Looking for quality, finding Steem
When I came onto Steem, I mostly just wrote my post and kept to myself. Yes, I engaged a bit and the like, but didn't spend much time actually learning how the platform worked. Once I did start learning however, I started to go through a well-worn path of making assumptions about what this place needs without recognizing it for what it is, decentralized. What this means is what it actually needs is up to the users, communities and applications to create whatever they choose to develop for themselves and their audience.
One of the misconceptions I held about Steem is the notion of quality content and the importance of it. Yes, I agree that there should be quality content but the very idea of quality is going to come down to individual preferences and be heavily affected by interest (or lack of interest) topics.
The problem that I eventually recognized in my evaluation of quality and my desire to have quality authors was, it is important to me and therefore, personal. While I care about the quality of my thoughts, content and behaviors, I have no right to expect anyone else to behave according to my "demands". While I do think that most people would benefit from increasing the quality of their content in various ways, that is up to them. I can of course mention this as, I am free to speak as I choose - this is Steem.
The next issue I have is that of the process of decentralization which of course means, expanding inclusion. If I set a bar of expectation on quality I am able to live up to it if I can and, I am able to consume along those guidelines if I choose but, I also can't expect everyone else to create to my own opinions, nor would I want to. I don't want Steem to be a place where people fill their content out in templates specially designed to set the form of content to reach some kind of quality bar as I am hoping that eventually, people of Steem will have the freedom of creation where each can be an artist in their own domain.
The final issue (I will mention here) is that there are different ways to evaluate quality itself but, what of consumption? While I might consider something quality, what is the point if no one is interested in consuming it. Don't get me wrong here, there is value for the creator and those who do happen to read it but, for mainstreaming Steem? There is a reason that more people go to an Avengers movie than the Opera perhaps. Quality of content has very little to do with quality of attraction for an audience and for millions of people to be included on Steem, attention paid to content is an important factor.
What I do hope for though is that the attention paid to at least some content will mean that more people will consume more thoughtfully, rather than the thumbing through and double tapping without really caring what the post actually contained. I think that people on Facebook, Instagram and the other similar platforms are waking up to the hollowness of the "social" in their media and are slowly starting to look further afield.
One of the reasons I think tying economics to platforms like Steem is a good idea is that (if you haven't noticed), many people take it much more seriously as it affects their personal economy directly. The funny thing is, so do the other platforms, it is just that they don't share the proceeds with the vast majority of the user base at all. The billions of dollars they make every month (yes month) comes from someone's pockets and if you follow the paper trail, it is the users who are influenced to consume.
What is happening though is the tides are turning and there is growing expectation that the value of attention is a two way street and the consumers are looking for a return on their habits. The blockchain communities are already doing this of course, we are just waiting for the mainstream mass to catch up.
The paths of that centralized paper trail however only work if enough people consume as they are very top-heavy systems which means, the opportunity to undercut them isn't on price, it isn't on quality of content, it is in the ability to return something to users that has value in a way that the resource intensive platforms and businesses can't manage. This is already happening and while one can argue the flaws in the distribution, it is undeniable that distribution does take place, the Steem pool is being allocated daily.
It doesn't go to quality all the time and a lot of content is missed daily but, it does happen and it is going to hundreds of thousands of accounts daily and every account that is powered up is taking some of the inflationary pool through interest at the very least. Yes, far from perfect but, far from a complete washout too and, it has a lot of room for improvement and luckily, is always changing. The changes aren't driven by quality posts although they might play a part, the changes are driven by individual and community actions that enable and empower more inclusion on Steem, whether they can write a good blog or not. The decentralization of Steem is that quality of content is only one branch of the ecosystem and there are many more to come.
Quality is important however in one crucial area and that is, the quality of the Steem Blockchain. The chain needs to perform, it needs to scale, it needs to be reliable and it needs to be efficient; and no post in the world is going to deliver those things - no matter how well it is written.
While there are many arguments about many things on Steem, the beauty of the environment is that no one is tied to certain types of behavior, content, quality, application, interface, community or even on the blockchain itself. There is freedom to move, but people forget that movement always has ongoing reactions of various qualities.
Steem will always go where the community drives it. You know the rules - this is an economy, supply and demand laws apply.
