Let’s Grow Steemit Together - Direct Engagement Experiment Week #2
Last week I set my self a challenge. Based on the data, I made a list of over 500 accounts that are at that critical drop off point, to see if I could engage with them and potently decrease the churn rate. I gave me self a month to contact all of them.
If I have contacted you and asked you to come visit this post, you might also want to have a read of last weeks to get a better understanding on what I am doing.
https://steemit.com/steemit/@paulag/let-s-grow-steemit-together-direct-engagement-experiment-week-1
Success – I managed to review 155 of the accounts and reached out to 74 of them inviting them over to last week’s post. And wow what an amazing response I got. So many people engaged back with me, just take a look at the number of comments on the post. 50 people engaging on 1 post. To me that is a successful post.
And look at some of the comments I received;
This one from @nonzerosum
and this one from @riverflows
Not only that but on my journey of manually reviewing all of these accounts, I came across some of the most interesting people you could imagine. One account that stood out to me was @soulesque, a medical student. A medical student is really high caliber and shows how Steemit has moved from a place full of developers and crypto enthusiastic to a more diverse platform servicing many niches.
But if you take the time to read through the comments on last week’s post, a number of things ring home.
- The trending page creates unrealistic expectations on the earnings potential on Steemit
- This is fueled by bidbots
- Communities are a saving grace for many, probably a saving grace for Steemit
- People want to engage
- People are getting lost in the long sign up process
So here is some hints and tips and actions you can take to address some of these concerns.
- Did you know there is a tag on steemit #nobidbot? So if you are looking for posts that are not buying into the bots this is an amazing place to start.
- One of the things as a Steemit witness we stand for is human curation, engagement and we stand against bidbots in their current form. You can support this cause by voting for @steemcommunity as one of your Steemit witnesses. Both myself and @abh12345 run this witness server. If you are unsure how to vote pop a comment below and I will guide you.
- Communities are coming to Steemit, the only problem is I don’t know when. The project is a Steemit Inc. project called #hivemind. I am really excited for this feature. Remember, Steemit is still in beta so we can expect changes to come, welcome changes.
- Finally engagement. People want to engage. So there is some stuff you can actively do to increase engagement. For example, if you are an author, ask people a question, or ask their opinion, make it a clear call to action. What do you think of XY and Z, please do comment below? Or when you leave a comment, don’t be generic, give the author reason to comment back to you. Start a discussion with your comment, don’t just leave a closed reply.
This week I am going to continue on reaching out to those on my list. I hope all those that engaged with me last week will hop over this week and join in the discussion again. I hope what you will get from this post is a chance to network with others, people you may have not engaged with in the past. So please do read the comments and reply to each other. This my friends, is social networking.
Theme
So this week’s theme is ‘What is a Successful post?’
Success for everyone is different. For me, last week’s experiment post was a success. It was a success because people engaged with me, and that is what I wanted. I wasn’t looking for high valued votes, if that was the case I would have done a data post. It was a success because I engaged with people I never engaged with before. But just because we don’t share the same niche in content doesn’t mean we can’t be social, and I think I have proved that. It was also successful because it opened my mind and what people shared with me in the comments gave me food for though and more stuff to learn about.
Defining what a successful post to you is could be very different. It really depends on why you are here, what your expectations are and what you are aiming at. But once you have defined what a successful post is, you can then go about creating it.
What I would love to hear from you all this week is your idea of a successful post. What criteria are important to you? What examples of successful posts are there and why do you think they are successful? What changes can you make now in your posts so you become closer to continuously writing successful posts?
Kind of nervous posting this because last week’s effort was such a success! I really hope everyone will engage again so willingly.
#1 is a fantastic tip for people wanting to avoid the bad influences and drama.
Really glad to see success from your last post, it sounds like you've reached out to some helpful people for the progress of this initiative. If there is anything I can do to help just let me know.
PS. Looking forward to Hivemind, supposedly it's predicted for some time through Q3.
