When it comes to social media, followers are pretty important but, at least on Steem, the number of followers is irrelevant. It might stroke the ego to have many thousands but, unless they are active, they aren't really following. There are many dead followers here.
Last night, a long term user from 2016 was saying that the support they get is very low even though they have quite a few followers and, they barely get comments. As I see it, the rule of follow is, engagement. Yes, you have heard so me and many others speak of engagement saying you need to get out there and actually socialize and this is part of it but, when it comes to 'good followers', I look at it from a value perspective. And, not a wallet value perspective.
Having a whale follow you is only actually useful for votes if that whale is an engaged whale who is actively voting. But, let's take the large accounts out of the equation and look at the smaller followers. The same rule applies here too.
Follower count is meaningless but, engaged follower count is vital for the health of a blog and, this takes a great deal of work to build and maintain for most people. Some spend a lot of time on their content yet, close to zero time on getting to know and understanding their followers, especially those who take the time to actually comment. This is a social media platform, socializing is a large part of it and if the relationship is not a two-way street, pretty soon, one will part ways or become inactive.
Of course, the larger the active group, the harder it is to get to each person every time they comment but, effort needs to be made often enough, even if it is a small vote as an indicator to say that the comment has been read.
Followers are humans, they are not numbers yet, people treat them as some kind of notch on the belt which is probably why people seem to think that this is Instagram when they first come in and start talking about follower counts. At least when it comes to this, it is a little more like Facebook where valuable followers are friends and family with a few acquaintances thrown into the mix.
What this means is that, if you are struggling with engagement on your blog it is likely because a) your content isn't the kind of content people want to comment on or b) you aren't treating your friends and family well.
My point is, you need to stop trying to play the numbers and start treating people like humans. stop shouting into the void and start inviting people into your home. This doesn't mean that you have to pour your life and emotions onto the blockchain, it means you have to act like a human rather than the uncanny valley vibe that many give off as they 'engage' with the express purpose of reward or to only get their views across.
There is much more to this place than reward, content quality, blockchain technology and monetization because there are humans and humans like to interact with other humans. No one really enjoys going to have a beer and a chat with a toaster or a microwave, they want a friend, someone they can talk to. They want someone engaged.
The 'quality' of follower is dependent on the various qualities of the blog and if one is struggling to get engagement, it is likely that one is missing some aspects in their blog conducive to getting engagement which means, change.
Everyone comes here expecting to do what they want and get rewarded for it and when they don't, they see it as a problem with the platform. For the most part here, reward is provided via humans and if you treat them like financial resources, you are in for a tough time unless your content is impeccable or, your wallet is large.
People spend so much time on the numbers of this place and working out ways to maximize their vote, curation or payouts they forget that the driver of it is the community who interact here. Take them out of the equation and the place has almost zero value, especially as a social media and content platform.
The rule of follow is; stop worrying about follower numbers and start engaging with humans as a human.
Nope, that doesn't answer any real question does it? This is the other thing here though, everyone is trying to teach or learn about how to maximize their value that they forget the human aspects of the platform, they forget that this is a place to get to know people, have some fun sometimes, joke around and tease a little. Yes, it is great to get into the deep discussions too but, if that is all there is, it becomes too theoretical for most to keep it up. Some of course love that side of it too.
Economically, this place works much like the real world and much like the real world, social network matters. Funnily enough, this place is called a social network.
Weird.
Taraz
[ a Steem original ]
@tarazkp sorry this is not topic related, but I am very eager to see your thoughts on @ned recent post which I will link here:
https://steemit.com/gathering/@ned/have-you-seen-this-post-yet
In the post, he talks about SMTs, and introducing an oracle, one person - one vote, which would change upvoting on steemit, in a way that would as I understand it, do away with whales. I know you have been heavily critical of the content spammers, and reward pool manipulation that goes on here on Steem. Seems like this SMT idea by @ned, could be a real step in the right direction.
As I understand it, this SMT would work in conjunction with the existing system, so you might get paid in steem via the old rules, but in SMT in the new rules. Which would mean that whales will still game the system in their old way, but not the SMT overlapping system.
I don't know much about SMTs however they are able to interact with the Steem blockchain with whatever parameters they choose essentially. There are going to be some very interesting iterations coming through after the launch.