Taraz
[ a Steem original ]
I just find the good content thing doesn't always work. I try and do something different a few times a week and these ones take a lot more time to put together. I am not sure if people read them or not ,but as long as I get a comment or two it makes it worthwhile. Forget the rewards for now as I need to build a bigger following. I think people miss this fact and are just chasing the buck.
Chasing the buck to sell is what many do and then wonder why they aren't growing.. They want value added to their post but are unwilling to power up to add any to others. Many believe that their content is, just that good. :D
Hi @cryptoandcoffee
Did you ever consider using memo to send notifications to your best followers with links to your new publications?
Also I've noticed that you do post very often. More than once a day. I found it very hard to be succesful on blogging platforms one create that much content. After all it's not instagram and not many people would ever be willing to invest more than 10-15min a week to read and support anyones publications.
That's just my little 2 cents
Cheers
Piotr
Interesting that the blockchain itself and the community have proven themselves yet we have been unable to make external players see this. The fact that development has continued demonstrates the flexibility and the capabilities of having a community. This is a sign of being undervalued in my opinion.
Posted using Partiko iOS
I have a feeling there is an 'overlook' that is going on somewhere, a hidden conversation. It'll happen soon enough though :)
Bullshit.
![chair2 - Copy.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmRDR8MWeLxE1qPRkLHuuBcSUf5VWp2Z5F3CCsxVpf4wqW/chair2%20-%20Copy.jpg)
You need to read the rule book again, you misunderstood it completely.
Oligarchical structures cannot facilitate the laws of supply and demand, not in a non corrupt way.
I assume that you are not advocating corruption as a preferred way to behave. Or maybe you do.
One of the things that rings through here is the old truism/saying from the 1960's: "WE are the 'they' we've been waiting for." In a sense, that's the epitome of "decentralization," to me.
Perhaps the basic tenet around here is basically asking the question "What do you ENJOY doing here?"
And then delivering the answer "then DO that, and BE that, and SUPPORT that."
If I enjoy reading and creating intelligent engaging discourse... then make that a priority.
"BE the change...." as Gandhi once said.
=^..^=
As I have said many time, it is this but, many think that they can do what they want, get rewarded for it consistently - without adding any value back to others. Reciprocal support is required in the system, not necessarily directly in a circle though.
Anyone can create anything they want here. Supply and Demand on what they create holds true though and on steem, stake plays a role in the level of demand.
It's good you mention supply and demand rule. I think every author here on Steem would do well a little bit to analyze some data about what kind of posts receive most engagement. What kind of titles, what kind of pictures.
Of course, generally speaking creators don't have much time to analyze. They by definition... create.
Maybe by sticking true to oneself, a person eventually attract the right kind of audience, people who actually are looking forward to what one has to say.
I haven't done such analysis myself about my own posts but on an intuitive level I have a feeling what works better than others.
Of course, creators are artists and artists simply can't created some canned content and follow templates. This takes unpredictability out of creation process.
The nice thing about your posts is that I don't know where you will lead me when I start reading them.
Yep, this is the case, much like any relationship worth its salt. However, with so few consumers with low diversity, one has to consider the space at the current time. In the future, it will be able to support more range.
It is sometimes a surprise for me too ;)
Greetings friend, @tarazkp.
I loved this publication.
It is full of so many realities. Hard, cruel, but realities...
The quality of content has been displaced.
I can say this since there is a large number of publications that "get lost" every day. They never get read. Beautiful poems, invaluable tutorials.
The main motivational factor for most writers is the recognition of their work. This is demonstrated with a good number of quality comments and of course with a healing on the part of the great owners of SP.
What do you want to tell us exactly with this?
Thank you for these valuable reflections. I must re-read this post.
All best, Piotr.
Every account with SP earns interest from the pool:
![](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmaRoYsLYfYLNd3zh1KqtoWYDXuBBjCGgf4RgZAXzzGdfe/image.png)
https://steemdb.com/
THis place doesn't ahve enough of a diverse audience with stake to read everything that is posted. A poet needs to understand this, so does a painter, a philosopher or anyone else for that matter. Supply and demand requires an audience that demands and on Steem, that is also influenced by stake.
Thank you for your reply @raz
@tarazkp
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