It's become very clear that the vibe of the Steemit community has changed, and not in a pleasant way. I posted briefly on this last week, but it's clear now it needs some serious attention.
First – hardly anybody is voting. The voting choices that are being made are generally on the popular 'trending' posts (usually the same handful of people), and it's getting embarrassing to witness this ass-kissing. It's like being at school again!
Using my own blog as an example:- I have 1200+ followers (apparently) yet my recent posts get about 5-20 votes. That few??? Where is everybody? And I see exactly the same thing happening to numerous others who I've 'grown up with' on Steemit. We used to get 100, 200, 300 votes... not any more!
Second – many successful bloggers now aren't responding to comments, or showing appreciation to their voters. They used to back when they were just starting out, but now they've stopped. What's this about? Too busy? Too important?
It's all reap and no thanks. Is it not common courtesy to reply to a nice comment that someone's taken time to give? No matter how busy you are, a reply, a word of appreciation is the decent response. And if you see the same loyal supporters popping up in your comments thread or in your upvote list, you really should be returning the support for their blogs.
This isn't about envying their popularity or moaning about lack of rewards on my posts... that's not my complaint. My frustration concerns the GOLDEN RULE – treat others how you wish to be treated.
We're seeing too much taking and not enough giving. It's destroying the community. For Steemit to be pleasant and beneficial for all, there needs to be a balance. But go ahead – carry on taking and taking, and see eventually people will notice you aren't retuning the support, and they will withdraw it!
Personally I have commented on several posts during the last week alone that have had no acknowledgement... and so out of curiosity I visited those people's blogs to see if they reply to others and to my disgust, I saw they reply to no-one! Yet they're getting lots of votes and earning big bucks! Tell me, why continue to vote for people who show no appreciation and no respect for your loyalty? Do you check whether they vote for you? Chances are – they don't! Go, take a look!
Yes, we can forgive a few times of no reply, and hope others forgive us when we don't/can't, but to consistently do it, that's just plain rude.
Ok, so you're busy. Same here! I still reply to comments! So do other decent Steemians who have community in mind and not just what's in it for them. Most of us have lives outside Steemit, and families, and chores, and jobs, and other blogs etc etc etc... yet we take the time to reply because if it wasn't for the votes of our followers, we'd have no rewards at all. So please, show some respect for your voters.
This evening I scrolled down the trending #introduceyouself posts, and saw the highest-earning posts were mainly the ones with the most ego (not all – I did see some lovely people among them too!) It seems the more you say things like “Look at me, I'm awesome, I already have ten million followers elsewhere and I have cool sunglasses and a pet jaguar” the more likely you are to get big bucks. Well, that's okay if we want Steemit dominated by people full of themelves, but personally I prefer and admire those with some modesty, some humility. I don't vote for ego, and I don't like to see people lapping at the feet of the ego, it's so humiliating.
Steemit used to be full sincerity, appreciation, kindness, support, etc this time last year, and it had a very pleasant vibe. Granted things were S.L.O.W and rewards weren't great, but community spirit was strong. People were having conversations, and learning from each other, and helping each other to grow their blogs. Not so much now. It's all dollars, popularity, curating because there's something in it for me. Me me me me me me me me. I am so sick of Me Me Me!!! That's what Facebook is for!
Ok, so I think I've made my point. I do hope things balance out again, because a community of reapers is not a very nice place to hang out.
Many thanks to all my wonderful followers! I sincerely appreciate your support, and do try to visit as many of your blogs as frequently as I possibly can, so don't give up on me either!
Much love x
I too thought it was just me seeing this and chastised myself for being touchy. Now that I read that others are experiencing this strange phenomena I can exhale.
I have noticed the lack of upvote with some that I follow, not just on my posts but also on those I support. I read replies where some have replied to high earners that they comment mostly because they make more money doing so than posting -they called it piggy backing.
Also, I have noticed that some discord channel groups are producing an unintentional segregation. Vote only within your group. Comment first and mostly on your group to support them.
Sometimes I feel like I am intruding on posts bc everyone who belongs to a "group" is high fiving each other - which is fine - while ignoring the outsiders. It's like grade school.
I do get good rewards with my posts, don't get me wrong, I am grateful for that but I am concerned about this trend and don't know how to fix or address it especially when I see my friends get comments and no upvote, while up-voting the comment people who are riding on the coat tails so to speak. Not everyone looks to see if they have been upvoted by those who comment. I do bc I usually upvote comments and have stopped upvoting those who are there to make SPD on their comments.
Lastly, I do understand that newer people have less voting power. I know, I've been there and it's frustrating. At the same time, they ought to know there is a reason for it and it ought to be a reminder for them to slow down and ease into things.
Thank you for writing this and thank you for allowing me to put my opinion into words. ;)
Hi @countrygirl, thanks so much for sharing your thoughts... and enlightening me on some things! I wasn't aware that it's a 'thing' to group up and only support each other in those groups... what a funny attitude. I get it, but it's not very nice! Just like you, it's not only my own blog I'm concerned about, it's other bloggers I know who consistently put out wonderful posts, and hardly anyone reads them or votes. I too have noticed people comment without upvoting, and it's hugely insulting to whoever has created the post. If its worthy of a comment it's worthy of a vote! You seem to have a good way with words, and insight that could be helpful for the community... Perhaps you could consider doing a post of your own on this topic (please send me the link if you do so I don't miss it and I will re-steem). I think the more of us who bring these issues into community discussion, the more likely it is we can affect positive changes! Thanks so much for saying all this!
I'll give some thought to writing a post about it. Thanks though for bringing your concerns to the table. You did it in a fair and just way. I'm following you now. :)
Thank you! I try to keep things objective rather than just moaning from my own point of view. This is an issue close to my heart. I appreciate your support @countrygirl :-)
Right, I already brought up the infantile nature of school yard bully brawls on different threads about whales fighting each other over who deserves more rewards (Hint: none of them do! ;))
I like your post for the fact you express your feeling.
I don't like the fact that you are complaining for not receiving enough votes.
My advice to you, let it be
Human nature will always be the same.
