How to Lose Newcomers and Alienate Your Followers (With One YouTube Post).

in #steemit7 years ago (edited)

Be Careful Out There Kids!


The Internet Can Be A Dangerous Place.
And then there's Steemit Inc. & it's "Big Dogs".
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You can choose to take the next thing I am going to tell you any way you wish. You can call it spam. You can say it's an attack piece. You can even agree or disagree with it until you're blue in the face. You can read it, watch the video posted within it, and decide, "Hey, that sounds great! I want to try that," or you might say to yourself (what I consider to be the ethical thing to do), "Wow! That's just wrong!". No matter what you choose to do, or not to do, after watching the video, I believe you might owe it to yourself to read what follows after it (especially if you are new here and are thinking about investing your money into the steem system).
Please watch & LISTEN to what is being said in this video. And know what he is saying is not theoretical, it can be done (and probably is being done, if not by bots then by people who only use steemit in the way he describes the bots could do it).
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Video Source: Courtesy of @craig-grant's YouTube channel "Craig Grant".
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Did you comprehend what is being explained here? And before anyone decides to defend the producer of said video, I will say now that I understand he is using the term "hypothetical" to soft sell the concept that this is not something that he is actively participating in. To leave the observer to believe this is just an idea in his head and nothing more. And yet he is encouraging potentially thousands and thousands of people to attempt to code and run such a bot. If you think this is good for the blockchain, think again.
Think of it this way. Your new to the steem platform and don't really understand the game. After the first week or two you're struggling to understand why you aren't getting much exposure, how your posts only pulled in a small SMALL portion of what you see others pulling in. In addition, you start noticing single upvotes worth anywhere from $1 up to $40+. So your thinking to yourself, "How can I reap such rewards and have that kind of voting power?" and decide to look into it. Chances are all the other steemit blogs on the subject tell you, "BUY STEEM! Invest more than your time and content. In order to increase your voting power, and your potential for exposer in the process, you have to put your money into it".
Excited in the idea of such power and profit, you immediately purchase hundreds (or, even worse, thousands) of dollars in BTC to exchange/trade for STEEM. And you do see an immediate increase in voting power and a slow increase in exposure as well (more followers, potentially more upvotes from others).
Sounds great, right?
Not exactly. Enter @craig-grant, and other malicious Whales or even bots now.
You know all that money you just put into this thing? Well, guess what. The majority of it goes right into the rewards pool and is being sucked up by these kinds of accounts by a thing called self-upvoting.
You see, these accounts have been around for a lot longer than most of the rest of us. This whole project began with 0 users around 4-11-2016, and by 7-09-2016 it had approximately 10,00 Registered Users (and at that point less than half of them were active - and today it is gaining new users by the hundreds and thousands each day, approaching a total user base of almost 250,000). @craig-grant joined somewhere around June 2016 or sooner. These are the folks that pumped a bunch of their own money into the start-up platform and blockchain. Sounds like we should be thanking them, right? Some of them, YES. Yet some of them, NOT AT ALL.
In fact, we should all be researching them - and praising them or calling them out when appropriate (it's not a transparent system for nothing people, would you hand a pile of your hard earned cash to a complete stranger on the street based solely on their promise it will make you more influential and wealthy? You know, because BLOCKCHAIN. I doubt it).
What I believe these accounts/users are doing is baiting all us newcomers into investing real fiat currency. And then using techniques described in this video they are draining the rewards pool with malicious intent with their so-called right to self-upvote.

Image found on Pinterest

So all that money you put into this thing.... it will force you to make a choice at this point. And your choices are:
"If You Can't Beat Them, Join Them" and concentrate all your voting power on yourself (self-upvoting) and upvoting a selected group of your friends who are doing the same thing - being sure to give out just a few pennies here or dollars there to a Red Fish or Minnow so you can justify bragging how much you help others and are good for the community as a whole. And even then, if your lucky you just might break even or see a bit of profit and success. But keep in mind these other users are a lot older and more powerful than you, so they will always get a bigger piece of everything than you (bearing in mind you only invested a little bit, investing some insane amount like $500,000 would be a game changer for all those fools).
OR
Respectfully reserve your upvotes for others posts and comments while only upvoting very little of your own. If you're lucky you just might stay ahead, but your content better be out of this world. Even so, with some Whales habitually self-upvoting they are still not leaving much in the rewards pool for the rest of us no matter how good our content is.

