This is something that has made me cringe for the later part of my Steem journey.
I know I'll get heat and hate for saying what I believe is the truth, although, my intention is not to create drama, but to change the minds of most content creators.
On Steem we have a really big issue, and it relies on the fact that most content creators really care too much about the money that is to be made here.
The problem with this way of thinking and the main reason no one from the outside is really compelled to consume content on this network resides on the fact that what is posted here is mostly irrelevant to anyone that isn't already on this platform.
Why?, you might ask yourself.
Well, because most creators here focus only on reaping rewards from whales/dapps by creating content based on given guidelines that only follow the whale's own agenda, which the content creator ignores, or chooses to ignore. This leads to a torrent of spammy posts that are very far from interesting or valuable.
Remember: money talks.
Nothing wrong about that. But when not a single content creator that gets some kind of exposure is pushing out anything truly original and interesting to the outsiders, and every one of them is repeating what the other did because they see them getting big upvotes, then this becomes a big fat circle of users jerking off one another, and a collection of uninteresting blabbering.
Please prove me wrong on the comments by linking exceptional content posted exclusively on the Steem Blockchain, that has organically reached the trending pages. At least this way this post will serve a greater purpose.
In other words, most users are here for the money and not for making stuff that they really believe in. Because those who do, don't get properly rewarded, and end up leaving or switching their content strategy into the dapp/whale ass-lickery for profit. Period.
No originality, and a never ending regurgitation of "thoughts" and "opinions" of content creators just playing it safe mostly repeating someone else, and that no one, not even steemians themselves, really care about.
"Oh but wait greencross, don't you see there are countless of posts with original and exciting content like paintings, music, comedy sketches, photography, travel vlogs and so on?"
Yes there are, but guess what?: the whales who could really help make this content visible and motivate the creators to keep creating (while driving outsider traffic to the platform) really don't give a steeming pile of crap about it. Unless, the content created is about shilling the whale's project or a dapp running on the Steem blockchain that they have some kind of monetary agreement with.
When there would be content creators pushing out material that would add real value to the people outside Steem, and the whales would support them, then, and only then, there will be actual consumers from the "outside world" interested in what's going on here, and taking an active part on the discussion.
Sadly, the type of content that would drive normal users to Steem doesn't get rewarded at all, and doesn't get true engagement because it falls short of requirements to get an upvote from most of those whales.
Unless these creators start giving value to themselves and their creativity, this will just look like a fest of dapp/whale ass lickers, circle jerkers and people flossing fancy equipment they bought with Steem to prove to other steemians their superiority, while masking it as proof that the economics here really work (like if we didn't know that already).
Kudos go to curation initiatives like C-Squared, Curie, etc that are rewarding outstanding content. However the visibility is still minimal because hardly any of these posts make it to trending.
And lastly but not least important: kudos to those creators who, after all, are still keeping it real.
YES, IRONICALLY THIS IS A POST FOR STEEMIANS ONLY.
#NODRAMA only constructive criticism.
Yours truly;
The concerned @greencross
The only way to create visibility is to bot yourself to the top. I don't see that changing post fork, and to be completely honest, I don't see it being much different than what I've always experienced spending money to get exposure through radio PR, record release PR, facebook ads. It's the same song and dance. Pay for access till you are in demand, then be paid for access to you. Steem just makes it a bit more brutal and in the hands of players (whales) that don't currently have much motivation to do anything but self-feed.
I love that somehow in this fork I'm losing even more money bid botting myself forward for exposure, which, as a person literally sitting around for hours making content exclusively for this platform, was my only recourse for getting exposure in the environment and in my opinion, one of the most "steemit the platform" beneficial things possible. I'm literally losing money to add value to this platform, and now I'm somehow being FURTHER disincentivized. That fork explanation document was some of the most ridiculous shit I've ever read. Nobody writing that has the slightest clue how the exposure game works on here, and it is an absolute pipe dream to think this is going to suddenly bring a bunch of golden halo'd curation whales to the platform. Furthermore, who continues to drive the narrative that bid botting yourself MAKES MONEY? You get back -maybe- 65 percent of what you invest in exchange for BRINGING ACTUAL CONTENT TO THE TRENDING LIST. I don't give a shit who is making money off me, somebody always will be, at least with the bots I could calculate how badly I was getting screwed.
I'd classify myself as a real content maker/social blogger, and I've already been active on a platform terribly similar to Steem about 15 years ago - blogging and socializing and making friends - just no 'rewards' involved. But I stayed over there for years and years, and looking back on that period now and seeing what I do here: I just love the 'game', with or without the rewards. I'm playing the same game here as I did back then, although the opportunity to get something valuable from this system plus the investment opportunities it hands to me does ofcourse make it way more exciting.