Steemit cannot change people to apply golden rule.
It is their choice to upvote you or not.
I vote your post cause it is for me the right thing to do now.
I will even follow you.
I have to tell you we are in this together.
DO NOT SHOW YOUR WEAKNESS.
STAY PERSISTENT TO YOUR LINE AND YOU WILL CONTINUE GET YOUR UPVOTE.
KEEP ON STEEMIN'
Thank you @pouchon. It wasn't a compaint about my personal lack of votes per se, I just used myself as an example of what many of us are experiencing right now. My love for Steemit has little to do with money (as in my life outside Steemit too) but has everything to do with community. I fell in love with the community aspect, and am concerned about what I'm seeing is happening to it. I don't consider raising these concerns as showing weakness... I see it as a show of solidarity with my fellow bloggers who like me aren't merely here for the rewards. I know things are fluid andf constantly changing, but we can sit back and say nothing and allow ego and money to take over, or we can discuss things and help take it in a positive direction... not to mention give each other reassurance that we matter to each other! At least that's what I always try to do :-)
Thanks for rectifying,
It is good to show solidarity when efforts are well shown.
Keep on steemin'
Spot on, Joanna!
I'm gonna resteem this :).
Thanks very much @kotturinn! I have noticed actually that you're one of my consistent 'few' voters, and I thank you very very much for not abandoning me!!! You're a good friend!
Of course, I enjoy your posts!
Thank you :D
OMG! So true! I thought it was just me who was observing this happening! Even though I'm pretty new to steemit I find it so easy to identify to off balance! We are trying to lift each other up! How is that so hard?? Anyhow.. I'll continue to upvote and comment for content I genuinely while also creating my own! I hope others can do the same.
Sounds like you have a great attitude @cynfullliving! Steemit doesn't really work so well if people think selfishly... we all have to support each other and read and upvote, otherwise it'll be no different to mainstream social media sites, and that's what set it apart in the first place! I wish you all the best in your blogging... and stick with it, it can take a while to re-balance when it's been off!
Thanks! And ofc I will!
I make a point to answer every comments on my posts, I might be missing the ones that come 4 days later on it, but for the majority of them, there are all from my lovely fellows and it is a pleasure to answer, thank youing, and communicate
...Does it take time ? Oh my it takes a lot ;-) but I post once a day instead of posting ten times, because I would hardly feel to leave my posts just for being upvoted with not caring of the people who took time to leave a comment...
Here is a bouquet for you to uplift your mood @woman-on-the-wing ^_^
I'm with you dear Barbara! I would rather put out one good post a day and take time to communicate with everyone who stops by! Then there are so many wonderful people putting out great content I don't want to miss any of that either. I'll even go a few days in between posts if I don't feel like I have something worthwhile to put out.
My rewards are pretty low most of the time, but I figure I would rather take time and really connect with people and hope that eventually it will even out! Much love to both you ladies! 🤗
You are both the women after my own heart :-) I am not big in the numbers of followers, but I am whole heartedly sticking with sensible people who take time to interact and appreciate other people's time and goodness.
You are a wonderful woman too my friend! Lots of really awesome ladies (and some gents 😆) I have met on here that I am so happy to support and get to know better!
You do right @icybc, stick with the bloggers who appreciate and support, and not with the selfish others! I think I may have told you of my appreciation recently, but if not I want you to know I always do appreciate your support! And I will continue to return that support because I like what you post! :-)
Thank you @barbara-orenya and @plantstoplanks! Have a wonderful day!
Yeah, I noticed you're one of the bloggers who isn't getting many votes either these day @plantstoplanks, just like me, and it bugs me greatly because your posts are genuinely interesting, informative, and clearly you put much time and thought into them. Grrr! But hey, I give you my word you'll continue getting my support, because I want you to keep sharing all this great stuff, and fingers crossed in a little while things will improve! What a good thing you're a sunny person!!!
I try not to get too frustrated since I had absolutely no expectations when I first got on Steemit and the rewards go far beyond the upvote values. It is a hard pill to swallow though when I see a very simple post that probably didn't take any time to put together get 10x the support than my post that I spent not only hours putting together but also time in the kitchen developing. And that is by no means me being disparaging to the more simple posts--some of those are great, too! It just makes me wonder what I could do better. Regardless, I very much appreciate your support and I try to reciprocate with the quite a few others who I also know take the time to read my posts! I'd still much rather 10 genuine followers that I can connect with than 1,000 who don't even read my carefully worded post. 😘
Same here! It's not the numbers that bother me either, like you say it's better to have a handful of genuine followers than stacks of indifferent ones. I don't think there's anything you could be doing 'better'... I don't think the issue is anything to do with posts lacking something, it's that people aren't really reading or even scrolling through the feed. They're quickly having a nosey at the trending posts and clicking a few buttons. Or at least that's my observation of late! I hope the fact lots of us have had chance to discuss these issues might encourage more reading again! :-)
Aww thanks so much, I ADORE your wonkies @barbara-orenya! Your loveliness has indeed lifted my spirits! I think you and I approach things in a similar way... usually no more than one post a day otherwise, like you point out, there's no time left for reading and voting other people's posts. I also find the interaction side of things a pleasure, and not sure why anyone would want to skip that aspect? Maybe if rewards is all that's in people's head then community doesn't matter so much. But community is what makes Steemit wonderful, so I do hope we can pull through this odd phase and get back to love!!! :-)
I do think both community and rewards count, because i like it the most when, doing what I love, I get likewise rewarded for that...I mean, that's how life is meant to be, it is not meant to be a struggle to obtain money and hate money because it is only painful to obtain... As an artist, I choose to do what I love and let the joy of doing it be my first reward...then it has somehow to lead to rewards, in a way or another, because when you feel abundant, abundance comes more and more, it's a natural law, so if it brings money, that's cool, if it brings beautiful people, that's cool, if it brings peace, that's cool...
Then the better way to let abundance enter in our life is to make what pleases us, like interacting, if we love that, and then feel abundant of all the kindness we are surrounded with, and one day or another, it will transform in more cash rewards if we don't prevent money to come in our life by focusing on it's actual absence ...
