I started ending each post with:
Let me know your thoughts. My posts aren't a static piece of information, but rather the starting point of what I hope turns into a conversation.
Not sure if it helps, but on a ratio I think my posts get a high amount of real comments which then allows conversations to occur. Know a lot about many of my followers and many are people who now I'd like to meet in person one day.
Recently someone called me out in a comment and it has led to my increased blogging. Other comments shaped the direction I went with my current contest, not just comments for ideas but then comments on other posts seeing a theme people seemed to appreciate.
Then lets not forget how conversations on other people's blogs can start to shape our behaviors and opinions here too. Think of all people you opened my eyes to the bid bot issue and while my post rewards have dropped drastically I'm not paying for votes. This change has been for a couple weeks now and even running a contest I didn't pay to get upvotes in an attempt to gain more eyes. Instead it's growing organically with a bunch of resteems!
Thank you for your repeated level headed conversations we had about that issue and your patience to allow me to voice an opposing position and talk about it.
Honestly some comments take more time then many of the posts on the I spent $300 to look like a big shot "trending" page. They also tend to have way more value in terms of content and passion from the author.
There are so many authors of quality here being largely ignored,
This is the focus of my contest and hoping it's one that will shed some light on quality content that aren't getting the attention they deserve as they don't have an audience yet. It isn't that I feel those who have been around for a long time don't deserve rewards, they built an audience. But it's more that I feel we need to help the newest members start to build their audience and reward good behaviors.
Steemit is a gold mine, the comments section is where you find a lot of the gold. I have not read about your contest before but will take a look at your blog to see about it now. I really appreciate those people who appreciates good content on the platform. And am glad you are doing something in your own strength to that effect.
Would love to have you join in. Have read your comments many times and know that you want whats best for steemit.
It is also full of brilliant article ideas if you listen and pay attention. It is where you can see trends form.
I agree. I think that part of the onboarding (currently zero) experience should focus on helping new users understand the platform and curb expectations. If they have a better understanding of what is required from the putset, that might go a long way to helping them get started.
I am hoping that an organic approach will outperform the bidbots in the long run as the audience is engaged and actually interested in the content, not because it is is rewarded. In time, those users who value content will likely be the ones who hold value themselves.
Tweaking results organically is something that leads to many challenges. Look at the iterations that Google has had to have over the years to fight spammers. It's not easy to achieve great results when there is always someone looking to figure out how to game the system. I think anything would be better then the current system and the entire trending page is BS, but I don't have a real solution to put forward.
The onboarding process is a joke. It's here is your account and go to it. There could be so much more done to help new members as they start their steemit journey.
A couple of interface tweaks and it will limit spam and plagiarism + warn of phishing also
Guess longer you are here the more you realize needs to be done...lol. But at the same time the more you just get used to and work around. I find it crazy that we need to go to steemworld vs having all the info right there to view.
think of it in a different way. The blockchain doesn't care what interface you use so there are going to be many access points. For example steemword could get integrated into busy.org. Steemit.com could disappear and their could still be a 100 other interfaces interacting in different ways
perhaps one for just longform bloggers or another which is a news service. Who knows.
I get that, but they all end up feeding back to steemit. This should be the main hub and the one that gets flushed out with all the bells and whistles IMO.
It could be at some point a UX team takes over the platform too and does just that.
Great thing you are doing with your contests!
This is true but it is a 2 side cutting knife. How do we know about decent authors who are genuine. So many posts each day. While we maybe have a responsibility to find them, they also need to feel the urge to be discovered. By placing genuine comments on topic which they do find interesting. Not a spam comment, or a hit-and-go comment hoping to score an upvote.
There are some lunatics here (like myself) who do try to read all comments on a post, where they comment on. This is the easiest way to discover genuine people and maybe good authors!
I have found the few real followers I have gained has come from my engagement with them on their posts. I believe at this point it is the only way a new person will grow here. None of the feeds offer the visibility engaging with others already here does. It makes sense. If you read someone whose ideas are compelling, you are likely to share similar interests. Not only with them, but others who also comment.
I think this is the goal. It is like dating in a way. Some people are interested in looks, some money, some in the person etc. If you are looking for a healthy relationship into the future, compatibility based on'I like money, you have money' rarely ends well.
Dating used to be a way to see if you wanted a more intimate relationship . Nowadays people skip the dating and go straight to the intimacy . Then wonder why there is no meaningful relationships in their lives
they just haven't found the right partner.. out of the 200 they have slept with in the last 2 years...but, I am sure that Mr/Mrs right are just around the corner.
once the right partner is found the world changes for the better
I agree that new members need to take the time to engage the community to attract an audience. But at the same time if we all share the good ones we have found and maybe take the time once a week to find a new member that we had never followed before to also share with our audience I think that we can really change the face of steemit. This is truly the concept of what I created with the contest. Feature 3 smaller members in a curation post and at least 1 needs to be someone you don't currently follow. I wanted people to go out and search for 1 new blogger that they thought created good work. That person may be found from a comment on one of your posts, or another post, or just by hitting the new section in your favorite tag.
I might be crazy for thinking this way, but it really doesn't seem like to much to ask from all of us to do. If we all did 1 curation post a week to highlight the work of 3 steemians that we think deserve a little more attention we might keep some of the best and brightest around here long enough for them to start seeing the fruits of their labors.
I could write a long reply to this but we are on the same page. Take a look at my last post which proves it. Take a look at my wallet and than you can see how much I do appreciate genuine comments.
I only have a small amount of Steem available but are trying to share this with other.
Mmh still a long reply.
If you are not willing to take a look no prob, I am not tying to lure you, but I promise you will like it!
The same here. I have only been here a couple of months now, and when I first encountered his posts on the bid bots I made several comments asserting why as a new person I needed those votes. His comments and unwavering conviction kept me coming back, as well as helping me to remain open to others who were also talking of how they hurt the site.
I like to believe I am smart, yet will admit it took a lot of reading his posts (which he does a lot) on this issue to understand how I was hurting my own growth here while enriching the bid bot owners. I realized something wasn't right when I had like 10 votes (one my own), 2 real comments and only 4 views. It doesn't even help with visibility for most of us. It does nothing to promote engagement for most who use these bots.
I am glad he writes consistently on this issue. In my hardheadedness I would probably still be throwing money (usually at a loss) to these bots somehow thinking todays results would be different than yesterdays and last weeks. Maybe even tricking myself into thinking if I just spent a little more money, then it would work, lol.
I was pretty good about timing the votes and could make a profit on most as long as they weren't cheating and setting a guaranteed loss into the bot. Yes some have this and even though it looks like you will have a profit from the bottracker site they just don't vote with a full vote. They will then have their next bidding round end sooner as they don't need a full 2 hours to recover. Took me a minute to understand that scam.
Either way I am now more focused on my content and engagement vs watching the bottracker to try and time profitable bids. I can always make more money later, but my time is limited.
Also can't see any increased viability to using the bots. All my followers who engage come from commenting on posts or from others resteeming my posts.