Freelancers, we need to talk about our exposure...
@steemit is an amazing place that offers many varied experiences and opportunities.
One of those opportunities is the chance to offer all sorts of products and services in exchange for one of the steem currencies, without a middleman pocketing part of the money.
For roughly 6 months, the #steemgigs tag has been the number one way to get your freelancing posts out to the public. The last month or two have not been kind to the tag though, and it has been overrun by posts that have nothing to do with freelancing. I've written a few posts about the issue, you can go check out the new #steemgigs feed and see in 30 seconds what I'm talking about, and it only seems to get worse with time. You can read my blog and tell how much I love the idea of a tag where people can showcase their skills, and look for talented people who can help them with a project or task.
I have all the respect in the world for @surpassinggoogle, and his @steemgigs initiative, and none of the spam on a tag he created is his fault. I do, however, feel that we need a new tag to help organize freelancing posts on the blockchain. I'm not proposing anyone stop using the #steemgigs tag, I'm simply proposing an extra layer of exposure, a new angle. A fresh tag exclusively for freelancers, enforced by freelancers. The tag with be for offers & requests of products or services of any kind. It will be a true marketplace where people can exchange ideas and hard work for steem and sbd.
I've talked and talked, and now it's time to actually try and come up with a solution.
Therefore, I want to announce my intention to start using and curating the #steemlance (Steem+Freelance) tag.
The tag will be for any post that offers or requests a product or service of any kind from other steemians. Obviously that is not black and white, and there are a couple exceptions to that "rule". Curation posts (those that catalog or talk about other posts), and completed job/testimonial posts would be relevant to the tag. As long as the post's subject matter is freelancing, it would "belong" on the tag. I don't want to be "strict" with the tag, but I do want to keep it as relevant as possible, and hope other freelancers will help me do so.
If the response to this is positive, and we can get people using the tag, I have the intention of starting an account to organize/promote/support freelancers, as well as a website to showcase everyone's work. Freelancing is one of my main interests here on Steemit, and we need a better way to land clients, because the tag we have been using is getting very crowded with non-freelancing content. Again, I'm not encouraging anyone to stop using the #steemgigs community, quite the contrary. I still believe @steemgigs has the potential to disrupt fiverr, and change the way freelancers look for work.
So if you want to start getting a little extra exposure to your freelancing posts, use the #steemlance tag, and let's work together to create a community BY freelancers, FOR freelancers.
What would the difference be between this tag and the already existing one. How would you protect it from the same spam and problems you see on the existing one? If it's successful, it's bound to get as crowded as the other one, isn't it?
The #steemgigs tag was started by @surpassinggoogle roughly six months ago. I've been writing curation posts about said tag since the beginning, promoting and writing about the various services and products being offered. @surpassinggoogle has recently been doing a lot of Steemit promotion, getting new members to join the platform. Those users are seeing the upvotes given by the person who invited them, and see that he has created a tag, and they use it. For EVERYTHING. This is not his fault, but I feel like he doesn't police his own tag. Not even a friendly reminder to these people who he has brought in. I understand that stance though, as he wouldn't want to upset new community members that he himself has onboarded.
I'm not so nice. In fact, I like to call myself the nicest asshole on Steemit. IF an account is created to manage the tag/community, I will do my best to inform anyone using the tag incorrectly, and after multiple warnings, will start reporting the posts for hashtag spam. I will take as much of "the heat" on myself as I can, so that freelancers can have a marketplace that works for them.
I see, well that makes a lot of sense indeed. Good luck in your efforts then!
Good idea. I believe I used the steemgigs tag once for something but not for a while now. As a freelancer I'm all for it.
A very interesting development.
nice sharing,
nice spamming ;)