Enough is enough!
Like a lot of people, I have been trying to find my feet on Steemit. I see those succeeding, and I have tried, superficially, to emulate what they are doing. I am trying to find a “niche”, and this has seen me blog on animals, films, my cats (I am still embarrassed about that), human nature, weather, words, people, guns (just don’t do it, gun lovers are impossible to talk to), marijuana, video games, life…the list goes on and on, and I am nowhere near finding a consistent topic to blog about.
Most of my work has sunk without a trace, and this is entirely typical of a blogging site where dozens of blogs are posted every hour. I am new, and don’t have much of a following. The blogs that haven’t disappeared immediately into the ether(net) have had an impact because they have been given a hand up by an influential poster. I am truly grateful for their generosity, but it does give me the feeling that it doesn’t matter too much what I am writing. If I don’t get that hand up, my blogs will be seen by a handful of people. And I am not sure what to do about this.
I do comment on other posts, but if I am being frank, I am struggling to find posts to really engage with. This is because I am a political animal, and this platform tends to avoid much political discourse. There is some, but what I have seen has been dreadful, by and large. Ignorant, boorish, aggressive ranting that I wouldn’t touch with a bargepole.
I did get involved with a gun debate, and for a while, it went quite well. I had to work really hard to be civil, because the OP annoyed the bejesus out of me, but civil I was. And then I woke up to a veritable torrent of abuse from the OP, who downvoted me, boasted about it, and then went on to write an appallingly self-indulgent blog about how he had to downvote someone for the good of Steemit. It was freaky, and exactly the sort of trouble I get in all the time. I absolutely did not deserve this nonsense, but I have this terrible habit of pushing a certain type of person’s buttons.
As it was, we sorted it out, and I even got an apology (of sorts – it was a I’m-sorry-that-your-post-made-me-have-to-do-that-kinda-thing), but it brought into question the nature of downvoting on here. And because of that, I allowed this shitty behaviour to happen, rather than defend my position as I would have liked. Well, fuck that.
On one level, the downvoting has the effect of self-moderating the site. It is very clever in that respect, and a stroke of genius from the originators of Steemit. It means that they don’t have to employ moderators*, because if someone behaves badly, they will be dealt with by the collective that is Steemit. And that is great if someone is really being an asshole.
However, on another level, it is open to abuse. What happened to me was insignificant. I am sure it set my rep score back very slightly, but in the grand scheme of my Steemit career, it made little difference, and it was a price I was happy to pay to learn a lesson, even if I am still not 100% sure what lesson I learned.
I have seen other things going on though. There is a lot of internal politics on this site, bubbling under. I don’t pretend to understand a lot of this stuff, and I wouldn’t go near it because as a rule, I don't like to wear my ignorance as a badge of honour, but I have seen some posters with reputation scores of minus 18, and this has clearly happened because they have annoyed a powerful pack of people on here. I have read their posts, and they are clearly deliberately poking the hornet’s nest, but they didn’t seem to be behaving badly. They were certainly not abusive or uncivil. And all I could conclude was that it wasn’t how they were saying something that got them into trouble; it was what they were saying (I probably have to put in the caveat though that there could have been more going on then meets the eye).
This begs the question: are people right to downvote someone because they don’t like what they are saying? No, is the obvious answer, in case you thought I was being rhetorical.
I have a very distinct sense of what is right and wrong. It gets me into trouble all the time. All the time. Having this sense doesn’t necessarily make me correct, you understand. I am as fallible as anyone, but once this sense locks in with me, I struggle to walk away, even if I know I am going to lose. It’s a shitty trait, if I am being honest; I would rather not be like this. But at 48, I have concluded that I am what I am.
And the nature of this website has left me feeling neutered and impotent since day one. I have been afraid to express certain opinions, for fear of falling foul of the wrong type of poster with a higher rep score than me.
I realise it sounds like I am complaining; I can assure you I am not. I have had a little epiphany, and I feel the urge to develop it.
I love the idea of Steemit. I love the idea that there is this creative collective of people who can get together and share ideas and content, and share the success that this brings. But the financial side of this has given rise to a particular dynamic that can make it difficult for a lone voice to make an impact. Auto-voting is great when you are guaranteed to get some upvotes, but it does call into question the actual value of these votes. It makes it an odd popularity contest where the quality of the content is not the most important thing. And it absolutely should be, shouldn’t it?
