Don't Compare Your Steemit Wallet With Others - Create! The Open Books Issue And Why Healthy Businesses Are Rarely Fair
Comparison will strip you of power, grace and influence. Each person is unique. How then can you possibly compare unique to unique? - Amy Larson
Nicely said, Amy.
In decentralized environments where all kinds of transactions are fully displayed to their participants, comparison is a constant part of the game.
Show me your wallet and I tell you who you are?
Yesterday I had a nice, long and thought-provoking conversation with @jaki01 and @jedigeiss in that context (thank you again, guys!). We were wondering if a FAIR distribution of wealth is even possible in a network like steemit and which may be the related drivers.
Now that conversation inspired me to write the following article.
Striving for fairness? Why?
Picture kindly provided by pixabay.com
Open books: the 'what-does-he-has-what-I-don't-have-issue'
I think striving for fairness is a natural human driver. In some cultures it's more developed than in others, but overall we all LOVE being equal.
The problem with equality is that it has a shiny, flawless image; but after all it may not always be as benefitial as we imagine it to be.
Since I signed up to steemit in July 2016 I've always heard people complaining about the way the rewards pool is distributed and promoting a 'more equal distribution' (whatever that might be).
There are people on this platform that spend far more time analyzing other users' doings than taking care of their own account. I swear!
Their favourite hobby is pointing a finger at bigger stakeholders complaining about their voting behaviour.
Does decentralization really mean that we don't want to value and reward success anymore?
First of all, I want to let you know that I'm completely with you when we talk about helping and supporting new users, giving them a warm welcome and promoting them in their beginnings.
I constantly do that by upvoting new entries in the introduceyourself section for instance.
Also the distribution of value is a quite responsible task for all of us. Every vote counts and it also may have a huge impact for the recipient.
As I learned in one of my favourite presentations at Steemfest held by @pgarcgo (project and witness @cervantes), an average monthly salary in Venezuela is around $10. Now Venezuelan people that blog post quality content in the spanish section on steemit are able to earn an average payout per post of $16.
They can create value with one single article on the Steem blockchain that is worth more than their monthly salary in real life!
So the distribution of rewards is definitely a serious task and worth talking about.
Nevertheless, I'm convinced that we can't and also shouldn't ever try to achieve total equality.
There is this saying that 'fairness is the thief of joy'. I furthermore believe that fairness is also the thief of healthy growth.
Competition is one of the no. 1 drivers to growth. So instead of looking at bigger stakeholders and wondering what we would do with their money, we might rather think about how to CREATE value on our own.
Eco-systems rarely grow by shifting already existing value from one account to the other. Growth requires newly created value.
Against the common belief, value on steemit is not only created through a rise in value of the Steem price.
Yes, a rising Steem price is definitely one of the fastest accelerators we do have in this eco-system. Yet there are many more ways to contribute to growth in the long term.
Here are some ideas on how you can help to improve the value of Steem without buying Steem:
- Interact: Every social interaction that releases a transaction is valuable.
- Create: Every single word written or picture published is valuable.
- Talk and promote: Every single word spread about Steem/Steemit is valuable.
We have all the same opportunities to create value and to be rewarded accordingly.
Talking about people that build...
I had a nice and very inspiring conversation with @starkerz at one of the Steemfest dinners. His strategy (which he also presented during the conference: timestamp 05:10:56) is to promote Steem/Steemit at Universities, get more people on the platform and like that ensure the future viability of his own investment. Check out the tag promo-steem and you can see the impact!
What a brilliant approach!
One of the biggest chances in decentralized environments is that we are all part of its marketing team. You want the network to become more popular? Yeah well then make it popular!
Instead of spending your valuable time in comparing yourself to others, you may use it to ask yourself: how can I help this network to grow and like that ensure that my decent amount of Steem may be worth a million dollars some day.
It's on us, steemians :-)
Marly -
Thanks for your valuable time!
