Reverse engineering steemit: Why minnow votes matter for your rewards.

in #timeforachange8 years ago (edited)

The importance of minnows, or even new users seems like a misunderstood important factor in the lifecycle of steem and it's growth.

While many chase the whales, and write posts to lure them over, hoping to have a big payout, the importance of new and small users seems abscent. But what if we could look, let's say 2 years ahead and try to reverse engineer Steemit and it's users? We would come to this conclusion

Extrapolation

Whales like we know them today will no longer exist. At this very moment, most whales - if not all - are powering down their SP and distributing it amongst newer users. With targeted curations, they try to give birth to a new wave of whales that will soon join them. Looking at the paste my account is growing, and making an extrapolation, i should reach 100k SP within the next 6 months or so, and further extrapolation brings this close to 550k SP within the next 2 years.

But if my account can make such a progress, so can any account. The minnows or brand new users that are following me today may not have the weight needed to give me a big payout. But if we extrapolate their accounts, they will have some serious power within a year, or two years. This means that every small vote i get today, giving me a 0.01SBD reward per upvote, has the potential of making 10SBD and more per upvote. In reversed order, today's whales powering down, would give me less SBD per upvote in two years than it is today.

Right now i have some mighty whales that follow my posts and upvote them. This is mainly because my posts are related to contributions on this platform, not because i write exciting stories or organise fun stuff. Analyzing my post rewards, it's safe to say that out of 600 votes, only a handfull make the big difference in rewards today. But in two years from now, all those small votes will be worth a massive amount compared to a handfull of powerfull voters today.

Time for a change

All i'm trying to say is that we should care more about the future, and less about today. Treat new users like you would treat whales. The future will most likely depend on them, and not on today's whales. This is the biggest reason why today's whales are distributing their powers to have a more balanced system. When they retire, it's up to todays new userbase to continue their work.

Do you want powerfull whales in the future that make negative curations because you threated them poorly 'back in the days' ? Do you like to have whales driven by hate towards a specific part in this community? If the answer is no, it's time for a change and threat new users like your childeren, because one day you'll depend on them.

Keep the steem flowing

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No matter how influential someone is, there's no greater honour or compliment than someone taking the time and energy to read my work. I remember when we released the first episode of our podcast, and my podcast partner was so amazed and grateful when he found out that someone listened through the whole episode. That person could be doing anything in the world, but they're there listening or reading your post... that's amazing.

Thank you all for the feedback and grammatical corrections :-)

One more...

Looking at the paste my account is growing...

I believe you meant pace.

I think this analysis is missing a big piece of the puzzle. While whales are currently powering down, they are also currently earning more SP as well. It isn't like the whales are giving away all their SP. Yes, it is true that some new users that come on board will become whales themselves, but if you don't get votes from current whales, your content won't get seen enough to even pick up followers from minnows.

yes and totally true !! i saw instantly the great clairvoyance present in this text and proud to say i was one of the first to up vote it !! this has to be one of the most important posts i,ver seen here so far as this is the future and truest translations of Steem perfectly explained !

Treat new users like you would treat whales.

This is a philosophy I believe is also important, and one that I share with you. Bravo.

The evolving world of steemit... I dig your vision (and facts). We are all in this together, so it makes complete sense to keep an eye on all users, powerful or not (yet). The ride is just beginning!

The Steemit "Golden Rule"?

Great Content you have here , i believe in everything you have to say and agree with you . Think less about today anf focus on the Future .Steemit is in our Hands , so don't spread the negativity because you can't make a few bucks on this platform . Go back to Facebook! or ask Mark Zuckerberg to financially reward you. Perhaps Whales are Powering Down because there a bunch of lunatics after them , it would suck to be Whale in such a Toxic Environment. Love the Content on Steemit , how user-Friendly it is , it's Open Source so expect many updates in the Future and there is the potential of being Reward. You're still a Winner in the end for Joining Steemit.com

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