I believe you cannot help anyone else until you help yourself. But you can make friends and form bonds with others while you're feeling desperate.
Taking the time yesterday to read a lot of posts and comments yesterday, there's definitely some social degradation going on, that I think relates to feelings of desperation. I rarely flag anyone on this platform, but I flagged a user. Here's a screenshot:
First of all, I am not calling out this person to cause pain, but to show others that this method does not work AT ALL. In fact, not only does it not work, it will reduce your reputation and make people NOT engage with you. As Steemit gets bigger, we are going to be bombarded with tons of this type of stuff.
But, really, what things can people do to get out of their desperate monetary situations? Coming into Steemit right now as a new person is a daunting, ghost-like experience. It is not easy to get rewards, especially since it appears that the reward pool is decreasing (I have not looked into this). I don't know the exact mechanisms that are going on, but it does seem that SOMETHING is going on and I believe it centers on our human greed gene.
All of us have a greed gene, myself included.
It feels closely linked with our survival gene. I think everyone struggles with balancing this greed gene. I know I do. Everyone is a mix of bad and good qualities, but I would guess that the best people are blessed with a balance. Since those with resources can do as they please, I am not going to be addressing them in this post. The ones I am concerned about are those who feel desperate and who spam the entire comment sections of popular posts. And those who might be obsessed with the trending pages and the large payouts are of particular concern, because they need the most help.
This post is not going to contain rainbow poop from unicorns.
I hope it is a wake up call.
When you're in a desperate money situation, you cannot think straight. It becomes like a disease and it causes some of you to lie, steal and cheat. But if you go that route, you will not only not make any long-term rewards, you will lose friends. You might make a few bucks, which will quickly evaporate, but you won't solve the bigger needs in any meaningful way. And friends in Steemit are actually more valuable than money. I will show you why in a concrete way right now.
I developed a close friendship with @teamsteem from the very beginning of my journey in Steemit. Him and I joined around the same time a year ago. I made friends with many people at that time, but many friendships dropped off for a variety of reasons. I kept in contact with @teamsteem because in a number of ways, I think he's more optimistic than me. I am prone to spells of negativity and doom that he helped me through. When I was being flagged by a whale, he listened to me and provided solid support. I think in the beginning of our friendship, I took it for granted because I was too jaded to see how his continued feedback helped me. I don't take it for granted now because I realized that out of all the people I knew, he provided me with the most reassuring words. I am a neurotic person, prone to spells of doom. He was the kind of antidote I needed throughout all the times in Steemit. And something else: he helped me rediscover the optimistic side of myself. I think deep down I share the same ideals as him: peace, abundance, caring and a love for the system that Dan Larimer and Ned built. In a way, @teamsteem and I discovered that we might be the most loyal fans of Dan Larimer because the system he built enables us to improve ourselves and society at the same time.
So, how does friendship relate to Steemit and economic rewards?
Well, a whale in Steemit also saw great things in @teamsteem and blessed him with delegated Steem Power. I think this whale and I can see the same things in him. We see a caring person who is a real asset to the health of Steemit. I know for me personally, I would not be in the frame of mind I'm currently in without @teamsteem. And he is one of my biggest supporters/upvoters, for which I am very grateful. This, my Steemit friends, is how a solid friendship web turns into an economically supportive environment.
But notice one thing: @teamsteem and I didn't start out with large accounts. It's true that I built up a fairly decent-sized account rather quickly in the beginning of Steemit (being a writer, video creator, artist in my dayjobs). He kept his day job throughout the past year and always kept the ideals of Steem close to his heart. HIs hard work, loyalty and caring personality paid off in the long-term. It was his consistent love for all that is possible in Steem that led to him being able to give large upvotes. This all took a lot of time, and we have been through many times where Steem's future was terribly uncertain. To a large degree, I have to credit him with helping me see all the positive things, even when I was beginning to lose faith in the platform (around beginning of 2017).
So, for everyone who is trying desperately to spam comments, and post "follow for a follow" type stuff, your game is not going to work long-term.
What you need to do is sit down and ask yourself these questions:
What is my long-term vision?
What are my strengths and how can I add value to Steem?
How can I help/entertain/instruct/support other people in Steemit?
How can I introduce Steem to others in my local community?
