RE: A question of/for the community on advertising rival platforms
While only having 10 weeks in here, I have done quite a bit of research. Much spurred by the curious behavior of those I interact with. I don't think I was here even two days when the shilling for EOS was pushed upon me. As well as stories of how the initial startup was crooked (their words, not mine) and designed to make a handful rich at the expense of the majority.
Upon researching this and finding the thread where Steem was initially mined, I am of the opinion many of the original miners who are the powerful whales may carry a bit of anger at how they were handled. Lack of clear instructions. There was one miner who was really smart and figured out how to mine despite the handicap. Due to issues of the creators this person would have ended up owning the majority of Steem if they had not forced a reset of the mining to prevent that. So we have to keep in mind that the foundation of Steem was built on negative actions that instilled some negative feelings towards it by the most powerful people who got in at the beginning.
It has occurred to me that despite their anger, they amassed a fortune from that event with little effort other than their time and a little bit of electricity. Their investment of their time and knowledge has repaid them in a way most investors will never realize or be a part of. If this were to crash today they have probably cashed out so much already they are set from their investments elsewhere.
Based on the actions I see taking place here it feels like many of the top holders care little of the long term stability of the platform, which you write quite a bit about. It has opened my eyes watching how things work around here, as well as many others based on the many posts I read. Many actions take place here that lets newer people know our place here, which is to be blind and post with caution lest you incur the anger of someone with some power and watch your effort get blasted to nothing. Censorship is indeed alive and well.
Then as a last observation, you have the brains behind the blockchain being dissatisfied and moving on to create something touted as being better, that will fix the mistakes this foundation was built on.
The logical question for those of us here is can this be made to work if there is a mass defection of money (dumping Steem) by the initial miners? And something for all to think about, will these same people bring their bad habits to the new and improved version?
My ignorance prevents me from having any answers, yet I am concerned that it will not survive. I do not see hodlers targeting Steem for their portfolios on the exchanges, the low volume indicating that it is mostly people cashing out from here selling to those who are buying in for here. I have seen enough I feel nervous having my money invested here, thinking it will be devalued by the actions of the power players.
Great comment. You've filled in a lot of gaps in my understanding of the early dynamics on here. You've also given me pause in my plans to make a 5 figure investment in STEEM in the coming days. It may be a better idea to wait until June and just put in a small amount to increase the power of my upvote in the meantime.
Yet we can't know if the whales hyping other platforms are actually against STEEM or simply wanting to leverage their success here to also dominate any new platform. Maybe they'll hang on to both. For those of us who are pretty new here and have low SP, we are writing our own content and trying to build relationships, so it's work to be on here. It takes time. But for them to continue profiting mightily on here while focusing themselves elsewhere is easy. They can have their cake and eat it too, so why not just leave their STEEM delegated out here and such?
I have a number of people with massive amounts they can invest who I'm talking to about what crypto to invest in, and none of them would write on here. I'm completely talking to them in terms of price appreciation, transaction times, lack of fees, possibilities for selling delegations, working beta, etc. There could be a lot of money coming in to replace any outgoing whales. The entire STEEM market isn't really all that much money when you place things relative to the traditional investing space.
Still, gives me enough pause to maybe slow down a bit more than I had originally planned. I need to reflect also on how strongly I push STEEM to those who trust me, given the turbulence on here that may adversely affect the price.
I find myself in the same position. I lived off my writing for a few years and had thought I was going to write a small how to book on Steem/Steemit when I first got here. Almost immediately I began learning the videos I watched that drew me here (made by one of the top witnesses) was a pack of lies. I ignored the warning my intuition was sending me and began blogging still referencing the misconceptions I came here with.
Now, after 2 1/2 months I find I am uncertain of the platform, enough so I could not possibly write that how to book at this time. I would be pushing lies at this point as the witness I referenced above is doing. Despite all of this, it is not all doom and gloom. I have found these positives:
1- With no ties here when I came, I have slowly built a small circle of people I interact with daily, more that it is a few times per week. These are the main draw bringing me here as much as I log in.