I seen the notification, yep Q3, lets hope they deliver. I will be ready. I reckon I will be reaching out soon, at the moment I am under a bit of pressure work wise and so I am trying to keep a low profile away from discord
I think you nailed it when you spoke about expectations. I came to Steemit for a single reason, I wanted to give back to a community of DIYers, Makers and Programers, whom, without, I would never have been able to accomplish my homeautomation project. So from a sense of indebtedness I try to give back. Little did I realize that those communities have a small presence here. But thats OK because I know that my post will endure for the next group who seek out information. To be honest I also chose Steemit because I didnt want to line someone elses pockets. If money is to be made, why not me?
I get trending and hot, but those are very broad especially when you factor in global scale. Who determines what is or isn't hot and for which group of users? Im sure whats hot in the US is not relevant in India or Japan and visa versa. I dont even go to those anymore because they just aggravated me. Would it be possible or desirable to have more, user choosable hot and trending and perhaps whats hot around the world tabs?
Finally, I think there needs to be improvements in the search engine thing. Either that or a how to get the results you want tutorial.
Sorry if it seams like Im whinning, its just that you asked and I feel that we have your ear right now.
As far as a successful post to me its one that I get upvotes , regardless of payout. That way I know people find some value in it.
Thanks for all that you do.
Sincerely, Ken
Steemit does need a much better personalized feed, something smart that can suggest articles based on preferences would be cool.
Dose not sound like you are whining at all, this post is about engaging and as you said i asked you the question.
I like you reasons for joining steemit. Steemit is full of giving. from gifts, support, to votes. its just a pity this stuff is not as obvious as the negative. (note to myself...focus more on the positive)
I've been thinking about this off and on all day. The original 'short answer' was that a successful post for me is one that I'd enjoy reading, but that's really more a criterion for 'should I post this or not'.
I have a small set of different post types I mainly make, and each of them have deliberate, multiple, sometimes overlapping goals. Achieving those goals is, of course, a definition of success, but it doesn't really lend itself to a concrete and succinct definition.
If I consider what the goals of the articles have in common at a higher level of abstraction, I end up with something like 'engender signficant, sincere interaction and increase the ability of future posts to do so as well'.
Based on that, I'd have to say a successful post has a few hallmarks:
Those are still hazy, but somewhat better defined. On a per post basis, not all are necessary, but good mix of them over time is sufficient.
Addendum: Some supererogatory aspects of a successful post arise from some 'selfish' personal benefits: it can cause me to organize my thoughts better (such as with this comment), help me learn a new idea I've been grappling with, or provide a way to practice and improve my writing.
well now @effofex thank you so much for an awesome comment....I have seen posts with far less effort. For me forming a relationship with my readers is a big one. Rewards are not my goal right now. I could do a lot of data posts and get paid more than what I did on this post, but instead I wanted to engage more
Your posts lately have been really great. Maybe they were really great before too but lately I've noticed.
When I started here in March I wanted to come in with the attitude that a successful post was one I gained something from writing, and any response that they got would be gravy. It was pretty clear at that time that if I didn't decide to buy in it was going to be a long road to significance here, so if the work itself wasn't valuable to me there wasn't a whole lot of point.
After buying in that has changed a little bit, but it's still my main focus. Some things, like digging deep into mythology in the MCU, I'm doing because I'm good at them and I'm learning a lot about narrative and film from the analysis. Others, like participating in Open Mic, are much more about taking a skill I'm not especially good at and trying to make progress. Either way the community and the reward provide me with a little extra motivation to do that things I really would like to be doing anyway. (Which is something I need as I struggle with motivation on a personal level.)
I was thinking about saying there's another level which is the curation initiative level, but that's really not about posting, so I don't know that it really applies. I'm working on projects with a varying level of posting involved, and I'm still not really sure how posts should best fit into the work there. They're sort of secondary, and I guess they're successful when they support the goal of the broader project.
you bought in? You are rather fortunate in one way, but in another way I can see how this might have been a rather big change. Can I ask you, when you bought in ( or invested as that sounds better), you kinda skipped part of the growing process, all of a sudden you became a bigger fish. Did you see a change in how people reacted to you here on steemit?
