Rambling Steem Thoughts:
Traffic vs. Content
I'm an advocate of traffic on the SteemIt site, as I think it is a good measurement of growth and in other Internet Models a source of income. Where people gather an Economy develops. Whether you think it is a good thing or a bad thing, the more eyes we have on SteemIt, the more value and potential it will gain from creative, motivated people. Facebook and other platforms have developed tools to help people who have an item to sell find a buyer. In this case I think they have to be eyes on the site vs. bot traffic, but if you have an argument I would love to hear it.
The Great Minnow Dilema:
I'm an advocate of helping talented content creators find success on SteemIt. The keywords are talented and content creators. People coming in and being mad that they can't gain visibility gets a bit old. I've mentioned a few times that I recently started a twitter account and the majority of my tweets get zero attention. Sometimes I even lose followers. If I want to get more visibility I can purchase the chance to gain some visibility. To be clear, I do not think we need to make a site that everyone can earn on. You have to have something to bring to the table. That might be time, money, or extraordinary talents, but adjust your expectations accordingly.
There is a case to be made for understanding your audience and what sells on SteemIt, it is great if you can put together a great "How To" on "Underwater Basket Weaving", but you have to also consider if there is anyone who wants to learn that skill that is motivated to upvote your post.
Clean as you go
If you see spam or scammy, flag it or report it. The spammy and scammy accounts are taking the "Good Will" and patience of everyone. If you see something do something. Minnows, that goes for you... Want to get noticed? Help cut down some of pure spam on the site. If flagging happens to you consider it was someone's meaningful attempt to help keep the site from being just a total depository for everything on the Internet.
I'm raising the bar on voting for comments. I have been upvoting those who I thought had read the article and were responding with something. I'm kind of tired of comment spam now, so you will have to be someone I know or engaging with the content for future upvotes on comments. I don't want you to give up, I want you to make them better.
Like you, I give a small upvote to anyone who seems to have read the post.
If I think they haven't, I might call them out by asking what they liked about it. If they respond, I know they're genuine and will interact a little.
If they haven't upvoted, but have commented, I'll refer them to the pic I'm now putting at the bottom of all my posts.
This is really cool Deb! Would you mind if I use this for some of my students?
Be my guest! How are things with you? We must catch up.
We should! I'm good thank you!
I love your picture! Very nice photograph. (just kidding) It really is a great list!
It astonishes me that people are still scrolling right past it to upvote and post rubbish comments! But I can at least refer them to it.
READ THIS NOW OR ELSE!!!1!
lol just kidding, but seriously take a chill pill (payouts take a week anyway what are you rushing for?), and try to make this a respectable place to post and then you will see the income start growing (for real because it won't just be one-off comments and shitposts getting the money)
I love the 5 C's may I ask your permission to use it? It would be great for the minnow community we are mentoring at @steemitfamilyph
Yes, please be my guest. I'm happy for anyone to use it.
I have never flagged anyone, and frankly I don't think flagging does much good.
Opinion noted.
im not sure if telling minnows to start flagging people is a good idea.
Or atleast mention to only flag people with lower steempower as they can flag back for no reason and kill the little minnows account.
Break them in young. ;) Well, they can also report it.
:D
Totally agreed @whatsup. I also flag the spammers. I can’t stand them. It’s important to flag and to call out the people wasting space in the reward pool. There is only so much available and we must make room for our new minnows too.
steemit is a bit different when it comes to blogging or social networking as compared to facebook and twitter where they have tag like "already established" but at the same time steemit is setting the tone for future blogging and I think if someone dedicatedly spent 6 months time will be well versed with almost every aspect of steemit.
So the point is that traffic may not be there in first 6 month but if we keep pushing with good content continuously and dedicatedly for 6 month then I think both rewards and traffic we can witness and the going will be quite easy thereafter.
Thank you and have a great day.
Well I'm obviously a huge fan and I try to post on all of your blogs. I always read what you write though and I think my comments are at least reasonable.
It's funny because we were just talking about the ass grass or gas thing at work the other day. I think it kind of started in the sixties where people would pick up people on the side of the street in their little minivan type things....... whatever those things were called.