Steemit requires long-term thinking, not short-term get rich actions. The economy in here is vastly different from the commodity culture in mainstream society. So, if you want to be "successful" in here, you will need to undergo a mental deprogamming time, in which you cast out all the old ideas of how to earn rewards. For me personally, when I want to master a new skill I find people to emulate. I emulate people from afar before I ask them for help. Become more humble, and study others. If you cannot wait, and have some serious monetary issues, create a dance video, something that really stands out, but don't beg for people to follow you in comments. Focus your mind on making friends, long-term friends. Find people who resonate with you. Cultivate those friendships as if your life depended on it. Think back to how you acted a child, without ego or self-interest, and try as hard as you can to get back that feeling. It is that feeling that leads to actions which others will truly benefit from. And when others find that feeling in themselves that you have inspired, then your monetary needs should be filled. (notice I used the word, 'should').
There are no guarantees in life or in Steemit.
But take a look at the people who came into Steemit with nothing:
@papa-pepper and myself. He has the abundance gene working well inside of him, which generates waves outwardly. I think in terms of how to make changes first inwardly, then in others. And when I become full of gloom and doom, I look outwardly at those who are inspiring life forces: @aggroed and @teamsteem. There are changemakers all over this place, pick your favorite, study what they do and copy their actions (but don't copy and paste their posts!). Before long, you'll be your own unique changemaker too.
Steemit is a reflection of everything in the world that could come to pass. What do you want to see in the world? It's up to us.
Look at what Steemit has given you FOR FREE and start thinking what you can do in return for this gift. Because, whether you realize it or not, by joining Steemit, you become like a part owner of this platform. Owning Steem has that effect. How it evolves is dependent upon all our actions. This is not Facebook and there's no Zuckerberg. Mainstream society has been placing the crown on the wrong people all along.
If you are desperate:
The main thing you need to do is create INTERESTING ACTIONS. Begging is for losers and Steemit doesn't economically reward those who beg in a spammy way. Let me repeat:
STEEMIT DOES NOT ECONOMICALLY OR SOCIALLY REWARD THOSE WHO BEG IN A SPAMMY WAY.
If you doing this exact thing, just stop it. NOW.
Some things you can do instead of begging in a spammy way:
Create a contest for "The Most Desperate Dance Video"
(admitting your own desperation then doing a dance to celebrate this admission could become a viral hit, who knows?)Create a contest, "I have nothing to offer you except my attention. If you need attention, please enter my contest"
(there is in fact, a market for everything)
These ideas might sounds patronizing, but if I had just entered Steemit, I'd be hashing out these ideas DAILY. And doing these contests, because I'd assume a lot of people would be able to share my pain of being a ghost in Steemit. Another contest idea, "Who is the Biggest Ghost of Steemit?"
Here are some resources to help you learn (and yes, some reading is involved):
Understand why Steem was created in the first place by reading the founder, Dan Larimer's deep thoughts:
In Bytemaster's Blog, you will find a central theme:
Violence is a shortcut that is taken when people get frustrated and lack innovative alternatives. People don’t choose violence because they want the violent solution, the choose it because they don’t see any other way.
My post about the Gift Economy in Steemit
And don't forget to enter my Steemfest2 Giveaway Contest: https://steemit.com/steemfest/@stellabelle/win-a-trip-to-steemfest-submit-a-3-minute-video
If anyone has a definition of a minnow, please comment below. I don't know how to define 'minnow' for my contest.
wonderful avatar art by @lauralemons
Great information @stellabelle as I am reading this with the sun glaring on the screen I cant help but mention that I need to toughing up on these matters. Meaning I said something similar a week back and I started to get even more people spamming their links on my posts, some I asked nicely to remove and some did while others didn't even pay attention. The one that gets me the most is the " Hi great post check this out" Grrrr
I mean are they kidding us or themselves! #crackingthewhip
yeah, i have to admit, it's getting pretty ugly. And something I really didn't notice before I left for vacation. What exactly happened?
I did a post about spamming posts and spamming me in the Steem Chat. Where I had to remain invisible because every time I would show up I would either get links to peoples posts, a follow for follow or some weird ad to join what seemed to be a pump and dump scam. For 2 days following what I wrote I had around 7 people spam their links and some of them think they can do it in a slick way, while others just posted with out any regards to reading the post. lol It's almost comical in a sense! One person even made the link size 20 font. I was nice about it If I saw they were new, I said listen please remove the link because its frowned upon here while the ones with higher rep scores and who have been here longer, I just said "is this a joke are you really spamming my post after what I just typed" Your post put things into perspective for me though because I have been wrestling with what to do with these members. #crackthewhip Any addition advice for me?
(I apologize if my reply seems messy I am on the boardwalk handing out flyers and the sun is really hot today) Trying to get some new members signed up.
I think being firm is the best way. Just say, "stop it please."
If that doesn't work, just don't engage with those who spam you.
