Hello Everyone
I did good.
Support means far more to me than just a few votes trickling in. You folks have done more for me than I can easily find words for.
I know I'm usually the one writing the posts that make some people laugh. If you're not laughing, I assume I'm at least offering up a good, wholesome what the fuck moment. If it's not those, I hope you're at least feeling somewhat entertained. If it's none of the above; whatever, I bombed, shit happens, we all have bad days.
I'm not really smiling on this end until I start to see the reaction.
Once your comments start rolling in, I feel welcome. Have you noticed, most of the time, I'm quick with a response? It's a lot of work, but I don't mind. I enjoy your company. Your words and reactions to my madness are usually what's putting the smile on my face. I rarely laugh at my own jokes. For me, it's more like I'm doing something that may or may not work; taking a risk. It might look like a lot of fun, but it's stressful.
I'm grateful for that smile you all put on my face. Most days that's far more important than the votes.
Your eyes.
I like your eyes.
The art and entertainment stuff I do; it's nothing without your eyes. Remember back in the day when we had a view counter? My posts would be sitting here with hundreds of views, every single day.
No tricks, no gimmicks, no shortcuts. I simply did whatever the fuck I felt like doing that day and for some strange reason, a lot of people were looking.
These days, I truly don't know how well things are going. I miss that view counter. I know some of you don't like to vote or comment, but still look. That's what was happening before, so I'm sure it still does.
Things sure have changed though.
The platform; it's quiet.
A lot of dead followers, plenty of power downs, many who refuse to vote now, preferring to get paid to blindly support advertisements and content not many seem to be engaging with. Other platforms seem to be more appealing to some as well, so people go there.
I've been loyal. I curate, try to encourage others. Trying to be useful. I haven't even spent a goddamn dime of what I've earned here. 99% of it is still there in the wallet, locked in, so I can help build this place.
My blog, it's hard work. Of course, that's what I signed up for. I'm doing my thing, and it's not supposed to be easy.
I don't even know if anyone will like the art.
Yet I spend hours upon hours producing the stuff, daily.
You see two images, both are the same except one is dark and one is bright and polished.
I didn't like how dark the first one was, but I had already spent three hours on it. I decided to brighten it up. Then I got this mess:
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Zoomed out, most of you wouldn't even notice the wavy mess. It took another hour and a half to remove that, by hand.
Then, just to add insult to injury, I now prefer the darker version.
I don't write about the art process much because I find it to be boring. That would be like me sitting here talking about work all day. I prefer to be entertaining, and the art, all of the work that goes into it; it's just there.
The part that breaks my heart:
The entire time I'm working on my next post...
I already know it's going to be hit or miss, I'm probably wasting my time. I could quit, take my nearly 24000 SP, leave ten shitty comments on trending posts, upvote each one at 100%, and probably end up earning more, by being useless.
Some of these people boost their stuff up nice and high, never respond to anyone, nobody is looking; nobody would see me being useless.
Some days I wonder why I even bother.
While I'm working on my next post, I already know someone with a few downloaded images from the internet combined with a paragraph or two of dull context, a mile of referrals, links to previous posts nobody clicks, links to other social media platforms nobody clicks, some "your post was upvoted by shit-bot number 1, shit-bot number 2, shit-bot number 3, shit-bot number 4, shit-bot number 5, shit-bot number 6," and one "thank you for your wonderful information", will tower above my efforts, making them virtually invisible.
My comment section, jammed with real people, daily. Working hard, daily. Manually curating, 22003 times so far. The proverbial one man band, 20k in the wallet — and I don't feel welcome here...
I want to fight, I want to keep going, I want to get somewhere!
I don't want to be useless.
Why am I feeling like I'm being stupid for producing content here? I could delegate away my SP and make money off of everyone else.
What would a place like Youtube be if once a content producer reached a certain number of followers and views, they were pushed aside so someone with no experience could take their place?
I don't get it.
It feels like working up to a promotion for two years, then being demoted simply because the new hire slipped the boss a few coins.
