Too Steemy
Making Steem Boring
The word boring comes for the verb, boring, defined as "to pierce with a turning or twisting movement of a tool."
I don't know how many times I need to say this, yet I'm not really into social media; however, SteemIt does show uniqueness. Can Steem be a platform of merit, reputation, and relationships? What type of features in Steem can help this, and what features hurt this?
I've noticed some things that enticed me on SteemIt previous to my hiatus :
- Seeing how well people are doing on Steem
- Trying to make money
- Amazing source of Endless Information
These are things that make my ego go mad. It's an interesting blend of making a interesting, fun platform, yet also we may sacrifice more time than we want onto it. These enticing features of SteemIt drives its usage. We can find any content that suits our needs. We get a bit of hype when upvoting or getting upvoted. It's fun! At a objective Steem standpoint, havingactive users voting, viewing, consuming means a healthy platform; does this also imply a happy human? I find Steem much better than other social medias, since it doesn't slam us with advertising.
So how can we prevent this dopamine inducer from becoming a drug, similar to what Simon Sinek says about other social media. Paraphrasing Aldous Huxley, if we do have drugs, or social media, in our society, we would want one that creates the greatest net benefit, with the least amount of consequences. Now, how can we get there?
Sidenote: Something I noticed is that the follwers and following doesn't load as quick as the other content on the site. Maybe there's a request being made there, yet Facebook does this intentionally to increase time on site. Does Steem do the same?
What I Did About It
Well, today I've been on a JavaScript fix. Inspired by Luke Stokes I made a TamperMonkey Script to change a couple of things when on SteemIt personally. The script doesn't run perfectly each time, so this
I created a gist for this if anyone feels interested
This script solves the first two bullet points. Now, I cannot view anyone's wallet except my own and all payout have the ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ instead of the price. I have yet found a way to have the best content for myself sift to the top. I have a queue of books I've been chewing down on, so more content feels intimating; however, the right content, may help me immensely. Unfortunately, the right content may not be in my feed; so that's why trending, hot, or new can help. How can I do this without spending an extensive amount of time surfing the steemy currents?
Quesitons I Asked Myself
Basically, I love how Steem has created crypto-currency incentives for fair governance. I have a concern with the medium of a online social network. So, I'm trying to find a way to produce and consume content in a way that it optimizes the platform for myself and others. In addition, I want to do this in a way too that I don't take out more value than a put in. It's a balance for sure; and constraints like the script above with only help. I use questions as constraints as well:
- What consequences (good or bad) are there when I spend time on Steem
- How can I get more involved in the Steem Community?
- How can I optimize the use of Steem?
- How long should I take out of my day to produce on Steem?
- How can I make a Steem learning tool?
- How can mostly every aspects of using Steem enjoyable yet not addictive?
In summary, I want to use Steem as a boring tool we can use to pierce through the proper social network of connecting and sharing relationships. I look forward to my continual interaction with the tool :D.
As a closer, my open question to the Steem community: What metrics are we measuring for the growth of the Steem Community, and does this increase overall happiness in the world?
I appreciate everyone who took the time to read this. I would love any discussion on this topic! And of course; It's all about Love, So let's prove it - @juxley
Thanks for these thoughtful words! And thanks for coming out last night to connect. I enjoyed meeting you.
I admittedly have a social media addiction. I had one before I became really ill, but then it increased quite a bit as it was the only means of socializing I had for quite some time. I'm just not starting to engage in real physical world with humans again and it's so much more meaningful, but definitely still incredible value in these platforms. I don't personally believe we won't get that dopamine hit as long as we give a shit about connection. I think it's about being aware of the power of it and creating habits that are more valuable in moving towards your purpose and goals. Which, is difficult when those goals align with using platforms like this. It's a fascinating problem - especially considering it's the first time humanity has had problems like this.
I'm glad you liked them! Pleasure meeting you as well. It's definitely a balance. I see social media platforms and the Internet in general a fantastic place for people who tend towards introversion. I can't find it right now, but Derek Sivers had a really good article on this. He gets a bunch of emails from people and socializes with people all around the world!
I like hearing that you've venture out and socialized in person. It's something about the our mamilian nature that makes it feel so amazing. I tihnk you're aboslutely right. If Steem is used with awareness and a means to achieve a goal that helps the world, then it will increase general happiness :D
Two resources comes to my mind: 1) a book called A General Theory of Love talking about the consequecnes of no physical/emtional connection and why technology doesn't supplement it fully. 2)Malcolm Gladwell's idea, "Why the Revolution won't be tweeted",a on weak ties and strong ties, and how social media creates tight weak ties while events that we met at make tight strong ties. Both are beneficial of course!