Thank you, That is what I have been doing because I don't like hurting people with down votes unless they plagiarize my work then its own! Off topic, its really tough getting people to sign up even with free pizza! I signed up 2 people so far. Maybe, if they take the flyer home and not throw it out- it will creep into their mind later on. If you need any flyers, pens, calendars, etc for free let me know my family owns a printing press and I get all of it for free. So don't hesitate to ask me for anything that can help out. :0) Have a great afternoon. I will stick it out another hour and update later on today.
OMG, yes! I will definitely need these things. Let's talk. Steemit chat?
Yes, can you chat at 6pm Est? or maybe before I can msg you here if I get back earlier I just got back home and I want to shower and I have to drop my son off at his friends and come back. Do you have the same name on steem chat?
I only ignore them...
This junk started happening to me too. I'm liking your hashtag.
I'm so relieved you feel this way.
Thanks for being a voice for positivity and long term thinking.
Very informative post but a bit leanghty
I don't really know how people even believe these things will ever work. Same thing as people commenting withing the first minute of a post with "great post!" while clearly they haven't wven read it but just hoping they would be the first to pop up in the reply section and they can get a small reward for it. Comment sections here are meant to be for appretiation of the author, sharing ideas, engaging with the people not so much for self promotion. I don't like commenting on peoples posts just for the sake of it.. because they are whales or have high rating.. if you have nothing to say on the subject.. well no need to just write a bland comment.
I think it's a maturity issue, and a misunderstanding that Steemit is not like other social sites. There seems to be zero deep understanding of why Steem was created. Education and learning seem absent. I do know how poverty works though, and there is that issue that affects people's thinking. It did me...
I think it is even simpler than that - the rules allow certain behaviour and therefore people behave that way! This includes comment-spamming and self-voting and voting-rings etc. It doesn't even matter if "being caught" as one can open a new account.
Steemit is a game and I think that promoting "good behaviour" must be encoded in the game rules - we just cannot expect it from most people.
True.
Well the fact that is different than other social medias is why I think people try with these desperate approaches. That greed you are talking about and the money involved in the platform just makes people spam around not understanding what the whole thing is about.
Look, you are not going to prosper in steemit by spamming people and leaving these comments.
I am not sure if you're a child, or in a desperate situation, but doing this won't help.
Telling the truth will get you much farther than pretending to be that blonde woman. We know it's not you. Please stop this madness. I have stopped flagging your comments today. Think about what you are doing, and understand it is not working.
Wow! You touched me so deeply with your post Stella! Thank you so much my friend! Sincerely!
Your post is packed full with good advice, dance video/viral video, contest, understanding the reason why Steem exist... are all fundamental stuff people need to think about. Definitely contests....
Oh also I don't think I ever read that quote from Dan so that's a new one for me and one very awesome one.
No kidding! What kind (and valid) comments about you. Plus, she even mentioned me.
And to think, I had resorted to head wounds to create content....
I say, "Be Giving, not Greedy!"
Especially the rainbow color shitting unicorn was great! :p
No, but seriously this post was indeed very good. You can really feel the emotion in her writing. I normally hate reading, but this kept me interested. I also agree with probably most of her vision. We've all seen the beggars around here, it's weird that they don't understand why it's such a bad idea. You know how people react to beggars IRL so go figure...
Very sure that you both make a great team to guide us.
Greetings from my heart
At the beginning of my steemit journey I stummbled upon you. I left you a comment where you answered. It was one of the first higher accounts answers I become. Almost 2 months later, I help minnows in distress to find their way, to lose the spammy comments. I do take time to write most of them a short guidline on steemit behaviour.
Also it is human nature to be greedy, so by not having to much SP(even I have some delegated blessing for my engagement) I do send randowhale votes for people that produce good content and get lost in the noise. This small incetives, feeds them and shows them appreciation, which will show them that if they keep the good track, someone notices them.
Thank you
This is good to learn. All of us have to keep learning and seeing new people. The early adopters can get lazy, for we got huge rewards. So, really we all have a struggle. This was good information to learn, and thanks for educating me on your work, which sounds very valuable to others. Thank you.
I have to thank, as you are a good example on how to 👍
Your struggle is real and you made. Everybody lacking motivation shall read your story and how hard it was for you, the steps you took. Massive motivation and knowledge 🏆🏋🏅
Maybe will meet on steemit and speak more. I have to see how I arrange it with my job.