Oh my goodness, I love everything you said there... so true :-) That's why I've never chosen to get more into the technical and game-playing-to-boost-rewards because that's not where my heart lies. I love the chance to get creative and then to share that with a community that (until very recently) has always welcomed and appreciated that expression of myself, and that's never happened in my life before. I never felt this accepted anywhere. I live in a very remote area, with no neighbours even, or family, or friends, and so Steemit is my social life! It's a very special community but has amazed me how quickly its foirgotten some of that specialness. But hopefully it's not lost, just on the backseat for a while until we start reminding ourselves what made Steemit wonderful in the first place. But knowing there are still poeple like you here is really encouraging, and I appreciate your input to this discussion VERY MUCH! Thank you :-)
It's a pleasure and you put your finger on it just there :
I think you just have to focus on what you love here to make it re-appear just right now,
the thing is not to get caught on negative discussions on things or people, cause before long, it brings more of that things or people in your vibrationnal neighborhood, and that's the opposite of what we want, don't we..? ;-)
I wish you a wonderful and aligned day @woman-on-the-wing ^_^
You are so right! It's always good to be reminded, thank you :-) I too wish you a wonderful day (or night, whatever time you're on!)
I agree entirely with your post - although I officially follow a large group, I consistently follow only a small group for reasons you outlined here - now I'm following you
I appreciate your support very much @johnjgeddes. I am and always have been more interested in community than rewards or popularity, and though I can't fully express in these few words how Steemit has affected my life, it really, really has. The feedback, the genuine comments and appreciation for what I've shared, and these are the things I value in other bloggers too. It would be such a shame for Steemit to become more concerned with power and money than community and all that encompasses, because then it will be no different to the 'mainstream world'.
Spot on! There a few exceptions but I have the feeling this behavior might kill steemit at the end, making a few very very rich! Steemit might turn into the myspace of the social media and get pushed to the side for something more popular... just as Facebook did in the past. BUT it's not too late. Thanks for bringing this to our attention and raising your voice ;)
Thanks Amy... that's just what I'm afraid of... Steemit becoming like FB or one of those sites where people post a photo of the slop they ate for dinner, no recipe, no food info, just a photo of slop, and they get stacks of upvotes! On my FB feed recently someone has posted their burger, and they got about 80 likes, it was ridiculous! If Steemit become that I won't be able to stay! But hopefully it won't... I do think a heck of a lot of us care way too much to let community die.
We'll see how it evolves. Maybe something better will come or maybe they will improve the system. Whichever it will be it is not in our power to make those changes :(
No, unfortunately not! Thankfully there are stacks of up-and-coming platforms being created right now all across the blockchain, it's very exciting! I suppose whatever happens with Steemit as it moves forward at least we got to experience the community at its finest, even if it never returns to that level of fineness again! So all's good really!
I'm glad I found your post, I was telling my friend the same frustration. I thought I would leave thought provoking comments or something clever and not even a nod my way. It was saddening. I was telling my friend that more users needed to be generous with their votes and spark up a conversation. Use the upvote button until it stopped working. Smash that upvote! Hopefully something would come back to us. But I hope to make relationships along the way. I have only been on steemit for about a month. I know it has potential but yeah we need a Golden rule it'll make everyone happier
Thanks for the resteemed or I may have never read this
No worries, hopefully it spreads awareness and helps the community ^~^
Thanks very much for stopping by to comment @kittysilhouette. I think all of us need to put out some 'reminders' into the community... maybe you could do your own post on this topic to get the attention of your own followers (if you do, make sure to draw my attention to it and I will re-steem). The more the issue is talked about, I think the more people will start to realise it's necessary. It's so good to know many other like yourself are feeling the same frustration... because I wasn't sure if it was even being acknowledged that much! I'm a little concerned the community spirit is being pushed to the back, and rewards are the main objective, and it's not good! But as long as all of us who value community keep supporting each other, things should re-balance and we'll get a strong community back again. I hope!!!
Yes ma'am, I'll do my best @woman-onthe-wing
Hehe :-) Thank you!
I guess it's all still complicated to me. It is tempting to do more to earn now that the price of Steem is quite high and I understand.
I do not feel left out or forgotten mainly because I never got a lot of appreciation for my posts on Steem (except for two whale upvotes long long time ago).
I keep upvoting and supporting the ones I can see potential in. For the new posts, I check #bread regularly, but I don't upvote unless there is a recipe. Posting a picture alone is not enough. Secondly, I do my best to support the Polish community that keeps growing.
It feels like people decide to fall into some sort of a game with the rule that whatever involves sharing the currency is a lost game.
I decided to approach Steem as something without value. It does have it, of course, and I wouldn't mind it if at some point it would turn out that it can buy me a house, but it is not my primary goal. My primary goal is to meet people like you, with passion, dedication, idea, skill or a sense of humour and share with them. It makes it much easier even when the system is misused/abused by anyone.
Thank you for this wonderful comment! At least you have already seen a whale once. The whales I see, are only misusing their power for spreading hate. Sad story...
Yeah, the majority of whales, in my observation, don't stop by the peasants posts too often! And yes, they have often waged wars and left us all feeling puzzled and irritated. I'm sure there are nice whales too, but I have no idea who or where they are! Very sad. I do wish they'd use their power for the good of the community!
Oh yes @breadcentric, you and I approach things in a similar way! Not with rewards at the forefront of our minds, but community, and people's blogs that we believe in. There's a lot of different games being played here, which is fine, and normal, and to be expected, but if it's a game that centres around gain for ourselves and no thought to others, it doesn't work very well. I know what you mean, it's tempting to just create create create during times of good Steem value, but at the cost of community. But like you say, if our primary goal is relationships and community, then we can still enjoy Steemit even when things get tough :-) Thank you for pointing that out!
If it gets bad to use, something new will emerge.
BTW, how's the book project? Also I haven't seen culinary challenges for a while.
