Why? I support all kinds of people. In the weeks since Best of Steemit debuted, I've spotlighted hundreds of new and emerging authors of all kinds of material, most of them minnows, many of them seriously obscure. Why won't I support your post?
Because you asked me to.
Look, I don't want to be mean about this. I know it's hard to get noticed as a minnow, when we're all so small in such a big world. I know you're trying to support your family/lifestyle/drug habit, and that my .17 would be a huge boost toward that next kid/apartment/doobie. But I'm not giving it to you, and I'm not giving it to you specifically because you asked me to.
Every post is an ask. Every time you post anything on Steemit, you're asking me to support you, by definition. No one posts anything on here and says "please do not upvote this post, and don't you dare follow me. If you comment, I'll have you shot."
When you post something, no matter what it is, you're asking for support. That's a given. Do not, I BEG you, ask me again three times in the body of your copy. That's not creation of anything valuable; that's an advertisement made by you for you. If your copy isn't already selling me, I guaran-damn-tee you your begging me isn't going to change my mind. Just don't.
And the new thing seems to be rattling your tin cup in the headline: "Original Post Please Resteem and Upvote!" Haha. No. Not only will I never resteem this, not only will I never upvote it, I won't even look at it. You will get nothing. You want my attention? Here are three things you can do:
- Promote someone else. You want to beg? Do it for someone besides yourself. It's way less pathetic.
- Have a headline and a photo that makes me want to read your post. Put some thought into it.
- Correctly tag your post. If you post a drawing of your girlfriend's left elbow, and you tag it "Steemit", because that's the number one tag in the space, I will see that and I will pass you by.
Maybe I'm alone here, and maybe your self-pimping tactic is picking you up money and SP, but I doubt it, and I'll fight it where I can. Inevitably, the space is going to get cluttered up by junk, because money attracts crap better than crap attracts flies, but I don't have to like it and I don't have to sit idle while it happens, either.
If you're going to be a whale (by my estimates, it will take me about a year), and who doesn't want that, you're going to get there with posts of original content, of good quality, and (mostly) by pushing many others up as fast as you can. No whales ever got their baleen and blubber with posts that did nothing but call attention to their creators. In this space, especially, but everywhere else as well, if you wanna get, learn to give. And learn to give without expecting anything to come back to you. It's a lot less stressful, and far more genuine, that way.
~Cristof
P.S. I make a small exception for witnesses, who actually have to tell me they're running so that I'll know and can vote for them. I don't mind that nearly so much. And as far as I can tell, witnessing is just work, and not a whole lot of fun or money. That's a fine thing to ask for help with. Otherwise? Blech.
Oh, I love this post so much.
I want to take every word and sprinkle them like candy morsels on the frosting of my steemit cup-cakes.
Thank you for preachin' to the masses and with class.
Hey, kids! Look! It's a metaphor! No, really, not like the ones in the zoo, but walking around in the wild!
Have an upvote for that lovely comment. Thank you for stopping by. Mind if I follow?
Are you stalking me? Because that would be cool, what with me being out in the wild and all, freely being a truly metaphorical genus.
(pun intended to look like a typo ... I get frightened sometimes and feel that I must explain myself)
I give you permission not to explain yourself to me. I understand all too well how some things can be perceived, but this isn't a place you have to worry about that.
Re-Steemed, in the hope of enlightening the latest crop of beggars that come
'round my blog... Thanks!
😄😇😄
In the summer heat
a friendly word is enough
please read my haiku
You have my support always, friend! ;)
:)
Got change ?
Hahahahaha...
😂 this is awesome, and exactly how I feel. Great original post, no, seriously. 👍🏻
You don't think I dropped that hammer just a bit too hard? I tried to back off a bit...
But man, I get so hashed about people begging me for things that I want to give them anyway! Trust us! We will like you!
Not one bit, it's everything I am thinking but haven't said yet. And I dig the humor.
Nobody likes being spammed by beggars.
I get where you're coming from, and I totally agree.
Also, for you fellow minnows (and I am about as minnow as you can get) don't comment on a post saying "Nice post. Follow me"
I won't follow you, because I have no reason to.
Engage with me.
Have a conversation.
Discuss my post.
Find some common ground.
Put in a little effort.
Do that, and have content that might interest me, and I'll follow you, just like I follow @cristof because he has good content.
And I'll follow back, because you didn't ask me to. See how lovely this little exchange is? Heck, for a comment like this, have .14.
Thanks for stopping by.