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Same user @craig-grant here in this next video, this time explaining how to maximize his profits by flagging (takes the value of his upvote power AWAY from a post - essentially taking any money people like you & me many have contributed to the post and putting it back in the rewards pool, where he and his kind can drain it from with their powerful self-upvoting value). He even says he flags not because he thinks it's spam or undeserving yet because it's profitable and popular [but not his?] !!! WT_ !?!?!


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If your content is good, you shouldn't have to resort to lies, manipulation, and what nearly amounts to criminal fraud in order to be profitable and successful here. That is, so long as it's not too late and these malicious types are now just to big and too well connected to prevent them from taking all the worms and leaving the rest of us with just the castings (worm poop).
Fortunately it seems there are still enough righteous, honest and true Whales left out their to keep the scales somewhat balanced (here's looking at you @gentlebot 😇 and @randowhale 🐋).
If "earning your fortune" includes convincing people to invest real money knowing you are going to get most of it through your "hacks" and "techniques" and "style of being Da Man".... sounds like criminal fraud to me (if it quacks like a duck....).

If you agree or disagree, please be a part of the conversation and voice your opinions in the comments. And please be sure to Screenshot at 2017-07-01 21-29-38.png & even give it an Screenshot at 2017-07-01 21-27-23.png if you can "spare some change".
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Here I am, those who will defend this concept of "earning". And I'm not afraid. So blow me (blow me a kiss).

Video Courtesy of Mutoid Man.
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I was under the impression this platform was for "a community based on posting original content. And if your content is good you will be profitable and successful". Meanwhile, these types got me convinced it's more of a platform of "hack" it, cheat it, lie and manipulate to maximize profit. You don't even have to have decent or original content. You can post spam all day and still make a profit, so long as you've been here from the beginning to become a Whale (or invest a ton of your own money to buy rather than earn your Whale status) and upvote the living hell out of yourself and the network of fellow liars, cheaters, and hackers you build along the way".

And now I'm upsetting even more Whales (prbly not the good types either).... @ladygray upvoted my Digital Art 013 piece (52% upvote with a value of $1.12 total upvote value, making it a $0.56 upvote - the highest valued unsolicited upvote I believe I have ever received).
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And from what I can gather, even though 40 minutes ago she thought it was original and good enough to swing 56 cents my way, I believe she saw this article and thought, "screw that guy, he's exposing us! He doesn't deserve anything and we need to start thinking about burying him".
When the mob mentality sets in.... you must be on to something.
And the fact she has a high SP & a fairly decent voting power yet a slightly lower reputation score than I should tell you a lot about the character and intent of this user and her kind (and I've only been here a little over two weeks).

EDIT: At the time of this comment's posting my Reputation was 42.... jus' sayin'.

BIG THANKS to @craig-grant for stepping on his own..... well, for putting this out there. Making it very clear his intentions and his scheme. Maybe I should send him a $0.001 SP tip. What do you think?

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I was almost going to jump on the Genesis mining, but see more chances of just investing into some cryto myself. Seems a better risk.
The one thing I have noticed is that I'm seeing a pyramid scheme in process, seen it before and it never ends good.
whats strange and what these people dont get is that they are recording and saying how much they are banking and not paying taxes. I dont think you can put out a video showing your making 2-3 thousand a month or an account with 50 plus thousand and not get a knock on the door by old man Uncle Sam.
Things can go from hero to zero very fast.
I believe crypto is here to stay and i watch as many videos and information tutorioals I can find to figure this out, before I get left behind.
The value of silver and gold, cryptos, the dollar, everything has uncertainties and why I believe one must try to have some of each, not to brag about and get the bling bling attention, but to be able to survive the economic crisis coming this way.

