It's like they introduced some form of injectable crack cocaine into the community and combined it with social assistance handouts all while thinking it was a good idea.
I see the damage it's doing to the neighborhood.
Others just keep driving and refuse to look.
We got one scurrying around in the shadows over here. Another one about to steal your bike over there. This one wants a cheeseburger. That one is offering you some new shoes on the cheap and out of the back of his fancy new Honda.
Now there are more coming in the back door.
They're everywhere!
The robots are coming!
The robots are coming!
"What kind of robots?"
For a ten spot you can pick one up from the side of the road.
Vote Smoking Robots of the Night
and the Pimps who Keep Them
The bots stand on the side of the road wearing their fancy clothes while acting like billboards as a way to promote hit posts and happy living.
Just try my vote. Come on, just once. You'll like it. Nobody ever died from their first hit. Don't worry, it's cool, everyone's doing it, and I'll throw in a free blowjob.
People see them and think hey, why not. No one will know.
All it takes is one though.
One vote and a nasty blowjob turn into a life of buying votes and nasty blowjobs. Everyone knows that.
Just one hit and you're headed straight to that dumpster where they throw out the three day old donuts because you think you left your lighter there.
Then your dealer pulls up in that fancy new Mercedes just in time for your next hit post so you quickly grab your donuts and it's the best day ever all over again.
What's going on here?
Simply take a drive down Trending Page Way and you'll see some of the vote dealers in action.
It's easy to see how some of those dealers have been dipping into their own supply. Just look at how high they are.
I won't mention any names because they'll just pout about it, go into denial mode, bring up the script about how it's all for a "good cause," bust off a couple caps in my ass, or worse; all four of those annoying reactions at once.
Hookers and dealers in the park, bragging up earning thousands of dollars per day selling their dope, sitting around injecting more rewards directly into their veins and for all to see.
What's up with that?
Isn't that park(reward pool) supposed to be for everyone?
A few won't even be courteous enough to warn viewers about how they are about to smoke some form of an article laced with advertising.
In Reality
or
My Attempt at Addressing a Few Problems like a Normal Person
Many who don't see what's truly going on behind the scenes tend to applaud these pill pushers dressed as tax collectors and hand them a vote simply for doing an awesome job.
My hero! You do such a good job! I like this post! Please vote for my posts now too! I love you! Please marry my daughter! She made soup just for you!
Many who are out of the loop don't realize that member did not earn that slot high up on the trending page. The post isn't there simply because people enjoyed it.
The post isn't there because of high ratings.
The slot was purchased.
Some of those high powered votes were bought and to be used for advertising/promotional purposes only. The member who paid for them knows that in advance.
Eventually, people are lured and duped into voting for an infomercial instead of that newest minnow's introductory post or a meme about reward pool rape.
Whoever engineers the bot that promptly removes the advertisements from the trending tab and puts them under the promoted tab(where they belong) once the use of these so-called promotion bots is detected will be a goddamn genius in my books.
That would finally help solve the issue with the trending page being consistently full of promotions, infomercials, paid programming and other forms of advertising that stand little to no chance of attracting a new member from the world that exists outside of Steemit, cryptocurrency, and the culture.
It has been said: "Steemit does not have advertisements."
That simple claim in itself has the potential to attract many people but instead, the first thing many see are advertisements and paid programming due to the use of these so-called promotion bots.
If an infomercial was the first thing you saw on television after turning it on, there's a strong chance you will immediately change the channel.
The problem gets worse when the advertiser doesn't inform the viewer that they are watching or reading an advertisement. That falls under false advertising which is typically frowned upon in our society.
I suggest any and all promoted posts come equipped with an advertisement icon that sits nicely beside the headline much like how we'd see a 100% Powerup post after it's published. A bot can easily sort that out. Majority of advertisements on the internet are now clearly labelled as such. Steemit is not above standard advertising practices.
Since removing the ads from the trending page could potentially mean people can only see the same handful of accounts trending multiple times per day, everyday, that problem could be resolved by simply limiting the number of trending posts an author can produce in a day to one. Rewards should never be equally divided, people should always have to earn their keep, but the playing field must remain equal. That's how every good game works. Everyone deserves the same opportunity. It's what they do with it that's up to them. If they keep seeing how they don't stand chance at winning, ever, they won't want to play.
Pay to play. Pay to say.
That wasn't in the Steemit brochure.
Fifty equals one?
Since when?
