could also be seen as something rewarded by our primitive nature as providing a safer outcome for the survival of our genes, given the strength and protection that comes from being part of a larger group.
But maybe I'm off on a tangent a bit. I like many of your points about the subconscious cost of our decisions and the cognitive dissonance they create. For me, it's as simple as trying to create the world we all want to live in.
Yes it is factored-in. There are penalties in doing so. But going with the crowd has another dimension as well.
At our core and heart, we all want to be loved because we understand that this is the natural state of being (=getting loved) and anything else is painful. The mind translates this want/need into "acceptance". So the social strategies go like "if I want love, I must be accepted... so my social strategies must revolve around getting acceptance" - and then strategies are devised to do precisely that (some times going with the crowd, or even against it - but in a way where the individual wants to prove he is superior to the crowd and thus worthy of even more recognition which then translates as acceptance and is sublimely expected to bring love).
You see teenagers, for example, adopting a fake persona... language, mannerisms, etc... why? Because they think if I'm cool, I'll be more "accepted" and this is sublimely equated with receiving love. And then you have serious distortions where the very pure motive to get love can end up with things like "let's do this X or Y bad thing which is cool"... But they don't understand how and why their actions originate... (now I've gone off quite a bit)...
Arguably, meritocracy is on the same platform as (currently tried forms of) communism. Solid idea. Practical? Not so much.
I do think the key part of a social network is the social aspect and the relations you build, and yes, some are more equal than others in their social skills or the opportunities they're given.
As a newbie, i find your piece very helpful and motivating...i hope to learn more from you... Thanks for touching minds
Wow! This is the most succinctly expressed tutorial i've actually seen in a while. The message just feels like a plug correctly inserted into a socket.
As true as it can ever be, the real currency, the real money-maker, on steemit is just relationships.
Alot of us have been so consumed with whales, SP and the quest to earn high payouts, forgetting the basics of what steemit is all about - social networking/relationship building
Thanks alot @lukestokes for sharing this incisive insight with us.
Wow, its really a word of encouragement to me because I don't really know how or where to go about in steemit even with the little I managed to write some times I feel tired for the outcome, but your word gave me future that I will get there. Thanks @lukestokes.
Seriously this post means a lot. I'm not a good writer, or let me say I started writing the day I joined Steemit. My friend @fr3world who introduced Steemit to me, said you need to write what is meaningful and what can touch lives. A voice whispered to me, hey man you can't do it but Holy Spirit saved me by answering the voice that you can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I thank God I have been improving day-by-day. Thanks for sharing this to us and for not being selfish. More knowledge and understanding I pray.
Thanks aplenty @lukestokes for this masterpiece, I have always believed that steemit is all about relationships, and not SP or SBD. Relationship is the key, other packages comes after. I look forward to welcoming new friends and building relationships.
Thanks and God Bless .
I'm totally agree with you. Thank you for remindind about the most important thing here.
You're welcome!