Ah, you must have missed all that! I brought the SCC to an end actually... It was taking all my time and to be honest, I wanted to blog on other things and get my new project up and running! I was going to pass it on to another host, but the former host preferred me to end it, so I respected her wishes. It's all fine though... It initially began to help new food bloggers get noticed, but now there are stacks of food contests it wasn't getting as much interest any more. But nothing is lost! I have started my new "Make It Healthy" project (though have to earn some SBD before I can offer prizes). It will be irregular contests rather than a weekly thing, but I still desire to compile a Steemit community recipe book. It would be so amazing to have recipes from all round the world, something we could all be proud of! Yours too! :-)
I can share some bread recipe, or sweets, though not the healthiest ever ;)
I would love to see your recipes in the book @breadcentric! I will make sure to get at least one healthy recipe out of you haha!!! :-)
Healthy - that sounds dangerous ;)
I thought I was the only person to think the same, I have more than 150 followers and only a few vote, I do not know what's happening I do not have much time in steemit it seems great but there are people who do not even respond to the comments that people like I low reputation leaves on his blog
I know how you feel @yesslife! A lot of us are feeling the same frustrations as you, and wonder why we bother creating good posts if hardly anyone reads or votes them. But hopefully if we keep raising the issue and encourage less selfish attitudes, then things will improve in time. We just have to support each other and most importantly, support whatever makes community strong!
I really think Steemit needs to evolve the way the community participates with one another. Having multiple rankings for accounts will be the next step.
Just my opinion on this issue you've pointed out. Your frustrations are definitely valid.
Interesting thoughts @digitaldruid! Have you put these ideas into a post? It would be great to see what other people think of these kinds of restrictions. It's hard to know what solutions would be most effective, but we know things can't carry on as they are and end up in a good place! Thank you for this :-)
Thank you for bringing this up @woman-on-the-wing, I'm only a plankton according to busy.org, started in July last year, so thought I'd better keep my mouth well and truly zipped up about this...But what you're saying sadly is true! I've been wondering whether everyone is too busy now with steemit's enormous growth but really, many of my earlier posts got more upvotes when I had less followers?
Living in South Africa most of steemit activity takes place while we're sleeping so it used to be a lovely surprise waking up to some nice steemit comments and upvotes. Where have all the people gone?
If it weren't for the contests and challenges I would be a lost and lonely little plankton.
So I joined teamsouthafrica who do support each other, I think of this group as lifesavers, just like the ones on the beach, I really don't want to drown :(:(
On the other hand I have met some really great people and have a couple that I consider very good friends although we've never met and they're living on the other side of the world. So I will continue swimming in the vast steemit ocean as I love blogging and sharing good food and experiences, and love my new friends as well.
Common courtesy is lacking as you say. My mother taught me not to ignore someone speaking to me but it's happening over and over here on steemit of late, so I choose to ignore them in future, but is that what we want here, tit for tat? I think not!
Let's not allow this trend to spread like an infectious illness!
Thank you for voicing what I believe many of us are too afraid to speak about.
This is what so many people are saying @lizelle... that they used to get more votes when they had fewer followers! Exactly the same for me! And it's got nothing to do with the quality of our posts... they are worth reading, and deserve votes, it's just no-one is reading! They're just creating their own posts, then clicking a few upvotes of the trending posts. But that's usually the same people again and again, so it's working for a small minority, and meanwhile the rest of us feel undervalued and like we can't even raise these issues in case we get penalised by the bigger fish. But hey, I stand up for things I believe in, and there's something wrong, and if we all remain silent then we'll be swamped by the big fish and then gobbled up, and we'll be wishing we said something! I'm so glad to hear you've found a little niche of kindred spirits who make your time in this community feel worthwhile... Me too, I've got people I've never met but consider them true friends. And my desire is for everyone to have this should they wish, but it's hard to connect when people aren't responding or being friendly! I bet lots of newcomers feel this isn't a very welcoming place at all, and are left wondering why all the hype about Steemit? But it is very special, and I'm not referring to rewards... that's a bonus to something much greater. I think I may be writing another post reminding what Steemit was like in the beginning... people who've forgotten need to remember I think, and those who have yet to experience Steemit's 'specialness' need to know so together we can swing it back around! At least, that's my humble hope :-)
I truly hope things do swing around for the better @woman-on-the-wing as I believe some of the big whales are making a mockery of Steemit by upvoting worthless posts just to enrich each other! Nothing wrong with supporting a friend, but really, when you post a photo of your ceiling and that post makes a couple of hundred SBD, surely that will chase many new steemians who have spent valuable time researching and writing good posts and being unable to even get someone to read it! Thank you again!
Absolutely @lizelle, making a mockery is exactly what it's like with some of them, and it's not very pleasant for the rest of us to witness. Especially, as you say, when quality posts often get no attention, and it's made many users (both old and new) leave in disgust! Crikey. I hope that by talking about these things (though many people don't for fear of being downvoted or flagged by whales, which happens) and channelling our energies into making things better for the minnows, that we can recapture some of what's faded. As long as we don't lose heart and start feeling miserable/rejected by how few votes or how little rewards we're getting, but instead put our thoughts to how can we do our part to improve things? When there's a will there's a way, as they say! :-)
For sure @woman-on-the-wing, I don't believe in throwing in the towel and accepting when something good is going down the tubes because of the greed of a few at the top, you're so very right, we should speak out and look at ways to combat this. Thank you!
An interesting and thoughtful post. I've only been around Steemit for a few months but my early observation is that like every system that's ever been created for any purpose, there's a natural tendency for people to try to 'work it' for their advantage. Hopefully some adjustments can be made to balance a bit better.
Absolutely @gsm1974... there have always been those strategic players whose approach is about maximising their own interests/gain, and that's all fine really, it's to be expected like anything else in the world that offers rewards. But to counter that there was always just as many people approaching Steemit to help grow a revolutionary community that celebrated creativity, difference, wit, etc, and most importantly celebrated being different to the mainstream world. But it's becoming more mainstream and we need to try to re-balance again, before the crucial element that set it apart is lost.
