Where your hard work can be devalued on a whim and your confidence trampled underfoot by ONE person who thinks he/she can wield their power without any regard for the person behind the targeted account.
Almost fifteen months ago I stepped onto this platform to test the waters on the advice of a writer friend from Facebook.
At that time, I was Chief Editor at AWESOME Magazine with more than 100,000 hits per month, I had a few novels and short stories published and a few mentions on IMDB - in my opinion, I had a lot to bring to the platform. I arrived with nothing and worked - for nothing at first - and that grew slowly and steadily.
I’ve shared my work, and used Steemit.com as the first and only platform on which to share all my writing. I’ve written an anthology with stories written exclusively for Steemit.com and published it. I’ve written a short novel exclusively on Steemit.com, writing every single day, gaining traction and a lot of followers.
I published the first two books to be priced in SBD and I gave them away at SteemFest2
I’ve tried hard to help new users (and not so new) and I’ve always responded to the genuine replies on my blogs.
I’ve also introduced and mentored a number of people on the platform because once they arrive, it’s a big scary world out there and I think we need to help newcomers to grow their accounts.
Basically, I’ve been a good Steemian (I hope).
I’ve had a few good pay-outs but not many over the $200 mark (if any) but I’m not greedy, I don’t complain when I receive a couple of dollars for a post – swings and roundabouts.
I flag spammy comments and plagiarised blogs and I do try to upvote good, ORIGINAL content because I do believe that’s where the value lies for Steemit.com
I’ve been to meets and both SteemFests because I believe the platform and the concept is awesome and I’m in talks with some pretty big-hitters, trying to get more wealthy investors to join the platform. All this is on the quiet and not been announced because there’s no point until something is set in concrete.
I’ve made many friends (I think) but so far, I’ve attracted support from few ‘whales’ for my writing – perhaps that’s because I’m not talented enough?
@ned @roelandp @kevinwong @sneak @andrarchy @ericvancewalton @sirwinchester @gtg @opheliafu @ezzy @rea (to name-drop a few).
Maybe it’s because my posts have not been seen? Perhaps I don’t write about things that interest most ‘Whales’? Maybe ‘Whales’ believe only crypto should be featured on steemit?
Or maybe my face doesn’t fit?
I don’t buy votes and I haven’t bought any delegation Steem. I powered down a few months ago but I didn’t cash it out and I have since re-powered it all back up.
Now, 11 of my posts have been flagged.
Here is the quote from that post:
@michelle.gent : Disagreement on reward, Posting a novel page by page, getting ~65$ for ~20 views.
I’m posting a 10,000 word short story at 1500 words per day (less than a week's worth of blogs) and I’m writing another novel exclusively here, and for that I’m being penalised by @transisto because he/she believes it’s his/her call on that.
Out of 400,000 Steemit users, my posts are all earning too much and my work doesn’t deserve that amount of reward.
Yes, I’m a creative person and I am usually exceptionally strong – minded and willed – but this has hurt me. I’m not that strong where my talent is concerned. In fact, I’m fucking fragile and all I can see is that my talent and hard work is not good enough and I really am not as tough as I appear (I do appear to be tough, especially when defending my beliefs and friends).
For what my opinion is worth, @transisto, maybe you’d have been better off UPVOTING original work to show other writers what can be achieved. Rather than your first votes on my blogs being flags, removing reward. Maybe you could have encouraged my work and given an upvote once in a while?
I’m taking myself off here because I’m no longer willing to put my hard work and my talent up for the scrutiny of people who believe they can take away what someone else finds worthy of reward.
If there’s one thing that will drive away writers, it’s attacking their talent. If there’s one type of abuse that will keep people from joining, it’s the threat of this kind of act – one person acting as self-appointed gate-keeper for all the talent on Steemit.com.
If you’ve only driven away one writer, it’s one too many but if you’ve driven away any others who have been watching to see how long this takes to crash and burn, well done. It took a little under fifteen months.
I don't think he flagged you because of your writing talent, it looks like it was because a portion of a novel that you wrote is uploaded piece by piece and receiving X amount of the reward pool.
I wouldn't worry too much about it. Maybe just post every other day or something like that.