STEEM and SBD are some of the first cryptocurrencies people can earn simply by working and doing a good job. If investors lose interest, the content producers can still create value and invest time in the form of rewards back into the platform. There are far more writers, bloggers, vloggers, entertainers, artists, photographers and many other ers than there are crypto enthusiasts in this world. STEEM knows no bounds. A slippery slope. Would you prefer it if $50 worth of our tokens was actually meaningless and worth nearly nothing? How would your Steemit wallet look today if that were the case? If you were paid minimum wage and they suddenly came along to tell you what you're earning every hour isn't worth anything, would you be happy? If your song, meme, science paper about how to cure cancer, joke, artwork, essay about ducks, or extremely well written novel chapter was finally enough to earn your first $50, would you be impressed with your work if that only meant you finally got out of the negative? If someone then came along to tell you it would be in your best interest to purchase their insurance policy just so you can live, would you be impressed with your new master? If everyone was forced to purchase $50 worth of rewards from these new tax collectors just to be able to remain competitive, that would make $50 worth of rewards the new $1. Steemit has the potential to pull many people from around the world out of the state of poverty. But how can they succeed if all they're doing is stepping out of a poverty state and into a welfare state where in order to play they must pay to have a say? Who let the crooked politicians and televangelist types from our dark history inside the building? Do they really deserve another chance to mess things up for everyone? Think about it. Did you know, one of the easiest ways to make money as a Snake Oil Salesman is to simply enter a community, create a problem, then offer a solution for a fee? Tried, tested and true. That's been going on for centuries. We call those people advertisers now though. That's what changed. Problem: Tell people it's hard to get noticed on Steemit. Sound familiar? Many who buy votes do so at the last minute. They need a tank of gas so they write a shit post that nobody sees and then three days later they pay themselves just for living another day. That tells me one thing and one thing only. Those members simply don't care about views or exposure. They just want money beside their work, so they buy the money, which in that case holds no value and becomes a simple statistic. Just a number. Totally useless. Due to Steemit's notoriously short attention span, it's too late for views and any sort of "promoting" when the post is already three days old. If promoting was the real reason they purchased those votes, they've wasted their money. Those late purchased votes will not contribute towards any future success as a blogger. Those bought and paid for votes will not help anyone earn a solid following who's willing to offer a vote or two for free. When they stop buying votes, they see the end result of spending all that money. Instead of working hard to attract the high powered free votes, they become complacent, focusing only on posting whatever they thought was important that day, every few hours, didn't value their work, and bought their participation award. The need and desire to perform better is lost in a sea of thanks for showing up, here's your prize. They will have to either continue purchasing votes forever, step up their game while learning how to cope with life when not everything goes their way, or quit. And so are the Good Job Rewards. I conclude. Is it time to pull our heads out of our asses and wise up to this dangerous new drug taking Steemit by storm or should we just sit on our hands and let the place turn into Votejunkytown, USA? I've pointed out where the place is headed if nothing changes or gets worse. Property values do not rise in neighborhoods overrun by dope dealers. Those crooked politician types are only good at smiling for cameras and finding new ways to control people all while forcing the people to pay to be controlled. Property values do not rise when we put slumlords in charge. How much money do you have invested in this place? I have enough to say a lot and I know there are quite a few out there with more and even less who also care. I'm pretty damn sure the one thing we all have in common is seeing this place thrive and the property value rise. Lastly:
Solution: Buy the vote from the person who told you how hard it is to get noticed on Steemit.
Moving Along
Doing a good job is free.
Oh, for fuck sake, fine fine.
Here you go, my upvote
By the way, I appreciate and understand your dislike for advertisers, however I did pay for a couple of bots in a couple of posts 4-5 days ago because I wanted to give a boost, since I am finding very slow to make money, been noticed (post that are seen by 100 people and only 10 votes!).
It was bullshit, it is not paying me back very much and I have to deal with making 30 Steem Power a month, which I find quite miserable.
Oh well, that's life.
Should I show you my posts from long ago that have around 1000 views now and only a few dollars or cents beside them... then point at my wallet... then mention how what you earn today is for tomorrow and not now? :)
If I had that right now gimme gimme attitude I would have quit long ago and maybe purchased a few packs of smokes and a case of beer for my efforts. I think that would have made me miserable.
What you do though is up to you. I can only speak from my experience. Imagine how hard it was to earn when there weren't any shortcuts or magic slot machines that don't always pay off.
I can imagine, I am being patient. HHHOoooooooom
I have build a youtube channel of 16k subscribers out of nowhere. I can do this. I just have committed to too many things and there are too many days where I prefer to produce rather than showcase what I do.
Patience is my second name, baby!
I'm just curious. How much did you pay Youtube?
EXACTLY ZERO! No promo, it is google adsense paying me for the views!
Exactly!
So why in the actual fuck are people allowing themselves to be taken to the cleaners by Snake Oil Salesmen?
The ads pay us, the content producers. Not the other way around!
Silly people...
obviously because it is too tempting and too easy to do. People like to do things in the easy way, they have to heat their head against the wall "to understand the pain".
I wonder if many of the bot vote buyers also buy likes and followers on other networks? When I first joined, so many bots commented on my posts that I was wondering if any real people were on Steemit. It was pretty off putting.
I know enough not to buy "likes"or followers or whatever. I make my living selling my art and merch with my designs. I want to build a following for my art. Of people who hopefully might actually buy some one day. Not of bot votes... Dial up bbs's died, IRC chat rooms died, MySpace died, Facebook is dying, Steemit will probably be replaced with something new & better in 5-10 years tops. But if I can build some solid relationships with people who like my art in that time - that's why I'm here. Steem/crypto is icing on the cake.
You've been in the business long enough to know how it works. Many people here heard make money online! They quickly signed up with little to no experience, but they want that money! So they... get this... they buy it! < insert cheesy laugh track here >
Now if that isn't the stupidest thing you ever heard, you must be listening to a kazoo too much.
As an artist, would you ever have the nerve to conclude your latest work is your best and good enough to be trending because you say so? You can name your price, but it's up to everyone else to decide whether or not it's worth purchasing.