Agree. I mentioned to someone else the idea of putting in place some functionality to limit bots ability to run wild. Or in other words, to force actual people to curate. I don't really have a sense of how effective something like that might be, though.
I often wish I had a technical head on me to come up with some workable solutions! I'm sure plenty of people have ideas that could work, and perhaps they are just around the corner!
true there is a extreme amount of ass kissing on steemit
Indeeds there is waaaaaay too much ass kissing and it's shameful!!! Like being in school with everyone trying to please the cool kids!
Upvote and Resteeming!~
Thanks very much @kittysilhouette :-)
I think taking the time to comment and read each others posts is incredibly important and crucial to the general eco-system of steemit. Keep doing your bit, you're doing a great job. Don't feel disheartened.
Thanks so much for your reassurance and positivity @yasminep! I wholeheartedly agree with you that it's crucial to read and comment, not merely click the upvote button when we see a trending post. It's really good to see the response from the community after I posted this, and it means a lot to me that you and others took the time to read it! Hooray for readers!!! :-)
hey, I am new to steem and I have been upvoting heaps. i figure I have to give the love if I want some in return. hopefully this post gets plenty of upvotes
You're very thoughtful @digit106! And welcome to the Steemit community! If you'd joined last year you would have received a lotta love, but unfortunately it's a little lacking these days ;-) But, with determination and consistency in loving attitudes from those of us who really care about community, things will become much nicer. Just stay with it, and endure the tough times, because when Steemit is at its finest there's no place like it! It can be truly wonderful, believe me!!!
I'm new to steemit, new to social media of any kind. I feel your pain when I look at blogs the have a picture of a jar of peanut butter and the content of the post consist of one sentence about applesauce yet they have 750 votes and a nice reward for their / my cognitive dissonance. I've read post on steemit being rigged by giant fish voting for giant fish and wonder if plankton have a chance at all. What have I got myself in to? Is it worth the time? As you well mentioned and I too have a life outside of technology but I'm here... And I feel your frustration. You can gladly have my nearly worthless upvote and know your words still touch people.
But that's silly, plakton don't eat peanut butter or applesauce! :O but still I hope this platform helps connect other plankton together any income is just a benefit
I appreciate your comment and upvote very much @spozone, no matter how 'worthless', because it's not worthless at all! I wonder if that's why some bloggers don't vote, because their votes aren't 'worth much' in terms of rewards? Even when votes don't have much power behind them, they are still very much needed because otherwise how will people know if others read or like their posts? A show of appreciation is worth much more than monetary rewards. For example, if I get 50 votes but only $2, I'm still chuffed because 50 people liked what I wrote, or at least 50 people were willing to support me. But if I get $50 and only 5 votes, I don't feel half as valued. If you see what I'm saying. I totally understand whjat you say... and yes, whales pretty much just vote for each other. Same with dolphins. That's the way it goes, scratch my back and I'll scratch yours. But if we stick at it, over time our voting power will increase, our followers will be genuinely following us not for what's in it for them, but because they like our blogs, and we should end up feeling like what we do and who we are really matters in this community! (at least that's the hope!)
Good thing it's a big Oceanside a big blockchain. I guess steemit is like life in that we are all just doing are best to figure it out and get by the best we can.
Indeed we are @spozone. It can get pretty complicated at times, and despite being here for ages I'm still figuring out many things!!! (both Steemit and life, haha)
Excellent points, although I'm afraid pretty useless! Looks like nobody really cares.
There's plenty of us who care a great deal @ladyrebecca, but at the moment our voices are drowned out by the noise of ego and reward reaping! But surely if enough of us who care keep on trying to bring community to the forefront again, then we will experience Steemit as it should be. Just keep on doing what you're doing!
I totally agree with you!!! And here I thought I was the only one with that feeling!!
I rece tly came back to steemit after having gone for a while and the vibe here just feels so different!! The comments... the voting...
Its not as it was 2 months ago!!
Yes, it's taken hardly any time to change, I'm quite surprised! I was also away for a month over the holiday season, and upon returning it's like you said... totally different vibe. I keep wondering where are all the people who used to vote on the posts of me and others I know who are experiencing the exact same thing!
Today I'm going to kiss your ass instead of the egoistic pigs.
Ha ha ha! You're funny. Thank you :-)
Curation rewards should be gotten rid of. Everyone just votes on whales' posts because you can't earn anything for voting for minnows.
I just crossed 1000 followers, and I'm seeing the exact same thing. Steemit is slowly coming off its rails...
Indeed! I used to get more votes and more rewards when I had about 200 followers, and now I have more than 1200 I get way less votes and rewards! Go figure!!! I find this attitude of only voting for whales posts because of the curation rewards really sickening. If that's the way we do it, soon enough there won't be any minnows blogging here at all... it will be a platform full of whales. Great!!! (not). I think you're right though... something needs to be done about the curation rewards. Not sure how likely that is, considering the people at the top aren't experiencing any of the frustration and struggles of the minnows!
I'm rather new to steemit but read before about it. I've seen numerous posts about this very topic. I've noticed the exact same things. I see nice posts from people without any votes or comments and other posts without basically any content and these get so many comments and votes. Strange. Thanks for your text about it.
Thanks for stopping by @fonteynb, and a belated welcome to Steemit! :-) Unfortunately many people and groups are playing very clever games that allow them to flourish, yet at the price of losing a cricual element of community that made Steemit great in the first place. I wish that was what you were observing right now, not this! However, I do believe we can recover a good balance if enough of us realise what we're trying to do here. There used to be a real strong sense of solidarity amongst Steemians, and the focus was just as much about growing a revolutionary community as it was about trying to create a way of earning a living by doing what we love. Things started to change quite rapidly last March when Bitcoin soared, and ever since it's been an increasing scrabble for personal gain and glory, rather than continuing to grow a great community. We need to continue talking about these issues rather than giving into what's happening, and I do hope you stick around through these slightly unpleasant times to help Steemit recover what's being forgotten. Steemit is still only a 'toddler' and there's much we can do to shape it, and I for one will do whatever I can to help it balance out! Then when we say 'Steem on!' we can say it with pride and unity again!
