One thing I've noticed from my experience here:
Nearly everyone favors noobs. Minnows, whatever; fresh faces. Everyone wants to help the underdog; so we have groups who curate, then cut people off once they reach a certain level.
I remember a point where I felt like I was left for dead. Much of my support left because I was no longer a minnow and did not qualify. I had to battle and find my own way. That seems to happen to everyone and if they don't find their own way after enjoying a successful blogging experience for many months, they're done, and that makes sense because it's incredibly depressing to work your way up to a point where it feels like you no longer have friends.
I've powered everything up. Cashed out about two percent of my total earnings since I started, and only because I wanted to try my hand at trading and building up another investment on the side, which I did.
Just the other day I received a comment from a curation group, they said my post was passed around and manually curated, so I got a few extra votes on a post they liked. Something like that hasn't happened to me in months. I was thrilled.
So I sit and wonder why? Do people have something against supporting a healthy middle class? I'm certainly not complaining, but we do hit a wall. I'm sitting here picking away at it, hoping to gain support rather than lose more. So many used to vote for my work, then stopped, without a word; just gone, and I know it's happened to quite a few of us who've been around for awhile. Many left, I stayed, kept working, grinding away. No chance for a curie vote, many other groups rarely approach me, and I certainly won't go around begging for support, so I stay quiet and work. No chance to ever be able to produce a hit trending post, like I had in the past.
Maybe people see this happening, so they just take the money and run before it happens to them? I dunno... Just rambling.
That is a question that I ask myself at times that after getting curie what is next? Because it gets harder and harder to get a curie vote especially if you do one thing which to me is just writing my thoughts.
The higher your reputation and longer you have been it gets harder to get those curie votes. I don't have a knack for Utopian submission nor am I a video content producer so Dlive and Dtube does not really have me as a priority content creator that they need to upvote.
In a platform that encourages people to join but once they are here the support dries up when you hit a certain milestone like reputation or Steem power.
Once you are part of the 1% some of the focus and attention that you receive is gone as they go to the next minnow project that they want to support. The cycle continues and the people wh are minnows or near minnows suddently feel abandoned and if they did not spend that time building connections nor communities that they really care and engage in then there is a high chance that they would quit.
Paulag's post on retention of minnows shows that most people would quit on their 3rd to 8th month in the platform because at this point they have hit their wall.
Now I have heard some people creating Dolphin Initiatives and I have not been approached or been able to join one lol.
So I try to do my best to continue steeming, creating content and hoping for the best but always not expecting huge upvotes.
When I get votes from redes or alexis555 it is always with gratitude. I do get some votes from surpassinggoogle but not to the point that I can trend nor that it is very big. I mostly get small votes from him but I am always thankful.
Do I believe in the platform, yes I do, and that is why I am still producing at least one post a day, two if I can. power up and engage with the communities I am in. I have to be honest though with the past 4 weeks my engagement energy has dropped and my commenting lowered so much that I am no longer in the top 10 engagers in abh12345's engagement league,
I do try to come back but at times I just can't sustain the pace. Hopefully I will someday but at least I am still here Steeming.
This comment was made from https://ulogs.org
I remember reading this as well, that being said, Steemit Inc has been clear about their position on user retention. Remember the convo with luke? - Anyways, if we are to find a solution, it has to be us.
Yes and that cemented my dislike to a certain person in Steemit Inc.
I agree Meno we need to be the solution. Woe is the nation that needs heroes.
This comment was made from https://ulogs.org
If you stick around I will pick you up when I launch my next level in September or October.
That is a mighty nice gesture from you :)
This comment was made from https://ulogs.org
No, you are right. I remember back in the day getting Curie'd in my first few weeks. It was something like 15 dollars back then and after that, I no longer qualified as my Rep was too high. Rep too high to get support? So, don't support people who the community thinks (before bidbots) have decent content? I had been here weeks and hardly knew anyone, wasn't in a chat and had no idea how the system functioned yet found myself quite alone for a very long time.
I can only speak from my experience but once past a certain point, you are on your own and the real work starts. New and small accounts like to think it is all luck and timing but for those who have built from nothing, continually powered up and have foregone a lot of the luxuries to do so (I speak from my perspective), a mass of work has been done.
