I Need A Minute
You probably don't know me, because I'm what is referred to as a "minnow," a small fish in a big ocean of whales. I'm an aspiring writer. I've been writing my debut novel for two years, and throughout that time I've been trying my best to utilize social media to spread awareness of my WIP and grow a following, so that when I DO publish my novel, someone will be interested. That being said, I was excited when I learned about Steemit. But a month later, that excitement has faded into cold pessimism.
Spammers and Scammers and Bitcoin, Oh My!
Here's the problem- there seems to be a total lack of moderation on Steemit. It's a total virtual democracy. And you're saying to yourself, "but wait, isn't democracy a good thing???" Well, it isn't here, at least.
For every single post of original, artistic expression, there are a hundred posts about blockchains and Bitcoin and Litecoin and blah blah blah cluttering up the airwaves of this service. And they're all just repeat posts about the same damn topic. At first, I was happy to learn more about cryptocurrency, but after the thousandth time of seeing it on my feed, I realized, it wasn't about informing people, it was the easiest way to farm votes. That's right, if you post about Bicoin repeatedly, you'll probably get a lot of votes and rake in the money. Good for you. The problem is, it hurts the community as a whole.
And then there's the spammers and the scammers, and they're even worse.
These are the accounts that post stolen or cut & paste content a hundred times a day, send out an army of bots to comment "LIKE ME AND UPVOTE MY STUFF PL0X" on everybody's posts, just so they can be active enough to earn a larger portion of the blockchain earnings. That's a problem. And it hurts the community.
Steemit is Not a Friendly Place
Unfortunately, it's true. Sure, I've made a few friends here but it's sparse hunting grounds out there in the wastes of Steemit. Most people don't want to talk to you, don't want to be your friend, they just want your upvotes. So, they'll say and do just about anything to convince you to upvote their content. And you have to constantly ask yourself, "is this person legit? Is this a scam? Am I being manipulated?" And being on guard like that 24/7 sours my taste buds for this community.
Steemit is About Pictures, Not Words
With less and less of the population taking time out of their busy days to sit down and actually read something, it's very hard to make it as a writer these days. It's even harder if you're self publishing your own content. It costs a LOT of money and almost all your time to create a book and market it to the world. And it's very disheartening when you create something out of passion and work so damn hard to try and get noticed, and then, nobody cares. You're just a minnow in a big ocean of whales thrashing around and splashing their cut & paste content everywhere. There's no passion in their posts. There's no fire in their eyes. There's no blood thundering in their ears when they click "POST" at the end of the day. And that, my friends, hurts this community.
Sure, sure... if you're a photographer or a travel vlog, you'll probably do pretty good here on Steemit. People can look at your stuff for 10 seconds, like what they see, click a button and move on to the 47th post they've seen that day. Don't get me wrong, I love my photography friends. I'm very happy for them and their success. It's hard being them, too. But that doesn't change the fact that I know in my heart that they are above me on the food chain, and that stings just a little bit. I put just as much time and passion into my work as they do, but they have a much better chance of being noticed. So, what's a writer to do?
Well, I don't have an answer for that. But for the moment, Steemit doesn't feel like the place for me. In a month, my account has accumulated $2 in worth and I've made 3 friends that I might be able to sell my book to. And I'm sorry, but that's just not worth my time.
So, Happy New Years, Steemit. I wish you well. But I don't think it's for me.
I understand how you feel, but it is too early to give up. I've been here 3 months, I have earned about $200 (if I ignore the rise in steem as I just know that on the day I decide to sell, it will collapse just before I can sell).
As for making friends, maybe you are not choosing to view new trends in the tags you are interested in? Also, your feed, unfollow anyone whose posts you don't want to see.
I've met some very nice and interesting people, some from the writing tags and some from philosophy and art.
Meeting people who are interesting, have talent - and are nice (like me), is special and makes up for much of what I do not like about steemit.
What you could do, is reduce your hours spent here. Post and read the posts of just those your find interesting.
As for bots...if you want, check through my posts. In the beginning I had them every day. Now, never. If they do not get a response out of you - or at least an upvote, they rush off in search of greener pastures. After all, they too must follow the rule of 'make a profit or die'.
I hope you will stay, I've both enjoyed your writing and your company.
PS: In previous comment, I meant, people who like me, not that they are nice like me. I don't like being nice, it is just something I can't help being, to those who are nice to me.
I understand what you're say and you're right. There are good people here, I don't deny that. And yes, Steemit is still very young. It's just... I don't see any moderation whatsoever. If I saw an active effort to weed out abusers, maybe I'd feel differently.
I just feel that, if I continue to spend most of my time here (as I have been) I'm either wasting my time or I'll have to change how I use this platform and start using methods I'm uncomfortable with to gain followers and visibility. And I'm just not the kind of person that's willing to exploit my way to the top. Because when, or if, I'm successful, I want to know in my heart that it's because of my work and not some scheme. I'd rather toil in obscurity than rise to fame through being fake.
I'll keep my account for now. Maybe I'll post a few chapters here and there. Maybe some poetry, but I'm going to be writing most of the time in the next few months so, I just don't have the time Steemit requires.
I have been coming across some serious attacks against scammers and there are numerous debates on how they should be handled. Although I am also against scammers and even posted an article about them, I'm trying to remind them that they must not go overboard; a number of scammers are actually newbies who don't know better. After all, what brought them here, is it not that Steemit itself makes itsefl known as the social platform where you get paid? I suggested that they are warned and told to read certain posts made for newbies and if it does not help, then knock their socks off, way down to under zero.
I started writing my 14th book, but then I started taking a stand against cowards, insulting and 'shouting' at them, ridiculing them when they threaten to do something about their govs (in Europe). I tell them to make certain to let the world know what they are doing by going to the pub for a few more beers, that way they'll have a good excuse for not doing anything, but, you know it, they'll do it tonight....
Now this place is also taking up time and I feel my book slipping away from me. I've cut back on the other site and now here, from posting each day from 3 different books of Little Cherine, I am now only posting from one. I hope it means I can get back to writing again.
My problem is, to write, I need to get immersed and live in their world, share from them. I just don't have the imagination to think it all up by myself.