This blog was launched at the end of July 2016
aiming to provide stories for open-minded
people who enjoy living on the edge of their lives,
stepping out of comfort zones, going on adventure,
doing extreme sports and embracing the new.
Welcome to the too-much-energy-blog!
PS: Don't forget that this is a troll-free zone.
Original content. Quotes found on evidconsulting.com and pinterest.com.
One of the tricks that I've been using to promote Steem is trying to answer coworkers questions about ... just about anything ... by providing a link to a corresponding steemit post.
This usually leads to a reply email asking if the link I sent is "safe" to click. I'll ckeekily reply that it may suck up their time. The next day, there is usually a conversation in the hall about what cryptocurrency is and how it works... That leads to more sharing of steemit links - then the cycle continues.
At some point, they ask about the wallets - I show them that the transactions are all transparent, which leads to a conversation similar to this article.
Many times, we have talked about how awesome it would be if all charities had transparent records, including the salaries of the officers of the charities. Then the discussion swings to "Do they deserve the salaries they get". Which circles back to this post.
So now, I have a new post to add to my arsenal when the conversation swings to "Do they deserve the compensation they receive?"
I might 'steel' your strategy.
People are very reluctant to crypto currencies here. It's hard to win them over.
I find that to be highly amusing, @fechaugger, since fiat currencies should actually be cryptocurrencies. They are created out of thin air, have nothing to back them up, except belief in them. The only difference is that they can be stolen via taxes or by the banks.
That's a good idea, using Steemit like Google to answer questions while introducing people to the platform. I like it. I have been answering new Steemit users questions the same way to get them in the habit of finding the answers to their Steemit related questions. Basically how I learned to use Steemit. But I had not thought of using it with people who are not on the platform. I think I'll give that a try too. Thanks for the idea.
I love your strategy! That's a really good idea to get people involved.
Full upvote of your comment (I would have resteemed it as well :-)).
I consider that an amazing compliment.
Thanks.
I think the main issue is not equality at all. People get frustrated when they see content of obviously low quality upvoted at very high figures. And after multiple tries of creating quality posts that require time and effort they loose incentive. Which is natural. Only the most stubborn ones can cope with that and continue posting quality posts but these numbers are so low that they do not help the platform to grow itself. It is simple.
It requires patience and consistency to make it to the top of any business.
People need to understand that money is not given for free on steemit, it has to be earned. As in any other competitive field, the ones that are willing to work will make it.
Do you have an example of such a piece of content?
Oh, you do not need to tell this to me :) I know it all too well :)
We are talking about scaling issues of the platform to go it mainstream. Not what people "need to understand" as they never will :)
And i know it too well than to share content of a whale saying it's shitty. I was not born yesterday and i am not an advocate of fairness in place where i have no say at all :)
I just wanted to point out, after reading your article where you said that people want equality. And i am saying that this is not the inequality that irritates them the most, not that somebody earns more or less. But when they see obviously effortless scrabbled worthless stuff trending over and over again with hundreds of dollars in earnings.
I am bringing this just for a discussion. My reason on Steemit is not earnings. I am earning other places, i'm here for a discussion, learning and observation of this amazing social experiment that would cost me tens of thousand of dollars to carry out by myself.
And i always appreciate differences in opinions, i find it fascinating from a psychological standpoint how people manage to believe and defend completely opposite beliefs with such an effort and even acting irrationally and putting themselves in a harms way. In sake of what? :)))
Well I wasn't talking about scaling issues. Also scalability is a completely different issue that is in hands of the platform's developers. Not sure if you followed the fireside chat with Ned Scott during Steemfest. He explained very well which are the main challenges with regards to onboarding.
You say that you don't share people's position who compare themselves with highly paid content, but then you write:
LOL! This is exactly why I wrote my article. Effortless and worthless? Who says that? How could you know that it was effortless? Were you sitting close to the authors when they prepared their articles? Do you even know that 90% of the users that are constantly trending have built applications and other projects on the blockchain?