Of course you were hoping they would say ass and then you'd smoke some weed with them and give them a ride and get some ass in return I guess.
My friends old creepy dad used to talk about stuff like that.
We are mutual fans! I love your content, you are exactly who we want to retain in my opinion. You write interesting things, you engage in interesting conversations. You are who we don't want to fall through the cracks into the sea of spam
i agree with your thoughts and also like to mentioned that faking ourself is not the ideal way to work in steemit, i have a strong believe that every human has some sort of talent and in steemit we need to show what talent we have, like i am a youtuber and i love to create tech video's and content and i am sharing it on steemit and initially no body notice me but i never give up and continue posting tech videos and tutorials and gradually i able to find some right audience and i hope i will find more like minded peoples soon, thanks for sharing your nice thoughts with us, your articles always give me more encouragement, Stay blessed
People seem to think (and I am going to be controversial here) That you can sign up to Steemit, make a post, join a community; and make some serious bank.
I want to posit a few things to justify my point: first and foremost consistenty in the quality of your content; are the most important.
Just because (here's that controversy) you're a member of a support or incubator group posting trite for content, it doesnt mean that you are successful.
Yes, you'll grow together and improve as your steem power compounds, but this is not, in my view, the point of steemit.
My view, ever since @mattclarke got me here, was that you post quality content, and get fairly recognised as it rises to the top.
My quality may not be someone elses quality, as there are different standards, but I am getting tired of seeing new authors, new posts and other content languish at the bottom of the pile while trite rises to the top.
No one is going to hold anyone's hand. Let your content speak for itself.
I tend to agree, I am just also okay with people using the tools we have on the site to promote themselves a bit, or build stake. After all it is money in the system. It creates reasons for users who have been around to keep their stake in the system. I am at the point of starting to move from content to "Investing" my stake on SteemIt. I am excited about the change and it keeps me interested when I am bored with reading and writing blogs.
It is a clear loop that most Steemians enter.
On the topic of downvotes, these are very important to the community, and I believe it can be reasoned that those who downvote the most care about the community the most.
It is taking away from what you can earn ( via curation) and sending a message that its your belief that it is not okay for that person's stake to be used in that way.
I did flag before but i stop it coz it ruin so much my voting power.
As I invite new user to keep engagement genuinely, some just sending the same message to all users,
i love to support the new steemians users a lot but to learn the right thing needs patience at least they learned it from themselves
I always encounter users just comment and don't bother to upvote first,
-this kinda rude for me although I never flag them but i reply with an advice, hoping they gets the message
Remember small users without a slider only get about 10 full upvotes a day.
i do,
But i dont need so much upvotes from them, even if it appears $0.00 is good enough..
will you really appreciate a comment that almost adore your opinion but never bother to upvotes?
I did for a while, just trying to be encouraging, but I am over it. ;)
well, telling them that they should not do it or what, will help them to grow,, I see also some accounts getting flag doing that,
i never flag, but at least they know that they could be flag by others,
Flagging will end only in being flagged back. Only strong can try and flag. But little cute fish or potato will just get flags of each country back.
If everyone cleans at their own level, that will help. Minnows police minnows.
Well to be honest sir I also don't like these spammy comments, but surely I wanted to say something and it's not necessary that someone could really be agreed with my opinion.
In steemit I have seen too many times that in HOT category or in Trending category the posts with 100plus bucks, they must get support of upvote bots, as the worlds poor community 70% of people, in them many of people cannot support these paid bots, neither am I, so to grow up in steemit community you must to have paid to it, in free you cannot grow up.
appologise if I am wrong.
I think your comment shows that you read what I wrote and thought about it. That is a valid comment contributing to the conversation. Get a spell checker like Grammarly, it is free.
ok sir :)
Wise words
If i must make great progression on steemit the quote above is must be my focal point. What do i have to bring to the table? I have to explore deep within i can really bring to the table.
Thanks @whatsup for post it will be helpful to me an aspiring minnow who is desperate for growth
It's a fine line to tread, personally I know that the articles that I put the most effort into don't have the widest audience here at the moment. That said I would rather stick to my skillset and provide the most valuable content that I can to Steemit. My audience might be more niche but I'm hoping they will also prove more loyal, and when the masses inevitably head to Steemit I'll already be established in my niche.
