There's a filter bubble on Steemit, one in which we filter only the information we want to hear.
We do this by surrounding ourselves only with the things that interest us. I love photography for example. In time we come to agree that all is well with the world and that everyone on Steemit agrees with us.
The other filter is one I come across daily on here, and this is the one we want to avoid. This is the open cesspit of wasted comments, ignorance, trolling, hate filled rants and complete dissatisfaction with life etc.
The leads to endless clicking, hateful comments and the ego getting way out of control.
Here's a tip, the first kind of filter is easy to start with, and allows us to build up a helpful and loving stance on Steemit - as well as enhancing our reputations more quickly.
It's reassuring to know that were contributing overall to the community of Steemit, but this entails a lot of hard work.
The second type of filter really is just a message for us to produce better work on Steemit. It's tempting to give up if one is on a rant 24-7.
The Steemit Bottom $ is: The easier a filter is to build up, the less worth remains within it.
May all your reputations rise on the tide of the first filter my fellow Steemians.
I think, initially at least, most of us were attracted here by the potential profit but in the past few months I’ve seen see a shift to two distinct set of users:
I think we’ll see a lot of users who fall in category 2 leave for greener pastures, maybe for good. I ask myself, is this really a bad thing? We have a small segment of category 2 who will begin investing heavily in Steem hoping for it to hit the floor and rebound.
If Steemit survives (and I think it will), I see the current phase we’re in as a sort of cleansing for the platform. In my opinion, the true capital here is – creativity, content, and collaboration. Ideas like SteemStay are only the beginning. I can envision a self-publishing platform, a crypto-currency fueled marketplace (like eBay), virtual reality, the potential is endless.
One thing is for sure, we need to see a shift happen soon where users with higher Steem Power (and/or Rep Ratings) gain more curation/voting power. This way people who have lots of knowledge in their perspective niches can usher in talented users who can generate quality content to bring more readers vs. just more content creators. I think this needs to happen for the eco-system to become more self-sustaining and stable.
I’m curious to see the decisions the leaders make in the coming months. We’re at a crossroads and the decisions made now will make or break Steemit. I’m rooting for them, I’m rooting for us. I’ve never been a part of anything so exciting in all my life and I have high hopes.
Thanks @mindhunter!
@ericvancewalton - we most defintely are here for our art and for the true VALUE that lies within the Steemit platform. Facebook scraped the barrel for 5 years before it really hit the big time.
As I've said to @stellabelle, I am here to create as that is a core part of EVERY human spirit. I am not here to make money but to create and innovate, and Steemit allows me to do that.
The Steem price can crash to zero and the platform will still have an inherent value for us creators to connect.
I hope you can put across a lot of your good words and mine at the upcoming Steemfest - to those who really are in control of the platform. I wish you every success.
As you say, we are all rooting to survive, but even if we sink, I'm used to the taste of seawater anyways, as I cook regularly with it ;) We can all bob along on the ocean together and be perfectly fine. Hopefully that day will never come.
Best wishes and safe travels to Steemfest.
@mindhunter
@mindhunter -- Great point about Facebook. Creative solace is a wonderful form of payment, isn't it? I'm the same way, I struggled for so many years with my writing that I've become quite proficient in treading water. : ) I'll, definitely rally for us creative folk in Amsterdam. I wish you would've been able to make it. I feel very grateful to be able to go. This is my first time over the Atlantic. So many of my dreams have come true because of this platform. Take care!
You deserve the trip @ericvancewalton - you made much hay early days with your great writings skills on here that sadly treaded water for many years - nothing in the world is worse than wasted talent.
This platform is like a fresh breath of life for you. Don't cry for my Argentina. I was already pre-booked for a vacation to Spain on the Amsterdam dates, so sadly I wouldn't have made it anyways. I know you'll love Amsterdam. Such a relaxing place to get the creative juices flowing. I look forward to read a non-fiction article from you on it (hint hint!) - Safe travels across the pond. @mindhunter
I really appreciate that, @mindhunter. Thank you. It feels good to be recognized after all this time. Now that I have I want to help as many talented people as I can...there are so many out there. Spain?!?! My wife and I really want to go there too. Safe travels to you as well. Enjoy all of the many things there are to love about Spain. P.S. I will write that article. : )
Form is temporary, but true writing class is always permanent ;) I know if we could wrestle power from those whales there is so much you could do for new fiction writers on here. As I told @stellabelle, it's about time we started treating our best community folk on here like superheroes! So, off ye go to Steemfest to bust some balls!
Viva España amigo!
P.S. In this bastard world of crypto-hard forks Steemit is like a little wildflower by the side of the road - beautiful and all alone doing its own thing ;)
Well said, but I'm not sure it's quite that black and white. If the platform is to succeed long term, the marketplace aspect is of the utmost importance, Steem has to be valued as a currency, in and of itself, that can be used to buy goods and services. This can only happen if high earners, such as yourself, stop exchanging their Steem/SBD for US dollars (etc.) and instead use it directly to make purchases, so that it flows into and out of more hands becoming a valued currency, otherwise it ends up in the hands of speculators who just sit on it, waiting for the price to go up, which achieves the opposite. High earners will not stop buying dollars with their Steem until Steem is worthless, so the price has to hit rock bottom and this will separate the wheat from the chaff.