I don't want to be a shitpost pimp. I'm not interested in making money off of gullible people who think buying their way up and stepping on everyone else will make them internet famous.
I thought I did good.
Look what stress did!
So, what the fuck do I do?
I feel your pain. There was once a time when I could see all of my effort paying off, a steady climb, hard work rewarded. But these days...well I like to think it's just growing pains, and the lulls that come with it.
Well, you know I love your art and stories my friend, so I hope you keep on keeping on with me and the others like us (@therealpaul, @meesterboom etc. etc. ;0)
Feels more like a broken leg than a growing pain.
I love your art, reactions and points of view. I first noticed you when you went nuts in this dolphin's post (not stating any names) because he was actually pushing new comers to sink without them knowing it and I really admired how you had the guts to say what I wanted to say all this time but was afraid to get flagged. Thank you for being you.
I had more organic votes on that comment than I get on most of my posts. I never worry about those flags.
You are pretty good you know!
It's all about self expression here.
If you quit you would just have to get your penis out and wave it at people like Laddie Gaga does.
Please keep doing your posts and art :)
Fine! I'll keep working, until I burn the fuck out again. I've produced 43 posts since I came back from break on the 15th of September. I'm getting tired.
I aim for one a week and sometimes exceed that!
Perhaps it is all the baggage?
Engagement is definitely down but it is par for the course considering the markets. The space is filled with a majority of economic only value seekers at the moment but it will change over time and there will be more attention paid to content.
The place is shifting again and hopefully this time it will be for the better but the winters are long here.
Feels like an awful waste of time trying to make the good stuff now, knowing maybe later people will be around to see it. By then it's too late, unless I repost the hits that got missed.
This will be my third winter here.
Those balls once guided Santa's sleigh. That's what the story was anyway. That's why they glow.
Indeed but the slow slog also leads to helping others later. I am silly like that.
Well, regardless of what I would have put in this post, Beautiful Cow Photo had me beat.
I'm going to sleep.
I used to stop by at the end of every day because it usually meant I would go to bed laughing. Then I realized it's also nice to start the day laughing. Keep at it @nonameslefttouse!
I haven't even slept yet and that damn glowing orb thing is just starting to show.
You must have been really into it. Imagine your life if you put that passion into everything you did.
"The art and entertainment stuff I do; it's nothing without your eyes."
I agree with that. Comments are what I take pride in. I get some auto votes so I always make a buck or two but when I get 10 or 15 comments I feel like the post was a success even if it didn't make a ton.
Haha your stress does seem to do wonders for growing your breasts though lol.
I like your posts man. You add a lot of character to this place and I think it is worse off without it so I would like to see you keep going.
Maybe I just need to rest my tits.
In the stressed version of you himself, your chin seems to be resting on cleavage, so lighten up a little.
Don't tell me to lighten up!
Sorry.
Honestly I was the same way. I felt like I poured my heart and soul into the platform, helping others, and generallly being a good person.
Just to watch others pass me with shittier content because they bought a lot of Steem.
I dont know what the magic answer is, but I do know after taking some time off ot feels fun again. Less like a chore more like a hobby.
Also, I quit caring as much. It sounds bad, but 99% of what I was frustrated with I had 0 control over.
Dont know if any of that helps, but hope its enough to at least get you to the next post. Hate to see the people who create good quality content and curation for this platform leave.
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I'm not focusing on the things I can't change. Watching so many leave without a trace, that's been hard. People who used to tell me they loved visiting my blog, now they want me to pay for votes. I don't get it.
I don't care much which casbah you rock, as long as I can see your content somewhere. So, while I could well understand if you decide to stop posting here, I would then like to know where to find future productions.
I didn't start from the bottom just so I could go back to the bottom somewhere else.
That's not a very good reason if you feel you are somehow stuck or under-appreciated or snowed-under here, unless you think there will be substantial changes on Steemit for the Real Content Makerstm like you himself. I myself think the milk has been thoroughly spilt here, but I suppose YMMV.