It's no different for anyone writing an article, sharing some photography, producing a vlog, musicians, entertainers. We're not allowed to say, "this is the best because I fucking say so."
Now I'm ranting... better calm down.
Well, now I want to paint "This is the best because I fucking say so" on a canvas and price it for like $50K.. :P lol If it was up to me every piece I paint would be trending, I usually like the art I create. A lot of artists I'm friends with are forever posting about how much they hate their most recent work in progress... I don't get that. I'm usually more like "Wow I did that? Awesome!" lol Of course that doesn;t mean I think everyone else should like my art, just that I'm lucky in a way that I DO like the art I make. It makes it easier to ignore haters... I'm fond of this meme for haters
Hey! I like mine too... but that doesn't make it the best. For me to find out the truth on Steemit, I'd have to create something awesome and hope to see votes which would bring more views, then maybe more votes, then more views, then more votes... and that is story of how to trend the honest way.
Maybe the title of my next post will be, "This is the best because I fucking say so."
By the way, you better abstain from voting for awhile. Let your power charge up. It's nearly down to 10% of it's full potential.
The other day I red an article geared towards newbies that said to vote a lot, basically the gist was 10% of almost nothing is not much worse than 100% of almost nothing. Is that not good advice? lol
Use this: https://www.steemnow.com/@adammillwardart
You want to vote a lot, but also keep your voting power near the top. It's a balancing act. The reason I can dish out so much for these comments is because I'm only using 10% power votes and under, in most cases.
Right now, my voting power is at about 67% which means I can only give about $3.44 if I dish out a full 100% vote. I'd prefer to give out more, but I vote too much as well. Also, I'd get higher curation rewards if my vote power was at a higher level... and so does everyone else.
The article was basically saying nothing is nothing so until your votes are worth something, vote a lot. Even at full power I get like 3-4 votes that are worth a penny, then it's so small it doesn't even register. When my votes are worth more I'll be more careful with it for sure. In the meantime, I'll at least stop upvoting every comment when I have a conversation with someone lol
yesssssssssssssssssssss. throw it around, I say. What the hell are we holding onto it for??? It's not like it's making ME money in my hand. VOTE for people. if we actually VOTED then maybe there wouldn't be a need for bots??? hmmmmm? lololol (and after voting for your comments and nonameslefttouse... i now have 15.04% I am never gonna see another 100% vote until I am out of internet range.
Great post and very well written. Good use of the different fonts and text sizes.
Simple comment, I come here to share what I do and check out what others are up to. I skip over the spam and copied material and seek out original content that I can learn from or inject an opinion about.
That’s what this site should be all about.
Thanks for sharing.
You are definitely not the only one. So what do you propose?
I'll resteem this tomorrow at a more prime time.
It's not mean if you're telling the truth man, it's simply direct and to the point ;)
wellllllll hello there @dreemit hehehehehe long time no see ;) (left - and came back. long story won't get into it - but hi!) :)
Heyyy, it's my sister from another mister!!! How have you been my friend??
better now!!! :) i'm running out the door but i will catch up with you (write you a proper message) very soon! maybe tonight hehehehe
Not much to do. Why do you want to change the state of things? That would even be boring.
Accept that we are surrounded by assholes and we are splendid bright dragons flying in this sea of shit.
That's steemit, a big latrine where we all join and shit and pee our bullshits.
Lol, we are definitely bright dragons, or maybe fireflies- everyone I've come to know in this place. Some of which want to see the shit and pee cleaned up, and I care about the people who feel that way, and that's my reason :)
I propose people learn what advertising is all while Steemit Inc. finds it a proper home. Everything else I said too.
For me personally, it's becoming harder and harder to find a logical reason to put so much work into my posts knowing full well I've hit a wall that can't be broken without handing money over to a dope dealing middleman.
Even for this post to get attention, I'd have to purchase that crack and smoke it up like there's no tomorrow. That tells me one thing. Those bastards found a way to silence the opposition as well. Would a dictator tell you they're a dictator or would they find a way to blend in with everyone else?
I don't know what else to say but I know for a fact I'm not the only blogger here who refuses to purchase that snake oil. Look at all these views I get without purchasing those damn votes. All that took was a bit of elbow grease with a hint of dedication combined with thinking about tomorrow instead of today.
I'm just rambling now....
I just found another minnow who spent 15 frickin SBD on a post that now has 19 views if you don't include my own. What-the-fuck? So I guess that's another wallet that won't be growing any time soon...... Just add it to the list of thousands now.
I gave this some thought @nonameslefttouse. Not sure what is best way to illustrate to the minnows they are hindering their natural growth that quality content gets on its own. Unless they are just shit posting then yep they going need those votes.
In the past I can think of two instances where because I was consider way undervalued I received help from different community. They promoted the blog they liked and gave me some nice upvotes. My most recent one was 20 days ago ended up going to $36.94 and my all-time one of $131.72 was a while back. It would have never happened if I had been buying upvotes. I would not have qualified as I would have been earning too much per post and per week on both of those to have been considered.
Because of that I was featured in a few places and got a small uptick in growth from people who would never see my blogs.
Instead they choose to be crackheads and had to work 12 times as hard to equal 2 of my successes assuming they are averaging $7 posts not including cost or curation cuts. They seem to be selling themselves out for even less then nothing.