Anyway.
I personally doubt if we ever were a content platform - or if we're a social platform. When I arrived on this place that I got to know as 'Steemit' back then I did a lot of photography/travel posts but most of all played to social game as I had learned years ago. Going to meet-ups with digital 'friends': been there, done that, years before Steem. So I recognized this place quickly for what I'd already experienced: a game of networking and gathering your own group of people to follow and have conversations with throughout the day and week.
I honestly believe Steem will be cared for by 'outsiders' once it has content apps as we know and love them: a real Instagram (Appics might go a long way!), a Medium (long-form content for quality writers!), a Twitter... all apps with their own stakeholders, all upvoting within their own ecosystem.
Yes, that might mean that all those using 'generic' apps like steemit.com will have to ignore the fact that one tweet gets more 'rewards' than that long-form 'Medium' post... As it was never about comparing the quality of one sentence against a long article, but about comparing that one tweet with another tweet...
(For simplicity I won't mention that sometimes one tweet is more genius than a well-written article anyway :D)
It's why I see the current 'fights' about what content should get upvoted and which not as a risk for our future success - who is to judge once we have dozens of apps all having their own ideas about quality and all having their own stakeholders/investors/curators/content makers/social humans? The upvotes/value will come from within these systems, and if one whale wants to buy a million STEEM to curate memes... Well, than that's their right. People from the outside won't care for steemit.com/steempeak.com with generic and messy trending pages, but if the whale has good taste then this meme website with carefully curated memes might be worth a daily visit for a smile on your face.
I'll quit here as I'm sort of freewriting my comment, and will probably think about it more the next few days. Great article and important topic - I'm not specifically agreeing/disagreeing, just sharing some thoughts I've had on my mind regarding inside/outside content making and what will bring 'outsiders' on Steem.
There is a lot to what you say. Steem has the potential to be a real community driven platform where even the little guy can gain value from contributing just by commenting intelligently on other posts.
Question is what moving parts need to be put in place to make it realise it's socially inclusive potential ? App are a part of that for sure but also a sort to Steamiquette needs to be in place where we can have a standard we can adhere too.
Oh and something else that is a personal bugbear of mine. Steemit search SUCKS. It is extremely hard to narrow down on communities and find common interests the way it is set up now. Tag alone are not good enough and we need a way of searching by content and not just titles.
Just my fourpenny worth.
@veritanuda @steevc have you guys tried steemlookup.com? it's @curie's post discovery tool and in my opinion one of the best ways to "search" steem.
I hadn't seen that. Looks very comprehensive. I have used the eSteem search to find some of my old posts. Good search is vital. The Steem tags can be a bit hit or miss.
Thanks for that but seriously, a third party site is the best was to search steem kinda says it all. Don't get me wrong, it is better than nothing but it rather misses the point, no?
hey @veritanuda, tell that to @steemit, @ned, @elipowell and everyone else
The naked truth is that Steem is a blockchain and there are myriads of front ends to access it. All of them are "third party" in one way or another.
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Hehe.. props for the name call. And yeah I get they are relying on 3rd party developers to expose the blockchain as it is but really their needs to be at least some guidelines.
I have already talked about trying to work on the copy of a blockchain myself to see if I can run some heuristic filters through it to pull the gems from the dross.
At least it can be done which is more than say you can with Facebook so...
Have you seen the eSteem search? I find it much better than the Steemit one.
thanks for the tip @steevc, now this is really useful.
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This post started actually as a comment, and I said, "fuck it, I'll make a post about it" because it was getting too long.
Thanks a lot for sharing your views on the matter, I appreciate it greatly.
To be honest this post wasn't targeted at authors like you. It seems you know how this "game" works, and you play it well. Your content is not 100% based on tasks and dapp shilling. You are indeed one of the few real content creators here.
Kudos to you
I am only trying to express what I see could be better here.
Once again, thanks very much @soyrosa for stopping by. I believe this is the first post of mine that has gotten REAL engagement beyond the "nice post" typical leech reply lol.
Cheers!
@greencross
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Hehe - it's often when Steemians open up they get a lot of respons - good stuff :D Glad you got a lot of interaction from a post that started as a comment!
And indeed, I never felt you spoke to 'my kind of content maker' - I just started freewriting as well :-) It's just an interesting topic and I love these kinds of posts to reflect on Steem and where we have been and where we are going :-)
Thanks for the reply!
