To Re: or not to Re:?

Steemit question time: Is reposting old articles appropriate behaviour?

I think once I have reposted an old article due to a relevant event taking place in the world and once I have copy pasted an old article under a new one as it added new information on top. For both I mentioned it was reposted.

But, I was thinking what the general thinking is on reposting and whether it is suitable. Personally, I think it depends on the type of content, whether it is originally created content and what was the payout on the original post.

The type of content:

Obviously, no one should be reposting time sensitive material that is no longer relevant to the world. Most current affairs topics fall into this category and I think should only be reposted if it adds something to a current topic. Also, reposting meme-type content seems gratuitous.

But, some content is somewhat timeless in nature and can be read at virtually any point and still hold value and I think that there is definite community value in keeping such content near the surface, especially if it is good. I think this for a couple reasons:

• Higher quality content should be seen
• With an increase in membership it puts new eyes on good content
• Some authors did not receive the value 'real' value of good content
• It creates a view of increasing quality

but, the caveat here is how often one should repost. I do not think that authors should repost too often, regardless of the quality of the content as it can become a crutch to lean on rather than develop new content.

Original content:

There is a lot of rehashed content here on Steemit which is to be expected as well, there is a lot of unoriginal content everywhere as content creators are not as common as one may assume. There is no problem I think using others content with the appropriate referencing etc but, I think there is going to come a time where copyright issues will plague Steemit as people have essentially sold and been paid for others work.

Therefore, reposting it for another bite at the cherry seems risky just on that basis. But, it is also not great if Steemit becomes a reposting platform where original content is buried.

Original content of any type should be heavily encouraged at Steemit as if emphasis is put there, much of the spam and shitposts will fall away from disinterest and perhaps the bots could learn to avoid accidentally upvoting spam.

Initial payout:

I also think that a reposted piece shouldn't have earned well the first time around and perhaps may have been undervalued at the time of first posting. I think this because if the big players are reposting, essentially they are draining the pool twice or more.

Why I think that reposting may be useful is that if people that create good content for very little have a chance to use that content again (if suitable), they may be a little less disillusioned in the initial stages and continue developing quality content.

Sow and Reap

This would also mean that they would have to work under the assumption that Steemit is going to be successful enough that their content can have a chance of being reposted. Invest now, gain later. Which means, that they are also more likely to spend time being part of the community without looking for immediate reward or being too concerned with initial low rewards as their community investment will allow them to have another shot in the future.

It will also mean that more content creators will consider what kind of content they post as to repost it in the future and maintain their support would mean that it has to be useful later also.

I haven't thought a lot about this yet, but was wondering what you guys think. I don't want this to be like twitter where people post the same tweet on a schedule every day or two but, I do think that there should be an option to bring in old, relevant posts at times. I know people do this already to some degree but it may be beneficial to think a little about it too.

Yes/No/Maybe/gtfo?

Taraz
[ a Steemit original ]

The photographs are of cherry blossoms in the spring.