What is a "whale?"
Most people regard a whale - in Steemit terms - as someone who has over "x" amount of STEEM or vests. This only works with a static amount of vests or STEEM, however, for one's influence per STEEM is dependent on other factors.
One could then say that a whale is someone who has over "x" percentage of total vests or STEEM. I much prefer this method to the former, however, I believe that this formula would not be able to accurately inform us who the whales on Steemit are either.
This is because being a whale is not - as most would tell you - tied to one's stake. Sure, if you have "x" percentage of total vests then you are indeed a whale. But, I would argue that one with 10 SP could be a whale. If you do not yet understand, allow me to provide an example.
If a major celebrity with a voice of authority signed up to Steemit today, whether it be Donald Trump, the Dalai Lama, Morgan Freeman or otherwise, in spite of their tiny stake, they would possess the influence to impact the flow of payouts throughout the Steem ecosystem.
If an individual with so many followers among this community turned up and asked us to vote for this post and flag that one, we would learn that a lack of STEEM power does not equate to a lack of influence. This is because STEEM power is but one of many types of power, and therefor only one of many types of potential influence for a Steemian to hold.
A whale is simply an influencer who has the ability to make waves by massively effecting the flow of the current - or the currency - within any given ecosystem, and one does not necessarily require money in order to do that.
So while the prospect of a million STEEM in the wallet may be appealing to many of us, we should accept that the chances of that happening are not very good - especially given the ongoing push for an oligopoly by a few abusive community members.
However, the chances of us becoming a whale are not as slim as the chances of us acquiring 1,000,000 STEEM. It will still be a very difficult task to accomplish, but if one is able to fully immerse their self into the community and become a voice that people want to listen to, then you will find your influence, and I suspect far more than that also.
But to any who might seek to become a whale, be first aware that such power does not come without responsibility. Just because the majority of whales on this platform remain blind to theirs, does not mean they have none.
If you are going to wield such power in an ecosystem were thousands of people are attempting to earn, then you have to be careful so as to ensure that you do not make poor choices with that influence that lead others to suffer under the weight of your irresponsibility- an irresponsibility that they would then lack the influence to counter, and which therefore explains why it is the whale's responsibility to use their stake productively for the entire community.
So in closing, there is now thousands of Steemit users out there trying to become whales. But, they are trying to become whales by acquiring STEEM at any cost to the community. If even half of these individuals tried to acquire influence in more productive ways, and consequently no longer having the need to take harmful shortcuts towards quicker profits, then we might just see some changes around here that will be worth talking about.
As Spidermans dead uncle used to say:
"With great power comes great responsibility". I don't know if I really would want to be a whale. On one hand, having power, money and influence is tempting, but what would I even do with it? I would want to use it to change some things for the better. But saying that sounds flat and garysue-ish.
For now, I am glad that I can use this platform as a hobby. Maybe I can live off of it one day, but then I would need a new hobby. And if I were a whale, this Steemit thing would basically be my job and that would probably suck out the fun out of it.
Maybe I would become a whale and delegate all my power to someone who has the right vision and the pluck to see it through? Yeah, that sounds like something I would do.
These two sentences helped me understand myself better.
There you go again with your wisdom.
But yes, I agree. I would not want such responsibility. Even the responsibility of choosing the correct person to delegate too is a fucking big one.
I don't know how delegation works exactly, how much it binds you long term to someone, but you are right. Just giving away your power to someone else doesn't mean giving away responsibility.
You can reverse a delegation at any given moment, thought it takes a week before the STEEM power becomes usable again. So in this instance, your responsibility would simply be to delegate to someone who will act in accordance with their responsibility to the community.
I see. That is good to know for the future. I will keep this in mind. Maybe one day, I will have a sizeable amount of power.
Interesting article.
It's sad that power is in the hands of a few. This has a negative effect on the steem ecosystem whch i believe should be merit-based . those who seem to be influencial are so because of steem power and not because of the value they add to the platform.
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