Thank you for bringing my attention to this post. It is worth something to think about.
you are very much welcome @sgt-dan
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Underrated post.
I think @nonameslefttouse might like it.
thanks a lot pal @enforcer48
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You really shouldn't have declined rewards, your post is directed at the community and nobody in particular.
I find people here generally wont slam you down for these kind of posts, what you state the truth and there's no denying it.
Yes, these groups are great and gave me some incentive to post in my early days (and still do now sometimes).
Maybe HF21 will do something about trending... who knows how it will pan out. I say lets give it a chance... maybe things will improve.
@slobberchops yeah I had this thought that it would be hypocrisy to not decline rewards. Thanks for chipping in, I appreciate it.
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I think we’re all guilty of things you mentioned here because when you get here first you either scheming or you follow what others are doing hoping to get the same results!
I did it too in the beginning with no such luck and then I just started using my blog as a space to say whatever I think it sometimes resonates sometimes it doesn’t but I enjoy it non the less!
Rewards are cool but engagement is way more fun, seeing what people say about your thoughts and ramblings!
I’ve also tried using medium but it’s so formalized while here I can write how I would like to say things
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I agree, most of us were lost at the beginning, and it is completely fine to try and imitate until you "find your niche". However, the point I wanted to get across is the fact that when authors, who are being heavily supported by dapps/whales, only focus on creating what brings the most money in, it is not healthy for Steem as a platform. Heck, is not even healthy for their own followers. It's a shortcut to "easy money" the way I see it. Mediocrity and boot licking is not my taste.
Completely agreed. How many true engagement are those authors getting out of an Dapp shilling task?. I'd say much less than an original piece of content.
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Oh i agree whale backed and dapp backed autovoted creators have long tossed their integrity away and are just paid shills and ambassadors
I wouldn’t find it repulsive if the content they created was actually good and informed community members about the dapps and such but it’s cold hard content mining for cash
I’ve called out a few people who have done this but I was just met with how I’m a hater and I don’t earn on here and how hard it is to earn and I was like ok I’ll just leave my comments then you clearly not someone who wants to discuss anything
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same here, I've been called lazy for not making OD tasks lol.
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But why use "trending" as the measure of success? Things don't "trend" in this world simply because they are good. Many good things go unnoticed unless they are promoted, either through money or the real way organic growth works, through consistent networking and constant building.
Case in point:
https://steemit.com/@akiroq/one-of-the-most-profound-things-i-have-ever-heard
This is an example of the kind of content I come here for. And I am certain this author, like me, doesn't come here to get rich.
Sure, we all want to see our efforts rewarded. I'm not knocking your perspective as every word you said is true. I just think that Steem does encourage real, genuine, organic growth far more than it gets credit for doing.
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@wholeself-in I think you didn't read the post.
Trending is the first thing people from "outside" see.
If they only find BS dapp shilling and posts about steem, they will never be interested in signing up.
I always read the posts. 😉 I think I just only saw what I was most interested in and generally dismissed trending as being worthwhile to anyone. I feel the same way about what trends on Twitter or Facebook or any other platform. That's not where there real stuff is. Maybe I'm just not the average person.
This:
This is the part that matters most.
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I've pointed that out a few times. Nobody gives a shit about my previous post and the other posts I wrote about the place, outside. The rest of my blog is timeless and could potentially appeal to a global audience.
Are you really interested in seeing some of my work that has reached the trending page organically though? I do have a few. It doesn't happen anymore though because many are either paid to look away, so they won't be around to vote, or the vote buyers, who pay the people to look away DOWNVOTE my work with their paid votes so they can sit there and look pretty with their fake rewards and no comments.
Holy f- word don't get me started.
It's not just the whales it's literally everyone. How much of that potential SP is concentrated into paid votes? Many people who used to support my work turned their back on my blog so they could sell votes or delegate SP, and get paid to not be here. I lost their eyes first and their votes second. Been battling on and off for two years. Chipping away at a wall with a plastic spoon. Going in reverse.
I've written about how the arts and entertainment industry generates billions annually. People here would prefer to earn a few thousand. Their heads are screwed on but facing the wrong way. All they need is one more good twist but I don't see that happening any time soon.
You sir @nonameslefttouse have hit the nail in the head and I feel like I have nothing useful to add. Nevertheless, it's a honour that you have decided to stop by and add to the discussion.
You are another real content creator and this is why I've been following you for quite a while.
Kudos to you for keeping it real.
Cheers
@greencross
Hey, Jerry!
