I generally try my best to take two to three days out of my week where I can just sit, read and engage on peoples blog posts - because most days run away with me time wise and I honestly don't find much time for it over and above everything else on my plate. Today was one of those days where I managed to find a little bit of time for it and I have to say that over the last few months I have become increasingly disappointed by the lack of other engagement on peoples posts all round.
I would say that for about 80% of the posts I visit (which comprise of both newer and older members) there is often absolutely NOTHING in the comments section other than a few curation comments. This is not only incredibly sad, but rather worrying.
People blog and vlog as a form of expression. A large part of what makes those "forms of expression" valuable is the feedback received. A content creator of ANY kind that continuously receives little to no feedback not only loses confidence in their work, but also the enthusiasm to create it in the first place. No different to say a musical artist that creates an album. If the album makes no sales and gets zero reaction from the general public - it does not exactly instill much excitement to create another one.
What I have also noticed happening around here is that the "bar" of effort which is going into the posts seems to be dropping, because "well nobody engages on it anyway - so who cares if I just drop a pic of my breakfast and a one liner"... and can you really blame someone for adopting that sort of attitude when it starts becoming apparent that whether they spend four hours compiling a travel post or whether they simply drop a pic of the ocean - they ultimately get the same levels of feedback - which is pretty much nothing at all.
This does not in any way challenge a content creator to "better themselves" and their skill set. From my own experience, blogging for years on an independent site... the ridiculous efforts required just to get one or two comments on your post is precisely what made me walk away from that "arena" in the first place, and to put my full time energies here.
I, am probably one of the more fortunate individuals in this space as I get a fair amount of engagement on my posts - but I am one of very few. Most people on Hive are not "feeling the love" so to speak and as much as I make multiple efforts to try and change that - I am only one person and I can only do "so much".
The journey of blogging / vlogging is an incredibly enriching one when there is mutual reciprocation. The online friendships formed, problems solved, emotions expressed, talents learned or further developed and just general knowledge acquired are all facets that make it so special.
One of the frequently bellowed statements around here is "it's all about the community" - and you can see this screamed daily on Twitter (by the hundreds) - but where is the follow through? Where is this "actual community" when 80% of the content around here is sitting barren of any engagement other than a "vote" being dropped.
I am not entirely excused from this fault, as I do not comment on every single piece of content that I take a moment to appreciate, but that is mostly because 90% of my time is focused on expanding the reach of that content in the hopes that people WILL in fact engage with those posts... so I have a balance of manual and automated curation. I know the people that are consistently good content creators and I am happy to support them with automatic votes in the instances when I am not physically around or able to manually support their work.
This however, should definitely not be our first foot forward and it most certainly is NOT what we should be doing with BOTH feet. Dropping a vote (manually or automated) a reblog and moving on to the next... Is it easier? - Yes, but it is killing the "life blood" of this space.
It is a natural human craving to want people to appreciate what you take the time to share with them... not unlike REAL LIFE. Look at lockdown as an example, and the devastating effects it had on many peoples emotional and mental states because of the isolation. No, this is not EXACTLY the same thing, but there are many parallels.
It would really be fantastic to see people making more of an effort to engage on people's content. It is an amazing feeling when you publish something yourself and there is an abundance of commentary on it... so why would we not want to offer joy to those around us?!
Try stepping out of your circles too... go and check out different feeds or communities. Have a look at some of the people that are newer around here... there are some GREAT bloggers, completely worthy of some love... but I can promise you one thing... people will not stick around here forever if all they stand to gain from sharing and expressing facets of their life, skills or knowledge is a few hive. Money in essence is EMPTY - and this space will become the same if more effort is not made to change that.
There are MANY communities on Discord that work TIRELESSLY at changing this - and The Power House Creatives is one of them... so if you would like to start getting more love on your own content and are willing to offer the same to other people around here... then please do... JOIN US.
❤❤❤
Until next time...
Much Love from Cape Town, South Africa xxx
Jaynielea
FOUNDER OF THE POWERHOUSE CREATIVES
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Huge virtual hug.
Abrazo virtual inmenso.
Thank you for the lovely comment sweetie :) I hear what you are saying and you are right. It should never feel like a struggle though. Lately I have stepped away too and decided that I will focus on my writing when the mood feels right. I will engage with those who make the same effort towards me and that is where I leave it now. I have put my focus on enjoying the things which truly matter in this life <3 Funny how things change so dramatically when there is money of some kind involved.
Much love to you dear!
Hugs 😍
Yeah, we need to bring back rewarding comments with votes. That change in HF 22(?) really blew a hole in the community. Yes, it got rid of a lot of spam, but it also destroyed conversation. Conversation is valuable. We need more of it.