That not even including all times people stop by just to be nice and toss a little extra in.
Not to mention if these people ever get down voted they run the risk of losing a fair amount of money.
The people who take what they earn and power it up also tend to appeal more to those willing to vote for free.
I was gone for a few months. When I came back, the place was different. I noticed a few shit posts with high rewards, then I read the comments and saw the vote bot spam. From there, I checked wallets. I haven't stopped doing that. I always look to see how much they actually earn. It's peanuts in most cases. Totally not worth it.
Once I saw minnows spending $40 SBD when that was worth around $400 US dollars for a few shit views and maybe an extra minnow vote or two, I started to get really pissed off. In most cases, those people didn't even know that they could have bought $400 worth of STEEM and powered it up with those SBD to see a far greater profit. SBD shot up, STEEM followed after. Many of them could have thousands of dollars worth of SP sitting there today in their wallets. They'd even be seeing higher curation rewards. Their votes would be worth more to others. Instead, they gave it all to a middleman who didn't feel like even offering the fine print to read. Now, if that isn't fucking dirty, I don't know what dirt is anymore.
The benefits down the road far outweigh this instant gratification bullshit... but who's explaining this to them?
I don't think anyone is explaining it to them - and I don't think that MOST want to hear the truth. They want the illusion of "I can have a shortcut to financial prosperity and here it is!"
There are so many tutorials and guides and helps and tweaks.... it's completely overwhelming for the few that actually DO want to use the platform correctly. It's sad - it's totally heartbreaking because you're right - had some of the minnows that you mentioned just invested in the platform directly - it would have paid off for them in a real way! But -sometimes people have to learn the hard way. unfortunate - but effective.
I came in Nov 2016. left in March 2017 and came back in Dec 2017?? maybe Jan 2018. Like you - I came back to a different place (and it was getting bad in March 2017!!!) I didn't leave because I was tired of steemit. I left for other reasons, but the fact that it was getting difficult with steemit certainly didn't help.
My point is - I came back and still had to RELEARN so much stuff - and where do you start? who do you trust??? HOW do you know that THIS way or THAT way is the best?
bots have always scared me cuz i'm a control freak. i'm a manual voter cuz i want the power to say who and when and how much. hahaha so I took the time to build...but half the newbies in here don't want to take the time to build!!! and the other half WOULD take the time but they don't know who to turn to and end up getting jaded.
Honestly - HONESTLY. One person told me a very long time ago... (and this was not related to steemit - but related to a seemingly impossible situation that we needed to fix)... he said "Start with one." simple and so profound.
There are enough people who you know in here - that have the same attitude as you. You're not gonna make a post that's gonna have all the minnows swimming your way as their great savior. LOL the steemit ocean is too big.
But if you spoke to the people who know YOU and trusted YOU (in a post directed at them) and really convinced them to start with one, I think that would be the start of a real solution. Find one minnow that looks promising. One that WANTS to contribute, but just needs to be helped a little bit. Help them. That's how change happens. Cuz they will find someone to help. and so on.
I STILL remember my angels in disguise in the beginning. and I still have angels in disguise that are helping me NOW.
It might seem daunting. but it's really not. that's how all change begins.
I do not have any power. lol. none. but that doesn't stop me from talking to other minnows and encouraging them and helping them and pointing the way, connecting on discord, connecting in comments... etc.
you obviously have a way with words. and you obviously have enough of a presence to be seen to get people to interact. so YOU do it lol
rally people to help. don't try to change the system. just start with one.
Chat's back up, just throwing that out there.
Damn Bruv, preach! You are absolutely right... I'm starting to see that this platform is quite flawed. You can just pay your way up, It's true... And now I started with these crack dealers, I've gone crooked too. It defeats the purpose of curating quality content :,(
I dare say I'm starting to have doubts. But one things fo sho' I was happy to see your post pop up, I was expecting a laugh, but I'm even more happy with the change of pace and truth bombing... Do you think we're gonna make it though?
I hope so, blessings bro!
I tried to sneak a few laughs in there.
How has buying votes been treating you?
It's true, Roblowjobs are funny, but you touched upon a very serious issue here...
They aren't creating as many new votes as I thought they would. They seem needed as a minnow to get your content into hot at the beginning. It also seems like a smart investment when Steem is on the rise, but I think I might be better off putting all of it into Steempower... What do you think?
From day one, I put nearly everything I earned into SP. I'd focus on my art and the way I can attract attention with my words. Much like fishing, I'd wait patiently or keep casting until I got a few bites. It takes time, but I did well. Better than many. Now I can give back with a higher powered vote, but it seems like people don't want it. All of that work I put into this vote of mine now seems useless because people can just purchase that amount. Sure, my vote would be pure profit but some would sooner slap me in the face and say a $3.00 vote isn't enough.
What you do is up to you. If you want to spend money, do that. If you want to make money, do that.
preach.
Where you said it seems like minnows need it... the reason why it's not helping is because so many others do it. Even if $5 becomes the new $0... all of you buying votes just end up blending together. They don't help at all.
Agreed, I'll keep fishing, II might throw a little chum for while though... but voting bots are definitely killing the quality and equality...
One team shouldn't be running uphill on the football field while the other team runs downhill. The playing field must be leveled. Not everyone scores a goal every game, but each player is just as important.
