Let’s take a moment of silence…
Great, now that we have honored the incredible luck that we have to live in a time where we can be rewarded monetarily for content creation, let’s dive a bit deeper. STEEM has introduced us to a new world. A world where we can exchange creativity for money. It’s a beautiful thing. It’s transforming the way artists and creators alike are able to earn their living.
But, is there a shallow end to this deep pool?
Human beings by nature crave recognition. We crave recognition for our talent, we crave recognition for our effort. As a matter of fact, from birth we crave recognition from our parents. Recognition completes us. Recognition is a "good job" for a job well done, or a “This was amazing” for an art piece that was painted, or a “here’s a raise” for years of hard work and patience.
Naturally we can assume that if you are being rewarded monetarily for something, that counts as recognition right? However, is this really a true statement?
STEEM, where monetary rewards are NOT always recognition…
STEEM is unique. When a blogger spends their entire day through an experience, keeping mental note of everything that is passing, then upon arrival to their house, they recollect all of those mental notes and convert them into a well thought out article… They are subconsciously expecting recognition. After all, most of us don’t create just for ourselves do we? We create to leave a legend, to get a message across, to push for a cause… We create for recognition.
And so when this blogger puts so much time and effort into this article and presses submit, they anxiously await recognition.
BOOM!
Their post is at $200 STU’s.
Perusing the list, they notice they had a $199 STU upvote from a whale. A whale they very well know did not read their article. OR perhaps they did.. But then again, this is one person. This whale may have perhaps upvoted them to support them, to get them exposure, to show the world that this specific creator has a lot to offer. However, what if it ends there? What if out of 40 upvotes, only the whale’s was enough to make a monetary difference, and another 8 upvotes were true followers and supporters and the remaining 31 upvotes were just random passerby’s either looking for a follow, looking for an upvote for themselves, or just curating to make some money themselves. What if this creator has 2000 followers and only 40 upvotes on this well thought out, well put together, and very meaningful article? What effect does this have on the creators mind?
The Monetary Reward Problem
This is where the monetary reward system can impose a problem on true creativity. In the example mentioned above, this creator put a lot of time and effort into something that ultimately ended with no recognition. They received a fat payout from it, and that’s nothing to be upset about. But the basic human need for recognition was missing.
Consider if it was reversed? What if out of 2000 followers, there was no whale upvote? What if there was only 39 upvotes that led to a grand total of $1.00 STU’s? Not only does this eliminate the monetary reward, but now this creator has extremely little exposure. They never hit hot, they never hit trending, they never received recognition.
This can lead to some damaging thoughts. Perhaps the creator no longer feels as if their creations are worth sharing. Perhaps they feel as if they are not good enough to be a “creator”.
The Two-Edged Sword of STEEM
This example was enough to show how something as great as the STEEM platform can also be a terrible thing for creators. And yes, this post was written from experience. This is something I have lived. I love STEEM, and I love the opportunities it has presented. However, I am not shielded from the troubles on the creative mind that it can bring. Do I have the solution? No. Unfortunately I do not. Not yet at least.
However, here is my message to all of you creators out there that can relate. Do not give up. Do not let it get to you. Focus on yourself. Focus on your message.
And continue to push forward...
Follow me on Instagram
Follow me on steemit
Follow me on Twitter
I never get tired even if my post won't get recognition. I try and ultimately some of my posts got good relative recognition.
I'm glad to hear that @mmasim! You have a strong mentality, and that's something to be proud of!
this is the progress of the world steem sbd could be money
My biggest problem with this platform - No continued payouts after 7 days. So many of us would benefit by our older content which has great longevity to keep making money.
But it doesn't, thus giving more power to platforms like Youtube, which easily benefits from longevity and sometimes something getting boosted views because of an event similar to our videos.
How have you found your creativity since taking the dive into your steemit adventure post december?
Yeah that 7 day limitation is another big one. I agree with you 110%. I'm not entirely sure why it was built this way, I imagine there is some kind of reason.
