I will start this off by saying that this is not an attack since all of us tend to do the same thing.
Nevertheless, there is a protocol on STEEM that is best followed.
One of the biggest things that newcomers need to learn is how to comment. This is something that few of us are aware of yet, when done right, can be extremely profitable.
Comments are meant to add to the post made by the author. This is where the term "quality" comes from. Naturally this is a subjective word. While quality might differ, there appears to be some agreement what non-quality is.
So here are a few No Nos When Commenting:
Lame, One Line Comments
You know the ones I am referring to. They look like this:
Great post
You are the best
Thank you, I learn a lot from you
Cryptocurrencies are going to explode
Follow me, I follow you (more on this later)
These do not add to the post whatsoever. In fact, they are common of commenting bots so the author (and others) will simply presume you are a using a bot intent on trying to scalp an upvote.
Do not do this.
Read the article, think up something thoughtful and post it. If you cannot do that, post nothing.
Spamming
Obviously is you are going around putting the same link in 100 different posts that goes to your website, that is spamming. We all know this.
However, on here, there is another form of spamming.
It is when one leaves a comment and then puts a link to an article he or she wrote. Do not do this. It is a total turn off. If I want to read what you wrote, I can click on your profile and check out your blog.
Of course, there are exceptions to this.
There are individuals I deal with who I will post a link in their articles to something I wrote or even something outside STEEM. In this situation, I have an ongoing interaction with that person and this is how I communicate. There are a couple of people who are in similar tokens as I am and I post information or new developments that I come across them.
Another exception is when asked. There are times someone will mention something to me in a comment about what he or she is going to write about and I tell them post the link in one of my latest posts and I will read it. Again, this is a way to communicate something that I already stated I was interested in reading.
Ask The Author's Opinion Of Your Blog
This is a subtle was of spamming. Instead of a direct link, you are asking them to check out your blog so they read your stuff. We all want that but, in my view, this is in equally poor taste. Again, if I want to check out your stuff, I can click through on your profile and get to your blog.
As for the giving my opinion, that is what the comment sections exist for. According to the stats @abh12345 pulls up each week for @fulltimegeek's SOG, I usually post between 100K-150K worth of comments each week. Thus, it is safe to say leaving a comment about what I think is not my main problem in life.
Similar to this is asking the opinion on a particular post. While it appears to not be spamming, it can easily come across that way.
Certainly, we all like feedback yet there is a proper way to go about it. To me, it all comes down to the relationship one has with another. Asking my opinion after a comment or two on my posts doesn't establish grounds for that. If, however, we chatted on steemit.chat or discord, then we are operating on another level.
Speaking of those two mediums, do not send a link to one of your posts on there. That is even in worse taste than doing it in the comment section (unless of course, you have a relationship with that person and he/she will approve).
Upvoting Your Comments And Nothing Else
Upvoting your comments is a slippery slope in general. However, I know many who upvote everything they do; people I respect. Nevertheless, they do not omit passing the votes around.
Personally I do not upvote my own comments. That said, if you are going to do it, do not skip upvoting the comments people make in reply to your comment (if it is something of quality that is). Also, never, ever, ever, upvote your comment and skip upvoting the post. That is simply rude. Along the same lines, do not give yourself a 100% upvote while giving the article a 3% one. This is just a way of showing people how little you care about anyone other than yourself.
If you are going to self vote your comments, just be sure to spread the wealth to others. Then nobody can complain.
While we are on the blockchain, which provides people with the forum of freedom, there are manners of behavior which will be beneficial to you. Certainly, nobody can force you to follow the suggestions I laid out here or stop you from doing the exact opposite. However, people have the choice also to shun the choices you make.
I can assure you, engaging in these No Nos will only get you ostracized, meaning you make very little money. STEEM is a system where our return depends upon the interest and actions of others. Doing things that upsets people is not going to make the SP in your account grow. So, unless you have a lot of fiat to buy STEEM with, I suggest you leave some of the behaviors out of your portfolio.
One final thought:
Never Ask Anyone To Follow You
If you want to be followed, post something that makes people want to follow you. It really is that simple.
Again, please do not feel attacked if you find you do some of these things. We all did them. The only reason I can write about them is because someone told me "you ought not do that".
We are all here to help each other.
If you found this article informative, please give it an upvote and a resteem.
To receive the free basic income tokens you are entitled to and help end world wide poverty, please click the following:
Pictures by Google Images
Thank you for this very informative post...I may have been guilty of leaving 1 -word comments, ( simply cuz I'm often short of time), but I will try to improve on that...
