Is this a better title? Does it count as a click bait? But let’s work with this title today!
Sorry this became a rather long article. Please take the effort to read it through, cause it will explain the real meaning of Steem! And I do feel that we all need to understand what Steem is about! No it is not about the money, the money is a nice side effect for most of us.
Social Media
First let’s start with some history! Sorry, I need to do this, to place things in perspective!
Most of us grew up with mainstream media. Like television, radio and newspaper. Even older folks had to it with the news item shown in a movie theater before the movie started!
But these were one way communication channels. They were broadcasting, we were only receiving! Okay, you could write a letter to the newspaper, but it was their decision if they were going to publish it or not.
This gave the controlling entities the power to brainwash the people! Their news was the news and it was the truth!
When internet came around (yes younger readers, it wasn’t always here) things started to change. People had a platform to express their opinions, to create communities, to interact with people all over the world. This things are grouped together under the term of Social Media!
The key characteristics of Social media are sharing and interacting. There are normally no editors or a controlling body! Due to lots of abuse, things did change and moderators came into place and controlled some of the platforms like a real dictators. Censoring people, giving direction and started to brainwash people again (take a look at the bans of Google, Facebook and so on about crypto and ico related adds)!
The most know social media where forums, blogs, Facebook, twitter and so on!
The Steem blokchain!
And then Steemit came along. Not a new idea, but it did lift the idea of a social media platform to a higher level. A real decentralized platform without forced censorship. The community itself could regulate some kind of censorship with the means of down voting! People do get rewarded for their efforts with the Proof-Of-Brain concept!
The early adaptors where interactive, did support each other and shared knowledge. Almost all posts were read and did get noticed. Then it did attract more people and these new ones where perhaps too much focused on the money part! They had the idea that they have the same rights as the whales and do expect the same share of the pool! But they forgot to interact and that’s where it did start to go wrong. Wintered Steemains were/are trying to protect their income/status, new Steemains were/are complaining about the whales. Hence even whales are fighting!
2 different types of Steemians!
Beside the whales and dolphins, plankton or red fishes, there are in my opinion 2 types of people needed, to lift Steem to a next level!
The first type are the real content creators. They write excellent post and make us think about topics. These are the fuel of Steemit! Why do you ask?
Well they are giving the second type of Steemians a platform to interact. People can react on the post and even react on other comments on the post. But the creators do also need this interaction. This interaction is what makes a post genuine and is the most appreciation an article can get! It should lift a well written post to the Trending or Hot pages! We cannot all write like Dostoevsky, Shakespeare or Hamlet but we all do have an opinion. Cause opinions are like assholes, everybody has one! And no, not all of them stink!
If there wasn’t any interaction, we could turn back to the mainstream media, hence a single communication channel! Of course the authors appreciate an upvote, but a real genuine comment is like hitting the jackpot. An upvote can come without that the curator did read the post, while a genuine comment is impossible without reading the complete post!
The hidden Gem!
Well this is the chapter where you all have been waiting on. (If you did manage to keep on reading )
The hidden gem on Steemit is to interact with each other. Use the possibility that authors give us! And beautiful things can happen. Let me give you a list of things that happened to me!
- Most of my Steem Power is build up, by placing genuine comments! Don’t place a spam comment, don’t expect to get an upvote, do expect an answer or reply!
- I did receive free delegations by just placing genuine comments. People do get to know you and your ideas and if they have the power they will give you a push in the back!
- I did get 100% upvotes, worth more than 1.5 Steem power. What about that? I would have taken me 10 post to get this kind of pay-out!
- I did get SBD donations, just as a vote of confidence!
- And most important of all, it did lift the number of followers. Each follower is a chance on interaction!
So, if you are new on Steemit or a wintered user, see the money as a nice side effect and focus on INTERACTION.
Interaction is what Steem is all about! This is the hidden gem of Steemit. This will get you noticed, this will increase your Steem Power but most important of all this will make Steem great!
Witness Votes
For the ones who don’t know what the witnesses of the Steem blockchain are, these are the one who keep the blockchain running, they mine the blocks, make sure that the timestamps are correct and they decide/debate about the future of Steemit!
Each one of us, can cast up to 30 votes! Depending on the Steem Power you have, your vote will have more weight. But every vote counts.
I am not the person who do ask to support something, besides interaction, but take a look at a new fresh witness. @steemcommunity
They do think that engagement is the one of the most important things on Steemit. So, if you do find engagement and interaction important, give them a vote. Cause they could have/should have a voice in the debates about the future of Steemit!