That's true, I need to find my team, then assists are wins too 🤓✌🏽
The humans are trying cook again. I just hope they did not tear a hole in space-time continuum like last time. I would explain to them they are really in Milk Way 2 but that a long story. After reading this its worse than I thought. We will need roll out a new galaxy they turn this one into Crack’r’us.
I try and avoid looking at the trending pages it’s just depressing most of the time.
I just fail to understand why people are so allured toward some of these posts. It’s like trying wipe your butt with sandpaper and people act like they enjoy it by upvoting and commenting it. I guess some of these people would enjoy paying a premium to get a 20 year old used playboy magazine that been so used not a single page is not stuck together.
I just hope all the funny people don’t leave the platform. It will get real depressing mighty fast.
If I were to buy votes for a post that included jokes I wrote, that would be much like purchasing the seats at a comedy club and either performing in front of empty chairs or a few friends that I paid to laugh at certain times. That vote buying nonsense simply doesn't work for artists of any kind so of course it's going to end up pushing us out the door.
Sounds like we going need a Steemit rehab center. I'm sure many will be coming down off the high of SBD. I don't want know how these crackheads are going deal with it since they been enjoying the SBD more then rest of us.
I been focusing more on community as of late. Just get tired everywhere I look there something going down and a bunch of pockets are being lined.
My feed been drying up again. Many people seem to be going inactive again or have cut down there posting by a lot.
My feed is drying up as well. I dropped a few who were buying votes with every post though. I just got sick of reading advertisements on my feed. That's why that little icon I recommended would come in handy. It wouldn't take long to figure out who's here to blog and who's here to spew nonsense with the hopes of making a quick buck.
Hey, but how the hell else am I gonna get my quality work noticed. It's the only way
I spend hours on creating quality work and if I don't pay for votes then no-0ne will see it.
Damn man, the mail on the head you have hit, again and again!
I wish that it could be shown is a post was paid for. Too many times people go to the trending page (I don't) and assume that posts up there are there because they are good. When in actual fact a good deal of them are paid to be there.
Anyway, a lifetime of nasty blowjobs. Who could live at that speed!?
This was near the top of the trending page. That's how much this fucking idiot spent on making an ass out of himself to announce he'll be a witness.
The fucking nerve of some of these people. The nerve, I tell you!
I saw a photography post up nice and high. It was also a goddamn advertisement. That one didn't even take the photos. They simply found photos and talked about the photographers. People in the comments were offering praise to the author for taking such nice photos!
Is everyone on glue!
Everyone is on glue. That is all it can be.
This is the worst of it all. The more it happens and it is the more it is normalised and as you have rightly said new people think. This is what they have to do when coming in. Hows that going to help with the people who think its scammy. smh
Before I start... personally, I agree that the current vote-buying ecosystem is toxic. What I don't know is:
I can't remember if I've talked with you about this before... but I am fairly certain in order for content creators to keep making money, someone has to be interested in purchasing STEEM.
The reason for this is simple: if there is no one to buy STEEM, nobody can sell it. If nobody can sell STEEM, it becomes meaningless.
Let's say we do figure out a way to stop the vote-buying and other behaviours we deem toxic. Why, then, would anyone buy and/or power up STEEM?
I can answer this question for myself and only myself: I buy and power up STEEM so that my vote is worth more and so that one day, I might be able to spread out my votes a bit more meaningfully like you do. However, I am not so deranged as to think everyone is that nice. There is simply no economic incentive for anyone to buy STEEM if we silence people who buy it to advertise themselves. Like it or not, I think we need advertisers to sustain our platform.
I know you've talked about the Promoted tab. As nice as it would be if that were the solution to our problems, I don't click on that and I bet most people don't. It's like #postpromotion in Steemit.chat; it's a dumping ground and nothing more. It's broken.
What do you think?
d0e73dd92363752306161132d0e8bcdbf3ac185cd186a19670e9793edca3cc84
Ignore that. It's completely unrelated. Seriously; it's a proof of existence hash for something and I needed somewhere to plop it on the blockchain, and I powered up all my STEEM without thinking and forgot to leave 0.001 to send to myself with a memo.
The moment those bots are being used for what they claim to be, and once people can't buy "trending" status because the ads are placed where they belong... things change.
Who will buy STEEM?
Content producers have a fancy way of attracting advertisers. REAL advertisers. Not these dope dealing vote junkies. Advertisers can buy STEEM and pay us, the content producers, to run ads on our blogs. That turns into being a huge win. Not just for those fortunate enough to have blogs that generate ad revenue either. Everyone.
If people say they don't want ads, then I'll just simply point at the promotion bots and paid programming on the trending page and ask, "What's that?" .... It's too late, the place has ads, that's a fact, can't change that unless the promotion bots go away.
If people would learn how advertising works, they'd be earning instead of paying. Unfortunately, many here are new to the entertainment industry. They have no idea how things actually operate. They treat their blogs like a facebook post, because that's all they know. Content consumers attempting to be content producers, scratching their heads, wondering why they're not getting paid.
People would want to buy STEEM in order to create and moderate communities, possibly, so they too can generate ad revenue as well as curation rewards for their efforts.
Many crypto enthusiasts don't understand how the entertainment industry works either. The entertainment industry generates billions of dollars per year. If people would only realize the true potential of this place, they'd quickly realize many investors from the crypto world aren't needed for the place to function and thrive as intended.