You certainly did with this comment at least.
Good job. LOL
Awesome! ;) lol
This is becoming an f... plague on Steemit. I've been flagging comments left and right because of this issue. If we all flag them, these bots and copy/paste commenters won't last long on this platform. Thanks for this wonderful post Task, I couldn't have spoken it better myself. I even changed my motto because of this. Hate those types of comments with a passion!
Yeah the comment bots seem to be growing number....it appears more of thees type of comments the last couple weeks.
What is your new motto?
I changed it to this: "CyptoEagle soars mighty. Follow me and get rich with knowledge and crypto. I punish spammers and only upvote meaningful comments."
It's on my channel page, I guess it's called the "About" section. Just reesteemed your post, I'll reesteem it every day if I have to!
LOL Thanks....I can write more so you dont bore the people who regularly visit your blog page.
Or at least change the title and repost it. 😀
i came up with this for this problem!
and i have been giving it out freely :-)
i agree with your comments....
So you're telling me to create a bot that that calls out and flags these empty comments? On it boss!
Hey, i am glad to read your comment here, i often think that i am the only one who gives out flags from left to right... so now i feel better :-)
@cryptoeagle
Instead of flagging i believe it will be better to neglect. When neglected they will have no reason to make comments and they will leave after seeing no earning. I believe that the voting weight that is used for flagging can be better used for upvoting original comments and posts. This helps in rewarding those who are doing good work.
The problem is the spammers count on at least a small percentage of people rewarding them. It's like those Nigerian emails that never stop because there's always the 0.1 percent of dumb people who respond and keep them alive.
What is wrong with the Nigerian emails?
Do you mean Prince Amukamoura, rightful heir to the throne, will not be sharing the $40M he has which he needed $2K to get it out of the country?
I keep checking my mailbox for the check...
By the way, I fixed it. I shook my phone thinking something was lose in it...when I did, I opened the app, turned the phone upside down, swiped the screen, and bam, my account value went up. I did this all day and the value went up like 15%.
I knew you were hiding that feature from me.
Prince Amukamoura owes me hours of my life deleting spam emails and explaining to family members in Cuba who first saw the internet in 2017 they are not getting any millions...
You see, I haven't even updated the app yet and it's already working wonders! haha It's so nice to see crypto back on bull mode! Steem is rocking it!
I think there is a bot that is checking for spam (repeated) comments. And oh boy I did every last one of these mistakes. Personally follow for follow is worst mistake I did. It flooded my profile so badly I am still cleaning it.
I was just asked this by someone we are mentoring @steemitfamily and I said aside from creating good quality post you need to engage other people.
Look for good people to follow that has the same niche or passions as you do. Engage them with meaningful conversation that will make them curious on what you write.
Worse case you just get ignored. Best case scenario you get an upvote and a follow.
I average about 17-25 unique comments in other people's post a day. Not to mention replying on the comments that I receive and I have started upvoting good comments.
This is a good way for you to keep engagement.
I have added this to our Tips section.
Thank you a million times for this post. I always try and leave meaningful comments because it is respectful of the time a person has taken to write a post or a comment and I also want people to leave meaningful comments for what I write. I think it is difficult for some people because they are not good at English, but for others it is only about commenting on as many posts as possible. I have received some comments that have nothing to do with my posts and know it is because of this last reason. People have to decide why they are here. If it is to provide something that can be helpful and share great stories pictures and other content, they will do well. If not, they will fall away when they don't get the attention. For the rest of us who want to do well. It takes a lot of work and attention. Thanks again for leading us in the right direction.
great post, lol. just kidding. this is mine and my wife @lynncoyle1 pet peeve actually. She actualy follows you also as I do. Your guidence on this site is awesome. Thank you my friend
Thank you...and my thoughts are with you both as you travel through this situation before coming out the other side.
This post has the innate potential to become hilariously funny when scrolling through the comments, looking for the described spam comments. Luckily we were not disappointed! 😂
What was really funny @atmosblack was when the post first went up this morning, the spam comments were the first to hit it....like 3 or 4 in the first minute....
great post
amazing post
I agree
Have a good summer
Will you sign my yearbook?
Comments can be a powerful tool. A great comment can land you on the radar of a popular Steemian. The goal in every comment should be to add value.
Hi. One of the issues with joining Steemit is that newbies like me bump our heads around not knowing what to do and if we are doing something right or wrong. Sometimes we get advice and sometimes we don't. If many of us can get good advice we can do better. For this reason that you so much for these comments. Although I do not do any of the things you mentioned. I could see myself doing several of them not knowing I was being discourteous to others. Any additional comments you can offer are helpful and I am following you. All the best.
