Writing/Posting

There are people who talk a lot, yet they say nothing, the same goes on Steemit.
A lot of people post articles and comments, yet there is no message.
I see this quite often, short posts or comments with no real message, very generic. People feel the need to be out there without putting any real value forward, they only want to get the attention, and possible rewards. I see a lot of people posting comments just to add a link to their own content and ask for followers.

Posting a link as a comment in someone else's article just get more views is a quite pathetic way of promoting yourself, there is the Steemit chat with the promotion section for that, and other ways that are better suited, just do a search on the subject.

Asking for followers is sad. We all want to have our content read, and eventually a consistent number of people who would appreciate our efforts, but there is no need to spam the comment section with such messages, unless you have something meaningful to say in regards to the matter at hand, that is the subject of the article.

I've also seen a case, in which a certain Steemit user kept sending me private messages making use of the sending Steem option, using of course the minimum amount possible, and promoting a certain service, which costs quite a bit, to apparently get your articles seen by more people. I was not the only one getting those spam messages, I know that for a fact.

Some people also chose to spam others on the chat, sending all kinds of direct messages out, varying from promotion of the their articles and other services to outright asking to follow them.

Another thing that I will touch on is the bots on Steemit... and here I may get a lot of flak, but I'll say it anyway. There are many useful bots, out there, especially to help beginners, but equally many spam bots as well, and if the Steemit platform cannot draw a line between them, I think is better to get rid of them altogether. I'm not a fan of the bots anyway, because all I care is people reading articles, and it can be done without the help of any bot, in the end is all about posting good content. It may take longer for people to get discovered, but it will happen without any bots interfering in the process, they are not essential. Just keep writing, and people who like your content will promote it, as long as it sparks interest, and it will. Your content will reach an audience, that's a given, we all look for and have different interests, so whatever you write about you will find an ear willing to listen.

When it comes to promotion of new writers, these days we have @ocd, there are real people looking for and reading articles to promote newcomers, and that may actually be the best service on Steemit, as far as getting articles in the open goes.

It's a sad truth, but spamming undermines Steemit, I may sound harsh but those who have nothing better to say other than begging for followers should keep quiet. When you have no real message to send it's time to listen, you may learn a thing or two. Don't post just because you have to say something, unless you have something to say, it's meaningless. Myself, I try to put good content out there, to the best of my abilities, and there are many of us minnows, who do not get a lot of reading on our articles, yet there is value in them. I am sure we do tend to overvalue our creation, because we have put the work into it and don't see much feedback... and this brings me to the last point, very short one.

There is this one other issue, in my opinion we should not have the option of up-voting our own articles. I did up-vote my own articles in the past, and I may do it again, but the value of each article should be determined by others, the community at large, not by ourselves.

Well, these are just some of my thoughts that might help the community...

29 August 2017
Marius C.