For sure I'm sticking around :)
Hooray! :-)
Thank you for your post, I would have missed it if biglipsmama hadn't resteemed it.
To show how old and doddery I am, I can remember when people actually talked to each other, then, if someone spoke to you and you didn't reply it was considered rude and others stopped talking/playing with you.
I feel the same thing applies here if someone reads, votes and comments on your post then common courtesy says you should, at least, reply and acknowledge the other person's efforts.
Good 'ol @biglipsmama... she is a prime example of a community player and she goes out of her way to support bloggers she values! She's always a been a good pal to me :-)
You're so right @len.george, people used to talk to each other. These days, if people comment at all it's usually one-liners that don't invite further discussion. Threads used to get real long with conversation, but not so much now. And yes, when people got a reputation for not replying to comments, their support quickly withdrew because rudeness wasn't tolerated. Now any behaviour seems to be accepted and people will still vote for them! I do hope that through raising these issues more of us will make more effort to do what we used to do, and put more time into nurturing community again. I miss much about the 'good old days' of Steemit! But we move forward and try to turn these things around positively :-)
Since my previous comment, I've gone away and created this pic to put at the bottom of my posts. What do you think? It comes out a bit small here, but at the bottom of a post should be easily readable and hopefully eye catching. (right click to open it a new tab if you can't read it.)
I LOVE LOVE LOVE that @kiwideb, the five Cs, and I agree with every point! May I share it at the bottom of my posts too (fully crediting it to you of course)? And I'm in the middle of writing a post focusing more on importance of community/curating/all that good stuff, and would love to share this in that too? You have an excellent way of condensing information!
I think doing things like this are really important. For example, @englishtchrivy used to share the 'Complete Steemit Etiquette Guide' at the end of her posts, and I found it really helpful as a newbie.
You're welcome to share it, but I'm going to change it a little and make it bigger after some feedback when I posted it last night. Look on last night's post for an updated version sometime today.
Great post, and so true. Curating is important....besides, there are so many excellent posts, articles and photos etc.
If someone has put in the effort to produce something original and interesting, then I feel they also deserve some recognition via upvote and sometimes resteem so that they get more views of their deserving work.
I try to encourage newbies to post quality posts....we were all newbies once.
I also like to welcome new people to Steemit.
I personally find it irritating when someone either writes a banal comment on my posts which have no relevance to the subject, or else beg for upvotes and resteem..and worst of all follow..but leave absolutely no feedback of my post whatsoever.
Too true @katdvine! It's a bit of a slap in the face when you spend all this time and put your heart into a post and get very little feedback. Or banal comments, as you say. I know you've also been on Steemit for a good long time now, and it's got a totally different vibe now hasn't it? I like that Steem price is good now, but at the cost of community?... not sure if it's worth it. If it becomes just a money-making platform then I'm pretty sure I'll lose interest. I love feedback way more than money!!!
Yes that's ironic, steemit is not like ordinary blogger platform, but mostly they treat this platform as ordinary. Also sometimes many user just leave shit comment just to intend get attention. So that is one of reason popular bloggers on steemit do not reply all comment.
Overall I agree with your opinion.
My apologies for my bad English.
Thanks very much for taking the time to comment @happyphoenix, and you don't need to apologise for your English! I understand what you say :-) I think, in time, things will change again for the good of community. It's good that we keep talking about these issues and don't allow the platform to become only about making money :-)
Hi @woman-onthe -wing. you have just clarified some points for me , I am new on steemit and thought I am imagining it. I just wondered how people came so successful in such a short span of time. Keep steeming and as careing as you are. thank you.
Hi there @artywink! Thanks so much for your comment... it's good to know there's plenty of people other than myself who feel the frustration and are now taking more time to support each other. When I first joined in Aug 2016, newbies got really lovely welcome messages from lots of other bloggers. It was a 'done thing' to give a hearty welcome and encouragement to people just starting out. You got a real sense that you were appreciated - not just what you wrote about, but the person you were. Now it's like a popularity contest, and if you're not showing off, you don't get much attention. Not very pleasant. I just hope that together, those of us who sincerely care about community not just rewards, can pull Steemit out of the mire and back into the sunshine!!! (ooh I quite like that line hehe!) Keep at it and don't abandon Steemit... I want you and other new people to see it when it's at its best! I hope hope hope that you do!!!
thank you@woman-onthe-wing for those encouraging words. to tell you the truth , I was about to call it a day. but I won't give up I believe there are really and truelly good people out 5here in Steemit , we just have to stick together and support each other. Thank you once again much appreciated.
Oh yes yes yes, there are still stacks of good people on Steemit @artywink, and when you come across more and more of them over time you will be glad you stuck around I promise! In fact, today I have been pondering a post I want to write, to show what Steemit used to be like a year or so ago, and why it's so special, because it really was/is. I think we can capture that vibe again with a little effort, especially those of us who remember the beginning and that's why we fell in love with Steemit. And I fully intend to do my part in helping the community to balance again, however I can! I have a few ideas :-) Please stick around, it's worth it for the times when Steemit soars, trust me!
Thank you @woman-onthe-wing for the encouragement. I will hang in there. most definitely. I am finding my way round the platform. yes there are so many beautiful people out there. getting to know them and try to encourage them too. thank you for being who you are . a caring person.
:-) Aw, you make me blush! Thank you! :-)
Your post is right. Thank you @woman-onthe-wing
Please follow and vote me ☺
Thank you @naziratulaulia. Welcome to Steemit! I hope you will find it a positive experience. I look forward to seeing more of your posts - I love your photography!
Thank you ☺
Thank you for sharing this with you. I will pay more attention to these things! I'm new to "steemit" and there are many things I still do not understand. I will try to overcome this.