You're a creep
@jerrybanfield
I can agree with this. I can honestly say that most of what I post is just personal opinion that would not rank highly anywhere else, but then I put out some original music that may have more value. There is a 'circle jerk' aspect to Steem as well as those just buying votes to make themselves look important even if they do not make much profit on the deal.
We desperately need the sort of content creators who will bring in the next wave of users. We do have lots of great artists including lots of original #comics that are not getting the rewards they deserve. These people put hours into their work and make cents whilst someone with the right friends can make a lot more for a selfie.
We have to be honest about what is good for the Steem platform and do what we can to make it happen. That is what will drive up the price in the long run and then we all benefit if we have built up some Steem. We have seen what the current strategy brings, stagnation and good people giving up.
Completely agreed, specially the part of the #comics. So much undervalued and talented authors.
Now it's time to be true to ourselves. Those who really add value will prevail.
I seriously think we can't wait to start spreading "symbolic" downvotes on content that adds zero value, specially from people we follow. The way I see it: resources are wasted, the reward pool is drained and the reputation of our network goes to the shitter.
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!dramatoken
What do you mean no drama...
Storms off in a huff.
you see? @whatsup #nodrama... not even the bot gave me the token 😭😭😭
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!dramatoken
Let's try this again.
now I got it! thanks @whatsup lol
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Here's your
DRAMA. Don't spend it all in one place!To view or trade
DRAMAgo to steem-engine.com.If you'd classify something that gets a large @curie upvote as "organic" I've had a few(probably less than 5) hit the bottom of trending, but I get what you're saying.
I do see things a bit differently though.
When I first came to Steemit about a year and a half ago I only posted artwork. I'm a professional artist and that's typically the content I'd share on other platforms, but as I learned more about Steem and really got into it I became really passionate about it and some of the projects that were being developed.
Even though I was really excited and passionate about a lot of projects it took months before I made a non art post because that felt weird to me, even though that was what I really wanted to talk about. Truth be told, I'm an artist, but I'm interested in a lot of different shit other than art too. Especially Steem, and other cryptocurrencies. I actually see me posting more about Steem and other stuff as me getting more comfortable on the platform and not feeling like I HAD TO post a certain type of content for it to not be considered a "shitpost".
At this point because of my own journey, I'm really against this way of thinking and feel like people should just post what they want. If people find it valuable and want to reward it, so be it, if not, then don't, if you REALLY hate it, downvote it.
As I said, I create art for a living, so I could pump out what would objectively be considered "high quality content" all day, but THAT would actually be me being fake, because that's not what I want to do all the time. I'm here to share whatever the hell I want to share, and if people like it, I'd hope they engage, and if they don't feel free not to.
Another point I'd like to touch, I totally get what you're saying about the whales and them not supporting the different content creators, but I think in order for Steem to move forward everyone has to assume responsibility for the state of Steem. Thirty something people can't support this whole platform. The only sustainable path forward is a strong "middle class". It's not organic if one or two people are the main funding of someones post. It's up to all of us to wear both the hats of creators and investors.
You see?, I followed you because of your non-artistic content, and I had no idea you were an artist. It turns out to be you are a damn good one.
@midlet now I'm happy that you pointed out that you were an artist and it would be really good if you would post more about your work, in my opinion. Although I enjoyed your non artistic posts; this is why I have been following you for quite a while.
I mean look at this, it's a slap to any wannabe artist out there:
Thanks @greencross :) Yea that's the thing about Steem. I feel like it's not really set up in a way typically people are going to go back very far into people post history. All the are I showed there I posted a long time ago. Sure I've posted hundreds of pieces of art here, but the whole one week payout means most people only look at the current week.
I like Steempeaks portfolio page feature, but I don't think many people use it or know it exists.
https://steempeak.com/@midlet/portfolio
Well @greencross. Do you know what? Even when I agree with the deeper background feelings you show on this post. I think I could give you a few key nuts & bolts to decipher your current conundrum once and for all.
How in hell any regular and decent 'content creator' would be able to add real value to the people outside Steem and attract a single soul from the "outside world" to consume anything different to what's really happening behind the stage of a very exclusive and elite club/bar of drunk crypto nerds who receive rewards ONLY when they join the usual weathered chitchat with their mates versed on matters solely relevant to the SteemSphere?
Exclusive Club/Bar in which basically no one from the "outside world" is capable to comment, interact & engage in any way, method or means to taking an active part on the discussions and give their opinion unless... they are willing to "Pay to Play" for the creation of their own accounts or endure the infinite patience needed to wait for that Stinc's email back approving and assigning them a free account to have a voice if they used the regular steemit.com faucet through the normal registration process... if they are lucky?
