Anti-Social Media
Is it possible the problem is you and the tactics you've chosen to use?
"Likes" are so robotic and meaningless but at the same time addictive in the same way as pulling the lever on a slot machine thinking this one last pull could change everything, and it never does. The song Looking for love in all the wrong places comes to mind and when I sing it I realize I have to stop looking for love and start giving it. There are amazing people on Steemit and I have found a home on discord @helpie & @msp-waves and taped in to the most supportive community that can be found and the term social media has totally changed for me.
- Are you engaging in a meaningful way that makes people feel loved and appreciated for the content they bring to the platform?
- Are you bringing your passion for your creations to the table without holding back and really developing an idea that people can relate to?
- Are you being self indulgent or self centered and making it all about you and the upvotes you get?
- Is your lack of SP making you think it's holding you back from building a loyal following and actually having some fun and not thinking about just the money?
@Men0 said this in a broadcast and it really opened my mind.
"You don't need SP to get upvotes"
This simple concept is hard to imagine when in your mind you think people will only engage with you if you have a big upvote and have money to throw at them and it's easy to come to this conclusion if your mind set is based on "self indulgence". He also coined a phrase which I absolutely love
"Be a social entrepreneur"
You mean you can earn upvotes by being social? This is a question that should be in the mind of every Steemian that wants to make money, and let's be real, we all do. Maybe you are thinking in your head, so let me get this straight @vladivostok ....
"By being a social entrepreneur I can make money?"
The short answer is yes. This requires a change in mindset that will change your every action and make you forget all about upvotes because you will be so enchanted with the cool people you are meeting and the relationships you are forming with people that can relate... that you will only be thinking about how good it feels and how you can find more time to meet more people and get more of this great feeling.
For those of you with a foot in Steemit and a foot in other platform and not really engaging in any of them...
Now hear me out. It would seem that if you are seen in more places than you won't have to engage anywhere, people will just see your name and follow because you are popular. Anti-social media has proven this to work for a small percentage of the population and maybe this is not working for you. Maybe you are engaging everywhere you go and still don't seem to be making an impression anywhere you been. I feel that in the discord community there is a connection that is hard to find anywhere else, I would say impossible.
Even on Steemit it is very difficult to build relationships because a large percentage of people are only concerned with upvotes and the engagement part is overlooked due to this constant focus, something important is slipping through the cracks and instead of your cup overflowing with quality people it slowly empties because the people you are engaging with only want that upvote, And let's face it, You don't have one. The good need is you don't need one. Commenting is more powerful than an upvote if it is meaningful. Fact. Meaningful comments will build friendships and these friends will want to upvote you, not feeling that need to because you have done something for them because they like you and the content you bring to the platform and they support it. This give and take is what makes the world turn and in these days it's largely overlooked by most of the population.
- Can you jump in with both feet?
- Can you focus all your attention on being engaging and creating quality content?
- Would you like to work half as much and have double the results?
- Can you deal with change and want it for yourself?
- Are you ready to embark on a journey where things are possible that you never even imagined yourself taking on?
It's time to make a decision.
There are so many exciting things happening before my very eyes....
The list goes on and on and as you move from your comfort zone and get to know more and more people through engaging you begin to form relationships within these communities that will be life changing. I promise this to be true. If you prefer to stick with Anti-social media this is your choice and I respect your decision but I would urge you to just give it a chance. You may be frustrated with the low price of steem and it becoming harder to get upvotes as a result so why not take a break and come join a community of people who can relate but also shine some positivity and your truly dark disposition. What have you got to lose? You can always pick up where you left off if it's not for you. Contempt prior to investigation has ever been helpful to me and likely not for you either.
Thank you so much for reading and supporting me and a special thanks to some great people for showing me the light
@mfxae86 @r0nd0n @ankapolo @clayboyn @men0 @phedizzle @yidneth @stevenwood @hash-tag @gray00 @momogrow @dunstuff @discordiant @riverflows @soundwavesphoton @amberyooper @crimsonclad and last but not least @banjo.. the list goes on and on and if I failed to mention you it doesn't mean I don't love you. Thanks so much to everyone that has made me feel welcome and supported me. The ideas I have in my head from what I am learning are inspiring me on a daily basis to improve and change things in my life that are making me a better purpose..
Isn't that what social media should be doing for you?