Once the entertainment industry gets involved and starts making money here, why wouldn't the investors want a piece of that action?
Wow haha! I loved this write up. I'm not sure exactly how you feel about vote buying though 🙃
Since my time on Steemit I have used resteem bots. I haven't dipped into the vote buying kool aid. There is something major happening. Everyday I read something new about someone creating a new voting bot. They create a bot and set a percent and let 'er rip. I understand it takes time to manually do things, but it is social media. We should do good work and have people actually read it and vote. We should take our natural low votes and no attention to work harder and make better posts. Time will work it out. We just happen to live in a moment in history where no one has time to wait for anything..instant everything. That may not be the exact bot style you are talking about, but if we take the people out of it we will no longer be social media haha.
Those votes are valuable to me. The ones that come in naturally. They mean something. It's like being handed a paycheck at the end of the week, for working.
How much value would there be behind a paycheck that you can simply pluck off of a tree?
Now, what if everyone had to stand in line just to wait for their chance to pick from the tree of paycheck?
Would that resemble a breadline?
It gets worse. They're charging a fee for that bread.
The last remaining few who feel like socializing are only left with negative thoughts and ideas, because what else is left? "They make us pay for free bread? This is wrong."
The me first and the gimme gimmes(instant gratification) crowd push, riot and trample their way to the front of the line. Many perish. They didn't know any better.
That's what people want? Did they even think about it?
Yeah, I don't know. It is hard to tell if people actually know what they want. They have an idea that Steemit pays. I wonder if they understand there is a perpetual spiral of death built into it.
and preach again. lol
ok - i'm going to stop reading your comments now, cuz i can't stop upvoting them. anyway - i've commented like 15 times on this post. that's enough from me LOL
Yes. With all due respect, I mean this as nicely as I can say it, I appreciate your support... but please refrain from cheer leading and conducting personal conversations that don't have anything to do with the post. It's just cluttering up the comment section. ...and I'm not preaching. I was attempting to speak to these people.
Absolutely - I got caught up a rabbit trail and did apologize for that and moved our conversation to another more appropriate place! Very sorry for that!
but the "preach" did not have to do with actual preaching. it's a colloquialism that means - you're hitting the nail on the head and you ARE speaking right to the heart of the matter. I forget that this is an international platform where certain phrases may be unfamiliar. And I didn't take any disrespect by your comment - thanks for saying that so politely!
and you weren't only speaking to "these" people. you were speaking directly to me! and i thank you for that! After i left a comment for you (somewhere in this thread - again - my fault lol) encouraging you to do something since you clearly have the voice, and the ability to rally people... i decided... why wait for someone with a powerful voice? why not just do it myself? I don't have to have a strong voice to impact those around me. I just need to DO SOMETHING and stop talking about it.
so - i do appreciate that! and i'm looking forward to seeing what my little plan can do for my own little community! Have a great day and thanks for being willing to speak out!
That was a hilarious comparison!
The more the reader pays attention, the deeper this article seems to go.
Right now, I don't even know what's the point of the 'Promoted' tab. What's even in there? When was the last time I even checked?...
Moving over the Big Guys' posts to that tab seems like a working solution for the other Smaller New Guys to be seen by the masses.
Exactly! Simply move the advertisement style stuff over to the promoted tab, where it belongs, and give the glaring majority of members here a fair shake at gaining true trending status for simply doing something awesome. Nobody loses money. As a matter of fact, thousands of members would stand a greater chance of earning more through either posting, or just straight up watching the value of the tokens rise due to more people realizing and believing in the full potential of the STEEM blockchain.
Something so simple, yet impossible for your average crackhead to be able to figure out on their own.
Also, the happiness of seeing your blog grow organically, without the use of bots, is like attaining enlightenment while being highest of the high. I'm neither enlightened nor have I been high, so I've no idea what I'm talking about.
Very good post! I’m not too long in steemit comunity, but I have already noticed many things I didn’t like. I’m very concerned if nothing changes the Steem will go down the toilet. There are also few people with very high Steem power, if you don’t agree with them, they just downwote you. There are also people posting just a junk, such as YouTube video as you mentioned in your post, after few days they upvote the post with good amount of $ since they have a high Steem power. There are also people with high Steem power upvoting senseless posts and than the author of this post transfers good amount of Steem back to them for their upvote. I don’t thing the issue is with the litle guys begging for an upvote, it’s kind of funny. I think the issue is up there much higher.
Thank you for this post!
The biggest lesson any minnow can learn from this is to start voting for each other and ignore the advertisements under the trending tab. That would help far more people than just someone who wants attention for a few days.
I really enjoyed your sarcastic take on vote buying, it made me laugh even though my investment is suffering at the hands of local crack-heads.
Well, there's no point in trying to say these things like a robot. Nobody seems to listen or care if you do. I've always preferred the type of reader it takes to be able to comprehend this style of writing. They usually have a good head on their shoulders. It's easier to make a point when you don't have to spend time drawing someone diagrams and a map that shows how to find the treasure.
These crackheads and the dope dealers though... history already proved me right. What more can I really say...