At the moment I'm aware that if I post a great photo on it's own, it will likely earn more than a 3,000-4,000 word article that will really educate my audience. I still get excited about the articles all the same.
Like many plankton I went through the frustration phase, paired with a 'lets try paid upvotes!' phase. I realised it was a case of Shit of Get off the Pot! Quit moaning and persevere, or get off the platform. I chose the latter and a big part of that decision is being constant, and contributing fully, not just on my posts and replies but comments like this one!
You echo my thoughts precisely. I have concerns about steemit just being a dash for cash when it could be so much more.
Nods, I am starting to get "Dash for Cash" fomo. If we are just going to drain this thing, I want my share too!
If it turns into that we may find our Steem is not worth much by the time we power it all down. I'm not desperate for the money, but I appreciate it can be life-changing for some. Maybe there's some happy compromise to be found.
Hi @whatsup, thanks for sharing this post. I agree that people are coming in to Steemit with unrealistic expectations; namely expecting to earn a lot of money from the offset, without putting in much work.
Personally, I am working on a project which I mentioned to you yesterday called The "Steemit Success Initiative". I am not going to write the same comment twice, but as you know it is a project that aims to
I am currently seeking support in any way for the project, but mainly in terms of advice and delegated SP. Are you available on Discord or Steemit Chat to talk more about the project? Thanks again for sharing, and I'm glad that you are setting a bar for users!
I'm with you on this, I do not upvote spam... nor will I upvote that comment and have not supported the article. They will be engaged in the comments with conversation (if comment is not spam), but really people expect support without first supporting... brain deficiency. Here is something I just wrote to a person that spam commented on my blog:
The best comments are from those that comment on the information, they gain better reward and help more people with a real thought and idea from the post... if you impress people with comment according to the content, you will gain more followers as well. Just a thought to help you.
Haha! I keep thinking we should have a backwards day, where the whales/dolphin message spam, ask for votes and DM links to minnows.
@whatsup,
I do flags! Thanks for reminding it! I have few to o :D
How's your AdoptMinnows project? I am going to be a part of it!
Cheers~
Yes you are write but i have one question when new steemians use steemit some dont know about steemit rules . They want talk even they read artical but they dont have good english so they dont understand how to reply. They comment upvote they support blog. I wish all senior understand new steemians problem . and i think if you want to teach spammer then you ignore .
Im very sorry my english also very poor. I hope you understand . If you dont understand forgive me .
Thanks for sharing nice analysis with us.
Stay blessed @whatsup.
Happy steeming!
If a person doesn't read or write English very well, it is difficult to imagine how they can contribute in a meaningful way on steemit, please share your thoughts about that.
Well, they can certainly contribute in a meaningful way in their native language. There’s all kinds of content here in Korean for instance. When Communities become a reality, #kr may be able to branch out in ways we can’t predict now.
If the Steem blockchain is going to have explosive growth, it’s quite possible that much of that will be in non-English environments.
Granted though, there are a lot of people with limited English skills posting here, all too many of them native speakers of English. 😏
excellent point. I meant responding to English posts!
@whatsup..i effected by flaging 2 times in lastmonth with out any reason.. that time i felt so sad..i will never flag any one its not a good thing..the only draw back in steemit is flagging.
true ... i think what you said is complrtly true for long term work and for long term success we need good and quality work
I posted a few things that earned zero or a few pennies that took a few hours (aka some effort) to compose. If people just don't care what the article is about, well that is understandable but sometimes seeing a blurb of incoherent text or a unfunny meme netting a lot just because the author is well known can sting a bit. When my post only got rewarded a tumbleweed.
I sometimes then try to optimistically think I honed my writing skills and learning a foreign language making it so not everything was for naught.
On to cleaning: I flag sometimes, when they blatantly just comment to upvote themselves. Not even commenting on the subject at hand. It just fills me with disgust sometimes, but a flag of a few cents only do so much. Wish that people weren't afraid that much for repercussions.
