Searching for the upvote "sweet spot" - following @beanz' lead
Hardfork 19 has been putting a crimp in my curation and I've been vocal about seriously not liking the 100% vote strength on 10 posts limit before the vote power goes in the toilet.
Pretty much from the beginning of my Steemit history I've been saying,
"If you're not a whale, upvote 100%."
As a minnow I couldn't wait for my slider! I was rewarded with it as soon as I hit 1.00m vests... and have disliked the darned thing from that moment on.
Until HF19 came around, I maintained my voting practice of 100% on all posts. I felt like I was being a good tipper. My curation includes a read through, an upvote, and often a thoughtful comment, observation, or tip. This practice works for me!
In my hey-day, I would leave anywhere between 20-60+ comments and didn't care about vote strength because it always recovered fast enough to be worth a damn. But now? I feel like I'm wasting precious time worried about how long it's going to take my account to recover.
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It sounds like I'm talking "me, my, and mine" right? Quite selfish, you'd think.
In reality, these upvotes are a huge part of the giving/tipping economy that we've built here. Sure, I can upvote all day, every day, and completely drain my voting strength - but then an upvote would be worth $0.00.
Pardon me but that's like having a $100 bar tab and leaving the bartender a penny. Having been a waitress and bartender in the past, that is a major insult! I'd rather a patron walk out leaving nothing than scoop up their disparaging penny.
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Look, if I took the time to read your post, 99% of the time it's followed up with an upvote and comment -- and I like to tip. I don't want to tip you 10 or 20%. I want to tip you 100%. But I feel like I can't anymore and that feeling SUCKS.
I know... First world problems.
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Moving forward
FINE! HF19 is here and I may as well stop bitching about it. Time to move forward and figure out a way to stop feeling like a bad tipper. I haven't developed a strategy because I've been too busy moping but @beanz took it in stride.
She started an experiment 2 weeks ago and it seems she's found a sweet spot for her voting habits.
image sourceHere is the result of her experiment.
It will probably take about 12 hours for me to reach 100% vote power before I can begin my experiment. I will share the results in about a week. And since I have no self control over this reading/upvoting habit of mine, I've got to sign out of Steemit this evening.
Fear not!
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I'll be back.
In the meantime...
I found a really awesome blog post that explained how our reputation scores are calculated!
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Thank you @sevinwilson for this post which includes easy-to-follow illustrations.
In a nutshell you need:
- Your reputation number (found in Steemd)
- Take that number and find the log10(x) of it.
- Subtract 9
- Then multiply by 9
- Then add 25.
Here's a handy log base 10 calculator.
Example:
This is my reputation number: 88,529,815,473,050
Using the calculator the log10(x) = 13.9470895589997
psst! take out the commas or the calculator doesn't work.
minus 9 = 4.9470895589997
multiplied by 9 = 44.5238060309973
plus 25 = 69.5238060309973
Rounded to the nearest 10th my rep score is 69.5 - or rounded down to the nearest integer is 69.
Have fun tracking when you hit the next rep score!
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT 
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT You have a duty as a new Steemian to learn about witnesses and their important role within the community. Read @pfunk's Complete User's Guide to Steem Witnesses. You have 30 votes. Use them wisely.
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25% now is equivalent to the previous 100%. Why not just use your 40 votes at 25%? If you vote more than 40 times, so be it. That's no worse than what would happen pre-hard fork. In fact, I think your voting power depletes slower now as it drops, after your first 10 (or 40) votes.
Cool! Thanks @ats-david. We were just discussing leaving it at 20 but if I can keep to my 40 votes at 25% without being completely depleted, I could live with that.
Maybe you can shed light on this too. When HF19 passed, my 100% vote at 100% vote power was worth about $8. Now it's down to about $3.50. Is there an easy explanation for that drop?
