Everyone on Steemit is a stakeholder and influencer, no matter how large or small their accounts are. While smaller accounts may complain that their votes don't influence the network enough, I think there's a core activity that could use way more participation. That activity is called comment voting.
With the reality of user-interface constraints where natural scrolling is from top to bottom of pages, I think comment voting is absolutely important to improve the chances of the best comments getting processed by readers, Steemian or not.
I've been doing this since July 4th after getting around 7000 Steem Power - going through interesting posts to "manipulate" the comments section by applying votes on the right comments. This activity is later improved with the ability to conveniently apply different voting weights.
Imagine if there's an interesting, fresh post with a good amount of comments that are not voted. Even with the smallest amount of voting power, anyone is able to optimize the comment section for other readers and participants. It may seem obvious and trivial, but I think low-powered influencers are underestimating the game, especially with the not-so-constructive focus complaining about having low influence over trending posts.
Small stakes simply doesn't come along with high voting influence to affect posts that have already been touched by top influencers, but still doable for the comments section. $0.001 is still more than $0.000 and will be made more relevant by appearing higher of the page in the comments section.
With the same logic, post owners should also actively make better the comments section in their own posts - the best way to do this is to standby to "beautify the garden", at least 30-60 minutes after posting. But I'm still on a short vacation til end of the week, so yeah.. :)
I guess what I really want to say is that we should do what's within our control, and a good way is by voting comments.
Have a great weekend y'all!
I think now Steemit really need this one
I've read several articles about the importance of interaction in steemit, and one of them is by commenting. I think, would be even better if the best comments of steemit users incorporated into a new feature, "TRENDING COMMENTS". This will be one of encouragement for users to give their best comments in steemit, The users not only get votes from their comments, but can be read by most other users.
I really like this idea. Comments are as important as posts and deserves a section of its own. Also a way to help out with accountability and for the community to notice and even weigh in on high comment payouts as well. Thanks @steemvest17
Is the Active page showing posts that have a lot of comments? I'll go where the conversations are. Obviously we need to cope with comment spam (e.g. 'nice post'). That doesn't add value
unfortunately, we cannot stop these but it's better that real spam.
then again, instead of nice post , people could comment with
nice comment :-)
I thought, "Trending Comments" is a feature that showing the best comments, and already get paid from the number of votes. Just as trending posts. People will see good comments, not spam.
Steemit was designed to discourage spam. I had real spam in a comment yesterday, but that account was flagged to nothing very quickly.
As it stands a top post may have hundreds of votes, but very few comments. That suggests to me that people are voting for curation rewards and we see a lot of voting bots out there. I don't see many comments from the whales who vote up my posts. I hope that as Steemit grows we will see more engagement
Me, too, really hope so, Steemit may be the best place, not only for money. I am not a developer, just a user, perhaps my idea can be used. Thanks @steevc :)
Yes, this is a good idea --- Kevin might agree...... the comments section is full of gold nuggets and I remember this daily!!
I certainly agree. I encourage commenters on my blog by at least voting decent useful comments. It doesn't ever earn much, but I think promoting people in that way helps.
Great way to think about it. Improves exposure and get noticed in a different way. It's arguably less competitive in comments too. :)
Thanks Kevin, this is great advice. As a new Steemer myself, I know it's important to be humble and accept my place at the bottom of the food chain... but this is a nice idea to flex what little muscle I do have.
Np - i think with more people doing the same, STEEM's value should improve overall and everybody wins.. hopefully :)
I've been voting up good comments on my posts all along and will do so on other posts I read. We have sort options for comments, so you can see the new ones if you want. I'm here to have conversations and comments are the medium for that. Rewarding comments will encourage this.
We also desperately need to allow more comments back and forth between users, rather than disincentivize having a conversation for more than a few comments in a row.
I almost end up missing the youtube comment section some times... that's not good lol
The six levels is a limitation and I don't get a notification if someone replies to someone else in that thread. It could be better
That's on the way :) https://github.com/steemit/steem/issues/733
Point well made. To add, I think relevance (payout amount) sorting should remain as the default, unless there are ways to better represent the will of the community through comment sorting :)
So far, I'm the only one who voted for the comments here! LOL.
Good post! I usually give anyone who comments on my blog at least one vote and I see others giving them votes as well after awhile. Good times.
I just up voted everyone who commented here before me, like you did; good idea! :)
Great idea!
I'll follow suit and do the same: Upvote any comment (not spam - got one yesterday, quickly flagged and taken down) on my blog as well.
Im always looking for good comments to vote on :) Btw Im voting on all comments on this thread.
Sometimes I vote all too - but with varying degrees of course, to sort the comments the way i wish it should be :)
I try to up vote almost every reply to my posts and comments. I don't post much, but I comment a few times most days. I don't get or expect much reward for commenting, but I like to reward others for commenting or replying to me. I think it helps encourage interaction a bit.
Have a great weekend!
I've always appreciated your quality comments since my early days back in June/July. You're usually one of the first too, at least appearing as top comment :)
Thank you; this is one of my all-time favorite comments! :)
Thank you for the explanation. I will do more comment voting.