Voting can be done via https://steemit.com/~witnesses , just fill in steemcommunity in the field, where you can vote for a witness outside of the top50.
The verdict!
Do interact with each other, don’t look at the reputation of an author (as long as it is at least equal or above 25), don’t look at his/her Steem Power!
Let’s make Steemit an real social media platform!
Do you agree or disagree, I’m happy to start an interaction!
If you really believe that interaction is of utmost importance for Steemit. Feel free to re-steem this post. It will be very much appreciated. Get the word out there!
If you like the post but are running out of Steem Power, just don’t upvote but place a genuine comment! Both will be great, but I do understand that we have to use our voting power at will!
Encourage each other the do the same!
Keep the faith,
Peter
You totally right! And that's why STEEM is in dire need for more social options, like a communities, mettings, chats etc (all we have in FB and others).
Eventually we will get there but it will take some time.
You are absolutely right. Interaction is crucial. Weird thing is that people are commenting on other social network with more effort for free, and over here, where you can get rewarded for nice comments, there is ton of stupid spam comments. And they don’t get rewarded... if you are not talented to write interesting comment then better don’t comment. Just upvote articles or comments that you like and you will get curation reward.
It so true! Should have incorporated this in my post :(
Most are just blinded by the money aspect! The fools!
I did use your present on this post. Let's see how it turns out!
It's a way of self-elimination of the stupid, @cicbar. Natural selection… :)
You’re right 😀
You got a 25.00% upvote and resteem from @ebargains courtesy of @fullcoverbetting. Thank you for using the @ebargains UPVOTE and RESTEEM bot.
If you are looking to earn a passive no hassle return on your Steem Power, delegate your SP to @ebargains by clicking on one of the ready to delegate links:
50SP | 100SP | 250SP | 500SP | 1000SP | 5000SP | Custom Amount
You will earn 80% of the voting bot's earnings based on your delegated SP's prorated share of the bot's SP pool at the end of EACH voting round! That is up to 38.5% APR! You can also undelegate at anytime.
Indeed, I have mentioned several times t hat from a community perspective, the most important aspect is under the post. Yes, quality posts should be rewarded but they really only have community value based on the discussion they create. It isn't number of comments but, quality of comments.
In my opinion, a good post is one where lively debate can happen among the audience without requiring the author at all. Ogf course, the author should interact also but it is not necessary if people are discussing well.
Good article mate and yes, hopefully @steemcommunity witness can bring more engagement. ( you have a typo in the name by the way)
Stupid of me, thx for mentioning my error. Did correct it.
Also thx for taking time to read the article, really appreciate it!
It is true that an author is not obliged to interact as the discussion are going on but they should respond to reply directed to them. Or reply on other visions, if they don't they are just news readers!
They should interact but I think there is also value in the audience interacting together too. Too many authors here don't put enough effort into an adequate response
At least we do.
I agree. Lets keep the value of steem growing with quality interactions.
i have been gathering strength and zeal to write a post on how to make it on steemit , based on my personal experience and this point , was my main focus.
"Most of my Steem Power is build up, by placing genuine comments! Don’t place a spam comment, don’t expect to get an upvote, do expect an answer or reply!"
i personally spend soo much time writing content, and honestly its draining, because am not a natural writer, but i do have a flow of words when am in the writing mood/zone.
so in times when i am clearly not in the right state of mind to write, i spend it all on searching through articles and living genuine comments, and that had truly worked out for me. in fact, my comments earn more than my posts sometimes.
I do understand where you hinting at! I also consider myself a bad writer and a much better commenter. But when you do write about passions, everything will go a lot easier.
We can only do our utmost best!
Yes , we definitely can, thanks for this post. Il be the 2nd type of steemian, coz i will get motivation from your post to make my own list.
Il attach a link to this post for further reference when i do finally have it up.
Cheers.
There ia nothing wrong with being a great commenter. Like written both types need each other!
Agree
I agree that we need to interact
And I agree we need to interact with interesting and quality content verses just responding to whales, curators, and witnesses. That can be “sound” advice if all a person wants is money.
We need to support quality content fromeveryone so that steem is worth something and we attract new people.
The more newbies the better. The more content the more interactions and more draw steem has.
If we just respond to whales, then newbies fall away and the value of steem deminishes.
So follow content instead of high reputation , in general, to keep steem going.
And whales need to be voting on newbies so they see a return on their inventment of posting.
Interaction is what makes steem worth the time it takes to post.