Anyway, I have reached a conclusion: I have to be me.
I have been doing this internet thing for nearly twenty years, and I have learned the hard way how to express myself in a decent, civil manner. I have made many mistakes, and have posted many times in anger and shown myself up. It can be difficult not to, but I have learned to take a deep breath and walk away if I am in danger of misbehaving. I will also back down, re-appraise my position and change my opinion if I am convinced to do so. I will happily apologise if I have crossed a line.
I genuinely believe that this platform is the future of the internet. Facebook and Twitter are often angry, seething vortexes, with users spewing bile and hatred from behind their screens.
I have realised that although I can adapt, I can’t adapt enough to be successful on here and still be me with the parameters that this website appears to impose on its users.
So I am going to be me and see what happens.
*I feel I should acknowledge the sterling efforts of users like @minnowbooster and @steemcleaners who try and maintain certain standards that absolutely need maintaining!
Memes courtesy of these guys.
I have learned a lot since I commented on your post few weeks back..It is our own 'steem power' that matters!
See the people having high reputation..They may get 1000 upvotes..But the 99.5℅ of value comes from mere one or two accounts..Keeping quality content is necessary here because one will be judged later for his/her previous posting behaviour.!
You write exceptionally well..But your marketing tactics need to be improved..So many ways are here..Instead of expecting others,we should help ourselves.Wise use of time is the key to success.
Thanks Sathya. What do you suggest I should do differently?
I am very open to suggestions!
BTW - I see you got some SP delegated! Well done you.
Well..I would suggest these things to you after noticing your account
You are following too many people..It is impossible to manage them all..try only to follow the people who will benefit you..Many are inactive accounts..I can see what you are seeing in your feed by visiting
https://steemit.com/@matbaker/feed
You can replace your name with mine to see what I'm seeing in my feed..That way you can find and follow really good content creators..Don't follow all your followers.
No one helped me in getting SP delegation..I bought it through blocktrades..Now they are delegating 8 SP for 1 SBD for 90 days...But it is costly indeed..You can try in minnowbooster.net .I got 160SP delegation for 1 week for 2 steems..That way you can get high SP delegations and if use it wisely,you will find your own SP increasing high and that will naturally attract many co-steemians to your blogs..Remember,Once your SP is 500,you will get a slider through which you can adjust your vote weight..Never drain your vote power to below 80℅
Steem blockchain is not just about blogging..Dtube,utopian.io,dsound,dmania...etc many platforms are associated with it..If you can really contribute to these platforms,especially utopian.io,You will get really big upvotes! Try to learn more about them.
Many writing contests are going on here..Participate in the contests that your interests and creativity apts..As of now, the user tarazkp has resteemed two writing contests..Visit his blog and find those contests and participate in them..You will surely get noticed
Buy delegated SP and upvote your own posts and comments as far as you think they deserve..Increase your SP whatever way possible..Your high vote value indeed will attract so many to your blogs.
Remember,do not follow everyone,do not expect Curie and OCD to always uplift your posts..You can find yourself doing great after the toil of number of months!
Note : People nowadays are flowing in to steemit..It is really going to be hard to earn steems in the days to come..Some say the value if steem can hit $70 within few years..every steem is valuable..Help yourself alongside helping others.
I'm writing this all from my phone as I have no computer with me..I'm planning to buy one within few months..Steemit is really going to be an extra income!
Read this..Try if you can
https://steemit.com/utopian-io/@abh12345/utopian-io-contribution-approved-rejected-analysis-23rd-feb-1st-march-2018
See, this is all like a foreign language to me! The technical side of this is confusing me greatly.
Thanks. I will look into some of those, starting with those that I am following. I have been thinking of entering a few contests, so I will look into that too. I really need to find more content to properly engage with.
I appreciate your time and advice.
Thank you for this. I am having the same conversation in my head as @matbaker - both in terms of the content, who to follow and the technical stuff.