I hit the power down button for the first time, yesterday-not because I'm selling and running to fiats but so that I can power-up when the price crashes, in the hope that the community spirit will keep Steemit alive. I have to do this because I just can't rely on my posts earning me SP- the poem I posted yesterday made about 38cents and it was as high quality as any on here. However, I think the quality issue is secondary and would be sorted out if Steemit became mainstream.
The biggest problem with the platform is too much Steem/SP/SBD concentrated in too few hands, preventing it from becoming a real currency. It's very much like the primary school song, Magic Penny-"hold it tight and you won't have any, lend it spend it and you'll have so many, they'll roll all over the floor".
Personally, I think that everyone should have the same voting power, which should not be linked to SP, if possible. If that had always been the case then the currency would have been in more hands and the price would not have spiked in such an unrealistic way, it would have grown slowly and surely because instead of being hoarded by speculators, the community would have started using it as a currency.
An incisive look into the soul of Steemit there @cathi-xx - Steemit has attracted so many women to its platform too, and it would be a shame if they all left. Most crypto-coins have been such a male dominated thing until Steemit. I'm a big fan of @radioactivities and @marialin for example - such great female Steemers.
I like your noble idea of Powering Down and see it in a whole new light now. Also remember, Facebook took 5 years to get off the ground, so I honestly believe Steemit is for the long haul - but only for the battle hardy!
Hi Mr MindHunter, typo in the sentence above the photo.
I'm not a fan of either type of bubble, the veneration or the bitter and resentful-different sides of the same coin.
I'll put you down as a coin edger then ;) Screw the typo! It's an under $1 post! Ha ha! Lazy bones @mindhunter
ODE TO STEEMIT: O' my quirky wildflower Steemit, I have heard from thee in detail about the appearance and disappearance of every living being from ye, and I have now realised thy inexhaustible glories!
It's simple. Facebook sucks. Instagram sucks. Twitter sucks. Steemit does not suck and sometimes we even get money.
In this bastard world of crypto-hard forks Steemit is like a little wildflower by the side of the road - beautiful and all alone doing its own thing ;)
Love that analogy!
So let us tend to our little wildflower ;)
I've been slowly losing my filter for a long while now. I'm open to any topic, any art, any kind of conversation. Even engaged positively with a troll until they begrudgingly said I did good work...and because of them, managed to get myself on the trending page. Sometimes it's about letting ego go and just embracing the flow of things. That's not to say "be a lemming" - far from it! I'm not going to be "nuggetized" as your tag states - which is why my blog is everywhere. It touches on every aspect of me. My feed is a reflection of that, and the growth of my followers tells me I may be on the right track. :)
It’s not an easy journey but it’s a journey that you can’t avoid for long because there is bound to come a point where the negative ego hits the threshold of imbalance, creating suffering which directly triggers the need for growth. When I say it’s not an easy journey I just mean that it can be physically fatiguing to deal with this intense play of energy (the negative ego has a strong force) within you, to go through a period of feeling a bit “dysfunctional” because you are in a limbo between the negative ego and the inner being, to see several parts of your external reality (that were fueled by the negative ego) dissolving, to deal with the fear of uncertainty created by being in this limbo. Frankly, this journey is one of the best adventures you can ever be on, it’s something you wish you could avoid when you are going through it but something you know you didn’t want to miss when you are done with it. It leaves you a different person.
I can absolutely agree with everything you said, but being an Aspie, the entire world around me feels dysfunctional until I journey out into uncomfortable places and make it comfortable...or at least bearable. For me, there is always an imbalance. Interacting, being sociable (in real life engagements), even smiling sometimes, is all physically exhausting. My nature is to stay in the dark place and lash out - but I've had to nurture a more positive stance to find balance and put suffering and negativity in its place. But you're right - I am a different person - a better person - because of the battle.
As so by Steemit, we are all transformed into better people :)
Lets SteemIt not HateIt
That is a VERY GOOD tagline - you need to do a post on that one!
(...or I might!)
Another great #nuggetized post @mindhunter
I forgot to put it in the tags! GRRRR! I'll try to re-edit it. Thanks.
DONE :-)
I feel the USP of Steemit is money, and this just attracts waaaaay to many trolls.
Agreed. The USP of Steemit should be creative flow.
(Greed is not good for quality art on Steemit!)
I try not to use the first filter too much the last thing i want to do is build a self -inflicted echo chamber.
As for the ranters I leave them to it. I'm here for the ride if it ends early so be at least i had fun while on it.
' a self -inflicted echo chamber' - excellent wordage there @phoenixmaid - I like it! - Thanks for taking the time to pass by. Let's keep having that fun rollercoaster ride eh ;)
A very positive article, so upvoted and resteemed.
Many thanks for your support old Steemian friend ;)