That's an extensive post, and maybe I'll make it, but in condensed form:
I invested very early in my Steemit account's life - I saw what looked like a bottom in Steem:BTC (and conveniently I was right) and bought 5200 SP for 1.2 BTC knowing that I had no idea how to use it. So I rented it all out in three waves through the Minnowbooster delegation market on the theory that as I got it back my voting would have become sophisticated enough to make use of the power. So I spent six weeks or so as a redfish, with 150 SP or so, interacting with the platform that way. Then I got a month as a midsize minnow, about 1600 SP, and now I'm in a month as a large minnow, about 3800 SP. In early June I'll get the last 2200 back and I'll finally be a dolphin in practical terms as well as the size of my account. (I later put in another .2 BTC as 550 SBD to have additional liquidity.)
I think this was a very good plan in terms of learning about the platform and the community. When I was posting and commenting as a redfish I don't know that anyone really noticed that my account had 5000 additional SP in it. Once I was a minnow people started taking a little more notice, and now that I've been effectively almost a dolphin I generally get treated like a dolphin. I don't know that I anticipate seeing another change when that last chunk comes back.
I don't know if I'm really answering your question here, feel free to ask followups.
IMHO the "communities are coming, but I don't know when" part is a perfect exemplification of one of the biggest issues Steemit is facing... lack of transparency of the development, cause it's the same with SMTs, isn't it?
Everybody knows they're coming, but nobody knows when and ned shilling bullshit during second tier crypto summits doesn't really help, does he?
Bottom line is WE DON'T REALLY HAVE COMMUNITIES ON STEEMIT, ONLY CIRCLEJERKING SYSTEM, but we definitely have all the potential and resources to build them. So why aren't they here already I'm asking?
And the answer is very simple! Nobody - sorry, you care - gives a shit about making steem blockchain more of a community-based by working on steemit's flaws, which is our wallet in the end, isn't it?
Yes everybody's taking a piss, but for a reason!
you raise some valid concerns but there is more to steemit inc that come across. At the moment we still have node problems and the blockchain needs to be scaleable before we can move forward with this stuff. Witnesses and steemit inc have to get on top of that first and there are many working on it. Then there are witnesses like me and @abh12345
that are working on the ground getting read and the people on steemit ready for when the changes happen. People do care, you just have to know where to go to find them
For me, a successful post is one that generates interesting responses and comments. I prefer when my commenters point out things I may have overlooked, or challenge my assumptions in a helpful way.
Big votes are easily acquired, but great comments are priceless.
have you any suggestions on how we could encourage our readers to challenge our assumptions?
It has been my question so far. I have been putting a closure segment on my posts lately asking readers to contradict or correct something if there were anything wrong in the article or to ask, anything, engage. But so far I'm not really satisfied on how it's been going on and I guess I need to change the strategy, thinking how to do that. To me, a successful post criteria is just what @josephsavage said, it generates interesting responses and comments.
Thanks.
well at least you are making the effort, it can take some time to get right. Maybe you could try adding questions within the post and not just at the end?
Oh, right. I will try that one. Thanks paulag.
That's a very good question. I'm better at designing systems that guard against the worst aspects of human nature than I am about bringing out the best. Sad but true...
The best results I have seen are from when I've sought out posts that have a different viewpoint and provided fair counterpoint (or openly acknowledged when I was wrong about something). People are more likely to engage in dialogue when they see that it will be received openly instead of defensively.
openly acknowledging when you are wrong works very well, it was actually thought to us on a social media course I was on before, exposing self weaknesses I think was more the topic at the time
Did you already wrote a post about how to acquire those big upvotes easily?
😁
You have to look back pretty far to find it.
The easiest way to acquire big upvotes is to pay for them. That can be effective if your post is high enough caliber to actually attract new followers that regularly engage with your content. But it can be a turn-off for many, whether it be on philosophical grounds or pure aesthetics.
Lol, buying upvotes is a bit like cheating to receive big upvotes. As that always works. However one could end up with a big loss. So I was actually thinking about big upvotes for a profit. But I guess there's no easy way for that 😀
Hi @paulag, thank you very much for your excellent works during the weeks and I got so many new knowledge from them. I read your posts and I think know that I was trying to work hard during I am in this platform.
As a novel writer I always create the contents on fiction such as short story, poetry or poem and composing some life quotes as well. In my point of view to make a successful post always be a big challenge for me and I have to find my niche in steemit.
I want to engage what I have build in steemit becoming a strong character and when people come to my blog they will look at who I am.