I am completely with you, when I see the diagrams I run for the hills lol
I have never spent a dime of my own money on Steemit. I am a blogger, writer, poet, musician and commentator. I post and comment and my investment is my time. When I first started Steemit May 2017 I looked at the trending page and promo stuff, but was not impressed. Buying advertising takes the purity out of this platform. I would rather get acknowledged for my own merit. I would rather spek to the heart rather than the pocket book. Thanks for a worthwhile post of info that probably needed a conversation.
My suggestions hidden inside this mess of a post would at least give people a reason to look at the trending tab again. Much of what you said here I wholeheartedly agree with.
I laughed, I cried, (from laughing) and laughed some more.
Thank you! I tried to lace this thing with humor but I think much of it got lost in underlying message. It's good to able to laugh too. So glad someone did!
Your humor softened the blow of the harsh upvote bot reality of Steemit. I'm still finding my way around, so I don't know that I can offer an educated opinion on the subject, but I certainly see your point. After reading several other posts regarding the upvote bots, I will say, as a newbie, that the bots negatively skew what I understood to be the mission of Steemit. That being said, your is a classic, in so many ways. You had me at your title, and held me tight all the way through to your closing line, "I was fine with cocaine...." LOL The analogy is perfect.
If you go to the trending page right now, you'll see this post.
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She spent the equivalent of 1200 US dollars to be sitting in that slot right now. Nowhere in the post does it mention how promotion bots were used to get it that high under the "trending" tab. If you read it closely, you'll see how it's an advertisement promoting a few witnesses. Nowhere inside that post does it mention how it's actually a promotion. It's straight up false advertising.
That's a perfect example of how people are being mislead. Then they waste their votes paying attention to that person, instead of someone like you, who's posting honest material.
When was the last time you paid Walmart for dropping a flyer off in your mailbox?
Ironically, she states, "Do you remember when Facebook used to be awesome? No ads, no autoplay videos- No spam? Every 5th post is now a sponsored ad. " Umhmmm. In addition to all the upvote bots, I also noticed she upvoted herself. I promise I am not a stupid person, but it didn't even dawn on me until today that I could upvote myself. lol
It's only ironic when you know the truth! Most don't... unfortunately.
I upvote myself. I started out here with nothing. I didn't know anyone. I saved nearly everything I earned and locked it in as steempower. Yes, my vote is worth about $4 and up on a good day now. Then notice the votes I hand out in my comment sections. I always make it my goal to give out more in the comments than what my self vote was worth, and I usually do.
Think about a busker in the park. If they have a bit of change and a few bills in a hat or an open guitar case, more will come. If it's empty, chances are it stays empty. Some of them actually drop a few coins before they perform because they know this. They won't get more though, if they don't perform well.
Now, think of the street beggar. They too know the old put money in the cup ahead of time trick, so they do it. More money comes, but they are not performing. They just sit there. We call that a con artist.
You'll see some of these con artist type self voters around. They write nonsensical comments and upvote themselves multiple times per day and every single time they say something.
Money does strange things to people...
I hate to sound so negative though. I believe in the place and I know quite a few truly amazing people. It's not all bad. Just a few crackheads here and there!
I left you a reply in another thread but more relevant here.
Another analogy I like to use is, if Steem were a sport, upvote bots would be the juice, the steroids, that can help a lazy asshole become a champion.
This is what has been normalized. Something that should be frowned upon has become the de facto standard for "success". It's load of shit.
I'd much rather stick to growing my followers through genuine engagement and hard work than using paid shortcuts.
Great post! I need to take some notes from the markdown you use. Something about it seems to make it more engaging. Keep it up, bud.
Yup. Like the Steroid Olympics. I think I used that one awhile back in another post.
What you'd much rather do, is exactly what I did. It works. And so does proper formatting and adding your own style.
Sorry if I missed your comment before. It's hard to keep up some days, but I try my best. Thanks for reading this.
I have noticed as well so I decided to mute anyone who interacts with vote apps, along with it
Many people have been doing the same thing. Either muting or abstaining from voting for posts that use paid votes... therefore, it's only making the situation harder for new minnows, not easier.
Well firstly, newbies should have fully read the helpful posts made by older users by now..
Nevertheless, I decided or made my absolute determination that one could make is to have a tactic like that of an intern.
Since we know that
Therefore, I will genuinely progress or participate with content, that intrigues, of bigger sea creatures. That's what my independent resolve is
Most of the information out there doesn't cover the things I mention from time to time. They completely avoid it or they're promoting something like paid votes so they sell the idea rather than explaining the concept along with pros and cons. To them, it's all good! ... but that's the same way they sell greasy cheeseburgers too.
Well they want new people to give to the community so we plankton and minnow have to promote to see attention
Attention doesn't just come to you. You're supposed to make that happen. What's the difference if you have $0 beside your work and $10 beside your work if everyone buys $10? Nothing. No difference. You're still not being handed your attention. It takes work and know how to get attention. Learning is free.
First, I missed your previous post “Mean” with that said lesson learned, never underestimate your wife. BTW: make sure not to ring the door bell when going to rob the house, not even by an old habit.
Now, regarding “Crack”
I hope I’m getting this right. I know there is a whale war and from what I can tell the conflict goes like this.
The reward pool used to reward every poster and curator is limited each day. A couple whales (users with a lot of Steem Power) have enough power to claim a large percentage of this reward pool if they vote regularly each day. That results in fewer rewards for everyone else when used to a certain extend. This actually hurts everyone and rich get richer.