I don't have a slider yet. But my vote used to be worth $0.00. After HF19 my vote is now worth $0.12ish. My biggest gripe prior to this change was that my vote was worth 'nothing'. But your vote losing 57% of its value...I would be frustrated too!
---Homa
Easiest explanation is the drop in price, but that doesn't account for the full loss. I'm sure the rest has to do with the number of people voting, the number of votes being cast, and the amount of influence being used.
How exactly it all pans out, I'm not sure.
For the record: I was not in favor of the changes. I wanted less than squared but more than a full linear algorithm. And I was completely against changing the vote target to give people 4x upvote power. Both of these completely disregard the abuse mitigation protocols that were in place...and even worse - they came after the 4-post reward limits were removed. But it seems that nobody wants to listen to common sense, so here we are.
Here's the most informative article I've seen explaining the drop in payouts - an article by @penguinpablo - Why Your Potential Payouts are Going Down. It's the inverse of the HF18 problem, where the reward pool had to build up over a month. Now the reward pool is being drained, but it's not clear how long it will take to reach a new equilibrium.
I'll vote 20-25%, depending on if I'm attempting to recharge vote power or not. The vote at that power is worth more than my 100% used to be, and I can still vote many times throughout the day, so therefore, it's like hardfuck 19 doesn't exist.
I just decided I need to stick that slider on 20% and vote like I used to. ;)
If everyone did that, we'd see the actual changes so many wanted to see happen with this new hardfork. Our average incoming vote count would go back to normal, instead of being cut in half(usually more than that) and we'd see those larger payouts everyone was hoping for.
It's definitely worth a shot. I'm waiting to hit 100% and then I'll set the slider to 20 and comment votes to 5.
@whatsup @nonameslefttouse and @merej99 do you know how long it actually takes to get back to a 100 %????? Freaking 3 days already! We have always created good quality content and will stick to doing so. I am NOT prepared to drown now after being here so long. I have done exactly the same. Voting on 20% and comments on 1 % which I adjust depending on the comment. If we could all stand together like we used to, we will definitely see a difference. I have switched back on my steemvoter and will see how that plays out this week. This is my experiment for the week.
That might be how I begin the experiment this week.
I've tried voting voting everything between 25 and 50% with an occasional 100% for my #payitforward people. I've tried 10 to 20% on everything. With SteemVoter on pause, I'm missing out on awesome stuff from THIS MAN
I'm not a happy camper. I may just say fek it and do 10% across the board.
I still like having the option to turn up the juice, but I explained my logic in the comment currently above this thread. Before the changes came about, I already predicted the negative (and overlooked) consequences. I knew those of us who helped make this place what it is today would be taking a hit. Some are even quitting now and it seems to be even harder for the minnows to get anywhere because they don't even vote for each other. "We want more people! Lets give them less votes!" <---- wtf?
Yeah, that bit about limiting the votes didn't make any sense when they were talking about it prior to HF19. I won't quit Steemit unless the site shuts down. We've been through the 8 cent STEEM and now this. It's still earning 100% more than any other site I've been on so I'm really not being ungrateful but damn, this site is hard enough without this bullshit too.
@merej99 I'm one of those dumb people who can't seem to help but read through most of the comments too. This one got me to follow you.
I try very hard to be upbeat about Steemit. The learning curve is hellacious enough for new people without veterans spewing negativity or rage quitting only to come crawling back because they're not going to find anything better - at least not any time soon.
I can be diplomatic @theblindsquirl, but I'm also going to tell it like I see it :)
I don't want to quit either and I've made it clear on many occasions that I don't take any of this for granted. That being said, and continuing down the path of just being honest, I'd be lying if I said it doesn't bother me watching the following grow, and the views and votes decrease at the same time.
When I started out, I didn't care how hard it was, I just wanted to climb the ladder. Seems like the ladder is gone now. I feel like I've been thrown in the garbage some days. Not easy to deal with.