The problem, imo, is not with crypto and blockchains themselves. I support breaking free from the criminal Feds as much as I believe in my fight against these malicious Whales.
The problem is with the potential abuse designed into the configuration of specifically the steem blockchain itself. It's almost as if all those people who got in on it early to mid-2016 new within a year they would be able to con others into joining and investing fully knowing they could use their high flag and self-upvoting power to suck all that new crypto invested into the rewards pool.
If steemit would do something to prevent such actions I would say they were a good corporation (Steemit Inc.). Yet, from my observations, they have only increased the ability for these Whales to abuse it while decreasing any newcomers from actually achieving anything spectacular. I just don't understand how they don't get their actions of tricking people to join and invest only to flag the newcomer's successful posts and upvoting themselves is really a simple case of 99% of said rewards pool going to these guys, leaving scraps for the rest of us.
It's a complicated issue, I did my best to simplify it in the post. And I hope it gets resteemed here, shared on FB and Twitter, etc. Yet I doubt it.... his flagging me destroyed my reputation and now I can not even post images = and anything I post or comment is instantly hidden from here on out.
I tried. Not for fame or profit but to save others from falling for this scam.
I appreciate your comment. You do seem like a wise person. Just be careful in here.

Will do, I just got started in here as I said. I hated fakebook. Not sure if this will turn into one but so far im enjoying it.
I'm all about learning something from everyone, If I don't like something I just don't follow it or ignore it, I wont attack anyone because of what they are doing, if i felt it was a total scam, i would report them.
Right now I believe is a time for me to learn everything I can with so many world changing events, things are moving super sonic. I need to focus on trying to get the most education I can.
There are so many good people in here willing to help and share information, I'm going take that opportunity and get as much education I can.
As with everything that has happened, and from some replies on the post here, keep on posting and I will follow you , like i said its about helping each other.

You stand on solid ground, my friend. I'll be watching and commenting/contributing as time allows....keep on keepin' on against the shuckster-jive mofos...

This is why the U.S. is on the downward spiral...some see the criminality of DC politics and just assume carry on doing the same....it's the easy way....until it catches up with them one way or other...

Cheers
RJohn

Spot on observation/comparison. I appreciate it man. And that Screenshot at 2017-07-01 21-27-23.png you gave me.... priceless. Muchos Gracias!

You might want to (and anyone else reading this who have been kind and supportive enough to give me upvotes) remove all your upvotes for me.... @graig-grant and his merry band of crypto-gansta Illuminati/NWO 2.0 wannabes are all stealing your good intentions with their flags of my posts (& their forever self-upvoting). Take your coin back while you can man! I won't hold it against you (or anybody else). Pretty sure next time I try to log in I'll be at 0 Rep anyways no matter how many try to support me.
Thanks a ton. It really does mean alot (the words far more than the donations).

Not a chance, bro...these same shuckters complain how 'the man' had done them wrong and are now out to return the favor...on those who had nothing to do with whatever is their hang-up. They delight in Social Darwinism. They never had it so good...it's a revenge cult...

Hang tough...they'll destroy themselves soon enough....

I am inclined to agree, until I start over-thinking it (like I do most everything).
You know, there are over 7 billion people on this planet (soon to be 9, and 13 shortly thereafter & so on). Facebook supposedly has 2 billion users. There are nearing 1/4 of a million users on steemit & growing like crazy.....
And of all these big numbers I'm throwing around, A large majority of them seem all to eager & willing to stick their heads in the sand in exchange for something shiny or entertaining. And there are all-to-many willing to take advantage of those with their asses in the air (so-to-speak).
"Have faith" is what I'm hearing (and I agree with you), yet I'm still feeling it's hopeless.
"If you build it, they will come".... hahahaaa!
;)

IMAGE SOURCE: someecards

Yeah, i see by your Rep number they've been on the attack...despite your output...no doubt flagging your contributions -despite the fact your writing falls within NONE of those categories...some meritocracy, eh?