I have followed you since July or Augt 2016, and I know when you absence from steemit for 1-2 months (correct me if I am wrong)
I still save your link...ha...ha..! (this is the time when I decide to follow you)
https://steemit.com/steemit/@stellabelle/how-i-achieved-the-1-reputation-ranking-on-steemit-and-how-you-can-improve-yours
Nice ! :)
ha ha! thanks for that. I appreciate your attention! It's getting more and more difficult to break through these days on Steemit.....one thing is for certain: there will always be social issues/problems with being human!
Hi!! Very very well said and that too so politely! I like that you're
This is good and well put together stuff. Thanks for the reassurance considering that I'm also still a newbie albeit one more than a month old! Cheers! - @sandzat
if I could resteam your comment I would as it totally sums up what I got from @stellabelle's message :)
@stellabelle, I could see a part of your heart in this post. Something coming from the guts while sharing your path in steemit from those early days.
The earlier adaptors of steemit worked really hard and sincerely to support and build the platform and so know the pain and struggle first hand. There was this zeal to give and support each other in the earlier steemiand. The newer generation steemians appear to be inspired more from the $$$ in trending page than anything else and there is this notion that more followers means more upvotes means more payout. The influence or weightage that SP brings is lost on many newbies. So I see them commenting 'I upvoted and followed you, now you follow me' thingy, when those upvotes really do not contribute to anything.
In the last 55 days about 1 Lakh+ new accounts are added to the total of about 2.6Lakh total steemit account. That means 40% of steemit accounts have come into being in just last say 2 months. Perhaps when such a large number of new accounts come in, it is but natural that some number of them start spamming.
I had commented in another blog that many of the steemians are not bloggers or with any special skills, but are just "accidental bloggers" If not for steemit, they wouldn't even type a single letter on their computer to blog in any other platform. It is not hard to see why?. The payments of course is the single largest magnet that draws all the iron men in the society to the platform. But I guess that's just being human after all.
So I feel spamming will continue. While the present breed learn their lesson and correct themselves, another new entrant breed will start it again and cycle continues. That is the price to pay on a growing platform where 1000s are joining everyday.
Instead I suggest one just ignores such comments and pass on.
I simply ask such commentators with a single liner "Why?". I never get any reply. And with some I say."I don't follow you, please don't follow me" that sure throws them offguard. With some interesting profiles I reply "I will read your next 5 blogs and if it interests me, I shall follow you, else No. But in return you don't need to follow me"
I see the world and society as a place where a great transformation is now possible. Think of a place where abundance not scarcity is the norm. How would that look? Is it possible? I think it is, but what it requires is a massive de-programming of the mind....I still feel that a better world is possible, and that is why I am here....still.
Well, i have to say that give is the best way to "earn" here. You Stella and aggroed ( and others) theach to me that, a it is my flag everywhere i go now, not only her in steemit.
Of course, i have a lot to learn, i have a long way to walk, all of we fight with that "selfish" gene...
When we don't have enough even to sustain our basic needs, then I can understand why someone would want attention. The problem is that the easy method does not work on Steemit. It requires something else, that each person has to figure out. Hey, who controls the @provenezuela account?
I have the owner key and @jocra & @gabystories posting key
ah ok thank you! I didn't know for sure. Is it safe to say that this project has brought in the tons of Venezuelans? Before you all started this, how many Venezuelans were on Steemit? We really need to do an interview...let me know when you have time.
Well we did a report two weeks ago reviewing the data about it, in a nutshell, we launch the venezuelan tag from nearly zero in pays to 17,000$ and retovenezuela tag from zero to 4,000$ in pays aproximately... This only in one month of hard job, of course that @cervantes helping a lot with their curation projecto, but the venezuela tag was almost invisible one month ago.
as I posted last night in my blog, someone paid me .001 sbd so that I would look at their post. It felt like I had been what I call "johned" - like I needed to take a shower. I wrote them a scathing comment and posted about it on my blog to which I got a bunch of spam comments like "Awesome!" and some real people who helped me to see what was going on. One of the commenters - I went to all their blogs to check them out - was a plagiarist - I wrote her a long comment about @steemcleaners and plagiarism to which she replied that she was new and did not know any better and proceeded to repeat the same plagiarism today - so you are correct - it is some form of desparation which I too feel and fight every day. I try to just continue with "slow and steady wins the race". Way back when in 2016 @dragonslayer109 picked up one of my posts and reposted it and I was placed on the map from that - for which I am eternally grateful...and I still suffer from the desparation but I look at what steemit gives me and how I am doing fine and don't need what I don't receive - and then to combat it, I try to give more... but you are correct in that we are going to need to strategize as steemit grows - because this is the world - right now - a vast majority of people whoring themselves to get a few crumbs...
omg, you're right:
ok wait. So what you're saying is if I post a comment to your post saying something awesome like, "nice post, follow me" you're not going to follow me and make me rich? But wouldn't it help if I put @stellabelle in the comment? You want me to work? Dammit!