Statements like these are exactly the reason why I wrote this article.
Again, I wasn't talking about scalabitily since this is something we actually don't have any influence in. I was talking about mindset and perspective.
Yes, it's fascinating in many different ways.
So inspiring. Especially because you mention the situation of my country as an example. Thank you.!!
It was completely mind-blowing listening to what @pgarcgo said about the economical situation in Venezuela. Also there was one steemian who won a trip to Steemfest that was paid by @cervantes. He could have easily kept the money to buy a house for his familiy in Venezuela, but instead he decided on traveling to Lisbon and participate in the conference. Moments like these were really inspiring to me during the past days!
Owh my Goodness, it's like you somehow browsed my mind, picked the best parts rearrange them and present it in a way that blows even myself.
I have to agree so much with you. Especially on the notion that value of Steem is "created" only by the buy ins of speculators. Thinking with that approach is totally unsustainable and goes completely against the potential of what the steem Blockchain can be.
Also too often people see their postings on the Steem Blockchain as but a source of income. That's not what it is!!! Steem is not a salaried job but a paradigm shift to the way humans live and interact with each other!
Imagine charities being bootstrapped onto the Steem Blockchain (Like what you did! And imagine if we are able to take it further and empower the children with a simple feature smartphone and a steem account!), imagine a whole economy built around the Steem Blockchain, starting with a cashless society and becomes the solution to the UBI question.
Many people in the western nations underestimate the power steem, and I'm so glad we finally have testaments present in Steemfest. @oscarcc89 being the best "example".
There's so much we can do with what we have here on this platform if we just go ahead and do it!
Thank you for inspiring us once again with your reflection. More people should think like you and the world would have been a much much better place..
Stay Awesome,
Thank you very much for bringing this up, great comment!
Absolutely. In the end the Steem price is what defines the monetary value of our wallets, but there are many more drivers that are actually able to increase the overall platform's value (and then lead to an increasing price in the end).
Thanks for tagging @oscarcc89! I didn't write down his name during Steemfest. This story is really outstanding. If he could have paid his flight with Steem it would have been even more contributive to the platform, but I'm pretty sure that we're exactly on our way towards these scenarios.
You are the one that's awesome - it's even in your nickname :-))
Big hugs
I am italian and unfortunately if I write in my native language there are few people who understand, Steemit is just born so it is normal...this tends to limit certain contents that I would like to share so I often feel a little in disadvantage compared to english users, but I will do my best 😁
You could build up an #italian community and follow the example of @cervantes (Spanish content) then...? :-) I really mean that! It's a great chance. As far as I know there is no Italian host yet. You could group with some other Italian users and help to make your language more visible on steemit.
I speak a little bit Italian, so I also might give it a try then :-))
Steem on!
This is a sensational article. It seems that I wrote nothing over the past couple weeks but counteracting all the negativity that is on this site. People whining and complaining about this system instead of focusing upon what they can do to make it better.
The rewards system is what it is. Do those with more SP have an advantage? Of course. Rather than asking how do we take that from them, why not ask what did they do to get that SP? Those who started here in July and August 2016 were in a much different world than today. Also, how many powered up at $3 or $4 a steem?
No matter what they did, it is safe to say that they werent given steem for free. Sure maybe they shared more in the rewards pool when there were less people...well that is the benefit of being early and in the right place.
So yes, people should stop acting like school children and get busy. I am quickly learning there are many with high SP who are willing to upvote new people (blasts the theory that whales only circle upvote).
Thank you for your post.
Oh I love your comment! I would sign every single word of it :-)
THANKS.
Great question!
Most of them choose the easy way: it's easier to complain than to just start working.
I would have resteemed this comment if I could!
Thank you for the kind words. I wrote a post a few weeks back in defense of whales. It seems easy to cast stones at others yet few take the time to think what they went through to get there.
I hear that the whales were lucky to buy steem at 6 cents...my answer is how many would have bought when the bottom is dropping out of steem? We went from $1.60 to $.85 yet I dont see a ton posting that they are steeming up.