Por comentar y por tu compromiso con Hive:
!ENGAGE 30
ENGAGEtokens.read through all the comments (half an hour of my short life gone :) :) ) ...and some good observations. There are unique individuals who stand out as regards engagement...@jaynie being one of them. Others that come to mind are @galenkp (phenomenal... how he does it while working a full time job I have no idea), @ryivhnn, @traciyork are two others....
Personally I also have challenges commenting for the sake of commenting ... if I do not have an opinion on the content I rather dont comment.
Thanks for the shout out, @themagus, but I feel like I've been a wicked slacker in the engagement department here on chain... shakes fist at Twitter 😂
But yes, I agree - IMHO, having to comment simply for the sake of commenting leads to those lovely, "great post" replies I see every so often. I'd much rather have a few genuine comments on a post and organic interaction - quality, not quantity, you know? Which is one of the reasons I bow to people like @galenkp who are able to engage at such a high level, with actual thoughtful replies - if we could clone him & a few others like him, we'd never have to worry about engagement levels here ever again!
Which reminds me, I have some wonderful comments that I've yet to reply to... better get to it... shakes fist at Twitter again 😂😂
Good to see you here bird lady of New Hampshire :)
Por comentar y por tu compromiso con Hive:
!ENGAGE 50
Gracias por su reconocimiento y su apoyo al compromiso de Hive
(traducido a través de Google)
Thank you for your recognition and your support of Hive engagement
(translated via Google)
Woao! Me sorprendiste gratamente. Thanks you, very much. (Muchas gracias)
😍😙
ENGAGEtokens.hahaha apologies for interrupting retirement :P
@galenkp is the god of engagement in Hive. His is another level.
Por aquí pasó | El Comentador |
Por comentar en este post y por tu compromiso con Hive:
!ENGAGE 35
ENGAGEtokens.I agree it can be quite difficult at times for people but they don't have to write a story as in a comment just a simply hi how you doing Jack nice post mate and a simply upvote is appreciated and not difficult or time consuming i make it my effort to comment and upvote to every one that leaves a comment for the respect that they have taken there time to come over and visit me it's not a tough decision...lol
BINGO!!!!! !tip
Thank you @jaynie you are cool 👍
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@jaynie wrote lately about: Engagement - The Foundation Of Enrichment Feel free to follow @jaynie if you like it :)
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Thank you @jaynie very kind of you 🙂
My pleasure :)
Gracias por interactuar y comentar, también por responder cada comentario que te dejan.
!ENGAGE 40
Thank you @garybilbao my pleasure 🙂
ENGAGEtokens.I've had similar thoughts and would go even further to say that quite a few people sometimes don't even go through the content before voting. But in the past 3 weeks that I have been active again I must say that I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of people that do genuinely engage with you, especially if you keep that relationship alive by not keeping the rapport one-sided.
This might also just be my experience, but I've noticed that sense engagement (in the form of replies/reactions to content as opposed to just votes) is stronger in smaller communities. Most likely a side-effect to the fact that masses and/or newcomers automatically flock to the biggest and most popular communities.
But I think that in time society will adapt in a meaningful way to incentivized social media, supported by the work communities like PHC and others put in. Steemit was launched in 2016, not even 5 years ago, so in long term sense we are still at the beginning.
Thank you for interacting and commenting on this post. I hope the participation will always remain in Hive.
! ENGAGE 40
Thank you for the recognition! Hive has so far been more addicting than any other social platform I have come by, so the future looks bright.
Yes! Well this is obvious with auto voting naturally, but as you have pointed out is also way too common with MANUAL curation.
And yes - a BIG part of it relies on the individual and their own efforts too!
BINGO!!!!!!* And they SOON discover that it leaves them somewhat "lost at sea".
Well said and SPOT ON! As for us as a community, we will not stop working at achieving that. :)
Thanks so much for your valued input on this! MUCH appreciated!
!tip
If you are looking to join a great interactive & supportive #HIVE community on discord that not only welcomes ALL content genres but isn't just a massive sea of spammers and plagiarists... then come and join us in the Power House Creatives Server
Of course. I forgot about auto voting and bots. Also, curation trails, which I just found out last week are a thing.
Even though they are lost at sea, those who keep on swimming, will eventually reach land. Things like contests are a good way to support this and give the wanderers an extra push towards creativity.
Thank you for the appreciation and thought-provoking content. :)
Well said and very true - but I do like to try and make the "treading water" end a little sooner lol!
As for curation trails... I see their value, but have never used them and will never implement it into PHC.
Agreed, with the word 'Creatives' in the name, the focus should be more on manual interaction and less on automation.
yippididee!! :)
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This lack of commitment is not a very encouraging sign for the future.
