Forget Your Upvote "Value" ~ You're Worth What You Believe You're Worth + How You Treat Others: An Inspirational/Funny Freewrite For Those Who Need A Lift
Social media can be rather fickle at times, and crypto is a crazy space all the time.
Put them together and you have a fickle crazy space.
So, congratulations on maneuvering two of the hardest damn frontiers out there at the same time!
It's a lot to learn, balance and handle, especially when money is involved for bonus stress.
I think some of us can use that reminder and should pat ourselves on the back for making it this far in one piece.
Ironically, we're just getting started and have absolutely no clue what's going to happen.
WAIT, wait, this was supposed to be inspirational!
Reboot:
As good as it feels to be a gangsta, Steemit and its sister social media apps can't be beaten to a pulp to get our frustrations out when they don't work properly.
Virtually bashing it just to complain isn't going to help it either. Sure, I've taken my fair share of jabs in the form of jokes, but they're constructive in a backhanded "awareness-raising" way. I'm still here almost every day for a reason...
Therefore, we have to find peace with organized chaos and power through it... Appreciate the ground floor as much as we can.
The fact that we're all here in the first place as early adopters is a potential miracle in the making as it stands. Chaos and unfair "shtuff" comes with the territory at a bare minimum. We need to get used to it. We're still in BETA.
Good times and bad times will continue to happen. Drama and flag wars the same. Cheerleaders will cheerlead. Trolls* will troll. Bull runs will attract new users and greed, and bear markets will be where the faithful recharge.
*Appendix A: Troll
Perceived Self-Worth:
I've been here before; apologizing to people for having a weak upvote and feeling sorry for myself. The most annoying thing about that to me is that it's 100% by choice. From the early days of my adoption, I promised myself I'd only earn my Steem to prove its use case and be a story to tell my family and friends. I have offline crypto that I could've swapped in minutes to be feel more "valuable" around here, but I wanted my worth to be from what I built. Period. (I'm debating putting an expiration date on that promise because I'd like to help projects more, but TBD).
People have said the same types of apologies to me, even just the other day to motivate me to think about this. I totally empathize with them, but would like to suggest a few things to refocus from that standard.
Bad: Acting Weak Because You Think You Are
Good: Being ecstatic and grateful to be where you are today instead of wishing you got involved 5 years later.
One key to understanding your true value is realizing that upvotes aren't what keep the good people sticking around, the ones you want to interact with and meet.
I'd argue that the value good people receive from engaging with others of their rare breed, having relationships with other crypto believers when their friends and family have tuned them out, or a plethora of other perfectly valid personal reasons, are why they're here and having fun.
(It could also be just killing time and strengthening relationships until the next meetup, conference, or SteemFest.)
Whatever it is, the size of your upvote is not the right way to determine your value around here.
It's how you use it. [Insert a snickering "that's what she said" here, but one less gif.]
Meaning:
An upvote is a token that says "I've been here and appreciate your content, opinion, effort, comment or commitment." That has tons of value, whether it's 1% or $0.01. That's value ANYONE can deliver to ANYONE. Of course, a stronger impression can be made on a sliding scale in weight, if people care about money. However, most of the good people don't focus too much on that, so don't assume that your voice and actions aren't worth just as much as anyone else's.
The key takeaway is that people who don't have a large stake should believe in their equal value as an early adopter, a pioneer, an engager, a motivator, a leader in the world of cryptocurrency, and a thought-provoker.
For example, a jaw dropping comment on my post or any speck of sincere appreciation for my drum videos is almost always worth more than any form of fiscal rewards. If I get a 100% whale vote, that needle might move a little, but you get the point.
Why? Because it fires me up and refuels me to power on and make more content, to stay engaged, reciprocate, and pay it forward.
That's the key here. That will help me earn and make more Steem and impact in the long run, far more than if I quit or did the minimum.
So for those who feel insignificant or stuck, that nobody pays attention to their content or barely have a Steem pulse left, wake up!
- Align or realign with people who give you motivation and/or reciprocate it.
- Post more in new categories.
- Try something new.
- Get involved in Discord and curation groups.
- Meet more people by simply saying hi.
- Forgive old quarrels.