Hopefully it can balance the incentivizations on Steemit, such that its not just whales who can make a living. :)
I guess in the 6 months I have been using steemit, it has occurred that quality prevails over quantity. I would like to ask should I be posting about some particular topics or just random life stuff as it comes to build a strong following?
Thanks
I know you're not asking me personally, but you should post about what interests you. There's no point someone telling you to post about something you have no knowledge or interest in. Some people post what randomly comes to mind, some post about hobbies or interests. Some like commedy, some like discussion.
A strong following will come when you connect with others who might enjoy the interactions you have.
Thank you for the advice, appreciate it.
As said in the article, don't act like a bot trying to maximize your following. Go out and socialize on and off the platform and that likely means reviewing what you think socializing is.
Will try and interact with my audience as much as possible thanks for the advice.
I can not recall who said this (to0 lazy to google it right now) but all a person needs is 1000 true fans/followers. it relates more to writing and selling books but I think the notion carries over to blogging as well.
I think so too. It is like friends, just need a few good ones.
Totally agree just like me i am new in steemit big whales are not giving values to us because of low values. We also want to do something in this platform newbys had great talent to post something innovative but they need some support for you just like big brother. Many peoples needs money they are very poor so why we not helped to them???? I must apperciate to those peoples who are not begging on the road they are working hard on this platform nothing better than this. So big whales please support the emerging people. Thanks
It isn't the job of big whales to support new users. It is the job of new users to learn how the system works, especially if they are only doing it for the money.
I agree with you there is always rules and regulations of any platform to earn but they have to looked around who are commenting upvoting etc.
The way I see it, people lack the time to engage, because obviously, it's usually not enough to engage with 1 or2 people, you have to talk to more and that's very time-consuming....
Excepting those who just don't care, of course... ;)
@honeydue but when we try to engage they ignored us mostly they reply to those peoples who had greater steemit power which is unfair for us...
Are you spending your time commenting on large accounts hoping they will follow you?
yes bro
I don't know that's always the case...Sure, there are some dicks out there who don't bother talking to you unless you're of a certain rep, but hey, those people ignore users with rep in their 50s, so...
Other than that, I've seen a lot of high rep users engage with newbies, as long as the comment is worthwhile and not resembling spam...
It is very time consuming. 😁
But, especially in the early days, it is necessary to do.
ok I will do it
Yes clearly, I was just thinking about that...Now, you could afford to not engage as much, because you've built up a reputation, but in the early days, it's vital to stay present and alive...
I like how you write, Taraz, always saying it like it is and putting things in perspective with common sense and honesty. I am learning a lot from you and think that your way is a good way to follow for new people on steemit. I also think @honeydue has a point, that many people simply don't have the time to engage as much as they would like. That is my dilemma to some degree. But when I have the time, I enjoy the engagement and there are many wonderful people here that I enjoy engaging with. I'm unable to post every day though so the engagement on my own posts may remain somewhat limited. But I'll be happy with what I get as I know that what I get is in alignment with what I'm able give.
I am getting more tricks and tips from all of you it is very helpful and thanks to @tarazkp who made such a great post
I really don't think it had what it takes to hit the trending page. To me it seems to be missing something for that to happen. I can't put my finger on it but something just didn't occur for that to happen, you know like boost it there.
any thought?
Just do your best and don't compare results to others. Often people compare on content but forget all to look at all tge other things that matter. And have some fun once in a while.
I don't even check how many followers I have on here and I'm glad I didn't get into that habit. On Instagram I did, because I thought that was the thing to do and I still find myself checking now. It's pointless though, because from over 3000 followers I average about 200 likes, which means either most people aren't even looking or they aren't actually that interested. I much prefer the engagement I get and funnily enough I get the most conversation going on mundane photos where I bring up an issue, but the 'likes' are low because the picture isn't fancy. Which is why I guess I prefer steemit, because Instagram is more for the photo whereas here it's for the discussion.
I can't even remember the last thing I posted on Instagram, facebook or twitter...
Sometimes I have the feeling that there are too many scientists and psychologists around here teaching me about everything they read on the internet or in some books. Very often I enjoy more reading authentic life experiences, even with grammar mistakes, than scientific pages of nothing. I am into deep discussions, but mostly on personal experience and deep understanding rather than sterile posts with even more theory to fill the brackets of comments.