Truthfully my creativity has risen, but my happiness with my results has declined. Isn't that terrible? It's like they say. Money isn't everything. I'm SUPER happy with how everything is going on the monetary side. Super blessed. But there are still some flaws that affect my creativity.
Throw those flaws and doubts out! One thing I did (which I'm so thankful for) is a second quick vlog segment the dtube quickies. It eliminates all the smaller issues I want to talk about but always are too small for a regular vlog.
So my nightly videos are always higher quality now.
Maybe update your steemit/dtube goals in a video. Because you've achieved one of your biggest, always keep looking forward and not back.
Very true man, very true. Thanks for the wise words brother!
Keep killin the game. dolphin life is on the horizon
good content.good work in the article.you are a good steemer
nice article to read and you hit the nail on the head, a true artists nature i feel is to share and express themselves through their work i feel over time this will just turn into another marketing ploy on what gets more people to upvote posts and how to 'milk' it with the whales.
I for one will carry on posting even if my posts are only viewed by a few people because those few people are enough to inspire me to carry on.
Sooo needed to read this article. I am new on Steemit and feeling a wee bit frustrated with the whole robot, whale, buy a boost thing to get any views or votes at all. Seems like a ridiculous amount of work for little to no rewards other than getting better at writing, maybe?
If I would keep a schedule and keep writing on Steemit, is there any hope of making a decent living by posting here OR do I have to do all the contests, trick the system with all the varied tips on how to do so and basically live on the site night and day?
I was hoping the articles that I read on this site and videos on Youtube were correct when they advertised, "Hey, just post great content and you will make a lot of money."
Like in SEO, that simply ain't the truth... there are so many other things you need to do to get a following, to get them to up vote and so on...
Unless you know something else? Appreciate your time...
Great Post!
I joined steemit in November 2016. After maybe a month of posting I received some nice payouts for that time. I received recognition from the start from @papa-pepper . He helped me gain rep and encouraged me to do more. After a while although I loved steemit I felt that I wasn’t getting enough recognition or Steem rewards to continue sharing content so I stopped. Fast forward a little over a year now and my mind has changed. I regret not continuing to share content for a while after that decision to stop. Now I see the power of this platform and how wonderful it is. I am engaged on steemit everyday posting and creating content now and it’s amazing. Dedication and being engaged is the key to recognition and steem rewards. I’ve taken my lesson and ran with it. I can’t wait to see what this year brings for this platform. As amazing as it is now it will only get better. Thanks for sharing this.
Steem on :)
Right on.. a can relate!
I’ve been sharing music on here for a couple months now, and apart from my friends really awesome initiate @tribesteemup the only other regular noteworthy vote I get is from @dsound, which combined have been enough to keep me on here...
Luckily the #steemit-music community is awesome! And I keep making real connections each day based around my creative passions...
I do some daily journaling on Stoicism to keep myself tapped in and writing at least a little each day, but have been pondering some new and fun ways to help make this platform work for more people..
One of those ways I’ve thought of is to do more fundraisers to help individuals reach an SP that can work not only for them, but also for others..
And another possibility is to use Steemit as the check in ground for online education systems, where students get upvotes and comments for their work in the class from the instructor and other students (plus the rest of the world) making their education work for them, and allowing it to feed back on the instructor as well.. so by the end of a session the school is in a better position than it was before, both students and teachers...
Fresh ideas that need to be hashed our, but some thoughts at least... would need some support to initialize tho.
Would love to know your thoughts!
It can be very frustrating that I often get 20 - 30 upvotes and often get less than $1 payouts.. I mean people are enjoying my content just the wrong people.
Sometimes it seems like its not what you know but who you know...
Well I don't have this problem. I don't get whale votes 😂😂😂
But seriously I know what you mean, and I think many, many creators are thinking along the same route as you right now.
I think (hope) the system will self-correct as the platform matures. There will come a day when that $200 will be 50 $4 upvotes. I long for those days.