- Follow more people.
- Resteem wisely.
- Give first.
- Don't judge or segregate people or you may miss valuable opportunities/growth.
- Actively attract more by acting with confidence and passion.
- Make intelligent and thought-provoking comments that call for a reply.
- Ask questions that show you thoroughly read or watched content.
- Lastly, make it a BIG POINT to have fun with the basics so you don't burn out...
Real talk: Passively posting the same x and y every day and expecting different results might not be enough despite the valiant effort.
I know, it's hard to hear and believe, but trust me, that's literally the definition of insanity.
Also, thinking you're a redfish or minnow with a minuscule upvote is also not going to help you confidently influence with effectiveness around here.
You influence by engaging and earning respect and admiration. Sure, it might take a little longer, but you'll get your break. You might have to try 10x harder to get half of what someone else gets for a while, but the numbers will begin to level out if you keep moving forward.
It's still progress!
Take advantage of the opportunities all around you! Crypto usually costs money to obtain or use. Steemit doesn't cost a thing but your time and energy, which I feel are well worth it IF you use it all wisely.
If you still struggle, make a meaningful financial investment, curate wisely, and you'll grow your investment without any of the above and still do ok.
Please just don't get and stay pissed off about how unfair things are. Instead, "get pissed off for greatness." - Ray Lewis
"Don't cry to give up, cry to keep going." - Eric Thomas
I hope this was helpful and/or entertaining.
This was a freewrite that was supposed to be 10 times shorter, so please excuse any imperfectionz.
Steem on,
@steemmatt
When in doubt, "be a fountain, not a drain."
I totally agree with you. Comments and engagement are as important (if not more) as upvotes. If someones reads your post and write a thoughtful comments it feels so good and rewarding - someone actually DID READ your post!
If people are frustrated with their upvote value they have a chance to do something about it - it can be posting and engaging more or investing some fiat. It depends on the possibilities of that person of course. But there always is a choice and an option to do something differently.
I'm glad that you listed those points. It's good to see them listed and think what I'm doing and what I would like to change.
For me, people are not measured by their financial power. It's important who they truly are and how they treat others. We can see some flag wars going on and horrible behavior towards certain people. It always makes me sad and I wish we would try to keep this platform more positive and healthy :)
It would've been nice if you read my message!! JUST KIDDING. Thanks for such a nice reply and sharing some of your own insights to add to the conversation. Sometimes I write this stuff out 95% for others and 5% for me because I'm still grinding it out to make a name for myself on this platform. We could be a CEO of a company or a living saint in society, but on Steem, we're all trying to build up a new character version of ourselves like the SIMS.
This is an amazing post, nothing to add. I keep apologizing for 'my meagre upvote', and it's saying a lot about how we perceive value, connected to monetary rewards, instead of intent. I know I'm thinking this way and I'm trying to unlearn it, but it will take a while.
You're exceptionally humble and genuine, so anything you touch on here gets better. On the contrary some people with huge votes might think they're divine around here, so it can go both ways. Thanks for reading this monster rant.
The social element is really important, specially in this frontier town with early adopters and very little by the way of "law", hopefully as the number of users increase, there will be more eyeballs to spot bad actors and reward good ones
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I will ignore all the happy clappy you are worth something things because I agree with all the valid things such as upvotes etc especially in these times really is not about the $ and frankly the interfaces could do a lot of moral boosting if they showed it in steem token instead of converted to SBD / STEEM stuff even better only show the single vote counter, let a person forget there is even a $ there. Great post for anyone who feels they have a bit of an internal struggle with what the heck to do on here. !tipuvote 0.5
Thank you very much for sharing your opinion and tip vote (totally unnecessary but very kind of you).
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You speak the truth :) Nice simple and positive message, one always worth keeping in mind. I 100% agree that a meaningful comment reply is value in the true sense, the kind of value that keeps people on a platform. Or the lack of those real human interactions, drives them away from a platform...
This post is supported by $0.23 @tipU upvote funded by @penderis :)
@tipU voting service guide | For investors.
This post is sponsored and featured by @Appreciator in collaboration with @c-squared. Just keep up the good work.
Now that's a smart partnership. Thank you.