You remind me of when I first got here. The first comment I got was a guy asking for upvote for upvote and follow for follow. I was like, "Man, I hope this isn't what it's like here." I declined his offer. Go me.
I get a lot of those too and trades for upvotes. But it all seems like it is not worth anything.
Ah yes.... the commenting. I have written two posts in the last couple of weeks on the very same topic. I know in the beginning, I, like many others didn't know what to do on steemit. So we started slowly with the comments. Sure I bet if you look back you can see where I may have say good information, thanks for sharing, etc, etc... But I soon learned, and honed in on my journalism background, and started with thought-filled comments, asking questions and even giving my own examples; all of which added to the main post and topic.
I still do; it's just now I tend to say more than normal.
While in the last two weeks there have been more than my fair share of outside distractions hindering my steemit life, I have started pulling away from the real life issues and drama and renewed my focus here.
Thank you for this post and for reiterating the importance of how the steemit blockchain and its comments need to be to take it to the next level. If everyone would take a moment and really see the long term effects of real comments versus (as I refer to them as) drive-bys.
P.S. follow me and I'll fol... yeah, I can't do it!!
TL:DR
JK
"drive-bys" love it
Thank you for this post. As a newcomer, it's good to learn this unwritten rules, but I have objections in two cases.
What do you think about the following scenario? The commenter comes across a very objectionable content and the comment section is full with objectionable comments as well. The only way to stand out in the crowd and make a counterargument is to upvote the comment, but the commenter can't upvote the post, because the commenter completely disagrees with it.
How about writing a lengthy comment and then providing the links for reference? And what if the commenter has hundreds of posts in their blog and the referenced posts are somewhere towards the bottom of those hundreds of posts. In that case, it would be a pain to look for those posts, no?
Now we can see that new users are dramatically coming.Most of them are joined to earn.They can scam if don't know the proper rule of steemit.So it is very informative blog for them and also me cause my age is 38 days in steemit.
@taskmaster, this came out strong. Message articulately communicated. Personally, I agree with you. Comments that have no bearing with the post is a clear sign that the person did not patiently read through the post. It is not encouraging in any way. I hope the newbies on steemit get to read this and imbibe a new culture that is best for the growth of our steemit community. Kudos sir for this brave step at making this important correction.
Amazing ,your explanation, I understand, accurate explanation .. And I will learn deeply in his in making posts. ..thank you for your advice
wahaha right there... thank you!
They don't learn that deeply though!
Yeah, these are all the same things I have been keen to avoid.
Easy really, when you actually read the post at hand, think about it and leave a real comment.
I have also seen a ton of similar posts on this topic. Originality with thought.
As a newcomer, thanks for this post. I'm having trouble picking up momentum, but hopefully over time will have some followers ... I try to post quality information but it usually goes unnoticed. Oh well, can't expect the world overnight ... I love this place though! Cheers
There should be an article similar to this one in the welcome when people sign up. In fact it might even be good to make them read it and then click a button acknowledging that they read it. It certainly won't stop all the comment spam, but I'm sure it would at least give some new users a clue as they get started on their Steemit journey.
Oh, and great post :p
Something that I really appreciated about your comment etiquette tips was the beautiful, to the point simplicity of your suggestions. I always appreciate a gentle form of correction if I am a neophyte and have accidentally wrecked myself due to lack of knowledge. Although, I do have to say, when I was new to Steemit, I poured over posts from the Steemians that had been around awhile, trying to glean tidbits so as to not "put my foot in it" when it came to commenting on other's work. I cannot emphasize how much I appreciate posts like yours that spell it out for people who are trying!
Owk I think I have learnt this today. One person actually told me about this but I tot it was just personal but now that you made mention of it, I now no it's a general issue so I will take correction . Thanks for this
Another annoying this is the follow for follow stuffs. I have told people to stop begging people to follow them that people follow people naturally but they never listen. I just hate it when people beg me to follow them.
There are way too many people spamming comments with bots, and they are so easy to spot, they don't upvote, their comments are all generic, and you see them popping up on other peoples posts. Really annoying.
