WOW, SO I GOT FLAGGED FOR SPAMMING - MY POV !!!
Initially, I was surprised and a little "pissed" but now I'm super excited because I'm about to initiate a "flagging" debate. Why am I doing this?...because the "pen", my friends, is mightier than the flag (red one of course).
About a week or two ago I started experimenting with how to improve my visibility on Steemit without the use of bots. Steemit can be a sterile place for newbies, often seeing no OR little traffic for weeks or months. Presently, I do not have lots of time to create new and original content, I'm not a blogger per se, however I still need to keep visibility up and build relationships with "followers" and "following" as well, otherwise having a Steemit account is a futile existence. I also refuse to produce and recycle some of the pseudo-intellectual garbage that often surfaces and should be flagged for lack of flavor. Instead I prefer building relationships over time and have whatever conversation that emanates.
Before I get started let me share the results of my experiment:
Messages Sent - 140
Total Responses - 27
No Response - 133
Positive Response - 24 neighborly response
Remarkable Responses - 2 Used the opportunity to educate
Negative Responses - 3 Flaggers + 1 user claimed a lack of sensitivity to their content
If you haven't seen, it, let me show you what all the fuss is all about - I sent the following message to some of my followers which I abandoned mid way due to the flaggers;
I'M CELEBRATING 300 FOLLOWERS
Thank-you for YOUR awesome support!!!
Come Check Out Some of my Cool Posts:
A Cool Morning Gratitude Session
Apologies For Slow Up-Voting
FOLLOW * UPVOTE * RESTEEM * REPLY * WELOME!!
Source: Picture300
Personally, I cannot understand what the fuss is all about. Let me break it down for you...
The message was not an indiscriminate mailing of incoherent information. Primarily, It was a limited message sent to my followers (not meant in a patronising way), to thank them for being part of the milestone. I believe a personally delivered message is polite, unless we have decayed beyond that point.
I included a self-evident link for an apology for slow up-voting, simply to keep everyone informed that not up-voting was a temporary situation. Also polite I think.
Since I was sending out the message, I included a promotion of a post and of myself. This I believe is entrepreneurial. Anyone who thinks they don't self-promote or that it will go away is deluded. Believe me, personally delivering more than 100 messages on Steemit is hard work. I did it because it reminds of a nostalgic time where every fortune was born by a door-to-door salesman; and where neighbours actually spoke to each other (and not flagged them).
Ultimately, in the back of my mind I did expect some push back for my promotional style, just not as soon and as severe. So what do I think of the current situation. I think it's great. As the say in public relations there is no such thing as "good publicity" and there is no such thing as "bad publicity" - only, PUBLICITY. So, I am optimistic that I will attain my secondary objective, of good visibility.
I will not name and shame these flaggers, because by this time they would've done a pretty good job all by themselves. All I will say is that indiscriminate flagging is an extremely narrow-minded approach!
Honourable Mentions: I've mentioned that two remarkable persons took the time to understand, discuss, advise and mentor. I've decided to mention them because Steemit truly needs more people like them. I've also include the link to the blog post so that that you can see how masterfully they dealt with my "spam" to create a mutual respect. these are the two men who has inspired this post. Thank-you!
@mitthradiumn
https://steemit.com/fuckthategglookingmo/@mitthradiumn/day-4-2-or-7-day-b-and-w-phot-ejpoweoh-wejesu
@kobusu
https://steemit.com/life/@kobusu/colorchallenge-blue-friday-epic-fir-tree
I am not in favour of flagging anyone, unless the content was extremely and obscenely offensive. The fact is there are simply too many better alternatives. You could ignore the message (133 did), you could use the opportunity to educate and debate (2 did) or simply (mute or unfollow - which is what I did to the flaggers, because they are childish bad actors, and if they treat their blog as the "richest square mile on earth" and not as a rich diverse social playground, they are snobs!)
A special message to indiscriminate red flaggers:
My "pen" will harm you, much more than your red flag will harm me!
great post my friend :)
@lautenglye - Thank-you, I appreciate your comment and support.
no problem my friend :)
Hello @rlt47 Glad to see your steem! I read what you wrote and i perfectly understand where you are coming from, i created my steemit 3 days after my birthday Aug 27th, and began mostly hanging out in steem chats. My account is now around 6 months old, before i left i still remember seeing quiet a few people who never earned anything now earning over 40+ a post. I earned my followers through mutual connections chatting and attempting to earn a connection with others since i am also more interested in commenting then what people want to do when they can just slap something on and make an easy post. Since my return a week ago i have noticed that there has to be atleast 40% more basically spam. Atleast in my mind when i think about steemit i want my life to somehow be involved and that for me is what i do everyday, such as gaming, there should never be a reason to have to take others things for upvotes when everyones life's are so unique. I've been trying my best to also Leave a comment everywhere i upvote since my return and i have received a reply maybe 1/3rd of the time and i do really appreciate when someone put's effort into something and i have an opportunity to read or gain knowledge or another persons perception on something. Most Channels that i have even seen many active comments (20+ on everything) are either just people with alot of steem-power or the people who have been around since the beginning or are coming from another platform, the comments that people even leave are just sometimes people asking for a vote on someone else's page and you can even see the people who just leave something for an upvote. To Truly grow i think it takes more than just time or patients it takes no soul, to give in effort without recieving, and then to enjoy your rewards with the others who gained. @rlt47 Thanks for the nice post if you read my comment hope you have an excellent day! @originalworks
I really appreciate your support and comments. It seems Steemit is already becoming a microcosm of the world. Bots, snobs and poor.