We probably all were allured by the money. I have to admit, than more than a week ago, the first thing I did on Steemit was to check my comments, hoping that some did score an upvote. In the last week, I completely shifted things around. I honestly can say, that I don't look back to the comments I did place. First I do check the replies I did get, and if necessary I will reply again! I did not look anymore if the comments did get an upvote. While this is almost nice, it will not give me anything!
I do agree, that we need more communities on Steemit. The more topics are covered, the more people will feel at home!
Good advice.
I do my best to check replies to see if a responce is a possibility due to the nature of it.
I view posts almost like conversations - one post at time conversation 😎
I am learning to enjoy conversing in this manner. It feels like the old days of waiting for a letter in response to the orginal letter.
@fullcoverbetting how is this shift affecting your steemit experience?
To be honest! It makes it more enjoyable. It always considered the money part as a nice side effect, but still it was browsing though my mind. Not that it doesn't do this anymore, I can focus better on the conversation. It is easier to look behind the reputation of the other, cause we all did start at 25!
Yes we did. And increasing in rep is the journey worth taking.
Money complicates things. It adds extra pressure to most activities. By letting go, I find my thoughts flow better and I can writer better comments.
I am framing the steem that is generated from my posts as “confirmation bias” to the quality of my posts. This process is inspiring me to up my game.
Based on your journey, do you have other insights for minnows?
I would combine comments with own posts. Both need each other. If one only write comments, there is no use to follow that person.
Did wrote about post about this long time ago! Many moons ago!
Indeed don’t focusin the money, focus on intaction. Also do register for the engagement contest of @ahb12345.
It gives some kind of motivation!
Also it you have a free witness space available, you could give it to @steemcommunity! The find interaction utmost important!
How do i elect someone for a witness
The only other thing I would add is to curate your following list wisely, and engage with those that you follow moreso than the random posters in trending. That's how you start to become known by certain people.
And in turn, when people follow you, and comment on your posts, make sure you engage them and upvote, even a small one.
I've unfollowed people before who created ok content and we're relatively small in reputation and SP, because no matter how much I try to engage them they generally don't bother after submitting their post. They just wait to see how much they earn from the post until they move on to their next post. I lose interest after a while.
I also did drop some which I did follow because they didn’t react on any comment. These are the money hungry wolves!
They are just not worth our attention!
Curation is another powerfull tool we have! Use it wisely. Thx to busy.org I am capable of not only replying to comments but to give also some appreciation with a upvote!
Interesting point. I will add that to my posting process.
Follow the followed.
I couldn't agree more. Thanks again for a great article! True interaction on a truly level playing field is what's needed. Here's where you truly nail it in my opinion:
and
I'm just starting on Steem and this is the second article I read from your hand and both were exceptional. Also I have written my own first real article here on Steemit: Market Manipulation or Price Suppression? ... Or none of the above?
If you can find the time, between making these great articles, to read and comment on it I would be very grateful since I'm willing to learn.
Keep up the good work!
Thx for the encouraging words. You know what is funny? I don't consider myself a great author, I do belong more to the commenter group!
But when you are passionate about something, words will come. Just start with the title and see how it flows! I also try to do no editing, cause this would destroy some of the power of the article!
"I also try to do no editing, cause this would destroy some of the power of the article!" See? I learned something new already :-)
Great! Ready for the next lesson. If you want to quote you need to use ">" but then without the asterisks.
Then it would look like this:
@fullcoverbetting this is a very well-written post. Yes, interaction is the KEY.
The only thing that I wanted to mention is that Hamlet is actually a character, a dreamer, not a writer, of Shakespeare same-name poem.
I am really glad to see you are growing here, my friend!
And It also looks like you fulfilled all your March goals.
Hi John,
Thx for the correction. Hamlet is indeed a character created by Shakespeare. No idea, why I did use him. Probably in a rush to finish the article.
March goals are indeed reached. For sure on the part of interaction, engagement and comments I do receive on my post. What bugs me a little is that I had to use some bots to advertise my articles.
But on the other side, the more I am active on Steemit, to more I do believe in it.
Yes, it has its flaws but still I enjoy spending some time here!
Thx for taking the time, to read this long post and even find an error in it!
ooh, yes this post is really awesome it got me curious when I had just joined steemit I would leave a couple of meaningless , spam comments until I was advised by @jaraumoses that the best way to make it on steemit is to leave genuine comments and the day I decided to do that in a week I had added over 50 followers.
great advise am one kind of person who has been doing that but thank you, sir, for your enlignment because I was once new here and you guys warmly welcomed me, looked at my posts so I believe its high time I give back too
Its human nature I guess to look at the reputation. But like you wrote we all did start at 25!