There is definitely too much wiki and textbook content and not enough actual experience here. I like talking about the deep stuff too but through people's experience, not what they have read
that's why I always read your posts, authenticity is not so easy to find. Most of the information on posts on here and other social media sites can be found with a google search. but honestly and integrity .. not so easy
In my IRL business, integrity is the driving force and the reason customers can trust me with much more than I am directly hired to do. It means that we are able to go much deeper and broader than a normal client relationship abd in the end, we both benefit.
Followers could become much more important in the future, imagine if @scipio's UA was implimented...
I/someone should probably analyse how that would look in Steem account terms, if it hasn't been done already.
Engaging is how you build your freinds (foundation) The votes you receive will not amount to much but over time the other newbies will grow and then you can think of or receive your rewards. until then suck it up , have fun and build a family
If I looked at the amount of time I spend on a daily basis and compare it to my rewards and it would make two grown men cry. But I have a following because I am a follower , My name (brand ) is recognized. It will pay off in the long run because I am not taking now and using it for greater purpose later at a much higher rate. (compounding interest)
The only thing that matters is engaging and the only measure of it is the vote count not the payout , Rep, followers or whales
many users of steem has a goal to earn sbd or steem. while steem price is too low it is very difficult to earn it. and then many users become inactive. while steem price will rise you can see that many inactive users has been active
Yeah. I don't have much time for those people because generally they aren't tge ones willing to support the community back.
You just put the finger on what matters most in social media, especially high quality content steemit platform
You have described very well the fundamentals of blogging and building social relations as keys to success 🕵
I have seen many big guys here who have many followers but get little engagement! I thought followers count a lot here,thanks for the head up.
I will struggle as a new user to create engagement with real humans as you say.
Good post. I agree that the human connection is essential for a true decentralized social media to accurately exist. Looking forward to reading more of your posts!
Hello @ tarazkp, very true what you say with respect to the followers many times we do not take them into account and vice versa, we are only making our publications and we forget that we are human beings and we need feedback, from now on I will try to conserve and comment on the comments they make to me, because I know how it feels when you make a comment and they do not even respond to you. Thanks for sharing, you are a good teacher.
I hear you about the followers and engagement. What is sad is that over the last month some of the longer term relationships I've developed with people from all over the world, which I have thoroughly enjoyed by the way, have fallen to the wayside here recently with them no longer posting their usual posts and only maybe occasionally commenting. It seems to be related to the general decline in crypto currencies and subsequently Steemit. I'm kind of bummed by it all.
Thanks for continuously producing great content!
This morning I read your other post and the comment you refer to here. The read was inspiring and I started to think about stepping up my game and work harder to engage other users here, maybe even find a group on discord to engage with.
And now you write this!
I shall take it as a sign.
None of this is new to me but I needed some inspiration to take my engagement to the next level.
Thanks!
I liked the content of this publication, because I think it addresses a very real problem. Now I have a number of followers but I do not know the organic, I have also seen that many people who have power in what they publish already get a number of votes and comments unrelated to the text. Apparently it is a new strategy of some who are doing harm because they distort what was found in this social network.
I really liked the possibility of meeting and interacting with people from other places and the experience has been very rich. This is what I value most because the coincidence that we can have in ways of thinking or teaching an educational aspect fills me a lot.
I am using a translator to interact here, I apologize.
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thanks for this valuble post
Followers who interact is what we need to strive for. Having 100 followers but 2 comment is not a great return. They are not followers then. I have been picky and thrown out a lot of excess baggage recently and only following 100 odd myself. Of those 100 if they post I will comment and normally upvote if I have power. That is a proper follower ,so my posts this weekend received an average of 6 votes on each. I have under 10 genuine followers.
I just said this to someone about a half hour ago, outside of money the one thing people crave the most on here is attention. My true value here may not be great authoring of post, making large sums of money but giving people the attention they crave is a value also and I think people overlook that sometimes.
Good post mate. I am learning more about the importance of this post all the time. Really interact, put yourself out there, don't bullshit and build a group in who you can shape a true interest.
nice post.follow me.i follow back