The sad truth is that part of the one percent problem is that few people are willing to do the work to build up enough, and the middle class problem is one where it can't be built because a great deal of the available SP gets used to retain people who are unproven, unwilling and likely extractors.
If a healthy middle-class is the goal, the big fish need to find healthy members of the community and support them heavily. In time, it will support itself and feed many, many more.
But hey, I speak from a position on my Golden throne of entitlement granted me through pure chance.
It wasn't long ago I was dropping $10 votes on minnows. There was a window of opportunity for many of them to convert 1 SBD into 3-4 STEEM as well. During that spike, people could have been building up accounts, then helping each other earn more down the road.
Instead of choosing strength in numbers, they cashed out then, and quit recently. Self-inflicted.
Many of us tried to help and got burned for our efforts. I learned a lot from that experience and I'm far more careful now with who I decide to support.
Pure chance. I took a chance and got to work. Still fairly happy with how far I've come. Still see a future here as well. Hoping things change for the better. Some days it feels like we're in a war zone though. Soldiers are dropping like flies all around me. Some can't take the pressure and put the gun up to their own heads. It's hard to watch. Want to help, but can't, or it's not enough.
Me also. If I had been selfish, I estimated I would have powered 15000 more SP up during those times. There are people who should be one percenters based just on that month or two yet, where are they?
This is what I missed during most of my life. I have never been lazy but, I have also often limited what I was willing to do and in which areas. Now, I work when and where there is work to be done. Here and in the real world. One day, one day, I hope it is enough.
It is a war of attrition and instant gratification loses every battle.
Monetarily speaking on individual levels they did well with their earnings if they cashed out at price levels many times higher than what they are now.
Most people come to steemit to earn income, the problem is not that people at the bottom are cashing out, it is that the shadow mine was used improperly from the start in various ways and failed to find its way into the hands of a large enough group of people who were actually willing to distribute it and incentivize social activity.
I was drinking coffee when I read that... its almost 4am and I just made a mess.. hahahahahhahahahah
You know, I'm very much aware of this particular phenomenon. As a matter of fact, Curie has not shown up on this side of steemland in so long, I can't remember the last time it did. But, just like you I'm not really complaining, its more an observation.
That being said, its also our fault. I'm not specifically saying you per say, or even me... its all of our faults. We tend to not empathize with those who in our eyes "are doing better than us" but our opinion is always subjective. That detail escapes us.
Because, I'm not one to simply point out the flaws and not swim against the natural tendencies I've begun to make it a point to support some fellow dolphins and I do.
So please, reach out to me on discord, I want to show you something.
:)
I'll support those above and below. If I'm a fan of their work, I try to be consistent with my votes, regardless of how much they're earning. I'll see $70 beside a post, I know I won't get curation rewards, but I'll still vote. I'm looking at their post anyway, might as well support it. I'll also see a few $2 posts out there and it breaks my heart knowing when I finally get a chance to drop a vote down, that might be the final vote they see that day. This 22000 SP used to go a long way back when the value was high. These days I'm spread thin. There were even a few weeks where I was earning more SP curating than I was through posting. I could have said to heck with it all, stopped posting, and started self voting 10 sleazy comments per day at 100%. Would have earned more, but I came here to do this "the right way."
I'm still rambling...
I've been invited over to discord countless times. I do have an account there and I've been meaning to check it out, so I just might, but no promises.
I think you will be happily surprised. I was no doubt. Overwhelmed at first, then surprised and then the lightbulb turned on.
One of the big rep/small vote users should start a downvoting service. Bring us all back to 40 and make us eligible for Curie again.
Anti Rep Bot...
Gets to programming
lol
Lool. This one cracked me up. When i first entered this platform i made more. But by each day my reputation increases it becomes more difficult. I have had a curie twice, via my singing abilities, if not for dsound i would have been roasted in frustration by now.
Im starting to feel what youre feeling and i have yet to break 500SP.
A few days ago had a convo with one of the large stake holders thats been supporting me from day one, on the exact same thing you mentioned.
Its kind of harsh but its understandable to a degree. It all depends on the role a stake holder or a curation team wanta to take.