What's up Mat. I've been here for about a total of 72 hours, and I'm already going back and forth on my feelings pertaining to the flaws here (as well as the positives). Some of the flaws are really getting to me though, to where I question if I even wanna give this a real go or not. For the past three days I've been vacillating on it. I think I've also come to the conclusion that I'm just gonna be me, and whatever comes of it, great. Honestly this whole thing for me is just a way to kinda create - just a new hobby of sorts - and be able to have that public little journal of my writing and experiences and what have you. But there are some weird politics here that I don't think I wanna touch ... as well as the fact that I can't stand seeing such crap content getting rewarded the way that it is, while some of the gems just fall to the wayside. I feel like this could crush some amazing spirits, whilst boosting some far less deserving egos.
Hey PP. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
I think that there are many ways of looking at this, some positive and some less so. I agree that the worst thing on here is seeing some of the complete crap that gets lots of valuable upvotes simply by existing. I saw one last week that was just a header. It must have taken all of two minutes to do the whole post and was sitting at a couple of hundred Steem Dollars five minutes after posting. But you know what? It's none of my business, and that money was never going to come my way.
It is a shitty way that the site has evolved, but these are people who have just learned how to play the game, and newbies getting all angsty about it isn't going to make it stop.
I am most annoyed that I have allowed myself to be affected by this downvoting thing. I should have had more faith in myself to be who I am, especially when I was being lectured on my behaviour by a passive/aggressive gun nut.
One thing I have learned is that not many newbies are going to make any kind of money by just blogging. There are too many people doing that. Treating it as a hobby is the way to go, it seems to me, unless you are willing to put a lot of time into it.
I feel like I've accepted the fact that as a newbie, if I want to "succeed" I will need to back it with some money invested, and also learn the ropes of how to play the game a bit. I don't ever plan to put enough energy in it to play the game all the way, but maybe a little. I can fund it just like I would any other hobby.
Now the lecturing and downvoting ... I haven't stumbled across it yet. From what I've been seeing everyone plays pretty damn nice here (like to an almost ridiculous, brown-nosing bs extent). Not sure how I feel about that either, as my nature is much more like yours. I'd probably go off on a gun nut to the point of getting kicked off the platform lol.
I'm not putting money in. A friend of mine on here has a theory that SBD will increase in value hugely in the next 12 months or so, so accumulating a few dollars a month might be worth all the effort. Maybe it won't. I don't pretend to understand any of it.
I am not sure you can be kicked off here! I suppose there must be a line that can be crossed. Yes, I agree, people are too nice at times. It all feels a little forced to me sometimes, and I am no good at that kind of communication.
Hence this post! I have to be me, whatever that means, and I won't allow myself to be intimidated by someone who can't find the words to defend his position, but can throw his weight around because he has a higher rep score than I do. Fuck that shit.
Well, your being you caught my attention. So, at the very least you can say that. :)
Got me, too. And I'd been following @matbaker for a little while!
@matbaker - I really enjoyed reading this. I am having the same debate with myself, and frankly, right now, don't have the time to spend here - in a sense, "nickeling and diming". @jaynie, who happens to be a personal friend, introduced me to @steemit and she has given me some useful pointers. At the get-go she warned me about the politics, trolls and spammers. I was familiar with that from having blogged for a few years on another platform. I wrote about it there, and also shared it here https://steemit.com/steemit/@fionasfavourites/cape-town-s-burning
Now, before I get on to other issues, the reason I started blogging there were two-fold: I needed to find a different (writing) voice other than my professional one and put it out there. The writing (ha!) was on the wall in my day job, for reasons I won't go into, but a decision was precipitated ahead of schedule (you will find that in my first two posts on @steemit https://steemit.com/introduceyourself/@fionasfavourites/6ndjsc-the-journey-to-a-new-chapter) and the blogging platform that I had chosen did not have much by way of income generating opportunities. Similarly, finding work via other virtual platforms was difficult: I could not / cannot compete with the prices that folk from certain other parts of the world are prepared to accept.
So, since that first post, I have dipped in and out of @steemit and about a month or so ago, perhaps not quite, I took the decision that I was going to spend more time here. Like you, I find myself thrashing about. My other blog was just me, and I had found bloggers I loved following (still do), and had built up a fairly decent following – of my eclectic collection of musings – which do include a lot about cats (really), and, of course food, as well as my very amateurish photographs.