See how that worked?
So instead of begging for followers, be someone worth following :-)
But I'm already following you. Oh, wait. Here's some money, because you didn't ask for that, either.
Precisely this! I've been tumbling a potential post with this idea in mind but there's enough comments and full on posts along this vein already so I'll just upvote them instead XD
I really appreciated reading this post. I've noticed myself getting annoyed by folks asking for a follow or a resteem, even as a signature at the end of their posts. And you're absolutely right about the best strategy being to help others with upvotes and such. It has a way of coming back to you in unexpected ways.
Hi Cristof, great post, you write what a lot of people on Steemit are thinking! This is worth an upvote and a resteem! Like you said, money attracts more and more 'crap'-posts, begging and "I follow you if you follow me", ... But we can't be to angry about it, new people need to learn how this 'ecosystem' works and what value they can add. But like you said to, we don't have to sit and let all of it happen, nope, posts like this are good for others to learn and to think about their behaviour! Spread the word!
Someone I know asked me if Steemit was like Reddit, and I said, "only because there are posts on both." This is a really positive community, a great place to hang out, and I'm glad you came by so I could meet you. Keep working. We'll get there.
Great blog, very well written and well perceived 🙂
I understand you! Please don't upvote this comment. Lol.
Keep up the good job man
Just for that...
Interesting information. I just got here a few days ago and have been reading posts like crazy trying to learn. I notice maybe 70% have personal ads in the second half - some have a wall of links and that is really putting me off. I'm an ex-tsuser and came looking for the community that others tell me they are finding here. I hope I find it too, but advertising is a pet peeve of mine and I try hard to avoid it.
There's plenty of good stuff out there, but searching it out is time-consuming. I have a Best of Steemit I run every day (except this week), and there are good curation posts linked in a couple of my past editions. None of those posts are ads. I wish you luck and Godspeed. I'll be following.
Thank you so much! Gotcha back. I will definitely look at your list posts. I have found some amazing people and posts here since I commented and I know I can avoid the rest. Feeling hopeful :)
Fingers crossed. Godspeed.
Man! I can feel you are really edgy on this @cristof . There must be a lot of minnows out there who are really draining your patience, isn't it?
I for one, too am a minnow, by the way, but if you think my posts are nice enough for you to even vote as an encouragement, then feel free to do so.
Otherwise it is all good; I will definitely remember NOT to beg but I will not shoot you down either.
In fact, I wont even vote this post, because my voting power is not powerful and it doesn't make much difference. Everyone is already resteeming your frustration.
Have a good day. Smile, and take a deep breath.
A momentary annoyance, I assure you. And minnows don't come in only one flavor. Some do things for the long term, working to build a following by offering quality content rather than linkbaiting. Others...well, not so much. I was probably way too forceful in my response, and sadly, this post got more commentary than anything I've written yet. I wish it hadn't.
Thanks for taking the time to comment. And my upvote is worth pennies, but you get it.
Thanks @cristof , I appreciate that. I actually did not see this notification until I tried to skim through for a comment. Your vote is greatly appreciated. Mine at this point of time consistently remained at 1 cent most of the time.
I get what you mean. After this post of yours, some days down the road I spotted not just the "support" beggars, the worse part are the "counterfeit makers" (as I have decided to coin it LOL) and I actually wrote a post about it and I know how it feels when the nerve is hit (even for a short while) :)
Yeah. It's kinda rough out there with Steem down around $1.20. We could use a rebound!
It might probably jump back up when BTC hard fork happens in August, I heard.
Having just joined myself, the only thing I haven't liked is that begging and nagging attitude, at first I thought it must be necessary, it was starting to make me wonder if Steem was for me, because if that's how you need to to behave to get anywhere in a community then it is out of my comfort zone.
I do link to a relevant post from time to time, if I really appreciate what the author has posted and it is closely related to an interest of mine that I have posted about, but that is more for the purpose of engaging a person of common interest.
And also why the heck to people feel the need to sign off a comment @blahblah..... "Followed! - Now me! @blahblah"
Their username is directly above theirrequest for a follow and it is more convenient to use because you can just click the follow button without redirecting to a blog.
I feel better having read this, and the proceeding comments, now knowing that the general community isn't in support of this attitude and that I don't/won't need to stoop to that level.
Thanks for keeping me in the game by renewing my faith.
Cheers,
Jono
PS. Following you, no strings attached.