2- There is money to be made here, at least for now. Not a lot for me yet, but enough that I believe it could be scaled up as time goes on and my circle grows.
What I am uncertain of is if this platform is sustainable. My fears come in from how this all started, as I mentioned earlier, and the fact there doesn't seem to be much in the way of action showing the top whales are giving any thought to the future. My ignorance of this coupled with my understanding of human nature isn't inspiring me towards belief it can sustain in the long run.
Retention rate is not good. Getting in without buying your account takes quite awhile. I was reading threads on Reddit where people had waited a month and still not heard anything. So many are just delegating their SP to voting bots, which is used more often than not to pay for less than stellar posts. Visibility is hard, and for new members coming in that don't know better, they will wonder real quick why so many crap posts dominate trending and hot, yet the post they spent hours on got 3 upvotes for nothing.
Thanks for replying, and wish I had some solutions. For now I am in wait mode like yourself as I figure out my place here, trying to get a better feel for if this place can survive the shortsighted greedfest so many are indulging in. There are many of the Deming seven deadly diseases at work here, as well as some of the lesser obstacles he talked about.
Yes, they are the ones shilling...
They have no risks. It is all massive upside now and has been for a long time.
Yes, but it will be difficult.
They will not change their spots, they are mostly incapable.
It is a scary thought. This is why it worries me that those in the position to speak out on these issues are silent. I do not know much of the process of the blockchain technology but I know people. At the end of the day, steem blockchain is unique in that it is built around human beings. If there is one thing I know about humans, it is that we are fickle and we are quick to forget past assistance and tend to remember past hurts.
If the whales are doing it for the sake of money or for the sake of disatisfaction, it still remains that their actions affect we who are not whales, we who are dependent on the system working. It means hours of content and interacting, monies invested losing value just to line some few pockets.
I am not against anyone going to join a new platform, this is a free world but poaching here is wrong. There are over billions of people who do not use crypto. There are millions who are into crypto but do not invest in steem, why not do business with them. Facebook is abound with fruit ripe for the plucking, twitter, instagram... Those are the platforms that make money off their users.
I wish those who can effect change would drop a post asking for opinions from their investors once in a while... gosh. My hands hurt.
I remain in the dark as to any real solutions, which is part of why I follow tarazkp. He talks daily on these issues and has a much deeper understanding than I. So much of this ultimately depends on what others are doing and will do. I found I had to take a step back and examine what I actually do have control over. I am sure this will change over time as life is ever moving.
The first thing I have done is begin extracting my out of pocket investment. Luckily for me I subscribe to the never invest more than you can afford to lose, and based on my current trajectory it will take me 4-5 more weeks to fully reduce my exposure to their actions to zero.
The second thing I have taken to doing is spending my time mostly curating and adding quality to the posts I find worthy. My upvote is worth so little, and I am often at 50% voting power or less. I find that this is a sound strategy that those of us new here should probably utilize. The connections I am building is where true growth will take place here for newcomers.
It isn't smart for me to post the how to posts I was making that can actually make me money elsewhere. No one sees them and I have posted some things that I published that have earned me thousands over the last few years. Posted many more things that could have made me thousands more via self publishing.
So one area I am still struggling with is what to post, if anything. I won't just post crap in the hopes of an upvote, but I don't want to post things that can make me money elsewhere and here it only benefits whales. I have toyed with the idea that when I do write my next how to book that maybe I will make a post on it here when I am giving it away free on promotion and if someone actually reads my post they can benefit from it.
Once I have my initial investment back, I will then allow my SP to build organically. Then if the whales make the place crash and burn as it appears they are doing, I will only be out my time. And that I won't consider a waste, as I have been exposed to many ideas, taken part in many exchanges whose reward can't be measured monetarily. There is a power in networking, the one thing the whales can't skim off of us.
Good luck to you here. I looked over your posts and you are a great example of what I mean by connections. Your posts offer me a glimpse into a different life, offering hope as well as reminding me of my blessings. Your sincerity in your posts is a doorway to humility for those like myself who at times lack that quality.