RE: The Witness Engagement League!
I think, as with anything, this is one facet that needs to be calculated and cut in polishing a gem. I'm not 100% sure why we're not included on there as a team (I commented all of five times last week is likely part of it), but I can also say with some pretty serious certainty that we'd likely score very low; managing the communities we do alongside Steem.Chat, coupled with the intense pressure in the top twenty to produce the best tools, the biggest voting spread contributions, help for as many users as possible, and generally a wide spread of things depending solely on which person you ask when the moon is in any specific phase... it's all stacked against minnow witnesses at ANY ranking. I personally (and Jeff also) have really sacrificed our posting, which is pretty logical given the other requirements and rewards that come with the position. A lot of the time I can sneak out to vote the work I love, but not much more than that unless it really strikes me and I have a brief moment of quiet. I know this is held against us in many ways, which is fair, but hard, as behind the scenes there are a lot of us who basically live this chain.
I always do appreciate these jumping off points for conversation though, because as always becomes apparent from the comments, everyone has wildly different interpretations of the same data — which is the whole point of collecting and presenting it.
Hey :)
Thanks a lot for your input - Mr Cork did point out your absence, and looking at your interactions I cant work out why - so the first thing is to check the code again.
I am aware, although not possibly to the extent, that folks like yourself are heavily involved with Steemit, and 'living this chain', and just not having the hours in the day to add to the blocks being written.
I've really tried to list the caveats (and feel free to add your own as they will appear every week) that make this data pull so open to interpretation. It's just not quantifiable what you, and many others do behind the scenes here.
Your feedback is appreciated, and I shall work on all the feedback given for the next time.
Again, from developers to the mods and managers burning the candle on discord, this is just a tiny porthole view into the work being done.
Thank you :D
It's one of those things I feel keenly as a creative myself; I look at what I was able to do as I got started on the platform, and what I do now — and the shift as it's evolved with witnessing and community work. I think you're not wrong at all, on a lot of levels. Does my witness rank look as good when compared to say, my reputation, or my account worth? (I've never powered down, and the witness under Jeff's account powers down to pay server and development bills/my account, which is something we should have thought of, but derp, live and learn). If people new to the platform can't easily find witness info, then no, it probably doesn't, and that's an opportunity to improve on, and a whole other kettle of fish entirely when it comes to the fact that I'm still a minnow trying to hustle here like everyone else.
I look at accounts like yours, which balance original posts with something like a formulaic, weekly series (this is not knocking the data work behind them) and wonder if I should be striving to produce something like that to help me pump some of these numbers up. Able to be counted on for value but produced more easily (and again, this sounds offensive, but I swear it isn't) than something like say original art and photography or longform essays. For me personally, I don't have something I can highlight or provide in that way that would be valuable, so it's not a trade off worth it to others enough for it to be worth it to me. But I'm keenly aware that there are many people who have no idea I'm likely the first female witness/one of the first publicized partnerships/a witness at all/anyone who does anything of import, and I think that speaks to having to do a better job according to ALL metrics, and not just the ones I've fallen into that I personally find valuable and comfortable. This is where analyses like yours really underscore where I'm failing in some ways. Anything I want people to know here, I have to prove with actions that are traceable, or by promoting myself. Without either of those, I don't get to tell other people what they should think about me or my work.
(hahah, on the plus side, this is two comments deep for next week, LMAO)
Awesome text above! :D
You hit on many points, in not very many paragraphs - just two monsters, and I've re-read this 3/4 times now to try and pick out the areas to respond!
As much as I value discord and DM chat to help and solve those issues you need instant responses for, to build a community and friendships, in my honest opinion, they also sidetrack people who can potentially 'waste' time in a virtual room.
Before the whole of discord shits on me for saying that.... In 2004 I found internet video chat rooms, got quickly involved, got a server up (at over $1000 a month due to the hefty BW of streaming 100's of cams to 100's of people), and moderated/hung out there pretty much solidly for 6/7 years. So much time spent there helping people out with life issues, keeping the room free of idiots (that's a lot of camera checking!), and meetings regarding what do do next to keep the place fun.
When I found out about discord, I reluctantly went to the MSP first. I really didn't want to, it is a huge case of 'been there done that'. Being drawn away from the financial value areas, is not what I seek in my 40th year. And so, when I think about room moderators and greeters and all these roles, there is a part of me that wants to pull them out of discord, and get them writing comments and posts here - here is where everyone has the potential to see you, this is where we can reward you directly :)
dtube/utopian/dlive/sndbox - they got the SP - so it makes sense to take a look at where you can contribute there. Hence my analyses and snorkeling videos :) You can be the best server admin in the world, but A) we cant see that and B) 99% of people here don't care so much for that :)
This is a waffle for me, i'm usually much more direct...
Honestly, I think you could be served better (as far as rep and cash) with a shift in focus. But If you find the value and comfort in what you are doing, then that's where you should be :)
In a separate comment, I listed you guys and many others thought/or known to be teams like curie, ocd,adsactly, etc, which in each case might be operated by a single person, but are labelled as community (thus team in some senses) witnesses.
As for being busy 100% of the time? Amen. You are. Many of us are.
I also feel like the discord work in what was rightfully called "counseling sessions" in the OP, which we have both done in the past year (like many others like us) is sometimes the only thing keeping ANYBODY here anymore.
Hell, in some cases in there, we do the real work on the social/cultural environment that cannot be done here on the chain at large. I personally know, we have both faced suicidal people, self harming people, sociopaths, newbies with endless questions, spammers, stalkers, bitchers, ragers and quitters. We counsel, teach, advise, educate, reform, resolve, redirect, and reengage users every single day out there in the 'cords.
It's some of the most vital work that gets done here, if you ask me. I'm sure high profile leaders and witnesses who spend any time in there at all will have to agree. The platform has no cohesion without the steem.chat and discord real time interaction and relationships formed in communities.
You can tell from comments who spends time in the chat rooms and who doesn't. Usually by what they think they know about the place, or when they actually dismiss those places as unimportant while simultaneously bitching about having no followers or visibility.
You do a ton. FollowBTCnews does too. Luckily for US, in all three cases, we ARE engaged, AND doing the work of building nodes, tools, and software and sites in your case, and charities and streaming network and empowering people and voices with them, while my peers Rhonda and Beanz do similar work in their own communities, The Writers Block, SteemShelves and Steem House and Voices of the Underground, in our case.
We not only engage, but you and FBTCN and us three, build reasons to engage and methods to be engaged with others, and our community presences? Wear us out, leave us sleepless and stressed and sometimes cause missed opportunities for ourselves.
Thats what real witnesses do, and what minnow witnesses have to do harder, though it seems underappreciated in the long run, it's still the right things to do.
right?
Please tell me we aren't wasting our time....