You can take the following as good or bad: I've posted over 500 times now on Steemit, and this post got more comments and views than any post I've ever written. Certainly, the community as a whole doesn't support link-spam. But it also DOES support controversy, even though it says it doesn't like it. Paradox.
Followed you back, because you didn't ask me to.
We share the vision...but we already know that about each other:P
Yeah, dangit. Oh, wait, here's some money.
Holy Hell! I haven't heard the words "baleen and blubber" used together in a sentence since maybe 6th Grade biology class. Great post! I like that schooling minnows gif. @cristof Can I use it? Resteemed and #followupvote
I had never heard "baleen and blubber" before! I just may have to use that sometime!
@jessicakluthe hahahah get your Steemit Whale Speak on point!
In a world of dolphins, orcas and whales................I remain a trout.
If you're a trout... am I a... crustacean?
You be whatever you want to be girlfriend!
Why Not Zoidberg..............
Obscure Futurama reference.
OMG Hole-E-Crap!!! Not much can make me actually lol in my office! I hate even typing the letters (l-o-l) but top marks to you @clevercreator! That just made my day!
Of course you can use it. You can use anything I post. I didn't make the logo, either, but it's a pip, no?
Hail and well met.
Thanks homie. Pip gif png......I dunno the difference anyway........... I just figured out how to use emojis yesterday..........
Tough but what we needed to hear.
I'm pretty sure in there you beg people not to beg you... Pretty hypocritical, no? 🤔
Jk, great post, let's keep the tin cups at gofundyourself.com
Guilty as charged. Oh, so very guilty. I am ashamed and must go and flog myself.
Love that you came by. Stay in touch.
Hilarious and so true! Thanks for pointing this out. It has only been one active week for me but I'm getting tired of the attention/vote grabbing already.
As you said, participation equals a request for acknowledgement or response or involvement of some kind, no need to double and triple that. Gives us the feeling you think we're stupid and I mean who wants that?
Yeah. Howling for attention by saying, essentially, "pay attention to me!" is not going to be a long-term effective tactic, I don't think. Maybe I'm wrong. I can't even pretend to any special knowledge on the subject.
Quite right. And I do not like begging)
I didn't know that tagging steemit was a party foul. 😐
It's not, really. Some people--I used to do this, too--just tag whatever, no matter what their post is about. But it does make the site cluttered and hard to navigate. It would be better if, instead of doing that, people posted under the tags that actually go with the post. Though I admit, that can be pretty hard to determine sometimes.
I find that creating appropriate tags for my post varies from being trivial to a real skull-sweat exercise that takes almost as long as writing the post did! :O
Right? I would love some sort of matrix that tells us how to go about doing that. I don't take pictures, and words sometimes are hard to categorize!
Oh okay, that makes sense. I'll keep it in mind.
I read the whole thing. This is interesting because I just join steemit and you express some idea I had along the way trying to put ORIGINAL content out there (music I recorded, performed, photography I take etc but someone reposting a Beyonce video will get more traction...oh please do not upvote this post, and don't you dare follow me. If you comment, I'll have you shot.
Hahaha ... *sobbing ...
My work is done here.
Excellent answer to the “beggars” @cristof. Will be shared 😊 Follow you
I'm always a little ashamed of calling people out, because SO MANY TIMES I've done the same thing. I get it, I really do. I probably should have been a little less harsh.
No, I think you actually hit just about the right balance.
You stated the truth clearly and well.
Upvoted because you didn't ask me to :)
I agree with you here wholeheartedly. If you offer something of value, you shouldn't have to ask for a vote. At the end of my writing lesson posts (which I hope add value to some Steemers), my 'call to action' is to see if anyone has any questions on the content. I always feel a bit sad when someone comments just asking me to follow them, but I can tell they haven't read the post. I wonder if that's simply because there is money to be made... does that inherently just take away from the potential for good conversation/dialogue?
Your three bullet points are especially useful. Thanks for this!
But I like being pathetic.
Dang. Well, in that case, carry on.
Me, I hate being pathetic, but I'm SO GOOD at it. I think it comes from all the practice.
Thank for your wisdom and advice. Some of us are learning and growing and appreciate folks like you.
Then I shall enjoy. With Troy.
Thanks for stopping by.
Haha that was a good one :-D please don't look at my blog or I'll curse you (not) 😁 I like your best of, will upvote one now
Thank you. I don't mean to get into fights on the Internet. Really I don't...
Good points here, I will resteem and look forward to quality posts.
Word all over those words and then word some more!!!
Steem On!