Day number two being on steemit and I was having a lot of questions about how it all works. But you explained that very nicely in your post! I would say the money aspect is a bonus, but interactions is a must like you said. It's the same way in everyday life.. if you don't interact with people then you won't have any friends. Thank you for all the good information! Have a great day
Glad to give you a head start! Like I wrote on your introduction post, it can get bumpy!
Try also to read the other comments, they are full of lost of tips!
That's the one thing I dislike the most, I don't care about the money or the upvotes, I only care about comments and talking to people. And it's very demoting to spend 3 hours writing an article and not get even one comment.
I don't even mind if people don't agree with anything I say, as long as we can have a good chat about it. Sadly though it rarely happens. I know you probably feel the same.
The platform doesn't really lend itself well to group discussions though. Most people only check back to see if anyone has replied to them personally, not check back on the post to see what everyone else has been saying. I'm guilty of that also, so can't complain too much.
I prefer the 'forum' type system where everyone talks in the one thread, and nice features where you can get notifications if someone has posted in a thread you're 'subscribed' to, stuff like that. Steemit just isn't really designed for socialising, more just a collection of standalone blogs and individual discussion.
Partly true. I do see Steem more as an enhanced blog platform in stead of a facebook contender.
To be honest, your comment yesterday did trigger me to write this post, so to go old style: some kudos to you :)
I do try to read lots of other comments on the post where I do comment on. Some of the comments are even better than the original post. This is the key to get noticed!
But in the end it all depends on the people itself. Are they placing a comment in the hope to get an upvote, or are they really trying to start an interaction.
And yes, I do like to disagree, this mostly turns out in the a fundamental discussion in which we can understand the viewpoints of other people better, and maybe after the discussion still don't agree, but we understand why the other has his opinion!
Using busy.org could help a little bit with the notification part. It is much more evolved than the Steemit interface. But for some reason I still use both.
Keep on writing @tradergurl because you will get noticed (I did notice you, I'm even a follower :)). I do read most of your post, but only comment if I can add something to the post. If I can place a genuine comment, I prefer to shut up. And this happens from time to time!
thanks, I've seen Busy mentioned a few times, but not sure what it's about. Is it a hard fork of Steemit, like a completely separate entity ?, or do they share the same backend and something posted on here is also posted on there and vice-versa ? Never looked into it.
It's shame that good posts on here only have a very short shelf life. People read the 'latest' posts, but I doubt many people go back and read all the persons previous posts. No point in upvoting them or commenting them because it'll never get seen by anyone, seems a waste. But then again the main source of income on here seems to be post as many one paragraph posts as possible per day for maximum income, doesn't matter how good or useful they are.
I think there are a lot of little improvements that could be made on Steemit, make it a bit easier to navigate. Like if I get a new follower, I don't know of any way to see who it was, unless I go through the entire list and look for a name I've not seen before, very labour intensive. It would be nice to have some kind of notification system. Private messages would be good, but I don't think that's possible with the public ledger system.
Let me get back to you this evening with an explanation about busy.org. In short it is just another front-end on the Steem blockchain! Have to run now, need to pick up my kids!
sure man no worries, been there lol
Like told before busy.org is just another frond end on the Steem blockchain. It do have some posive things and some things I do miss.
The pros:
Cons:
When you do log in, you have to connect via steemconnec. The password you use is the private posting key you do find in steemit permission!
If yo a referral link let me know. Making use of a referral link will mean that you would share 5% of your income with me for the first month. After the month the 5% share stops
otherwise you could just go to https://busy.org
Hope this helps!
Cool thanks ! I'll check it out. Do you normally post there or Steemit ?
I think a part of the problem is that many users think that exposure will amount to more money. And maybe on the short term, many can and will profit off "follow4follow" and all that nonsense, but that has no longevity because it essentially builds a fake social circle. Simply writing "good post well done great stuff" to 1000 posts will probably have less of an impact than writing 10 good and genuine comments.
I might be wrong however, just take a look at youtube promotion facebook groups, every single one of them is basically people subbing to each other's channel for no reason at all. It's nonsense. And it probably works and probably suppresses a lot of great content on youtube as well because there is simply no good way of promoting with a content-based approach.