Perhaps you could at least start cross-posting to other venues, and get more eyes and maybe even more monies overall. Katharsisdrill probably has pointers and clues on how and where to do that.
The alternative could be permanent frustration. Or not, the future is hard to predict. But that is still a reason to put your colourful eggs in a great many baskets.
Everything that happens here is dependent on content. These people working against content producers will have to pull their heads out of the sand soon. I have problems believing they'd rather run the place into the ground. That doesn't even make sense when they encourage development. Ned was just on CNN, saying people get paid to produce content here. If they don't get their asses in gear and find a solution to this bid bot madness and all of these people getting ripped off, guess who will be on CNN for different reasons. Reputations are on the line now.
I'm about to publish the next trick up my sleeve. I'll see how this goes.
I doubt it will play out as you expect or hope, but we'll see. At least I got away with referring to your art as "eggs".
Well, I guess I can't really work any harder than I did on that recent post.
I don't know what to do...
Probably a good time to take a vacation. I'm spent.
This was my 14000th post...
Rest the rest of the righteous.
You will be back again, I hope?
Ocrdu let me know it was an honour and a privilege to receive your 14000th post as a comment.
Such many.
Buy a Real Comment! Comment: 10 STEEM. Defence in debates, max. 5 comments: 40 STEEM. No refunds.
So ghosty before. One could argue that these past years have energised you into a state which you can barely recognise as success.
I know, I'm kidding. It's fucking hard, a non stop slog. I think one of the worst things is when the people who supported you back in the day powered down and fucked off or more just sell their VP. It is harder and harder for old timers to stay motivated
Many of these folks could have just as easily set up bots to auto vote for them while they leave. Instead they leave, and set up others to be forced to follow. I don't have that big pile of auto votes many others have. So many can float on the breeze still and I'm walking into a hurricane.
I hope you stick around. Your work is some of the most creative I've found on Steemit.
You've put a lot of work into this platform, so maybe you should consider rewarding yourself by delegating some SP and enjoying a bit of income. You earned it, after all. Maybe a combo of passive income plus active creation/curation will provide some motivational push. That's a thing that I just started experimenting with, and I think it will turn out helpful.
I'm glad you brought back that smoky lady artwork; it's one of my favorites.
That will just feed the negative feedback loop. If I delegate, that's another 100-200 accounts that end up seeing less for their efforts.
Perhaps so. I guess it all depends on what you want to get out of the platform and how far you're hoping to stretch your influence. You're extremely passionate about making this place a place where real, talented creators can thrive instead of people who pump out shit and buy votes to win spots on the Trending page (which I'm pretty sure no real creative person pays any attention to at all) - and that's awesome. You've built an outstanding art portfolio here along with a pretty damn enthusiastic community. You're definitely not stupid for producing content here. It's quiet here because Steem's value dropped a lot, once it goes back up (which it will) it will get a lot louder here, and that 24000 SP you're sitting on will be worth a fortune, and it will become much easier to help all those people see more for their efforts. Steem is still a very young platform… I imagine that it will be quite different in a few years, and the people who stick with it will be happy they did. I am guessing (and hoping) that you will still be here in a few years. I might still be here, but no guarantees - given my current lifestyle there is a fairly decent chance I will fall off a mountain and die before Steemit overtakes Facebook as the world's leading social media platform.
Besides, look at how big your balls are now. With balls that big you can beat anything.
I'd miss you if you left. You are one of my favorite people here, and I make a point of checking your blog when I hop on every day.
You are a creator - that is one of the few things we have in common. Creating fulfills a need within us, and brings happiness. Although that happiness does get muddled pretty easily. Muddled or not, it's still a need. That's my take on it, anyway.
Maybe it would be beneficial to have more regularly scheduled days off. I don't know, but hopefully a good night's rest will sort things out for you.
I can't stop staring at your breasts, but not for the good normal, perverted reasons. Change your shirt, man.
Sorry about the mustard.