I haven't been around too long myself and this has already been driving me bananas. And what's with putting the name link (@stellabelle) in, it doesn't show up anywhere as far as I can tell.
Hi @stellabelle! This is a wonderful eye opener. Greed is part of human nature and hence not surprisingly present here at steemit as well. You have made a very strong point which hopefully gets out there to everybody.
And oh, I love the contest ideas - they're genius! 😆
I must start making my dance video contest now. Lol.
I have seen your name around for the short time that i am here at steemit, but I it is my first time to read your posts. I am instantly a fan. Very raw and true. That's what make you. Following. 😉
I've noticed this behavior getting worse and worse with time. I primarily focus just within my community but I see posts from people globally that luckily other people appear to be flagging.
I have not flagged anybody on this account, my reputation/steem power can't afford it, but I'm trying to leave friendly comments when i come across the sort of spam, at least within my own community to gently suggest better alternatives and suggest they stop such behavior.
It's fantastic to see well thought out posts like this, particularly on important issues that seem just be getting worse. Hopefully sooner rather than later we'll see this type of spam slow down, and maybe even cease, as people understand it is not helpful to anybody.
I have resteemed this post, which is something I don't typically do given you are not part of 'teamphilippines' and that is usually the content we like to resteem and support, but this was so important i wanted to make sure our entire community sees and reads it! Thank you once again!
I'm glad to know this issue is being noticed by many people, not just me. One thing Steem has taught me is to be vigilant and express our concerns in a way that many others can benefit from. If we are not vigilant in discussing these social issues, and creating bonds, support in solving the issues, Steemit as a platform will degrade into shit really fast. Thanks for resteeming this message. I think many people must confront their behavior, and figure out new ways of being. No one wants me to spend my energy on creating a shit list, but I will if that is what it comes down to.
Really good information. I am finding good people on here and we keep running into each other on link minded good content. It does bug me though how much spam is floating around and even plagiarism. I keep decreasing the number of people I follow but I am creating a really good group of people to devote my attention to.
I noticed a real lack of interaction recently which is the main reason I wanted to write this post. Without vigilance, Steemit could turn into a spam heaven...
I hope these people that are here to try and make easy money will fall to the wayside. Good people are here and it's just a matter of finding them which can take time to do.
No matter how many articles we write about the spam, it will not stop. The best policy is simply to ignore it, some will learn, others not. Those who wish to rise above the spam, maybe try to write a quota of quality comments daily, perhaps a subtle way to show how it's done?
While I agree with you that follow for follow is not an effective long-term strategy, I'd argue that it also not an effective short-term strategy. Earlier today I stumbled onto a user who's been here since May. I don't remember the exact numbers, but he/she followed something like 1,500 accounts and had a similar number of followers. But only had built up only about 30 SP.
The effort that must have gone into so many spam comments could instead have gone into maybe a dozen quality posts and some cogent comments that likely would have garnered more SP than that.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I'm new to SteemIt and I've noticed a lot of spam for desperate votes as well. I think for new SteemIt users, they should focus on a certain topic that they are passionate about, that way they can meet people with similar interests. For example, I enjoy photography and sports so 90% of my posts have been about that and all thought I've only been on steemit for a week, I can say a lot of my followers enjoy the same content. Anyways, great post. Cheers!
I use my best skill with my limited time here leaving thoughtful comments. I have become accustomed to reading certain creators regularly. This gives me familiarity with their writing, their lives, and the stories or content they create. That gives me the ability to comment on past content or writing they created that might be relevant to what their current post is. Creators like that, they like to be noticed and recognized.
Definately agree. Upvotes, follows and comments should happen organically through creating quality content that people like.
I believe I may have entertained a few of these type of requests (follow for follow) to my shame. I will say that I do make it a point to follow people back without being prompted but I never ask for them because it would feel so forced and unnatural.
Created a little image for the occasion when someone mentioned the upvote begging issue.
If you build it (quality content that is), they will come. (Upvotes, follows, resteems etc)
This is absolutely wrong, people use old SEO thing, spam here and expect that they will start earning quickly but let's be honest with ourselves, why we all minnows or red fish comment on other's people comment? The answer is just to get the attention of big fish, why they do that? To answer this, let me ask another question. Why whales or dolphins don't spend their time, read some minnows stuff and leave a comment there? (Not asking for their upvote). Not saying that all the whales/dolphins don't read minnow's posts, some of them do and some are just upvoting their own comments, taking all the money with them. So the answer to the second question is that big fish are too busy in making money for themselves that they really don't care about others. So one of the reasons for such spamming or F4F comments is the actions of rich people here.