And if anyone has any comments on my status stream, no matter how busy, I will try my best to respond and reply as soon as possible! Thank you for what you just said
Thanks for sharing your thoughts @hoaiquyen! There is a lot about Steemit that can be confusing! My advice is to carry on sharing good quality posts, and spend an equal amount of time reading and supporting the posts of others. After a while people start to notice your efforts, and they respond with positivity, and will support you too. It can take some time, but keep at it and you'll start to experience what a wonderful community Steemit can be. I wish you all the best with your blog, and thank you for taking the time to comment on mine! :-)
I love what you have written, and the thing that bugged me the most when I am making my round of commenting and upvoting is that: they replied on their own posts. Some don't even bother to reply! It is like they missing the boat all together.
I have been struggling on my own since I started posting, and have only a handful of really good friends that give a damn! Today though, I have to limit myself from commenting, upvoting, and such, since without enough SP my bandwidth went down considerably. I suppose when you are low on the feeding chain, there is a cap on what you can do! Resteemed :-)
I have been thinking about this @icybc, the point you raised about bandwidth going down. I think that's why many people only vote a few times a day because your vote eventually becomes 'worthless'. Though not really worthless from a community aspect, because then a vote is similar to a 'like' on Facebook... even if 50 people with no power vote my post and I earn nothing, at least I know 50 people liked it. But if they don't bother to vote then I think it's gone unnoticed and feel a bit discouraged. Maybe that's how a lot of others are feeling... that their blogs aren't noticed and they go unvalidated, and if it happens a lot I think people will abandon Steemit in misery!!! :-( Not sure if I'm correct, but I will keep pondering these thoughts!
It's very true and what's happening is very frustrating.
Steemit community is a beautiful community, That needs helping each other, supporting each other and not for selfish & envious minds.
As I said, you create a beautiful, mind-enriching post only to find out after a while, that nobody bother to appreciate your hardwork, or even take a look at it...it was so sad.
I hope @woman-onthe-wing this (your) post will serve as eye-opener of what's happening in steemit community.
Thanks so much @shielashraf, it's good to know we're all in this together! I think we all need to be regularly reminded of the importance of community, otherwise many people will lose heart, thinking that what they have to say isn't valued. And that is indeed a very sad thing, because a lot of us put much heart into our posts.... not just to make money, but to express who we are, and share what we know to benefit others. You're right - Steemit is a beautiful community, and I care deeply about it, and it means a lot to me that people like yourself feel the same way. Thank you for taking the time to comment, and I too wish you the very best in your own blog :-)
pssst ...
I hear you
but do they?
don't get yourself frustrated on the flaws
I myself don't reply to all the comments on my post anymore either
one reason is - many of them are either posted seconds after my post went up and mostly didn't even read my post so the comment's irrelevant plus I can't even understand what the heck some of those comments mean
it's hard to look for ourselves on others.. let it be ..
go on and focus on what you do best here
you've made your point now chill.. you're going to get stressed out if you keep minding this
don't worry, things would heal on its own
there's always that "good" on everyone
the wrong may prevail but it shall be shortlived
besides .. not everyone's dumb enough to accept they're just minions to those too busy, too important ;)
I think it's been worthwhile bringing these issues up... Clearly it's a talking point now, considering how many people have shared their views on this comment thread! Also it's good to give the opportunity every now and then to let off steam (steem.. hehe). This isn't for the attention of whales of the selfish lot... I'm well aware they probably didn't read this. This is for the rest of us, the people who still care about community. We may not have a massive amount of power, but together we're stronger and can influence the direction of Steemit's future... unless we say and do nothing and let the powers prevail. We could all just shut up and hope things improve without discussing anything, but that's so passive and we as a community we're responsible for taking things in a good direction. In the 'real world' too many people put up with the influence of those with power, and look where it gets us. Not only do we live like peasants but we think and act like them too. All hail the powerful, may I lick your shoes please. It's not as easy as simply putting these issues behind us, because they're current! Not resolved yet! Neither can I carry on blogging if no-one is reading... People need to be reminded to read. But hey, not everyone will agree with my position, and it's not like I complain about things very often! :-)
I have a pet cat who eats jaguars for breakfast and I'm saving up for a Lambo so I need votes
Ha ha ha... nice :-)
I just read your post, it made me laugh. It got you an upvote so cheers to your Lambo!!!
YES! YES! YES! Unfortunately I haven´t seen the times it was better here, but your observations seem to be true. I guess the moment money and big earnings come in, it brings out the dark side of humans - either they engage in school yard bully brawls or simply don´t care, are arrogant or too lazy to communicate. That´s sad and this is what makes call to action posts like yours so important! Resteemed with pleasure! Thank you!
Well then @atmosblack, I really hope you get the chance to experience Steemit at its finest! When I joined in Aug 2016 there was an atmosphere of love, support, expression and appreciation of the differences between us, and it felt soooooo good to be part of it! The rewards weren't as good (though I still earned enough to buy a laptop within 4 months, so who can complain?) but the community spirit was STRONG. Newbies were given a wonderful welcome, not just by other newbies but by dolphins, and sometimes even whales. People created logos for each other, that kind of thing, it was beautiful! Let's hope we can recover some of that, because if we carry on down this road it wont be half as pleasant to hang out here.
Then maybe it´s better to don´t tell anyone that we missed the good old days ;))
No, seriously, that sounds beautiful and I´d already be happy if the whales would stop fighting and concentrate on the positive side, supporting people with their upvote instead of flagging their foes.
I guess it´s up to us then to revive the warm and welcoming culture for newbies - Let´s do it! Count me in! <3
I will! Hooray for solidarity of nice people! hehe :-)
i feel really sad and hate the situation right now, people dont even care anymore what the other people feels like,
its just like peanut forgeting its shell
Can i translate this post of yours to my native language, i just feel like every one should know what you say and feel like on how steemit comunity nowdays have become,
i will reblog it too of course
I come from indonesia by the way.
And thank you for sharing your feeling with us
Hi @hamka, of course you may translate my post. The important thing is to get people talking about these issues so we are more likely to affect a positive change :-)
There are still plenty of people who care, but feel powerless to change anything. But in time, as we keep voting and curating and writing quality posts, it will get noticed, and will contribute to making Steemit great again. It used to be a wonderful community and everyone felt really supported, so hopefully we can bring back some of that element. Don't lose heart @hamka! The response to my post alone shows just how many people care!