Np @lichtblick , it's not proven to be adding to the overall value of the network but I think it's within our control so i guess it's the least that anyone can do :)
Thanks for clearing that up @kevinwong :-) Until now I use my voting power to generate curation rewards and when I will back on my one cent votes I plan to honour very good comments ;-)
Quite a good post as the comments can contain far more value than the original post. I frequently upvote the comments on my posts, more for additional information rather than just a high five type reply.
I like the trending comment tab idea.... that would really encourage even more readership of the original article.
you sneaky devil.
always sneaky xD, not as much as @sneak though lol
I don't understand.
Note: If you want to give money to another Steemer transfer Steem directly to his account.
I am a new user but I always ensure that I upvote comments on my posts or on whatever posts I come across. I'll also ensure I comment on posts more frequently.
That's great! Glad you've been doing it. It may seem inconsequential (maybe it is, although unlikely since everyone's time is limited and unable to read through everything in detial), but at least it's something that anyone can do :)
Ironically I often feel like I need to compensate for unintentionally manipulating the comments section. I often upvote useful responses to myself as a token 'thank you', but then I find that my own comment is at the top when it no longer needs to be, and I have to upvote other comments to undo my effect on the sort order.
That's a classic issue ahahaha...
I could not have put it any better myself. Great post. Upvote. Stephen
I closely monitor comments on my own posts, but it will get harder if I ever get to having hundreds per day. We can all play a part by curating comments on any post we read
It certainly can get too much at times!
Maybe someone will develop some tools to help with this
Thanks @stephankendal - I appreciate the sentiment :)
encouragement for us new steemers. thanks
No problem, appreciate that you dropped by - all the best!
Hi @kevinwong, I just stopped back to let you know your post was one of my favourite reads today and I included it in my Steemit Ramble. You can read what I wrote about your post here.
Thanks @shadowspub - sorry I was away past couple of days - voted on it, just didn't have time to properly comment - thanks for the fav!
I get that lack of time ... thank you @kevinwong
I always appreciate comments, more so than upvotes. On a somewhat related note, if you have time, I would be interested in your opinions concerning my last post on Steemit page design.
Done :) - good to see someone wondering about sigs
really good posting...^^
Thanks @abdullar - I appreciate the sentiment :)
often, i find more valuable content in the comments, than in the posts. i love finding insightful comments, and upvoting them.
thank you for the post.
Thanks @lifeworship - np!
Well said Kevin. Totally agree
Thank you, your information really helped me who recently joined the steemit..
I comment when:
I feel I can add value to the topic of the post
when something I have read stirs an emotion (positive or negative)
when a post or a picture makes me LOL for real
and when I can tell that someone worked like a f-ing dog on their post and deserves feedback INSTEAD OF HEARING nothing but CRICKETS in the distance.
I upvote comments and try to read through all the others' comments. It's how I learn on this platform.
I fully agree with you. I am usually upvoting all comments to my posts with a small voting %, but I never considered ranking them. I will do it in the future!
Personally, it always makes me happy when I got comment upvotes and/or answers ^^
Same here :) comment upvotes are precious lol
Nice post! So many times I find the comments to be equally as important as the post and are a connection with real people and their interests.
Comments and comment voting are indications that a post is becoming a conversation, and definitely needs community support even if there is not formal infrastructure support.
:) Comments are great! Getting an upvote makes you feel good! but when someone writes a comment and you see the notification, you can feel dopamine rush! Those who upvote and take their time to comment are interacting with the Steemit Community to the next extend. Just what we need for a growing community
I completely agree that comments need more love!
I think one aspect that is hindering comment voting is the myth of the "wasted vote." The general perception is that if a .01 payout isn't showing then your vote didn't do anything. I'd heard on a few occasions that the calculations in the backend were going more in depth and this post
https://steemit.com/steemit/@freebornangel/today-i-found-an-answer-to-a-question-that-has-evaded-me-up-to-now
illustrated how looking at more in depth blockchain explorers, we can see rewards being given as low as 2 vests. At the time I estimated that to be .0001437 cents!
Every vote counts, so vote up your followers and peers within the communities and tags you support!
This is one of the best, if not the only posts on this topic I have actually seen on here.
The part about the garden is right. Tending to the comments and replies. Also, you might agree...... the comments section is full of gold nuggets and I remember this daily!!
This was a great post, RS this for you too.
... have a nice weekend!
This post has been ranked within the top 10 most undervalued posts in the first half of Jan 06. We estimate that this post is undervalued by $19.92 as compared to a scenario in which every voter had an equal say.
See the full rankings and details in The Daily Tribune: Jan 06 - Part I. You can also read about some of our methodology, data analysis and technical details in our initial post.
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This is a very interesting post @kewingwong, I really like it! I wish you a great weekend!
I vote on comments quite regularly. I will continue to do so :)
I for one just enjoy the STEEM journey each day.thankyou for great post!
Genius concept, and great execution of the practice in the comments of the post about comments!
I will spread the word on this and implement it myself.
Thanks!