Finding the root cause is very important before we come to any conclusion. Whales/Dolphins do have some responsibility on their shoulders to support minnows and I have noticed only a very few people who think about us. Again, support doesn't always mean to upvote a post, a comment from a big fish is also really a big thing for small fish but again, I would say that peeps here don't have time! You might disagree and that's your right, to me, this is the reaction for the action!
Ah, I could have written my own post!
Dude, I totally understand where you are coming from, I felt thse things before. I actually can't disagree with what you say, it's truth, but there are other truths. If you change your focus a bit, you will have a better time and see more love come your way.
Getting whales attention is no doubt motivation for commenting on their posts. Is it the only motivation? No way! There are a bunch of whales and dolphins who do great things for the community like ausbitbank, benjojo, acidyo Etc. and others who create quality writing like stellabelle, trafalgar, meesterboom (I could go on).
I don't really know if the majority of whales do much for the community but I see enough who do that I don't need to get depressed about the ones who don't. All the whales I mentioned above have upvoted or commented on my posts. And I still have some posts that go totally ignored.
It does kind of suck vying for the attention of the big fish, I agree. There are far too many minnows who work hard without much appreciation. And as soon kissing is kind of incentivized. I'd also say that whales are in a bubble sometimes where they have a kind of "American dream" mentality about steemit. "Work hard and persevere and you can be like me." Some can, some can't, and it's not always about quality and who deserves it. Competition always has losers, and no one wants to be a loser, I would go as far as saying no one deserves to be a loser.
On the other hand, it's not really hard to get a handful of whales attention if you are sincere and doing something positive. Also, isn't it nice that we are motivated to go out and read each other's posts and comment to gain a following? Even if many of us are motivated by money, this dynamic allows us to support others and evoke more community focused. It's not all ass kissing.
At times I get a little upset about the unfair payouts I see, or how insincere some initiatives seem or the unfair distribution of wealth, or I start to doubt everyone's intentions. These are problems and you are right for bringing them up. When I feel low about all the bad stuff I find myself trying to strategize about how to get out of this tiny fish situation and I begin to feel less excited about this community and less inspired to try my best. Then I try to shift my focus back to what I really care about, building relationships and community with likeminded people. Even if steemit crashes, I have made at least 3 or 4 potentially life long friends. I've found future collaborators, and for the first time people are reading my stuff (god knows how hard it was to get people to check out my pareon).
Did I spend 30 minutes writing this comment to get an extra follower or to get stellabelles attention? I don't think so. Maybe? Sometimes it's hard to tell. Who cares though, because I know I'm sincere in what I say.
If you want to chat some time and find ways to make the situation better and more sincere here, let me know.
See here!
"the greed gene" really comes down to framing (something which I have been writing more about recently). With a mindset of "lack" we are all capable of being pretty crappy, and with a mindset of abundance we are all pretty decent. It may be pretty hard to keep a mindset of abundance, especially when you you feel stuck I need a certain situation, or when you are scared to lose what you have. But when you can see the limitless possibilities and start to realize that what unfolds starts with you and your mindset, the knots start to untangle and you become more and more capable of seeing tangible abundance rather than just theoretical abundance. You find things sometimes just work out, and when they isn't there are always lessons to learn.
Just a little (hopefully insightful) rambling :-) Great post, hope they read it!
Being a newcomer myself, I found that these types of comments really disturbs! I have never done it and will never do it for sure! I truly believe in hard work and consistence will make you succeed on this amazing platform!
I don't know if i am doing well or not, Maybe you can check my page and give me a feedback, but i've seen a great progression since I joined in mid-June!
I still remember when I saw a video of you in the beginning of my journey, you explained it clearly! Engagement is very important to build up true followers who will appreciate your post! I am actually checking all the posts of all the ones I am following twice a day + posting valuable contents only, and the results is coming slowly but surely!
Concerning the word Minnows I would define it as below:
'An apprentice who recently joined with the aim to be an expert soon.'
Cheers
@progressivechef
Great post @stellabelle . I run an initiative here in the country I live in, and we are having our 2nd 'steemfest' event on August 5. I am the first speaker and this is one of the big things that I've outlined to discuss in my talks.