The @OriginalWorks bot has determined this post by @rlt47 to be original material and upvoted it!
To call @OriginalWorks, simply reply to any post with @originalworks or !originalworks in your message!
Thank-you for your upvote!
steemit brings out the stupid in people , its okay fam , from my point of view its only been a couple days , and i already have 4 globeheads attacking my character than the information i present on my blog posts , i dont have much of a following , nor do i even care about that. I agree fam, its childish and oppressive in nature. Isnt this the reason we got into crypto to have control over our digital footprint and to not be controlled by the 1%? Just for a little bit of shit tokens, smh. #truth
Hi Bro, appreciate your comments. Thanks also, for the heads up.
'atta boy
Thank-you for the comment and support. It's worth gold!
@mittradiumn - As this post comes to the end I its cycle, I once again thank-you for your assistance which made it all possible. I think it is rather successful and I attribute 80% to your mentoring skills.
I hate flaggers. I have a feeling I'm going to be dragged into this Steemit political debate. Let see how the community reacts
Yeah, I was pretty mad. I wrote this article to blow off some "steem"...but I actually got some lol! You may try and resteem if you'd like the debate to continue, as it is the last day for this post. yeah, flaggers are bullies and snobs... they should just ignor.
I agree completely.
Good work check My Post dear i am ur new friend
@sarnaly - Thank-you, I appreciate you comment. I will certainly be following you and your work. Upvoted and Followed.
Some people are just trolls and have no joy in life so try to spread misery.
Interesting. I personally don’t like being asked for votes as I feel this platform it’s sort of a given that someone will find interest. They could have asked you not to post that type of content..... but it’s so easy to confrontational or communicative of either extreme in social networks.
@yehitars - Thank -you for your views, it is appreciated and you mention important ones. Upvoted.
It is not my intention to SPAM or become a SPAMMER, but I have a genuine dilemma. I'm a conscientious individual who wishes to maintain contact with followers and following (not meant in a patronising manner), in a social sense. So for that reason alone, I don't think my actions are indiscriminate. Also one of the links was meant to inform them universally that my voting power was low so I was slow to upvote.
For me it was an experiment to shift momentum as my blog was stagnating. I think it was successful in that I did manage to shift momentum, visibility improved and I have more or less determined what acceptable boundaries are. I think, if I add more value and become less flashy the strategy could succeed.
I think that self-promotion should exist but within limits. You know what they say about they about companies that don't advertise...they eventually need it to sell the business. but yes you are right there are extreme blogs that exist purely on vote mongering without any content.
Finally as you say, there are better ways of dealing with the issue than straight up flagging.
I understand this, I've been through it too, but then I've just decided to build some following base and keep following as many people I can. It will only make you know more, as there is always things to learn from other people. And those who keep flagging you, if you really can't get on with them just mute them. Ignore them, Steemit is not worth it, your life is not worth thinking about those people, just let your passion express itself on here, and people will appreciate it, whatever your post is about ! I agree it's becoming a microcosm, I've seen it, but again, this is how the world works, we can't avoid many silly things like that to happen, we always have to generate our own circle of friends, wherever we are, Steemit or in real life, so that we enjoy it the most and hopefully take the most out of it. Life is all about fun ! It's my one and only morality (Sid Vicious inspired me for that one :D)
@looneyfool WOW! not my definition of fun, but whatever blows your hair back my friend. I'll have my own brand of fun, none-the-less. Thank-you for your contribution, it's appreciated! See you about!
I have many definitions of fun, don't worry, it's not only about doing things linked with Sid Vicious, but I tend to enjoy quoting him everytime I mention the word "fun", especially on Steemit, it has become my emblem for fun in a way :D the way he looks for it at anytime of his life; pity we no longer have rockstars like him, nowadays they're all like full hypocrits
draw conclusions and use your time and efforts in a more productive way ...
Thank for your comment. It has been a thought provoking one, at many levels. However I choose to proceed from this point on this platform your advise will serve as an excellent guiding principle. Adopted!
@Kobusu - As this post comes to the end I its cycle, I once again thank-you for your assistance which made it all possible. Without you time and understanding it would not be achieved.