Thanks @paulag, you are very humble and friendly for us, I know you dedicated all of yours to develop steemians.
Wish you all the best,
Regards from Jakarta, Indonesia.
@anggreklestari
what you have said here is key
"I want to engage what I have build in steemit becoming a strong character and when people come to my blog they will look at who I am."
as your name become more familiar with people they will be more likely to visit your blog and comment on your posts.
My comment got a little long winded. I also wanted to commit by setting some time frames of when I want to get some engagement done. This is not exactly what you were looking for but it’s my response.
https://steemit.com/engagement/@enjar/engagement-within-the-gaming-tag
As for what makes a post successful that is a hard one. Did the reader feel the passion, dedication, and effort that was put into the blog? If so than it was far more successful than any monetary value that will be applied to it.
I would recommend everyone reading this post hop over and see what you are doing. How cool. its really hard to find the good accounts. I contacted only half of what I looked at. in the end I even decided to contact some people that are not behaving in a favorable way to steemit because maybe, just maybe we can change their thinking
It is a very excellent starting point. Takes the madness that is steemit and puts it almost into some kind of order. It is a very smart way to go about it.
I found myself engaging with certain types as well. I least hope if people realize this is not such a wild west as it might seem they can understand and want to do better.
I'm just hoping some amazing authors out there just need a light reminder in the "don't do that" department. Going in heavy handed tends to go only one way.
heheh the only way for you is up! rock on
What an incredible initiative!!! First i've heard of anything like this on steemit. Really well done on last weeks efforts. I have no doubt you must ave really changed this platform for those you reached out to. Re your topic this week, for me a successful post isn't measured by the cost attached, but rather measured by how deeply it can resonate with or impact the reader. In order for it to do so I think it requires personal opinion and emotion (whether it be humour, sensitivity - whatever it may be), clear language and topic matter ought to be niche enough to provoke thought or feeling in the reader. Something along those lines anyway ;-)
HI @yasminep hope you are good, thank you for stopping by and the kind words!
how would you measure how deeply it can resonate with or impact the reader? ( I'm not so good with 'grey ' areas and emotion is one of those grey areas to me)
One thing I tend to lack when I am writing, but love when I am reading is a bit of humour in the post.
Good question. I suppose that's really a personal thing to each reader and depends on personal interests. For example if I stumble across something about healthy vegetarian food, I would be really interested in reading it (providing it's written with some opinion, emotion, and clear language), since that is something I am personally interested in and open to heading about, regardless of if I agree with their viewpoint or disagree with it. If the other criteria aren't met, for example if there is no personal opinion and it's based on a list of facts I could easily google, then i'll be unlikely to feel any attachment or feeling to that particular post. But really it's all subjective. I think if you can impact one person, then it's a success.
you have made some really good points about writing and adding personal opinion over a list of facts. But I must say, I do this myself. and I do it with intent. You see the data post i do on steemit are done to present the facts about steemit so everyone can make up their own minds. I hardly ever put personal opinion in my steemit data posts.
But I have seen posts based on facts v's posts based on personal opinion or experiences and I myself like the personal element
Ah yes, I suppose data posts are separate from that. I would label them more as news than blogs in a way..
news rather than blogs, never though of that really. On my non steemit blog I blog about how to use Excel and Power BI, on Steemit I use these tools to produce news. I like it.....
Haha. Enjoy reading this.
thats what engagement is all about @aneukpineung78
Everyone has their own definition of success but most people always assume success is all about the highest rewards in Steemit. In some cases which we can't deny, it is the truth (especially the person who get the most rewards daily 😆).
As for me, a successful post means the message I want deliver has been sent out and understood by my audience/readers.
I don't feel like I need to get the highest reward. I think it's unfair that less than 1% of the Steemonians earns at least 75% of the rewards. But perhaps even much more.
I think the fair line can never be fair after all. As for the rewards here, it depends on whoever has the highest SP (Steem Power) and how they willing to support others.
this is very much true @legendchew. The only way we can change the distribution is to power up in masses. But people need to live and accounts are not growing because of this. Those with the highest SP are not cashing out, because they don't have to, while many of the minnows do.
I will cash out every week if I have enough there to cash. So true, paulag.