As for the re-steem, thank you...I will just have to write a blog post expanding upon this idea. :)
To be honest I don't how how whales got rich on steemit and it's actually nothing I'm spending my time with :-) The people who are holding larger stakes of Steem have earned that money for a reason. So I'm not someone who finds pleasure in overanalyzing stuff, I rather spend my time with my own doings aiming to get better by myself...:-)
If you write a blog post about it, drop me the link please! :-)
Great post of course dear @surfermarly- I love your positivity and I agree to many things - creating value is what we can do as user, at least as content creator as well as by engaging and interacting. We can also drive people here or do good things within the community for other community members - that is for sure. I love that opportunity!
I hope we will see SMT fly in real life and that this community benefits from it - the token creation option is awesome, nothing new but a good opp at least for crypto expert users here (saying this as other players are also offering this) - I am excited to see the first in reality. To get more users on board - especially quality content creators and investors I still think (you know my opinion) we need to have some tweaks by the people providing the platform (site performance, new user on boarding, implementation of features such as notifications, communities - sure all will be good sooooon. Since our setup tonight I am more confident again. Have a great evening.
Seems that today's meetup really gave you a boost - I can hear you :-)
I completely agree, there is still a lot of work to do. But again, we can all contribute to build a more successful place and bring this ship to the next harbour (level).
Have a great evening, too! Big hugs
"Instead of spending your valuable time in comparing yourself to others, you may use it to ask yourself: how can I help this network to grow and like that ensure that my decent amount of Steem may be worth a million dollars some day"
This is by far the best quote @rawdawg has heard about steemit in quite some time. Resteemed and upvoted!!! Awesome wisdom for fellow steemians
Thanks for the flowers (and the support), I'm happy you felt inspired :-)
I can't believe the amount of time people waste comparing themselves to others on Steemit or anywhere in life really.
The energy they spend complaining about the 'problems' with Steemit this or that is mind-boggling. With just a fraction of that same energy, they could be fixing these problems by bringing their own unique value to the table.
That's why I don't get into those debates or flag wars and all that nonsense. I'm too busy helping people find their foothold here.
This post is like reading my internal thoughts on these distractions. You must be a mindreader or just have seen enough people vent their frustrations here to feel compelled to post about it. Fantastic job. I will be linking this post to many comments I get from those newbies that get lost in the woods sometimes on Steemit and get caught up in these types of debates. Thanks for the clarity. Resteemed and you have a new follower.
P.S. - It was nice meeting you at Steemfest
It's true my friend, maybe we aren't understand yet that all is energy, and the power of the mind, while i'm complaining about something there are another guy doing something good, and on many times that guy it's using more simple tools but he is being practical!
Yes, it was excellent meeting you at Steemfest² :-)
Thanks for your encouragement, @luzcypher!
Some people even have statistics about the vote behaviour of others, it's really insane. It often happens to me that people text me like "Hey have you heard that X flagged Y?" and I say "No, I guess I was busy creating content."
I'm glad we share the very same attitude here :-) Following you as well.
Have a great day!
You truly are a very inspiring human Marly! I was happy to meet you for a second at STEEMFest! I wish I was able to make it out to the surfing trip but I had a wild Friday night and ended up losing my phone which threw me off but all is well haha. I will surf with you at STEEMFest 3.0 in hopefully something like Cape Town!
Thanks for your lovely words, Jeff!
OMG that really sounds like a wild Friday night, haha!
We gonna surf at Steemfest3 :-)
Oh yess, without Uber or the phone GPS I didn't make it back to my apartment until 6AM hahaha had to hitch hike with a friendly local to make it back to Avenida de Liberdade. It was an epic experience to say the least
The fact that we're chatting right now means that you somehow survived, haha! What a ride...
Our education system is the main culprit in this regard.
You mean that we're educated to compare ourselves with others?
Me not :-)