It is nice to receive feedback and to have proof that you are not writing in vain but often the feedback is not exactly honest. It is usually only positive so not always useful. I tried several times to be critical with some posts and I only managed to get upset. Only Denise, @dswigle, I couldn't upset, even though I tried. Denise is the only person here I know who responds to all comments. It is a model of communication but also on the positive side and with the desire to please others.
Yes, posts without any commitment are desolate, but I don't think we have to write for others, we can also write for ourselves ... If we produce something of quality, it is impossible for at least one person to notice our work ... we there are many of us here and our expectations may be different. According to our personality. I consider that a vote, manual or automatic, is a kind of commitment and sometimes even a recognition of value. Of course, it is debatable how much the reward is proportional to the value but this is something very subjective and is not the only thing that does not work here. I try to keep a balance between pessimism and optimism but if I think about the future I am afraid that pessimism is the choice.
The whole POINT is to write for ourselves.... but even in your first three lines of response you have indicated that the lack of feedback for that bothers you... This is a NATURAL response! The problem with this space is... the MONETARY GAIN - and with the changed curation rewards, it has compounded the problem.
Yes I agree with you. As I said - for me personally, I spend a LOT (like literally ALL DAY) charing people's content so I don't always have the time to sit and respond or engage (even to people who comment on my own posts) - but I DO have people set on autovote because I VALUE their content AND them as individuals.
Really appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts here @bluemoon
!tip
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I agree with you, many of us create the content first for ourselves, but we cannot deny that a feedback gladdens the heart. It is something important for the human being.
On the other hand, responding to comments is vital, so we form bonds with those who took time to recognize and give their opinion about our work.
This is where it happened | The Commentator |
Yeah, agree!
Thank you for interacting and commenting on this post. I hope the participation will always remain in Hive.
! ENGAGE 40
With pleasure! In Hive, of course.
Actually yes, I have been touched by people who don't even read the content of the post... I upload a candy full of sugar and they tell me ¨this looks very healthy¨.
hahahaha, but at the same time there are many people who have inspired me to continue writing and trully support each other.
LOL re. the "healthy candy"
.... well... I think we just need more of the latter :)
!tip
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Gracias por comentar este post:
! ENGAGE 20
Get the pillory ready because I'm liable to commit Hersey. :)
There are efforts around the chain at engagement. Some organized, some just pure individual. @abh12345 runs the Hive Engagement league and some of the numbers there are just stunning. @galenkp had 545 comments last week.
Part of that is his 'Friday Engagement Whatchyamacallit' He'll write a post and demand engagement (in a nice way) and that post will end up with over 500 comments on it. He encourages comment and replies. It's big fun and a great chance for people new and old to exchange and get to know individuals.
Engagement is pivotal to keeping people active and here. Here is a big chance for everybody to be the change you want to see. Don't get enough engagement on your posts? ENGAGE others. Read their posts and comment on what they wrote. It's how that works.
Don't for a minute let this sound like personal criticism. Far from it. You do an amazing job of engaging people directly and causing engagement through PHC. That's a vibrant and growing community which also fosters engagement.
Ha! I know you too well to ever consider that "criticism" - and even if it was... it was of the constructive kind, so! haha!
I was just in "expression" mode - so wasn't really looking at the various initiatives - ALL of which are fantastic. Have taken first prize a couple of times with @abh12345 - but as mentioned, my focus is somewhat elsewhere.
However... initiatives aside - people should have a will to engage naturally. There should not always need to be a prize or carrot dangled in their faces in order to make it happen....
just my opinion.
!tip
Ahahahaha. We agree on that absolutely. How can they not figure out that it is MUCH in their best interests to engage? To me, it's as plain as can be. Want to be successful on Hive? Engage others. Simple.
Galen had a really, really good deal this weekend. It offered 4 1000 HP delegations for a month for writing a post and engaging others. It was stupid successful and I followed 9 new people out of it. How many will last 6 months? Hopefully one or two. Sad commentary.
Just way too many people get bored or not rich or not famous and move on. Not a great deal we can do about it, except keep trying.
So. I saw a post this weekend that featured 11 selfies. Two solo and 9 introducing other family members with her. That's more selfies than I've taken. Period :) I don't predict really good things for that author.
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I was just saying this to @janyie in a recent commentary: if we want them to comment, we must comment. Even if we want votes, let's start commenting and voting on others. Everything is translated into interaction.
This is where it happened | The Commentator |
Gracias por comentar este post:
! ENGAGE 40
Gracias por comentar este post:
! ENGAGE 15
I indeed love when I see engagement on my posts. In the end, we all value the human connection more than the money.
Hi,@Jaynie
I agree with you most of what you argue. I was referred to this post by the @elcomentador who has a project to encourage and promote the commenting feature. He created an account solely aimed at providing feedback to authors through comments, among other things
I believe the best characteristic of this project is referring other people to our comments. The fact that I am writing to you now is proof that it works. He connected two topics and two authors who share similar thoughts on the matter at hand. And I got to see other ideas.