We are on the same page! Still I did use some bots, to give this article some more attention. Not to make a profit of them. When I did start on Steemit, I was completely against the bots but I changed my mind to neutral. If it is done to give an article some more attention, then I can life with it!
The problem is that it is working. The more attention an article gets (paying bots to get in on Trending or Hot) will increase the visibility and will increase the number of followers. My posts will never be on Trending or Hot but at least they are genuine.
The problem for me with using bots, is that they could give you a false feeling of appreciation!
Thx for the genuine comment and dropping by!
I agree with so many points that you've written about. It can be hard to upvote all the great articles that I come across, so I try to leave a nice comment instead to support the author.
Steemit really is the place for interaction between users to help each other grow. Thank you for taking the time to write this post :)
Busy.org could be helpfull with the upvote part. For me it’s a great gift! Because I do have the slider there to upvote the comments on my postings!
I also did find it difficult to comment on a post without upvoting it.
Interaction is the key but it is a slow path to success!
Hi, I just followed and upvoted you :-)
Follow back and we can help each other succeed! @hatu
I assume that you did not read the article?
Good post. I agree. Follow for follow.
(Sometimes I just can't help myself)
😂
Seems like it.
Instead of requesting or demanding an upvote - actually contemplate the post and reply with a thoughtful comment that keeps the topic alive and trending.
Just trying to educate people! I we don’t so this they will never learn. And maybe they won’t learn but at least they will stay away from my posts!
How the little things matter 🖖🏼
Education is the key to opening the do of success.
The mire we can educate each other on how to successful manage steem the better this platform is for the members.
so much brillent idea dear brother
Good read! I always wondered about the low comment activity on steemit... sure money is a factor, but often commenting and discussing is fun for the sake of itself....
For sure it there is some banter involved!
But don’t be mistaken, genuine comment could be a small goldmine!
Banter must be it! ;-) I am with you it does, wonder why its underepresented...
It is hard to predict who like banter or will be ofended by it! It will come by tme. I know some people who do appreciate it. It just takes time to learn your community!
Thanks for great article.I like your speech.
More than the power of money, for me it is important that they take in view and accept my publications .. every time I get a point more category, I get excited because I advance in this great family ..
Indeed, we have to take small steps, one at a time. In the end it will pay off!
Very informative post. Interaction is a wonderful thing. there is so much to learn from the community on a wide variety of topics. The potential to earn is good but the feeling on interaction, meaningful conversation, is bliss
Thx dmilliz. Interaction and engagement or both important factors on the Steem blockchain!
And while it looks difficult, it has a steep learning curve!
I focusing less on the money part and more and more on the others. The money will come, if we keep on doing the rights things!
I am absolutely agree with you.Thanks for sharing the valuable information.
Oh look! My trading cards :D
I did not knew you created them. Great job!
Yeap, I created all 60 of the existing ones :D
Congratulations @fullcoverbetting!
Your post was mentioned in the Steemit Hit Parade for newcomers in the following category:
I also upvoted your post to increase its reward
If you like my work to promote newcomers and give them more visibility on Steemit, feel free to vote for my witness! You can do it here or use SteemConnect
Hi @fullcoverbetting
Thank you for much for this additional publicity and support, very kind of you!
Sorry I've only just caught up with ginabot, but I got there in the end.
As you've said, I'm pretty big on interaction and see it as a key element of a minnows steady rise to success here.
Thank you!
No prob. It can say thatI support the witness project or I can show it! My pubicity is maybe a small rimole in the ocean but all rimples together can cause a tsunami!
I you would make a banner of your witness project I will add it to my posts!
That was a very nice point right there, Peter. :) And yes, i do believe in the same way too. That is why I am also interacting with the people i bump into in this platform. It is also fun to interact. You get to know more cultures, you get to see how the world look like to other people in the opposite sides of the world. :) And also, the nicest is, you also learn from other people's experiences. That is the main reason why i am really loving steemit. Therr are fun games that you can join, a lot of friendly people. I haven't even been a month old yet but I am already hooked to steemit. Haha. :D It is not really just about the money but it is more about treating each other as family and that feeling of belongingness :)
Could have written this myself!
It is easy to get hooked up to the Steem blockchain! The money for me is merely a new nice side effect! I am just giving too much away!
But just like in real life! It is about giving and accepting!
I do firmly believe that interaction is the most important aspect on Steem. Like you have written down, it is nice to learn other people, getting to know how other people think about issues on Steem or even in the world!
Keep on being interactive and you will be fine!
Enjoy the steemit trip, but remeber it cab be bumpy some times!