The removal of the 4 posts/day limit is making my feed a mess. I don't follow that many people, but my feed is swamped with posts. Even old-timers here are pumping out posts, filling my feed, and blocking my access to other folks I like to see. I'm shifting to a handwritten list now, just so I can see the handful of people that I really like, like your blog. It's amazing how stymied I got by HF19.
Ughh, I'm losing my everloving fecking mind over this thing!! But I don't have the heart for ten percent across the board, I don't think I've given a ten percent vote in my life besides comments. I don't know what to do. I guess I'm going to have to try the 25% for most people, if I find I can I'll slide it up to fifty here and there, and otherwise down to fifteen. That is what I"m going to have to try out for a week, and make a post about so I can also let everyone know that I love them and it has nothing to do with how I feel abou their posts!! (I did just give you a 50 percent hit on the post you put in chat, and I wrote you a whole paragraph response that I accidentally deleted which is exactly how my luck is going lately, grrr!)
So, I was told by some wise one 25 is the new 100 too.
I like wise people. LOL No point recreating the wheel if those wise people say that's the number! :D
It's so good to read this, @merej99! Not that I'm happy you are struggling with the voting percentages, but you capture most of my troubles since HF19. I've been spending so much effort trying not to give too much or too little, and even up&down voted one poor guy so many times, trying to balance my vote value so it wouldn't be more than I gave to someone else.
And then I try to balance out the rewards for new people versus folks who have been here awhile. A nickel for new people is more than they are getting from anyone else, but that's too little for someone who has put in a lot of time building their blog. So I want to give them more.
The mental overhead is too much. In the original white paper, they said the upvote was better than tipping, like some sites. Their rationale was that choosing how much too tip required too much mental effort from people, so they would just not tip at all. But that's what's going on here on Steemit with the slider and the voting power.
And don't even get me started about the removal of the 4 posts/day limit, lol! My feed is unusable! Even good folks that I've enjoyed following are flinging posts out like there's no tomorrow and they have to transmit all their content by morning, lol. I can't vote on it all -- I can't even see it all! And now I can't see other folks, either. aaaaa. I'll cope. We'll all cope, I hope. ;O
I'm at 50% and I'm not happy, I'm gonna have to stop voting for 12 hours and try @beanz method.
I'm afraid I don't have her patience but I'm going to give it a try! Darn it! I keep upvoting comments too. :P
LOL
I always upvote my root post comments, I'm going to have to stop that as well. That's going to hurt. I want to find some balance with this hardfork so I'm going to bite the bullet...
Right?! When I was new I was blown away that some of my comments earned more than my posts! This could definitely hurt a lot of people in previously unforeseen ways. :o/
Yes😏
I don't spend so much time on steemit but I am noticing my voting power went from 12¢ to 4¢ in a few days. Nobody will know if your tip was worth 0.1¢ unless they are a developer and are prepared to spend hours in researching how to solve the problem.
It seems unlikely to me that everything you read on Steemit is worth an up vote.
Read, upvote, friendly comment, repeat. Love it.
I have also always voted at 100% but have been thinking about playing with it since the update.
I find that the people that I follow I still want to vote high. I am too emotionally attached!
100% upvote for you @merej99
What the heck Mer!-)You do realize I now have to do the steem log calculator and read the results of the test. In regard to the voting. I have been setting my slider on 20% for posts. If I come across a post that blows me away I take the hit on the chin and go 100.
Frank, Call the paramedic! I did math today! LOL
Good tips, i usually like to keep my power between 80%-100% :)
Me too, but I'm usually a pretty busy curator so that would drain me in an hour!
I think in part we all just need to get used to it and find our sweet spot. :)
Indeed!
But there are some times when I feel like I've found a good, efficient way of doing things and then...
Thanks for sharing your experience on steemit it helps us other steemians and give us more information about how things are going on steemit !!
I've actually got to apologize a little @simolab - I don't usually whine this much.
I'm tired and grumpy but I do try to give some value with each post - even if it's just a tiny bit. :D