They do work when people autovote their comments though, which is part of the problem. Go read @marketreport's comment section whenever he posts. He must run an autovoter and now everyone autocomments him, like he'll have 70 comments in under 5 minutes, all spam
This post is very successful, since many times I was doing most of these things ,,, however there is always a new opportunity to become better at what we perform ,,, I appreciate your goodwill with expressing your words, and I hope you continue to guide new users on the platform,
You know it never occurred to me that those low effort comments might actually bots! I just thought they were people like you find on other social media sites saying follow for follow or whatever. Being new of course I upvoted them and my voting power has been trying to rengenerate ever since. I admit I feel kind of bad if they are real people just looking to make a couple cents. But I feel bad about everything lol
Of a truth, what you have outlined above as things I have come to live by on Steemit. I understand how energy consuming it is to produce a post, so I am quite annoyed when I see someone put 'nice post' in an article that likely took the author a full day to produce.
Also, one more thing is to create a relationship with people in your area of interest. See everyone as a potential whale, so make comments on post that interest you whether the author has the ability to upvote you or not.
And just to add one more. Reply to your own post. Its quite funny when I see people who makes lots of comments on other people post but failed to even say thank you to others who have made comments on their own post. Please, appreciate those who comments on your post. That's one part I like about @taskmaster4450 and some other members of the community who reply to comments on their post.
Thank you for this update, i must say most victims of steemians in this attitudes re the newbies, and i would say most of them did it out of ignorance, especially when there is no one to guide them over, while in the other way, many re driven by the excitement of making quick money which led them to doing things that would rather harm their growth than doing them good. I would also request expert in steemit to always post things like this, in order for people not be misled. Yours is just a good product that can help any body here to grow and do well. Thank ones again for the information
I am kinda new on this plattform. I mean there have been about 100.000 accounts created after mine, but only because steem the number of users is skyrocking.
Back to the point. My principle is simple. As a newby keep the number of you post close to the number of you followers. I have currently 48 followers and 48 posts. (49 including this one.) This way I prevent myself from writing unnecessary comments or posts. I think about it like:
I mean this is not Facebook, where I have to post how awesome my life is to not be depressed, right?
Don’t know if this is a good rule. I do read a lot of blog post on steemit. And with a lot I do mean a lot. I will post a comment if this comment adds an added value to the post. There should not be a correlation between the number of followers you have and the number of posts you make. It should be correlated with the number of quality posts you read anwant to interact on.
Post, which include both articles written and comments, have no relationship to followers in the manner you are discussing.
As a newer person, you should be placing as many quality comments a day as you can (like this one). There is no reason to limit the comments...do 25-50 a day if you have time...it will earn you money and get you interacting with others.
I made a lot of these mistakes when I first joined Steemit, I still catch myself doing them, but I'm getting better.
Thanks for making this post, it'll definitely help clean up Steemit and help stop others making the same mistakes.
--great information and a lesson for newbies. i think people should understand that asking someone just randomly to check your blog or follow you never work. we should at least comment on a authors post several times and add value to his post rather than spamming then i am sure a bond between both will be created and author himself might go check out his blog and might follow him as well..so avoid asking for follow rather create bond with the authors.
__another tip that i would like to add is that never comment on something you have no idea about. for example if i dont understand about art i should not comment on art related posts it rather ruin the authors post.
__and finally do not spamm because when an author work hard and create something and then people ruin it by meaningless comments , it really hurts
First time I came to know about these instructions meaning:
like
Great post
You are the best
Thank you, I learn a lot from you.
Cryptocurrencies are going to explode.
Follow me, I follow you etc.
Actually before this explanation, I thought that how can a minnow or new commer can use bots. But you changed my mind by explaining so well. Like someone can make multiple accounts and can do several comments at a time by using bot. Thanks dear for sharing great stuff. This is great guideline for the persons who really believe on real commenting. All the best and stay blessed @taskmaster4450!
Slightly nervous about posting a comment on this post (!) but that doesn't appear to have stopped the flurry of comments along the lines you advised against! (Oh, the irony!)
More seriously, we do need to find a way to flush out some of the spam. For example, when I read your post these posts were topping your comments and you had to scroll down to find anything of substance. Something like askimet on WordPress needed here?
Thanks for setting this out. It's really helpful for newbies and for those who have been here longer.
Seriously, this would have been so helpful when I first joined a few days ago. It still is, but you understand all this after a week or two..
i like this. i try and abide by everything you put there. in return i am going to use reverse psychology on you and tell you what ever you do, NEVER look at my blog and upvote it........ just kidding. thanks for the informative post. i am guilty of upvoting myself sometimes though :/
Great article, please follow me!!!!
Just kidding. Commenting can make or create your reputation on Steem.
Newcommers need to understand how it works. By ignoring these comments, you don’t learn them anything and they will not correct their behaviour (if they want to).