With hindsight, it took 2 years to build that following and I took a decision early on not to “do” politics. Mainly because I do not like confrontation although I will get involved in a heated debate: on the premise that the participants can agree to differ which must, in turn, be predicated on mutual respect.
Let me return to some advice that @jaynie gave me: use the hashtags to find topics that interest you and/or that generate the most income and use them as a guideline. I’m not very good at this – yet. Like you, I have put posts out there that have just gone into the ether which is annoying when they’re often the ones I’ve spent most time on. I keep on thinking that I should have a look at those posts that have generated most votes (ha!) and why. Then, I think that perhaps I should carry on blogging, my way, and looking for others I’d be interested in following and engaging with – like you. Often their interests are not the same as mine would appear to be when you read my blog. So…..
I also am not sure, actually, no, I am very sure that I do not understand all the blockchain stuff let alone all the stuff that @sathyasankar talks about. It intimidates me, and I glaze over. I also have a life outside @steemit that demands, no deserves, my attention. So I will learn this stuff over time, and probably the hard way. My own fault.
So, reading your post and writing this comment has helped me with my reflection on the space I’d like to carve here: I don’t really want to be part of the platform’s politics. I live in a small village and have enough politics to deal with in real life, never mind living in a country where our political environment is hugely fluid and dominating for me (which has to do with my “old” day job). So, I think I’m going to play a longer game: writing what I like (to paraphrase Steve Biko), and engaging with bloggers whose contributions “talk” to me, and who wish to either reciprocate by way of a conversation in the comments, or by following me if what I post is of interest to them. If it isn’t, no offence taken.
Carry on blogging, Mat, I am sure that you will build a cohort of followers who “get” you and build your own @steemit community.
@fionasfavourites
Thanks, Fiona, on many different levels.
I have read both those blogs, and they are very honest and refreshing. So many people are guarded and closed, even on the internet, where we should feel free to be what we are.
This thing about trolls...you know, they are out there. There are people who deliberately go onto a thread to upset and appal, and to get the reaction that these entail, but I have noticed in recent years that the term is thrown around, often at people who are little more than a dissenting voice. The gun nut I referred to accused me of being a troll, and I am nothing of the sort. In fact, @monchhichi23 above is the person that I was talking to when I incurred this man's wrath, and you can see that I did not upset her at all.
The term "troll" is often used in attempt to develop an unfair narrative.
I am going to carry on here, but I am going to post about stuff that I want to talk about, and if others want to join in, then great. If they don't, well, there's not very much I can do about it. I have been trying to post stuff to appeal to a larger audience, but they have generally failed, and left me feeling like a tuppeny whore. I have been trying to be something I am not. More fool me!
I think we may have taken different paths here, but we seem to have ended in the same place - we are what we are, and would rather fail at being that, then fail at trying to fit in.
Oh, all this blockchain stuff is dutch to me. I probably should try and understand it more, but it leaves me cold. I am not here to learn about this. And yes, I want to avoid Steemit politics, but get involved in Politics on Steemit. I have actually jumped in to a conversation about immigration in the UK, and it absolutely has the propensity to go south, and my opponent here has a huge rep score, so I am playing with fire. But, you know, that's who I am and what I do, and after a month here of trying to be something else, I am going to true to myself and deal with whatever consequences come my way. And I am totally happy with that.
Ah, thank you, Matt, for taking the time to read those posts. The opening chapter post was written at a really difficult time. Amazing how time does help the healing. And as for being honest, well, I once had a boyfriend (now 30-odd years ago) who accused me of being too much so. He didn't mean it as a compliment, but I've never forgotten what he thought was a throw-away remark. Well, I have to live with myself. So.
I agree with you about differentiating between trolls, a stirrer and I'd like to introduce a third character - a lurker. This is where I sometimes find myself. I like what I read, might vote and move on. Not always comment.
And yes, how interesting that we all have different journeys and then end up in the same place at some time! Makes the world go round.
So glad to have made an even small contribution to how, and that you, will continue engaging on Steemit.
Looking forward to reading your posts and continuing our conversation!
And, because I will probably be AWOL tomorrow because it's kitchen day ahead of the market
Bon weekend!
Hah, I don't have a niche yet too. I just blog randomly for the meantime. I love being me. Lol.
Hello @matbaker.