When I saw anyone spaming. Just I told Stop spaming and learn something about this platform. I didn't flaged.
I have noted only you in my following list who do the flagging!! Even though it is not the best option you are trying your best to use what we have been given to clean this mess.I appreciate your contribution!!!!
-cheers-
Totally agreed @whatsup. I also flag the spammers. I can’t stand them. It’s important to flag and to call out the people wasting space in the reward pool. There is only so much available and we must make room for our new minnows too.
i have positive as well as negative thoughts on flagging..but now when looking at the situation i feel like that flagging is not enough to handle the situation sir :)
I am specific about the wallet.. Its public, anyone could check anyone's wallet. I think wallet should be access able only to the owner, the fact that anyone could know whats going on in my wallet isn't the best option. @whatsup
Why? It is built to be a transparent system. That is one of our defenses and our security. In the end we should be able to account for every new steem, every transaction.
There are many cases now for user steemit, but has made a very good content even very beneficial but never get traffic let alone voice,
So that makes them reluctant to make quality content
Somehow I feel the urge to reply with "nice post" right now xD
This post has received gratitude of 7.57 % from @appreciator thanks to: @whatsup.
I am sure quality content always attracts the people to read that blog/article or even comment. Spamming is playing with the patience of authors but still i don't think so flagging is gonna stop this. There is some need to do at macro level for this.
P.s : i am not in the favour of useless trafficing but quality content is always my priority
My post on the topic
I fully support people using spellcheck or other tools, or simply posting in their native language, please don't strain yourself to use english if you aren't comfortable with it (often it just gets you bad looks because people assume everyone should be able to speak english).
I don't think everyone should be able to speak English. I feel that I know how to read and write in English. If I can't figure out what you are talking about due to communication challenges, it doesn't mean I think a person is bad, I just think it is going to be difficult for them to earn money typing in English. I don't try to communicate in Russian.
True that!
I agree i think there is still a lot of spammer weeding that needs to be done in order to improve the user experience. Although I think as the community builds that will happen naturally.
for me , luck works only
Well you sure are doing a great job upvoting comments that makes value !
It sure is a fact that to bring quality into the posts that sure will make notice in Steemit ,well it sure will take time to get noticed but once you get on track that it will be an easy drive !
Quality content is often very "niche", not to mention subjective.
Niche content will typically languish well beyond the 7 day window before being discovered by other like minded and interested readers (personal experience).
Some quality content may have a very long shelf life, again meaning the 7 day window expires well before it really gains any traction or visibility (the long tail of a viral post). For newcomers and legitimate ardent fans of underwater basket weavers, this can be very demoralizing. Especially when they observe the crazy earnings of some of the high rollers pumping out high volume, short shelf-life drivel (I'm talking about that ugly hajin vs berniesanders thing).
Encouraging niche communities around specialized subjects is going to be essential. Otherwise we're all going to drown in bible quotes, food pics and bot spam.
Thank you very much for commenting on my post. I really do appreciate it. Your own post has good content and food for thought. I am still learning but hopefully improving each day. Thank you again
I hear you on this. People are always complaining that they don't get upvotes on their endless challenges that they churn out.
I mostly pass through those because unless its truly exceptional its nothing significant to me.
I agree on the whole you need to offer something. I always talk to those that I mentor in our minnow community @steemitfamilyph that your posts must mean something, they need to be unique and worthwhile, it needs to add value or teach something.
Your personal branding and value proposition is important for you to get noticed. If all you are doing is posting 3-5 times all challenges just so that you have posts then it is working to your disadvantaged.
With the little SP I have I don't flag but I do report to Steemcleaners and earn bounties haha so more SP for me and chance for the spammer to be downvoted to oblivion.
I agree with you, something positive has to happen and we should all participate in cleaning the community, lately there are many people doing spam, in their search for rewards. especially from the poorest countries, including mine.
I agree with you, something positive has to happen and we should all participate in cleaning the community, lately there are many people doing spam, in their search for rewards. especially from the poorest countries, including mine.
You truly said steemit source of income but some new and bad people spam in comment for more income
steemit has changed the lives of people to success
just outstanding post keep it up :)