Just more of the same from those who should know better....

I found steemit through craig grant just recently and I love his laid-back style but I have to admit I too have questioned some of his tactics... on one hand he's a great ambassador but as you say it might be for mercenary reasons... one way to slow the whales is to stop feeding them, many can be found on youtube ... on the whole your piece paints a rather bleak picture, yours is no disgrace if you borrowed their palette...

I am a big believer, and encourage everyone to think for themselves and seriously look into it. Don't just take my word for it. You may even find info I missed or couldn't find. For all I know he's giving thousands away each day to homeless shelters (which I doubt, and even if so still wouldn't justify such potentially fraudulent activity to achieve such a thing).
Keep on keeping on. And if you do find anything on this issue I would really be grateful if you shared it with the me and the community (even if, especially if, it proves me wrong).

While these whales are running bots why not use BitConnect and further the chuck and jive promotions. Yes early adopters of Steemit and BitConnect are making "bank" but laws of sympathetic resonance will be obeyed. Their is a crypto currency formula that if used starting the next 6 months will provide you with a continuous life time income. You will not need to resort to grey areas of consciousness to obtain income. The formula is out there if you know where to look. Clues are on YouTube and Steemit in the crypto world. Listen to crypto chats and study the new ICO's and the two most popular platforms. You will find out what to do and be ready in 6 months or so to implement the strategy. I wrote about this in one of my resent blogs here on Steemit.

Would require a pretty big initial investment, I bet.
The thing is, I have no problem with someone mining huge profit if they are mining legit (you know, spent the pile of money on hardware, took the time to build and code/configure it, etc.). My problems are with these individuals who are promoting and promising their versions of "good intentioned advice to help you, be sure to follow me & upvote everything of mine!". Convincing Red Fish to put their other cryptos and cash into this system with the (what I believe to be) knowing intent that their consistant, habitual self-upvoting is going to drain all that money they just talked all those noobs into investing.... drain the majority of it right into these malicious users' (and their network of like-minded users') accounts.
He even calls it "mining". It's far from mining. It's straight up a flim-flam.
Who wouldn't want to live la vida loca for the rest of their lives without having to answer to a boss? But is it worth it at the cost of convincing others to pay into something knowing you're going to take most of it away? How many people are putting money in that they can't really afford because they believe the words and implied promises of these leeches?
IDK, everybody's got their own opinion. Yet I know if this kind of activity were happening in the streets or in stores there would be eventual criminal investigations and people would go to jail (not to mention the class action civil lawsuits, restitutions, fines, etc. etc. etc.).

You are correct about investigations on these individuals if this was traditional financial institutions. They are huckstering people. The formula I found works with as little as $2000.00 in crypto. I have much more than that but you can start with as little as $2000.00. The more tokens you have the more per month you will net but I estimate that an initial investment of $2000.00 would net $3000.00 per month lifetime!

Most excellent Sir. I'll have to find the time to look into the prospect sometime soon.
Apologies my upvote power sucks (I'm addicted to upvoting... other people's stuff).
Of course I am following you know!

Keep in touch and I will give you clues and guide you towards what I found!

me too jetblake! (yes, following ;) )

And I'll follow you (I think that's how this thing works).
Thank you for your support!

Will do. Glad to have bumped into you. Stay safe out there (and in here).

Good advice. You too!

Just noticed again, when I up-vote you it kicks in 0.05; When I up-vote someone with lot's of Steem power it kicks in $1.00 or more....apparently, the more Steem whalers have the more they get when we up-vote them, (we have no control over percentages as "minnows"), and although I bought about $40.00 in Steem and powered up $20.00 i can't 'equalize' what I give to whales compared to what I give folks like you and others...i'd rather be able to give more to new comers and the poor. But that's the breaks I guess? Wall Street Jungle rules of the game...

Zaggly.... it's like the Democrats and Republicans finally came together to figure out how to screw everybody without them even noticing. HA! NWO 2.0 Yo!
I'm so glad to see some genuine intelligence and observations here FINALLY!
You the MAN @everman!

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