I had published an article on the subject of Entitlement vs Feeling entitled to curation rewards, in response to a prop by Bluemist.
You are not alone. I'm glad to see that there are other people who also believe that engagement and interaction are the key to make ourselves visible to others, especially when you are starting, as myself.
I gotta say that I felt discouraged at first because of the low rewards I got from my posts, even when I got a good number of hearts. And then I realized that every beginning can be difficult, especially in a world like Hive, where there are so many people, good content creators as well as people with power and influence. And that is understandable because most of them also went through a rough beginning and had to pave the way to success, not only by creating quality content but also by building networks of supporters. So we should act accordingly.
And I think we shouldn't put all the weight in curators. Because, as you put it, we should make an effort and set aside time to dedicate ourselves solely to giving feedback to others. Your input on this is key. I've gotten a better response and results by doing that.
I will accept your invitation to join the PowerHouse Creative community. I hadn't tried it before because I thought it was only meant for other kinds of artists, and I'm a writer. But I will follow your advice and go to other communities. So I'll be publishing my next story in the PHC community to continue engaging with others.
Thank you and I'll see you around 😉
Por tu compromiso con Hive:
!ENGAGE 30
ENGAGEtokens.Ayyyy. You are so right and I am so guilty. But I have a hard time with comments... I'm really, REALLY anti social... which is kinda why most my friends are all online. And why I spend most my time out in the wilderness away from people. Yes, occasionally I get a few beers in me and I start commenting like crazy(I've been feelin' pretty good today lol), but even when I really want to comment on a post I sometimes find it hard... and often write out long comments just to delete them in the end... IDK whats wrong with me.
So how many beers does it take to do the weekly video chat? Lol
This comment was awesome. You be you. 😁
It's not good. Let's say that much. I'm usually at least 3-4 deep before weekly chat. Sometimes more. Those that attend have undoubtedly noticed. I know you have beat your alcohol addiction, and you have mad respect from me for it.
The truth is with the way I am,(you be you) I have no choice but for me to be me... I couldn't fake me if I tried!! lol. ...oh ya, and don't forget.. tomorrow... 8pm... chat time! Hopefully we'll see you there!
I can be both just depending on my mood. The thing with the chat, I'm usually bushed by 8 and almost ready for bed. That's low energy time for me most Wednesday nights. I'll try to make it more often at least. I did enjoy the one I attended. 😁👍
Chat is on tuesday not wednesday. lol! No wonder you don't usually make it. 🤣
And don't stress it.. only come when you're feelin' it. Honestly theres a lot of nights where I'm tired and I'm just not feeling like chatting. I try to do it anyways cause I'm supposed to be the leader 😜 which in itself is kinda a joke to me, but it usually takes other peoples energy coming to the chat to get me truly engaged.
Well, they say you can't be a true leader unless you follow others. Perhaps you're better than you know or give yourself credit for. Tuesday, Wednesday, what's the difference? Einstein said that time.... Ah nevermind.
I get the notifications! 🤣🤣
Thank you dude! I truly appreciate it. And maybe I'll talk to you tomorrow night... 😜
I hope you don't need so much beer to comment ha ha ha. For your engagement to Hive:
!ENGAGE 20
ENGAGEtokens.I try to include questions for readers and more generally solicit a response from them but mostly its been less than encouraging in the results department. I've got more time than money currently so I intend to keep experimenting until I find something that works.
That is a fantastic approach to encourage further engagement and not only that - through doing this, you actually get to know one another :) !tip
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Gracias por comentar este post:
!ENGAGE 20
ENGAGEtokens.Hello, @jaynie. I was waiting to comment on this post because it is in line with this project that was just born. We were born to make valuable comments and to evaluate comments.
I've seen you in the list of the 100 most commentators according to the Commitment League of @abh12345, so you get love, because you give it. When we show interest in others, others give it back to us.
You really got me hooked on this:
and that's the essence of Hive: it's social blogging, you have to interact. That's it. If we don't, we die, as bloggers and as a community.
#####Thanks for this wonderful post, I shared it in my personal account and with this one of the project. A big hug.
Por aquí pasó | El Comentador |
PS: I will help you with votes for the comments left here. With ENGAGE tokens and votes with this account.
Jaynie: Basically, I sincerely believe, that Discord is who that is killing the desire to comment on people's publications.
That's why I gave up on him and all my interaction with people I've moved to #Hive, even on twitter, when they approach me privately to get them out of doubt, I move them to ask me questions in my posts.
Until the leaders realize this, the posts will continue to languish. That's the same reason I didn't open a newly created Discord server for the community "Full Deportes".
Setting the example, it's the only way (I say this for me).
Kisses.