Welcome to the real world....
Thanks for the insights @nonameslefttouse. I'm new enough that I don't understand the ins and outs of the platform, but I'm glad for a healthy dose of skeptical analysis.
Every now and again I'll blast everyone with my strange way of telling the truth. So much gets swept under the rug. I'm a firm believer that if more people would just put down the crack pipe and start looking out for each other, they'd be able to climb the same ladder I once had in front of me. Even for someone established, that ladder is slowly disappearing and turning into a shit-show of people attempting to climb a greased pig. Something like that.
Haha nice analogy =]
Cooperation over competition, I like that idea.
Even though I would like to pay for the vote if it gives me more than I pay (Why would I not take profits). But for an established blogger, it's just admitting that you need to pay to get your post up.
There are some exceptions of course when you've made some giant ass amazing article that shines with golden rays and you want to share it with more people but don't have big enough fanbase right now.
So, tell me which post of mine was the funniest. Which post had the best art. Then tell me how I was supposed to know, in advance, how those jokes were funny and how I was supposed to know, in advance, that people would enjoy the art.
Once you realize it's impossible for me to know in advance, then you'll be able to figure out why I can't purchase a vote.
I am not the judge of how good my own work is. In my opinion, only a self-righteous asshole would assume their art form is worthy enough to trend before people even have a chance to see or read it.
If my only option is to purchase a vote, then I must leave. Simple.
I didn't just grow a fanbase overnight. I didn't just get to where I am in a day. I had to struggle to get started and that only made me want to push harder and do a better job, hence, where I am today.
Those tiny profits offered by the dope dealers are piss compared to what you can earn the honest way.
It's not that bad for a newcomer to get more publicity with boost. Not for the sake of money but to get recognition. But spamming it won't do good for him probably ye.
If you went to the bank and took out $20, then gave it to yourself, would the bank give you a round of applause?
If you painted an awesome picture, then put a $20 price tag on it, then used the $20 bill you took from the bank to purchase your own art, would people applaud you? :)
But what if I pay 20$ for my picture to get to a huge gallery and get recognition from a lot of people who will then auction it starting from 20$ price? :D
Then you're stepping into the world and business model that helped create the starving artist.
The only thing about that gallery is that you get what you have paid for it back. So you get a free marketing and also a couple more customers.
You've certainly narrated the whole scenario here, I mean these infomercials are really not even known by people, they see a trending post and they believe it's certainly the choice of the people for it to trend and also they ignorantly make it trend too, while the amazing blog post of the commoner languish in 0.20 cent
And some of those folks say they're doing it for a good cause...
There are no good cause because what's in it for them, these folks never even think about supporting then newbies and underrated posts, just them alone with their selfish rewards
They don't hide it either. It hurts morale, brings people down and some of them only smile bigger.
Well it's decentralized here, one can even hardly move a foot as painful as it's gets every time
My suggestion to you folks trying to find your way in this mess is always to simply stick together. Focus on each other instead of those who seem greedy to you. Don't let them bring you down. Allow those who are just like you to help bring you up. Start looking out for each other. With so many minnows around, there's no reason why your posts can only get a few votes at a time. Start small, grow big.
Wow no lo sabia amigo, gracias por aportar información, saludos :D
Mi español no es muy bueno, así que google me ayuda. Solo pensé que debería mencionar eso.
Wow did not know friend, thanks for contributing information, greetings: D
When I first joined I used a couple of voters to test them. But that was a mistake. People will naturally give an upvote if you communicate and produce something appealing to eyes.
Like a Meanchester :d
A Bot upvoted me. Now it burns everytime I pee. Should I see a Doctor? LOL
I love this its so accurate and straight to the point are we all addicted to the steemit way of life?
Some people might be addicted to a certain way of getting a cheap high in form of rewards. Even they know they can't stop now.
Sometimes you just wonder.
Haha nice! The part with the mail man cracked me up, my dad delivers mail.
I knew this meme would show up! LOL!
You already know my dude.
Good ol' Tyrone Biggums. That is the only thought that comes to mind when I think of crack.
This was a wonderfully written post, I just had to add in my comedic relief on top of your metaphoric rhetoric.
I went from thinking he sounded like a cute kid who didn't get the gift he wanted for his birthday, to wanting to break his fingers he kept sliding through the slot. Too funny.
I'm not 100% sure, but I think that's a woman. I probably pay them a dollar to go away though. That's a good deal if you ask me.
Probably only wanted that dollar so they’d have something to roll up and put up their nose for a supreme inhalation of that fresh albino powder.
a very good post my friend I was very interested when reading it @nonameslefttouse I will resteem.
Thank you.
same my friend i will always follow you.
very original way of looking at the old machine....
THANK YOU FOR YOUR POST
YOU ALSO HAVE A NICE DAY
Thank you for your comment.
I will.
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This is really interesting
Thanks for your great information from this type of posts we new are can take some good step. And its helpful for new on steemit.
yeah
@abirhasan63
To overcome the trouble of human life, something interesting will be done
best post ever !!!
Flagged for spam. You've been leaving this comment on other posts as well. That in turn murdered the credibility of the service you're offering, in my humble opinion.