I am not yet in a pisition that allow me to determine how flowed is steemit. But what I am sure about is No flawed system is entitled to flourish. Name it a government or social media platform. Only systems that give equal rights to its beneficiaries can succeed and grow. Desbite many disadvantages of facebook the one thing that helped it survive is that there is no account is more powerful than the other. Especially when it comes to reporting. On Steemit people might accept inequality to some extent but eventually they would desert the platform especialy if a less flawed new platform is introduced to them. Many people complaining about not being easily seen and old steemians teach them about persevernce. There is a point when this perseverence speech will be no longer convincing and the creators will have to change some of its features.
Thanks for commenting.
I am not sure I agree entirely with your take. Yes, Steemit is not perfect, but I am not sure that is fair standard to judge it by. It will have "flaws", and these will vary, depending on who is using the platform. I don't believe it can treat every user equally, simply because there is such a variety of users, and everyone will use Steemit in their own way.
I do agree on your last point though. Perseverance is not going to be enough, most of the time. I do not believe writing a blog once a day and trying to find other blogs to engage with is going to see me succeed on here. Perhaps it might have done a year or two ago, but there are far more users these days. One needs to find a way to stand out from the crowd.
Hey @matbaker I have to say that I agree with you. Sometimes I feel the same way, I've been reading a lot here lately, and it's been something to see. I came to Steemit to be able to freely share myself, my experiences, and sometimes my opinion, and I'm totally open to having a debate, and listening to different views.... who knows, maybe someone can change my mind on my views. But from the things I've seen on Steemit lately, you get downvoted or flagged easily if you say the wrong thing. Adding money to it makes it a different monster altogether. Another Steemian offered the same advice to me that @sathyasankar gave to you about the followers, I was following 115, I'm down to 59 and being very selective now, it has made a huge difference on my feed. I'm also treating this like a hobby just like @pragmaticpassion, and with no expectations. I don't find my writing to be as good as a lot of Steemians on here, but I am learning, and one day, I may invest in myself, but for now, I will keep working on my writing and enjoy reading the posts of the people I follow. I'm sorry you got flagged, I was not offended at all by your comment. Keep being you, you'll get there.
Thanks for replying, I really appreciate it, especially because when we first met, you were in agreement with the fella who threw the abuse at me and downvoted me, which makes your kind words more significant. You may still broadly agree with his wider points, I realise, and that's fine! We are allowed to have differing opinions.
What really got to me with all that was the torrent of abuse I got from the same person who then had the temerity to lecture me on my behaviour. I regret not pushing him harder, but at the time, I was looking for a diplomatic solution.
I had a better look at the politics tag last night, and there is stuff on there that I can engage with, and I am going to make some posts and see if I can get some conversations going. I am far from convinced that I will, but there's no harm in trying.
Yes, I cut my following list hugely, and another cull is probably required!
I really appreciate you stopping by. Hope to see you around.
BTW, you may notice that a contributor to this thread has been flagged! Massively, it would appear - everything he has posted in weeks has been downvoted. Maybe he deserved it, it's not my business, but I can't see what that he has been posting anything offensive. It makes me very uncomfortable to see this going on.
I did notice that, @matbaker, and I honestly didn't see anything that warranted that. I may not agree with his opinion, but he has a right to put it out there and he shouldn't have to fear being flagged for doing so. I just don't get why we can't have different opinions and still get along. And while I may agree with the gun views of the guy who flagged you, I will always welcome a different opinion, and I would never flag someone who engages on my post with a different view. This seems to be the world we live in today. I would love to see some political posts from you, and I would like a friendly debate... and I'm absolutely positive you and I can have different views and still be friends. You'll see me around, I follow you and enjoy what you contribute... talk to you soon my Steemian friend!
I hope so!
You know, I welcome a dissenting voice, as long as they know how to express themself in a civil and constructive manner. I think I am right (everybody does), but the only way to be really sure is to have my opinion tested. No-one should be afraid of that. Unfortunately, lots of people are.
And yes, you and I may disagree, but you have your life and your experiences, and I have mine. These will impact on our realities and our opinions. It is not necessarily about being right - people get too bogged down in that - but about being able to justify one's position. And if you are afraid of that, then you need to have a word with yourself!