@Vladivostok
I appreciate the shout out. I think helping others is what crypto is all about. While other coins may fight with each other because of prices, we can learn each from each other and gain experience as well as knowledge about things we did not know about before.
we have a unique opportunity to effect the price of steem with the ability to come together and make it happen, whereas other crypto don't...it's subject to the market and manipulation we have been talking about....it's impossible to manipulate a tight community that comes together especially on a decentralized platform. facebook is tanking because this manipulation and divisive nature....we don't have to do this and i love it!! shout out is due ...you bring so much value to the platform as well as being a super cool personable guy that's willing to share the knowledge freely and this is what it's about....it's contagious and once everyone catches it it's going to the moon!!! steem on my friend.
Thank you for the Shout out brother... I'm super happy to have you be part of @helpie
:)
Much thanks....I am really happy that you are happy and I am happy that I am happy and happy to spread the love to make other people happy.....that's a lot of happy :)
First off all let me congratulate you for this amazing post...
I think when people do comment on other people's post it's mostly because they want that person to return the favour and also upvote them...
Since the time I have been here I have seen that meaningful comment is so rare here and these people mostly do not even expect a return of favour....I think reading an entire post and understanding it is important rather than just going through it and providing a meaningless upvote...
There is a small typo : the good "newd" is you don't need one.
Have a great day :)
First off let me say, "I really newd you"
Meaningful comments make the difference between making a real connection or not making one. It's vacuous to simply put all your heart and energy into a post just for votes. If I am not relating with anyone, or entertaining anyone and not making any friends there is really nothing fun about it. And likely I won't get any upvotes or make any money anyways. Might as well go get likes on facebook and make zero money or have people habitually liking your post because that's just what they do. It doesn't cost a think and it leave you author with the impression that someone really likes it when in reality they didn't even read it.
If the content brings no value to the platform and someone is just posting for the votes they are in for a big surprise, no money, and no friend and no potential to grow thinking we have nothing to offer one another as humans and fellow steemians where we stand a really good chance of changing the heart and mind of the world. Thank you for your engaging comments, you are very good at this and that's why you're doing so well.
isn't she incredible @banjo?
Did you see this morning?
Nuh uh. @banjo you're not just an occassionally eerily realistic AI bot living in discord? Shut the front door!
I absolutely agree. Discord is a game changer as the comment discussions on Steemit are limited, and hard to 'see' - it's kinda like talking to someone in another room, whereas in Discord, it's far more immediate and personal. It's where all the ideas are happening too. I've made solid friends on Steemit, but the friendship solidifies on Discord. Thankyou for tagging me in this, and it was really nice to meet you this morning.
The most pleasure I've got is from helping people on this platform, and It's part of the reason I started @naturalmedicine (we only launched last week) where we help to unite people interested in natural healing from meditation to yoga to herbalism to whatever. As you say, it's those social interactions that are far, far more beneficial than upvotes. Sadly, we kinda need the upvotes there to be listened to or seen as legit, but we're hoping that will change as we build community. xxx
Sorry for intervening. As a new user I am trying to learn. I heared about Discord and I am looking for in depht contact. So this is a great tip! Thank you, @riverflows and good luck with @naturalmedicine
much love mang, great article, the monetary mindset is what we have had forced upon us for generations, it is a hard cycle to break when it is so ingrained in our day to day life, society and the rest. i believe in time we will make the shift to be less focused on the $$$ that is being made and more on just being our congruent selves..... cause "to be yourself is all that you can do " :)
it's so true, it's hard to see until you make that really uncomfortable shift in perception and than once we've made it, it's hard to see that we didn't make the connection before....communication and love makes the world go around and it's everywhere if you look for it....people are starved for it and don't even know it. Thanks for the support mang as always!
As they say "looking for love in all the wrong places", we need to understand ourselves before being capable of finding love for ourselves, not only in personal relationships but with EVERYTHING. If you do not kno what YOU love in a car how can you find a car you love? if you do not know what YOU love in a house how can you buy a house you love?
we often spend the greater part of our lives "loving" what we are told to love in life, not really questioning IF we actually love it ourselves. it can be a cold hard realization that we have been conditioned so, however it is also one of the most liberating things you can do... to be yourself :)
Nice article! Thanks for the encouraging words. It's like in real life... When you come to a place you don't know people yet, you have to make an effort to make new friends. And it can take some time. Just be patient, be friendly AND be yourself. Then the right people will come to you. But you need to show yourself too!
