A cut and paste divorce

Besides the blockchain and the pool of Steem, steemit runs on engagement. It is a social environment where community, as always, is built upon the interactions of its members. Inter-actions which implies reciprocity.

Yesterday, I had an interesting conversation after flagging a cut and paste comment claiming to support quality content by upvoting and following posts and their creators, and thanking them for making Steemit better. I assumed (rightly or wrongly) that the post had not been read and subsequently flagged for cut and paste commenting and lying as to their motivations.

Normally when I flag, there is very little reaction as they accept they are playing a numbers game and are going to get flagged occasionally at least. But this time, there was a response, explaining their position and process which I still do not find satisfactory and the chain went on.

In the end however, I removed the flag and we came to an understanding as the conversation we held provided an understanding of each other's position and possibly changed actions or approach in the future.

The problem for me with those trying to help Steemit through upvotes and cut and paste comments is that it breaks the connection to further conversation as it is essentially an automated bot response, from a human curator.

The initial comment does not take into consideration the content of the article itself and leaves no room to reply anything other than 'Thanks'. This is not engaging and for someone that spends time developing original content, not very motivational for future content development.

I appreciate the upvote and the attempt to support quality but I think that the attempt does not actually support quality content very deeply. If for example a poster was only here for the rewards, quality is likely not the focus and the numbers game of spamming will be. But, for someone that is trying to create interesting and engaging content, feedback and interaction with the audience fuels the engine.

With all of the nonsense spam claiming to support this and that with very little, if any follow through, commenting in the same way does not inspire. The intentions of a cut and paste comment cannot be truly known as there is no relationship developed between the writer and the one commenting.

This relationship building is the social glue that turns a group of random people into a thoughtful and growing community. Growth is not only a numbers game based on membership figures, it is a deepening of the level of relationship between members and a development of the structure and willingness to engage.

Steemit is a marriage between hundreds of thousands of people who all give and take from the relationship. With so many taking only, it is important for those genuinely looking to give to be thoughtful in where they give and how they give. If their process mimics the behavior of the takers, they are going to be treated in kind as there is no option otherwise without a conversation to develop understanding.

And like a marriage two people, without engagement, conversation and the intimacy of sharing, the relationships wither and die or, never have a chance to grow in the first place.

This conversation I had last night after a very long day was interesting and pleasant despite its beginning and made me feel like something I did may have a slight difference in creating a better, stronger community in the long-run. As, if like the claim, this person is reading and supporting quality content, there are many authors such as myself who are very grateful for the financial support and the chance to have more quality rise and nonsense fall in the eyes of the community.

If anyone is interested in the long-term view of building Steemit, it is the community itself that requires development as it is from the community that both the content and the support comes. So, understanding what individuals commonly require to be an active and useful member of the community is crucial. This means understanding how people work and what incentives are required for motivation.

Yes, the money is a very important factor and one I like nearly everyone here needs but, it is only a part of the story. What are the other parts? Well, what do you require to do anything long-term?

From a marriage or relationship analogy standpoint, physical intimacy is often a very important component of the foundation but is unlikely to sustain the relationship into the long-term. The reason is that sex is like money, there are many sources available so to maintain interest, a depth of relationship generally needs to be developed also.

Otherwise, the relationship generally ends in divorce.

Taraz
[ a Steemit original ]

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