Toot toot! Thanks for the comment! Since you didn't ask, I think I'll follow you, too.
yeah, that one frustrates the day out of me ;) back at you!
Good to see more like minded folks. I feel the same when you have to wade through the begging. I notice much the same goes on in the chatrooms, where you also get tons of "I have been here for a week and how come no one upvotes me!" Does anyone really like a whiner?
I have feeling many see the big payouts and think they deserve that. For the most part without getting very lucky this is like everything else, it takes time and effort.
Opportunity knocks a lot, but usually goes away hungry, because he's dressed like a laborer and looks like work.
I'm glad we've met.
Uff someone just SPOKEN the right words!
Cheers
This post has been ranked within the top 80 most undervalued posts in the second half of Jun 24. We estimate that this post is undervalued by $43.34 as compared to a scenario in which every voter had an equal say.
See the full rankings and details in The Daily Tribune: Jun 24 - Part II. You can also read about some of our methodology, data analysis and technical details in our initial post.
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there's a whole back log of posts on steemit etiquette but that seems to have gone by the boards after this last hardfork and large payouts. People are seeing a cash cow and trying to cash in. I have my horror stories (really) but things will settle out gradually :)
I think you're right. Those of us playing the long game have to remember that we're still just in our infancy here on this site. In a couple years it will be painfully obvious what a bad idea it was to blow goodwill for a few pennies.
Somehow you mentioned me, I'm just supporting.
Trying to get rid of facebook twitter etc
"I know you're trying to support your family/lifestyle/drug habit" - lol that was funny. Sorry, I know this is a serious issue as I've been reading a lot about the begging (and spamming). That aside, yeah it's off-putting. It's hard to engage people when they're just only there to beg for an upvote or follow. But maybe this is just a phase and if the tactics don't work, they'll probably move on (to a new tactic or a new place).
I think it is. I don't think we're going to see a lot of it for long. It's just a reaction to HF19 and what look like big payouts. Those payouts won't look that big in a couple of years.
Everything is very clear, consistent and understandable. I agree with every word you say.
I try. Thank you--that means a lot to me.
Yes, that needed to be said.
The whole begging for votes and follows thing is supremely annoying, and I also generally do NOT interact with that approach. If I feel patient, I might post something about "A better approach might be to interact with the content, etc." as a response.
I think a lot of newcomers here have long forgotten that it took them four years to get 500 "friends" on Farcebook, or 500 followers on twit'em.
Yeah. That's for certain. I was thinking about that the other day--250 followers took an age on other sites, and here, it's two months. And here, it actually means something, too.
I really think the long game is the only one that works here. Yes, you can make a couple bucks in a hurry by upvoting yourself and spamming your own feed, but over time that's a losing tactic. Those that do this the right way need to be patient, especially when it looks like in the short term, we're getting hosed.
Its what Iv been getting annoyed at with youtube for ages now. +1 for this post.
Thanks for writing this Christof, you've articulated a lot of what I've been thinking since joining Steemit. It is frustrating getting such low amounts of upvotes for posts I think are good but the best response is to just continually strive to improve - I'm painting anyway so if anyone else likes what I do it's just a bonus. Keep up the good work.
I'm a hundred percent with you on this. I'm writing anyway, practicing, working, trying to get better. Being GOOD is what I'm after, and if that has value, awesome. But on Steemit, I can get paid to practice. So what if it's a pittance? I was getting nothing before. So now I'm getting better and taking in some tips. That's kind of incredible.
Magnificent attitude, Cristof. I don't know what your writing style was like before but it's certainly excellent now. A signal to us all to take greater care over our choice of words.
Thank you. That's praise indeed.
There is nothing to add to your words! Amen**
Good post, sometimes i'm doing this because i think some steemians dont really know whats nessesary to do, some send wonderful comments and dont upvote... but sometimes i dont du it because i don't like doing it.
You know, that's not a bad point. I thought about this today when I mentioned in my reply that I was following, because, I thought, "If I don't do this, he won't know", and he probably wouldn't. But that meant that the REAL reason I put that in my reply is so that he would follow me back. Which is the same thing, isn't it? The same thing I'm complaining about? So I'm as guilty as anyone.
Sometimes it's good to have an other opignion ;-)
Maybe beggars would be better received if they posted a picture of a cardboard sign that read "Stranded! Out of gas"? Sarcasm so thick you can feel it.
Heck, I'd pony up for that. Gimme a reason, you know?
I like what you had to say.