Since you have already done the writing, there is not much effort to just upload it here for others to read. Your going to come out monetarily ahead in the long run, especially if Steem appreciates in the years to come.
Most of us minnows are happy to get $1-$2 a post...
Really glennolua? No, we should not give them any excuses to justify their acts of vandalism against our talented community.
I also write and as I am new here, I was warned by some friendly members that very few people on Steemit are willing to read 10 to 15 pages at a time and I must slice up my story into segments of maximum 3 pages.
I chose to stick to a minimum of 6 to 8 pages, which gives me the excuse that nobody is reading me because of the segments being too big...and it has nothing to do with my writing talent.
I'm willing to play games with myself, to fool myself so as to take care of my pride, but she is not to blame, she has done what almost all the writers do on Steemit.
The truth is, those who have attacked her do not have ANY talent in any of the fields that require them to be creative - apart from the destructive and petty ones they have exhibited.
Michelle, I saw you being accused of whining (and you seemed to accept it) which is why I came to read this post. I do not find you whiney; I find you have acted with dignity and courage in confronting your attackers.
This is in general, an unregulated platform and you can post what you like, as many times as you like. Anyone can flag a post if they deem it a negative towards the community and the utilization of the rewards pool. If you have a whale that is out to flag all of your posts you are kind of screwed as you will receive NO monetary rewards.
So whether you like it or not, even people with good content can be flagged. It's not up to you to decide what is right or wrong with this platform. You only have your opinions...
you should not care what others think ; opinions are in no way matter of fact and should not be taken as truth ; lots of people have probably gotten enough attention to warrant some jealous followers .. you should not look into taking yourself off - if anything, limit your posts ; make them worth something by giving less - use the act of supply and demand on how well you can use your words ; dont let someone tell you that you should not be rewarded, especially if you are already knowingly walking into such a platform being very successful already .
you dont have time for haters girl !
Hear here Michelle. It's one thing to flag spammers and abusers but to target someone just because they are getting a good LEGITIMATE piece of the pie (which takes away from what they get, mind you) is total bullshit. This is the third post today I've seen on Unfair flagging. Maybe you should team up with us in #thealliance he he he... But really, hurts the community when greedy s.o.b.s think they can dictate whatever, however they want, especially true creative content. Pressed this for more awareness of the problem.
On another note, if you like original stories, might want to check out @steemitcomics sometime. :)
This is really horrible and heartbreaking. That's the one thing I detest about this platform---the unnecessary bullying, just because. I have found talented people leaving because of this type of bullying; from people that have a higher 'reputation' and are in power trips, making this platform a free for all those folks that just wish to do harm. What are we going to be left with in Steemit? Mediocrity? People are afraid of truly speaking up, because those with higher rankings will flag if they disprove. I thought this would be a platform FOR EVERYONE that has some talent to share and FREE SPEECH/Censorship free. There's so much abuse it's truly heartbreaking to see undeserving folks receiving this kind of disrespect and leaving. THIS IS A PAYING SITE THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH MAKING MONEY IF IT'S WELL DESERVED.
So sorry that this happened to you!! It's incredibly frustrating to put so much hard work and time into your writing only to have some insensitive person start tryig to play god with it. We hope you change your mind!! But to be honest, we've been on the verge of leaving for some time now too after some of our best posts and photos go completely unnoticed.. it's not very encouraging at all. Especially when we see the quality of writing on some of the high earning posts.. very frustrating!
I for one am so sorry to read this. You have been a true inspiration to me and I'm sure many other aspiring writers. You have given excellent advice.
I was so pleased when I discovered that you are here on Steemit. This is exactly what I loved about Steemit, the great talent that is here.
It is such a shame that there are a few steemians that are ruining the camaraderie here, and shattering aspirations. I had thought I'd left that behind on Facebook and other platforms....seems not. I guess envy rears it's ugly head everywhere.
I do hope you reconsider leaving. Steemit would be losing a great talent.
NO ONE has the right to do that - what @transisto has done smacks purely of jealousy and egotistical, self-appointed bullying crap to me. Who the fuck are they to arbitrarily make decisions like that, based solely on the fact that they disagree on your reward ... YOU have done the work, YOU have earned any credit on YOUR original writing - NO ONE has the right to smack that down! I am incensed on your behalf, and on the behalf of any writer who posts good, creative, original content on Steemit.