So, I suspect that anyone here already being a veteran steemian and an active part of this 'exclusive steem ecosystem club' would be under a serious 'Delirium Tremens' syndrome suffering of too many hallucinations & deceptive mirages product of the intoxicating vapors of their steemified beverages while toasting in the bar, if they actually believe that they are gonna be able to onboard outside average Joes and regular pedestrians whether they can be investors, developers, actual 'content creators' or merely 'content consumers' who obviously will refuse to play the specific rol of yet another dapp/whale ass-lickery for profit exactly like them.
@por500bolos gracias. I think you said the same I said but in different words.
Por tu show: 500 bolívares (de los antiguos) :-D
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@greencross
@soyrosa
@drumoperator
@nonameslefttouse
Thanks - you've saved me the effort of writing a "My first year on Steem" post!
Don't misinterpret what I said. People on the inside care about inside posts, but those inside posts don't appeal to anyone on the outside, because most of it won't make sense to them. Posts that appeal to outside eyes have the potential to draw in new account holders, but those posts are rarely rewarded as well as posts meant for the inside, so it's kind of backwards.
Go ahead and write it. People here still care.
Fair point, and again I agree. I think there's an unhealthy amount of navel-gazing in the steem community, with lots of posts about "the state of steem". Or, maybe I need to adjust my bubble and unfollow some people I followed in the early days.
@soyrosa's point in an earlier comment thread about getting the app offering together is totally on the money.
My experience as a music fan and husband of an author on her 10th year of being on the verge of overnight success tells me...
Blogging on the internet has been overtaken by social media as it is a more effective way of reaching an audience (even if it's small, good engagement makes it passionate).
Social media apps break through all the time, as along as they're easy to use and early adopters are seen to be having fun with them, and they do something new or better than their predecessor in that niche. Some flourish more than others, but sometimes they clear the field (Facebook destroyed MySpace, but Twitter and Instagram and WhatsApp are still sparring).
Social media is dominated by applications, not by platforms. Make Steem invisible on the UI and you'll lose the geek vote, but hopefully gain more teens, and thus gain traction.
Yep, I feel you on this one and I’m also guilty of some of the things you’ve mentioned here. Usually I post things that are on my mind and that will benefit others. I like this community but yes you are correct with what you stated and kudos to those Steemians keeping it real.
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thsnks a lot @kenmelendez. I appreciate it 😁
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Great. So I am the problem then 🙄
————
Seriously bro this post is pure fire 🔥
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it's all your fault, you know it 😭
😂😂😂
Jokes aside, thanks a lot for stopping by, I appreciate it.
Although the comments rhat spawned are way better than the post, IMHO.
Cheers!
I think at this point in time the steem related content is necessary as we are in a building phase. Eventually we will have creators being more real. A lot of the people I see always talking about steem are really passionate about it , but yeah there are many just on the money trail.
I like to keep a good balance, sometimes you can’t help but talk about the ole blue but the bliss is in creating what yah like and being rewarded for it.
Hi @dmilliz, thanks for your comment.
In my opinion:
Steem related content is necessary coming from the project accounts, dapps developers and the dapp account themselves.
There is a function called "resteem" if we really want to spread the information about a new dapp, exchange or a whale's campaign to our followers.
It's ok to create informative posts about how to do things inside Steem, because let's be honest, it's not the easiest thing to grasp when you are starting.
But my main concern is seeing crappy content all over my feed and on the trending pages all the damn time. Not for me though, mostly for the health of this platform that I grew to love so much. (Specially after attending Steemfest and meeting so many great people).
Everyone is free to do as they wish at the end of the day, but yes I agree as well that a healthy balance is ok to have.
Ultimately the fault here is the greed of the authors. Those posts aren't made to raise awareness, only to reap rewards.
Bless!
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Congratulations! Your post has been selected as a daily Steemit truffle! It is listed on rank 10 of all contributions awarded today. You can find the TOP DAILY TRUFFLE PICKS HERE.
I upvoted your contribution because to my mind your post is at least 6 SBD worth and should receive 175 votes. It's now up to the lovely Steemit community to make this come true.
I am
TrufflePig, an Artificial Intelligence Bot that helps minnows and content curators using Machine Learning. If you are curious how I select content, you can find an explanation here!Have a nice day and sincerely yours,
TrufflePigThanks, it's such a honour to receive a comment from an AI.
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@greencross you could've open the post for rewards yuno
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Yeah, I know l, right? But I just thought it would be kind of hypocritical :-S
Let it go back to the pool!!!
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