I even had a conversation with someone last night where the 'greed gene' came into play and I called it as I saw it, it made the conversation go sour until we were able to come back and speak civilly again, but thankfully we were.
Glad you're posting about this sort of thing, keep up the awesome work!
thanks for reading....attention is becoming a scarce commodity!
You always have such great advice for newcomers, stellabelle! There seems to be a lot of unspoken rules within the community, so I really appreciate you taking the time to share your experiences and knowledge of how the platform works and how to find success with engaging and thoughtful content.
Hard not to agree with you. It won't hurt anyone if they will concentrate on their own content and build bonds with other creators instead of spamming people with annoying messages. So they will feel as a part of the community and it will be an opportunity to contribute with their own resources to benefit themselves and the entire platform.
There are a lot of people jumping up and down screaming "LOOK AT ME!" They would probably be better off (we would all be better off) if they concentrated on making one friend and striking up an interesting conversation.
One of the cool things about the internet is that it allowed a tiny fringe group to form a community. Eventually those tiny fringe groups will become viable communities within Steemit and everyone will have a place to belong. The starting point is just two people who are on the same wavelength.
That's good insight. Two people on the same wavelength can create such an economic stable world. This is kind of revolutionary what occurred with me and @teamsteem.
Sharing this for the followers to (I hope wake up) Build the community and forget about the money! I am following some awesome folks and I love what I am finding here in like minded people! Thank You @stellabelle for sharing!
thanks for reading.
Es agradable leer publicaciones como éstas, más que agradable, te nutre. Es tan real lo que dices, la desesperación por la moneda es algo que veo en mi país Venezuela a diario, está tan vivo este fuego, que casi te quema aunque no poses tus manos frente a él. Muchos de mi país, buscan esta página como fuente de ingreso ya que poseen algún tipo de talento, otros sólo vienen motivados por la codicia y tienen un mal contenido. Digo, la clave del éxito en ésta red es la pasión con que hagas las cosas. Por otra parte, están las grandes amistades que puedes forjar en esta red, como me ha pasado en otras redes sociales. Siempre encontraremos personas que de alguno u otra forma, nos hagan estar agradecidos por haber entrado a la red.
My definition would be a dreamer who wants to change the rules and conventional culture of social networks through his blogs and be at some time recognized by the community and be rewarded for his work
@stellabelle You are correct in pointing out that people who do find balance in life, including for the greed factor, are an asset to society - be it Steemit or real life. Desperation always leads to drastic action because the attention gets focused on the lowest rungs of Manslows pyramid. Values fall by the wayside in the battle for survival. In my particular case, I was never desperate for money but I did bother people in my haste to draw attention to my blogs. My passion for spreading messages about wildlife clouded my juḍgement of the correct engagement protocol on Steemit. To be honest, even now it does cloud my judegement sometimes. However, people do realise that I also put in a lot of effort in providing honest and good feedback - so I guess they forgive me, large hearted as the Steemians are. I, have personally experienced, in my short 35-40 days on Steemit so far, the value of points that you have made in your blogs. I do try to guide other newcomers about the same points. Thanks for this blog which I believe every newcomer, who comes to Steemit hoping to make money, should read. Upvoted.
It's necessary to make mistakes in order to truly learn. We all shout for attention and feel like ghosts when we don't get it. You've been here for a very short time. Look at how @timcliff conducted himself for a very long time, and he didn't become a witness, even when I thought he deserved it. He kept on without complaint. That was honorable.
I do understand. I will keep up my work to write quality blogs and go through good posts to provide meaningful feedback to have great interaction. Thank you for your support as always.
This is a very much needed post on Steemit! I have been a member of Steemit for less than a week, and I am trying my best to make useful posts and share my views and the informations I get(mostly in the cryptocurrency world). I saw some people just asking to follow and upvote, others at least ask it after writing a comment of appreciation for what I wrote(a true one).
I had a guy spamming one of my posts to advertise another app, asked him to edit the comment and luckily he did.
I upvoted this post and I upvoted another guy who said how he made his first 100+ $ post, and the main secret is QUALITY!
Not spam, not asking or begging for things, share quality posts like this one and let people see that what you think and do is the best for the community, a strong community means a strong website and a growing one!
Thanks for this post, it is really needed.
greed is tasty ;)
Thank you for writing this post. I am fairly new here and I've been plagued by this. While taking part in the Community Engagement Challenge, I was searching for new content and to strike up quality conversations with others. I'm starting a conversation with one user, the response I got back was "an upvote would be nice". I was floored that someone would so boldly ask for such a thing. I appreciate you putting these thoughts into the minds of the readers here. I want followers only because I earn them, and I want to follow people for the same reason.