You hit the nail right on the head
Being yourself is the key, you can't be anyone else.
Being yourself will allow you to find people that can relate on a real level and than the people you draw in will all benefit by knowing each other. Being the best selves we can be. Thanks so much for this great comment and bringing up an excellent point. :)
isn't she great @banjo?
Yeah. She's a tennis player.
I didn't know this, I will have to ask her about this. I like tennis too. :)
I am no t a robot and I don't have any brothers.
Very good post @vladivostok! Very very true. The interaction and social networking is unparalleled here on steemit, but especially discord. Steemit and the steem block chain dapps provide the opportunity for self expression, education, and international interaction. Like we discussed the other day, discord feels as if it's the glue that more intimately bonds people into forming legit friendships and partnerships. I believe that's mostly because it's real time interaction with text, voice chat, and @clayboyn's mad meme game. Without steemit, I wouldn't know discord. Without discord, I wouldn't have found such a great variety of content creators. Yes i found many when i joined, but not so many and definitely not as easily.
I really admire the people on steemit who post great content regularly, daily even. It's not easy to maintain. Even more admiration for curators who tirelessly scour steemit for those content creators to spread awareness of them and encourage them when they feel like they're efforts are too much for too little. But that feeling I hear more often then not is because of a lack of interaction. People who would rather the thoughtful comments but aren't getting seen. But, I'm rambling.
This is a very thoughtful post that I hope people who haven't thought of this before take to heart. There are certainly some things on steemit which are not perfect. By and large, though, it's much like the real world. The Cali saying "it's who you know, not what you know" is true because when people connect, that can be so profound it changes people's lives. Social media has been lacking the environment that steem block chain has created, I'mo. Oh yeah. 1:11
I can't help but laugh when I saw @banjo being mentioned. You should add @cleverbot to the mix too desu~
In all seriousness though, I agree that for most user on steemit, asking for upvotes seemed to be more important than actual interaction. And to be honest it is kinda sad. After all steemit is a social media too. Unfortunately, most users doesn't seem to realize this fact, myself included. I guess this is the reason why Facebook is so popular despite being data thieves and not giving anything back to its users. Hopefully, this trend will change in the future as steemit have lots if untapped potentials desu~
If only you could spell robot, you may have convinced me.
Well I don't think any of us are especially on topic.
something is really strange with my steemit, I have responded to you 3 times, and it's not working :(
i am glad you helped introduce cleverbot and banjo, he seems to be a little obsessed with me and i feel bad but come on, who's got time for all that. Seems that engaging comments and having a presence here takes every waking moment, i have the feeling it's all going to be worth it...this is just a feeling and i continue to work on things i feel will help the platform and myself in the process. I really appreciate the engagement and look forward to watching us both succeed here on steemit. what servers do you find the most helpful on discord?
Yeah steemit seemed to be experiencing some problems yesterday. Maybe node problem again. Also, I too hoped we both succeed in steemit as well. As for the most helpful server, I think Minnow Support Project's Pal server is the most helpful. Followed by the Poetsunited, Yehey, and of course the Vladivostok server :)
yes, I am very involved in PAL server, Drakos fixed my issue. I am in Helpie and PAL, they have done so much to help me and always there for me....love it so much. Have you been to helpie?
Sorry, for the really late reply. My ISP provider was having some technical difficulties yesterday and was down for almost 12 hours! Also, I've never been to helpie before. Actually, I've only heard helpie from you. Could you give me their discord invite link?
You're totally right, sometimes there's people who lose the meaning and goal of this social media which is create creative content that makes you feel connected with all your readers and meet people all around the world by the help of this community. It's not all about the money, it has never been.
Money always tends to cloud our intentions. You can't buy with money what engagements and friendships will bring so if we chase only money we end up with only money....than we are looking for some friends to share it with ....and they won't be there. I have found in my work life that once I made being of service to others my main focus than the money followed.
Yes you are right..most of the people are only concerned with upvote.. Steemit is a very good platform to make friends.....& It's damn true that if we make friends then upvote will come automatically..
yup, without even thinking about the votes, you will forget all about them and open your wallet and see that you not only got rewarded with upvotes, but you will notice a change of heart
Absolutely :) :)
yes. :) :)