Don't take my word for it... I pulled those numbers out of thin air. I don't actually know if there are cut-off levels.. it's more of a subjective thing I guess.
But yes, this platform nowadays seems to require you to put in some money in order to upvote your posts so they get high enough so they are seen. i think if you joined last year there was still a lot of natural growth possible, but nowadays you basically need a pre-existing following base in order to get from nothing to whale. Jerry banfield is one of the few examples who only joined recently but now is one of the biggest whales.
As for us smaller people, I am sort of seeking the real ones out.. maybe we can start our own little circles. That's how the whales operate anyway, voting on eachother. I'm already following you, for that purpose. Figure you can use my ~(tiny, but growing) upvote much better than some mega whale who doesn't even notice it! And I even get some interaction in return, that's fun too! :)
I agree with you completely. The whales dont seem to take much interest in the newer people. Not all whales mind you but most. Perhaps that is natural. One of the reasons why I would love to move up the chain is to be able to help the newer people. It would be great to lay $.50 or $.75 on a new person's post to help them out (or even better, do it for them two or three times a day).
As you said, the system requires each to upvote their own posts so that the account can grow. Hopefully both of us can achieve Dolphin level soon enough.
Yes, I completely agree.
Do you know about the booster-bots yet? I personally use @minnowbooster when I can, and I like @randowhale and @steemthat as well. Not only does they pay out more than they cost, it also moves your posts up in the lists because of votes. Without them, I'd be nowhere right now. Hate the fact I have to use them, though... it makes it pay-to-win. But atleast it's one way to compete at some level!
I havent used them at all.....I am really not familiar with them.
So far, I just went the posting and following route....see where that gets me.
Nothing wrong with using a bit of AI to assist where you can....it is technology....anything to help move the process forward.
Basically how it works is that you send X amount of SBD to a bot and add the link to your post in the memo, and in return that bot will use it's voting power to upvote your post. The bots I mentioned will upvote your post with more money than you sent it. For example, I think minnowbooster requires you to pay 0.5 SBD, but you can get an upvote worth between 1SBD and 2SBD. I have gotten 1.54SBD upvotes whilst I paid only 0.5SBD. It's tricky though because as an author you don't get 100% of the rewards, but generally I think you gt more than you pay for. Plus, the main objective for me, is to actually be seen. Some of my posts will only get 6 views... not even talking about votes. So my first priority is actually being seen.
Yes visibility is tough....things move quickly on this site too,
Yep. Oh well, only one solution: Keep on Steemin'! 🚂
That is my plan....I am not going to quit...it is a fabulous opportunity here in spite of the challenges....just try to make friends with people of a bit higher caliber who can help us along....
As the site grows, I believe we all will profit and be uplifted.