Yeah, but its sad that the amount of upvote of your post are so small, maybe just maybe that we are dealing with language barrier here, thats why i would like to translate your post so people who cant speak english in my country could read it and understand the situation
Yes @hamka, it's a really good idea to translate it. The more people in the world discussing these issues the better Stemit will be for everyone. We have to work together to uphold the aspects of Steemit that made it great in the beginning. Balance is key... not simply focus on rewards OR community, but both together :-)
I think you're right and I see it happening more and more. It is amazing how people with a couple thousand followers only get a hand full of views with an even smaller amount of votes. It's definitely a problem and if it continues people joining this site are going to get discouraged and will effect this platform's survival.
Absolutely @read3986, people will get discouraged and leave the platform entirely. That's happened already with a lot of wonderful bloggers I used to know, and it makes me feel a little sad. What they posted about was genuinely worth reading, but with such little response/feedback they eventually gave up (went back to their day jobs? Who knows?) That's what concerns me the most. That the genuinely interesting and decent bloggers will leave, and it will be a community of ego! Ugh!
I was getting pretty annoyed with writing the blogs that I did and the time I spent not having any views or making pennies. I'm still in my 2nd week on here but I think I have a grasp of the resteem services and bots. Staying consistent and producing quality content helps but you need to use bots and resteeming services to gain some sort of traction here from what I've gathered. I'm hopeful :-)
Yes, don't lose heart! It's hard when just starting out, particularly now. But things will improve... we'll make it better again!!!
You took the words right out of my mouth...we are all busy but we know how things are supposed to work. Even if I reply the following day I still reply, but very little response if I do reply to a comment too. People just write comments and when you put in effort to answer them they never get back to you. Very annoying actually. I hope more people read this post...for most newcomers there is no emotional connection here, and it is solely to make money. Maybe the issue is there?
Hmmm... yes, you have a good point there about the lack of emotional connection... Like it's become an extension of Facebook or other mainstream social media site for many newcomers who haven't experienced or even realised Steemit's strong point was always community hand-in-hand with reward, not simply reward on its own. I know what you mean about replying to someone's comment and then no further discussion afterwards, and it's annoying. There did used to be a lot more dialogue than there is now. I just hope that if enough of us keep behaving the way we did in the beginning, it might catch on...?!!! A lot of people have just stopped, and understandably, but if we all stop doing or encouraging the chatting, then we'll just go further and further down this road, single file, lost in our own thoughts, rather than hand-in-hand and pondering something interesting we learned from others. If you see what I'm saying!
Nice to read that! Im very new to steemit, and steemit is still new 😀 its true what you say about Egos,but thats kind of the problem with humanity-we think we are our ego. Who can blame us,society creates our identity and we follow along with it caught fully in illusion of self. Thats our level of conciousness, and must just be accepted im afraid! Well dont loose faith, the egos are very slowly dissolving 😀 Ekhart tolle said, "facebook,the ego in our hands".. I didnt check what your mostly posting about yet, but you get a vote from me,and a follower. Have a geat day!
Much appreciated @movingman! (Eckhart Tolle, what an inspiring man. The Power of Now really changed my thinking back in my student days!) It's been an interesting 18 months on Steemit, that's for sure. Of course it always attracted ego, but the ego didn't used to dominate like it does now. I guess money has a way of bringing it out of people... they can become a bit too focused on it, even if they used to care about community. But hopefully things will shift again... I fully intend to stay to find out no matter how annoying things get! Many thanks for your comment, your vote and your 'follow'!!! All the best to you too :-)
I am new to this plataform, i used mostly Reddit and i feel that Steemit is facebook but with $$... sadly all the post i see in trending and hot are Buzzfeed post or "YOU WONT BELIVE WHAT TEHY FOUND" style. I came wishing to have less bots
My advice is to avoid looking at the trending pages @imperialcactus! You'll see mainly the same handful of people earning lots for posts that you'll often feel don't deserve such handsome rewards. This is to be expected, but it's not a true reflection of the real Steemit, the Steemit that celebrates every sincere blogger in the community. Personally I skip past most of the posts with biggest rewards... they are doing fine and it's the less-noticed bloggers needing more attention. I hate seeing quality posts with 2 votes or teeny rewards, it's not very nice for them to think their posts aren't worthy of more. I try to visit all kinds of categories, and I generally click 'new' rather than trending or hot, and scroll down, reading and upvoting the posts that catch my eye, especially 'original' ones and not just info articles paraphrased from elsewhere online. I try to support the artists and creative folk who are obviously on this platform because the mainstream world is brutal and doesn't make it easy to earn a living, and IMHO Steemit is for these people more than the 'look at me' people. I hate FB, I tried to do a Health Page of my own there and even my real friends were reluctant to 'like' anything! I hope you discover the real Steemit @imperialcactus, and I hope that you will fall in love like a lot of us have! :-)
I've noticed it too. Not so much on my own posts (though 40 odd votes out of 1100 followers does seem a bit low). But my sister has just joined and on her post yesterday she had 57 views and 17 votes. So really people, 40 of you were interested enough to click through to it, but not impressed enough to upvote?
Part of it, I think is the newbies not realising it's protocol to show appreciation that way. And when I can be bothered, I will sometimes explain it to someone who has commented but not upvoted. But so many new people - how do we educate them all?
That's why I hardly come here any more. Just not really fun for me lately.
I'm pretty hopeful things will get better @joeyknowsbest, as it's got to the point where so many people are fed up and they're not going to sit around and allow the once-great Steemit to be taken over by selfishness and a-holes! At least, judging by the response to this one post alone it's clear as day that it's a big issue, and I'm aware of several people already thinking of how they can play their part in restoring the greatness. If we all do our bit and not let these issues carry on, there is much hope!
I'm thinking the same thing except I'm just getting started so I'm making it a point to "pay it forward".
Excellent attitude @jaredlang! As long as we're all doing our bit to nurture community, it will be pleasant for everybody :-)