But I almost do fully agree with your post. Don’t know if those people are after the money, in some cases it is just a cry for attention. Post are snowed under so fast in steem, it is incredible. I know I’m not the best writer in the world so not all of my posts will have a high quality level nor is English my mother tongue. I did wrote some posts on which I am proud. To bad they got away unnoticed. So writing quality posts are not enough to build a group of followers! Quality comments do!
I will resteem this post cause I really do find it important!
Keep on going!
As a newbie... I want to know the do's and don't. We all have to start somewhere. And a lot is trial and error. I am definitely a minnow trying to swim in this great big ocean here. I appreciate the what not to do's . Thank you for your input
I read your post through and through and it is really a turn off.
But one thing i love about you is your sincerity. You weren't coming from a position of perfection, but identification. You admitted you know these are wrong because someone corrected you too.
Thanks. i'll take heed.
My “favorite” clueless comments are from people who say “Blah blah blah sir” to a post written by a Steemian with a name like @princessgirlygirl
Some have gender issues....
Sometimes on a Friday night...after too much to drink...aw never mind.
Thank you for letting us minnows know the Dos and Donts . It Helps us out alot to know ahead so we can learn and not look like Bots and spammers that just want votes when we comment or post
Thanks for posting this. I knew there were some guidelines for comments and upvote buth to be honest, I never took the time to read them. Until now! Lucky for me, I seem to behave within the normal. The only thing I am guilty of is giving myself an occasional upvote buth that shouldn't be a problem since 99%of my upvote goes to others :)
ok, this was a great write-up, let's hope people will take your advice. I agree on the part of the comment. A meaningful comment shows that one really read through the write-up and not just commenting for the sake of doing so.
Thanks for sharing. As a newcomer to steem i'll definitely work to avoid these mistakes. Genuine and thoughtful comments will only elevate the platform.
i try and do witty humor comments when ever possible make people laugh and good things happen
Good suggest post.Thanks for share this post.
My “favorite” one I’ve been seeing a lot lately is “ReSteemit done”. Idk why but it always cracks me up, like the commenter feels like they’ve accomplished this huge feat when all they’ve done is cluttered up the comments and their own feed. I feel like ReSteem (or resteemit, lol) services provide absolutely no value because they’re resteeming so much you have just as much chance of exposure in the New section, just another feed to be lost in the glorious shuffle of Steemit.
I try to reward people that make good comments on my blog. My upvote is worth .13 Steem reward but I only get one or two comments per post.
LOL This should be required reading for every single Steemian....New and old.
And I get it, people want the 'quick bucks' and will go where they hear they can make money from commenting...But there is so much more here when you dive in.
No instant fixes for this. Take this and build the relationships. The upvotes will come!
Upvoting once own comment should only be done when you want the authors attention or convey a important message for the author. Other than that i think self upvoting once own comment is not a good thing, unless of-coarse you are also upvoting others.
The problem with new steemians is that they have a wrong perception of steemit. They think that it is get paid to post anything. Thus they comment randomly on any post with out even reading it. They think that they will earn as much as they comment on other's post. Well this doesn't last longer though since they will soon start running into bandwidth issues.
In order for spams to stop people have to stop rewarding them. There are some people who i have seen, upvote every comment on their post even if it is spam. They should actually stop doing this.
What's funny is, since sub for sub is something everyone knows on YouTube, there are people on YouTube that spam "great video," to noobs and get then noobs to follow them. YouTube built a filter for it, but many people don't take the time to learn how to use the filters."
I think on some articles, "great post," might be excusable. If someone just posts a picture with no words, should they get more than just one line comments? This is a question I struggle with.
I too used to upvote my posts, but then when I found out I only get 10 votes a day, I quit doing that. Plus my vote aren't even worth .02 so it's better to find quality content and leave a quality comment.
Sometimes I have to resteem a post, just so I can come back an upvote it later, when my VP is up.
Now this was a ultra quality post today Task, as every newbie should read and learn. Great job 😎
How does voting 100% and 3% work? The part you mentioned in one paragraph. Which setting to adjust - quite sure many of us still unsure, and just using the system by default.
To show my crinkly old age,
Common courtesy requires that you should vote, even if your vote is microscopic, when you like/approve of someone's post/comment
If you don't like the post/comment, turn your back [do not vote] on the person/bot and, as in real life, they will get the hint and either stop or go away.
similar to training a dog, reward what you want to see it do, ignore/turn your back on bad behaviour. [I don't know if this will work on brainless "bots" though, although they have masters who control them so it may be a two-step process]