Great Post (this is N0#2) ... but please - that giffy is scarry! No zombies with scary eyeballs! (Ever) ;)
This is such a great post and one of the best info posts I've seen in a while! I hate when people beg for votes and post their blogs in a comment of your blog. Without even reading yours. It unfortunately happens on all social sites as well... Facebook Steemit pages, steemit.chat, just every where. I also feel that most just dump links there without scanning the others posts... I try not to be like those people. I actually set aside time to look at new posts and people I haven't followed yet on those platforms. And I hope that others do the same, but the reality is... Most don't. It's unfortunate but hopefully posts like this will help people realize that it isn't going to work. Thanks @stellabelle!
I've noticed an increase in spam comments on my posts as of late. Comments that clearly didn't even relate to my post at all. I had someone talk about photos of me, and I've never posted photos of myself in any of my posts.
It is true that some people are just here to be greedy and to solely make money. I understand why that would be a captivating motive to join steem but just purely begging for upvotes doesn't help you learn nor excel here on steemit.
You have the opportunity here to meet some amazing people like yourself @stellabella assimilate some astounding experiences some people live. Help the community prosper then you will be rich with love and gratitude.
If anything spamming and asking for upvotes has a negative effect and if anything could end your career here if you have some highly influential people flag you or you will just get no exposure as no one will be interested in looking at your blogs.
Stay humble and work hard then it will all pay off in the end. Be yourself and post what you love to do and what you aspire to be.
Thank You for the words of wisdom. I have not been on Steemit long, I has been fun and I hope to do great things on this platform. There are lots of new homesteaders on this platform and I know of them or will get to know them as we grow together. Upvoted and resteemed!
It happens all the time and it's starting to happen more and more everyday , greed can never end unless you learn to help yourself first @stellabelle
When I was a child, I was sort of self-interested. I always wanted the nicest sweets and cookies, but rarely were there any to be had where I lived. Today I still love cookies :-)
I dont like that spam. You just post you story, and 200 followers read you""nice post"'. Can they read what you post? No.
I do not have anything to offer to the mankind except the power of my will.
Great post as always! Just watched a video of Simon Sinek ideas to change the way you live and give. Have you heard of him? "Always start with the WHY." Your post is delivering the same thinking in some way. Don't you think? Most of the people here are just trying to make a quick buck. Totally wrong approach as you said. Even if I'm just reading all the posts for a little than over a week it's really hard to find great content. But I must admit that Steemit as a network fascinates me and I hope the community will keep it up for a long time.
Have a great day! Best wishes from Germany :)
Being new here myself I am happy to see that there are those who do understand that the "cheap" methods to marketing one's self are actually counterproductive to this culture. I was raised with manners so being stern about it is not always easy. There have also been some flagging wars among friends that I have met and those who were offended by being asked to stop. The advice from a veteran member is worth the read.
Thank you. Notice how my post has no spammy comments?
You are right, and as time passes, i find myself consolidating an apporach to be as stern as my predecessors.
The idea to write a post about follow to follow is great, but I dont think is people that do this will stop, mainly because most of them will miss the post. Some of the post should be able to pin them on the top as a guide is more of us believe they are useful :) I am not sure if is such a possibility. Meanwhile the way I act is just ignore and they will not comment again to my posts, or maybe is just my karma :D
Important points that you addressed. When first joining Steemit it is natural to think surely I can write a post that most people will enjoy. That will bring the votes and in turn the money. You are so right in acknowledging being successful here on a regular basis is about building a base of friends with whom we interact. That takes time to develop unless there's already a following from other social media. Desperate feelings will crop up on occasion but the more we interact and are "real" while continuing to post articles the more we will become part of the community. And, then earnings will begin happening on a more regular basis.
yes, it's a tricky thing that few people are aware of when they first join.
Nice post
My greetings to the world steemit
One of the things I’ve always believed in life is; “Hurt me with the truth rather than comfort me with a lie”. You’re so magnanimous with the truth. And there’s something I’ve noticed in life; there’s always a struggle for the survival of the fittest, and this has beclouded the senses of judgment of many.
This post will serve two purposes for me: For Precaution and For Correction. I couldn’t have been more inspired
Glad to hear it. I feel better when I am writing on Steemit than I do on vacation. I feel like I lost myself.
Some of these types of comments are so bland like the one in your example, it sometimes makes me think that they're created by bots, actually no, bots may even be able to do better jobs LOL. I definitely agree that begging is not the answer and that other methods of incentivization are 1000% more effective.
Cheers!