You're one of my favorite people here so I don't think you need to change anything about what you do. I know you work hard and you are fun to interact with. That being said I'm so frustrated with steemit. That's why I'm not commenting as much or as active as before. After a year and half of working my ass off commenting and socializing and powering up and doing all the things your suppose to do I'm really no better off. It's gotten worse lately. I work hard on posts but people really don't read them or comment. Scammers and vote wars are killing all the fun. The upvote bots have ruined the place. It use to be fun but it seems like people aren't engaging as much and I'm frustrated. I'm not leaving and I hope you don't leave either. I think steemits going through a rough patch. That being said have you thought of joining steemit's clone "weku." It's coin isn't on exchanges until next year but the founders seem recreating steemit from scratch and are trying hard to not make mistakes that are ruining here. Right now controlling scammers and plagiarism are high priority and no upvote bots. Commenting and engagement are high priority. I'm enjoying being over there more than here right now and they accept work from steemit. Maybe you could find some joy posting on both platforms?
I don't think I have the energy to start all over again. Also, having exclusive content here makes it more valuable. If it's everywhere, then I just end up working harder for less everywhere.
It would be boring. If your anything like me, you enjoy creating stuff that's unique. I'm no artist but what I create is mine and nobody else's. Unique in its own right.
Unique indeed. Most of what I do can't be Googled until I'm finished.
You make me laugh and I am intrigued with your style. You also provide a unique entertainment value. Yes I sometimes miss the counter too and the responses are down. But that does not stop me. Perhaps you could do a fun video on how you do your art. Or would that be getting to personal? You have your nitch and enjoy it!
I find those videos boring. There's literally millions of them in existence. I don't like following the herd.
Please don't stop!
I'm sorry. I know this takes a lot out of you, I can see it takes a massive amount of effort. I've seen people putting you down, not understanding that or not caring.
But please!
I really enjoy your work, I love the quirky,
slightlyimmensely crazy personality, appreciate the time and effort you put into your art. Don't leave. Don't leave. Don't leave.Do I mean nothing to you?!!
If the answer is no, you may need to get help. Nonetheless, you will stay if I have to brainwash you into doing so
You will stay on steemit. You will stay on steemit.
Repeat after me:
I will stay on steemit. I will stay on steemit. I will stay on steemit. I will stay on steemit. I will stay on steemit. I will stay on steemit. I will stay on steemit. I will stay on steemit. I will stay on steemit. I will stay on steemit. I will stay on steemit.
I'm sorry for not writing an entertaining, insane comment (hopefully) as per my usual. But seriously, if you leave I may have to track you down and kill your family, especially your unborn children.
It's a lot of work, going in reverse.
Ah, but of course. We must all work our way through the universe, doing our best to drive those other idiots out there as far out of their minds as we possibly can.
After all, it's rather lonely being the only insane ones, is it not?
(That we could be referring to you and I, my multiple personalities, or just the other crazies I hang around. Your choice.)
Dear Mr @nonameslefttouse, thank you for creating this post. Its great because in turn allows me to use this little bit of blank space to Thank myself for being an awesome stalker of yours, and a fully fledged human curator that not only reads 93.67% of your fantastic work, but usually upvotes it to.
Thanks for begin here enabling me to complete such an important task. 😎👍
I can't thank you folks enough, so yeah, thank yourself! LOL!
Some of your stuff is not my cup of tea but keep it up, I can feel the passion in your work.
Yeah. I don't expect everyone to like what I do, all of the time.
I enjoy reading your posts and I like also your art. Keep up your hard work.
I shall do my best.
Roses.. more roses..I wanna see more roses...ha ha! btw I still see roses in most of your art.
I like stuffs you write cos they're funny, real and educative.
Most of my mates are on my neck for me to join them at whaleshares and earn better but I just simply love this space. I wouldn't want to miss guys like you lol
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Thanks for sticking around.
Your posts are funny, keep it up @nonameslefttouse!
/FF
Your posts are entertaining man, just keep on being yourself.
make the pony trot
I hate to use the same comment twice but this might call for it.
Do you use words when you communicate? I have no idea what this means.
I did good. I know...
I'm tired. I'm putting this down for a few hours.