The current philosophy is focused on "new recruits" more then it is on the "battle proven"..
Now... I think the issue is that most of the on chain projects tend to limit themselves with restrictions im not sure do much good for anyone.
You mentioned Curie. Consider how much good they could do for the trending page if they didnt have the payout restriction and the rating bias.
But they decided to focus on newcomers.
Now thats fine... If they want to do that super.. But does everyone have to?
Everyone trying to do what curie is doing is actually making it harder to keep newcomers here.
Once a Curie drops.... And a few curation teams find it as well.. The whaleshares, the ocds, etc...
What comes after that? Whos there to pick up the newbie after that initial rush?
We need support spread out more evenly across the board. Curie has newcomers covered. We need another across the board curie.
..... Hard to do when such a huge amount of SP is.. Well you know where.
Yes, I do know where. A few I used to support are now totally fine with pushing my work aside with their paid votes, and that's another heart breaker after going this long. That was probably more devastating than having to start from scratch again after getting dropped from the initial curation strategies. I'm still doing alright though, even if the odds are stacked heavily against me.
Some days are rough though. I'll do an art post, after a half hour I'll check the hot list under the art tag, I'm nowhere to be seen. One promoted art advertisement after another with their fake rewards, no engagement, back when we had a view counter, there were ten views or less; I'm sitting there with a jammed comment section, having fun, many views, organic; I have an awesome following and I'd like to continue building that but it's incredibly difficult when folks are hellbent on taking away the visibility from their colleagues. I even openly asked why they don't just flag everyone so people can see their posts. It's cheaper.
It's frustrating, but whatever, I'll just keep doing what I do. I still have a lot of fun.
I for one started muting the trending stealers. I know that wont do good much for the platform but it gives me a peace of mind.
There is one Turkish guy that takes 3-4 trending spots every day with bots. The current top trending at 800 had a 1300 post few days ago.
All fake interactions. Any convo on the post is about bot abuse.
Steemlol memes at 300$. Ever since steem fell the nonsense increased.
If i wasnt taking complete advantage of dtube, openmic platforms i dont think i could get any visibility. Which is why i always push hardest where i see the most engagement can be found.
More often then not, the big account support comes to high engagement posts.
Best example is Meno and his Jerry post.
I think the middle class cant exist when its so damn difficult to break the "bot barrier". Getting that utopian, big dtube, big dlive upvote is extremely difficult. With so many having to depend on those platforms it feels like they are like that cat with so many kittens crying under her, not being able to feed them all.
If more people could break that bot barrier to trending i think things would change.
The trending page is not only a listing of posts. Its a diagnostic tool for the whole steem platform.
Call me a heathen but I find less fault with people who have been buying recently and buying votes in whatever misguided attempts they have to earn money, than the hardest circle-jerkers who should know better, and what I am kidding of course they've always known better but just refuse to expand their circle of compassion.
People who actually enjoy using steemit are far and few between. That is the main issue. Most people just use it as a personal piggy bank, or view it as potential one, and personal circumstance and faith in the system varies so they're apt to crack it open at different times.
Scale also plays a large role in this, when a few accounts have power orders of magnitude above everyone else then people justifiably tell themselves it's pointless to invest in or try to influence a system that is so stacked against anyone with less than hundreds of thousands or millions of SP. Also, just like corporations and economies of scale, you reduce friction when you have so much of a resource to expend and reinvest or sell off, whereas many are not in a position to do so and do not have a stake to begin with and accumulating SP is a trying task if income is so intermittent and disconnected from the levels of effort they put in, especially when so much of the latent VP goes to bots or circles.
Basically, until you can prove otherwise, most will smell that the platform reeks of a scam, and will have no interest in truly participating in full, even if they temporarily give it a shot to see if they too can profit from it.
Also, the way that voting works on steemit is very anti-social to begin with.
I want to be part of the change, that's a drive of mine. You know? - naive... idk, maybe. but I'm also not throwing in the towel.
Yeah, that's what's kept me on steemit so far, we might be retards but at least we can feel better about being retards.
i often wonder if your comedy is planned! hahahah
Hehehe.