I came on board here because of your encouragement (and persistent nudging) - and because I value your mentoring, dedication to this platform and constant encouragement to every writer who creates worthwhile and original content. You have earned all the rewards you have received on Steemit - how dare anyone take that away from you!
I would like to see this @transisto investigated for bullying behaviour, which is totally against the whole Steemit community spirit , and knocked down - or out - to the fullest extent.
PS: I've resteemed your post.
I hope you change your mind @michelle.gent. You are a super valuable member of this community for the reasons you outline above and many others. I hope this isn't going to be a replay of the few months last year after SteemFest when we had the down-voting and the mass migration away from the platform. That was so discouraging to those of us who put our heart and soul into our content. I understand if you step away but the platform won't be the same without your voice. No matter what, please stay in touch.
Agreed
Thank you Eric, your response means a lot.
I think this has been blown all out of proportion, and I'm somewhat amazed at it all.
Perhaps I touched a nerve with some people? ;)
resteemed .. thank you for taking your time to write this..
I hope you change your mind and stay. I wanted to ask you some questions about writing and have read posts where you show your work before and after. We need more teachers like you to improve on what we write. If this happens to a successful author such as yourself there is little hope for other writers on steemit.
Technical writing is always well received.. I guess we are all in the same boat here.
As I said directly to him, your work is the first thing I read on Steemit each morning, and my day would be poorer without it. Please know that you are highly valued, and as someone else said, don't let one negative person drive you away. x
I'd be sorry to see you go. There is real abuse of the system that needs to be dealt with, but you are creating good content. I expect you have made more here than any other site would pay. I hope you won't let one bad apple put you off
It does seem like you've been caught in the crossfire, which is a shame. You are not one the people abusing the system in my opinion. You're right, you seem to be getting flagged for being successful (which is what we all want) rather than abusing the system. I hope this able to be resolved in your favour.
I hope you reconsider and stay and don't let 1 idiot with a little (bought, not earned) steem power and a self made police steemit badge drive you away. I've known you as a friend and talent author for quite a few years and you talent is very real.
You are persistent in your work
I did all this alone
Good work follow this business
Good for you and all
There has to be a way to combat this type of witch hunt. The seeds of discontentment and jealousy have been planted and obviously flourishing in some people's minds. Don't let this drag you down. You are better than this. You are a published author. Are they? I think not.
Michelle know that your work is appreciated, I discovered you when I signed up . Who do you write for? Regardless of whats said, or what one thinks, your work and following is there waiting to read your work. I dont know how to combat this but we must....
Thank you!
Actually, I write for me.
I decided a long time ago, to write a story under someone else's directives wouldn't satisfy me and probably wouldn't satisfy them. Therefore, if I write for me, there's at least one person that will be happy with the story.
I'm published by Gingernut Books - as are a few others on this site.
Thanks for asking :)
@michelle.gent
You've only understated your achievements here on steemit. You're one of my biggest mentors here on the platform and one of the few whales I look up to. To see you being treated with such contempt surely breaks my heart but life ain't a bed of roses. I expect you to stay and fight for your right and write to make things right. I believe in you.
Lots of love,
@ajremy
There are so many things happening in Steemit that make me confused. I am one of the Steemian who do not understand that much about this crypto and financial things. All I do is posting and try to share my knowledge about writing as well, since I am also a teacher and writer. I can understand how you feel, and I hope everything happened do not stop you from doing all the best for all. I do believe, this is all is just a process of trying to find a new "pattern" and "structure" in Steemit. "Clash of civilization" in Steemit, I hope will lead us toward a better Steemit in the future.
Welcome back and I will wait for your writing, as always.
I enjoy your work and admit Steemit has problems in terms of how good content is rewarded or not rewarded, but hope you keep on keeping on because we like you.
you are not the only one.
hope things get better.
without his flag list, who knows if i would find your stories any soon ^
I hope you change your mind
its glad that u had many friends here, add one from my side..gr8 writing thanks for sahring
First they came for minnows using voting bots. Then they came for the authors they decided were "making too much". I wonder who'll be left. :(
wow nice information, thanks bro