Tall Weed Syndrome

in #steem6 years ago

I was tagged in a post the other day by someone 'schooling' their followers on earning at Steemit. I only came across it because @Ginabot informed me. I wasn't about me or any of my posts in particular, it was a suggestion that they should target me for their commenting as I upvote many. I have come across about 3 of these articles in the last week and I have seen the people commenting on them about how they got an upvote. Good for you, I am glad my good will could be of service to you.

So, why the hell do I bother writing what I intend to be something of quality, useful and thought provoking in nature if very few actually care as long as they get an upvote on their comment? I have written a fair bit about engagement and the benefits of it but, this is not engagement, it is deception. Now of course, many of my comments are from people who do actually engage with the content and I thank them.

But still, I have the same question; why bother?

I have financial aims here like everyone else but, I have up until this point always balanced whatever I have earned with my content level. Since my average earning are around 10 dollars a post, one post a day isn't going to cut it as for me to be a part of this place at the level I look to be, it is going to take me 10 years. I really wish someone had told me to buy 7 cent Steem when it was available because at the moment, I am killing myself trying to catch up the way I am doing it.

I figure this; I have over 1600 posts of decent quality, they cover a great deal of content and have been helpful to many, I have handed out about 30,000 manually curated votes in my time here, have made 8500 comments, upvote comments, onboarded and delegated to people over time, yet, still struggle to make a significant impact. I am obviously doing something wrong. The people who support my current position are nearly entirely people who benefit from me keeping this same approach which alone, is indicative.

Considering there are people making much larger gains by offering the community much less, doesn't this indicate that what I offer is not as valuable as what they offer? This is the law of supply and demand. The drop off of quality over the last 6 months has been staggering from people who used to offer substance yet, they are having the manual curators support them still. Perhaps Steem just isn't ready for what I think is useful. That is fine, I don't mind that at all and I have even written a post or two mentioning that niche is likely to struggle here.

What I find personally difficult to stomach is that if instead of taking an interest in the community, I partook in maximization processes, I would have at least double the Steem Power I hold now. Sure, I wouldn't have as many friends but, with a larger vote and this being Steem, friends can be bought and going on the first paragraph, so can engagement. People don't even care these days as a month ago is ancient history and with people like Haejin raping 5% the pool and the bidbots taking 50%, what does it matter if people act poorly.

Why does consistency mean so much to me if it apparently means so little to others? This is potentially a sign I am unable to adapt to the changing ecosystem which means, irrelevancy is fast approaching. But, I m not even close to being where I need to be yet, it is too soon for irrelevancy and early retirement.

I am having an existential Steem crisis. I am middle aged too which doubles it and I don't have the money to buy a convertible Porsche so, I am triple screwed. Thankfully, I am not going bald.

This is the problem though as it is just not me who is feeling this way, it is many, many of the people who have been here long-term and put in the hard yards but are struggling to get anywhere. I am just among the last it seems as so many other have already drifted off to try new methods that don't appear in the FAQs. The new people think it is a struggle now but, they may not realize how much work some of the old went through to get to this point. But, I am definitely not saying everyone had a difficult time of it as some of the biggest names have had it quite easy. Timing.

I do not work on an entitlement mindset however and know I am entitled to nothing here no matter what I have done. It is all up to the community whether they choose to reward or not (since I don't boost posts). But, that community is effectively shrinking instead of growing and even though the votes might come, they are having less and less value for a couple obvious reasons. Instead of niches slowly getting more support, they are getting less as there are fewer and fewer manual curators holding and offering value and many, many more small accounts with no value needing support.

What I face now is that I have overbalanced the community aspect too heavily at the cost of personal growth which in time, will likely cost the community even more as people who have done similar to me by thinking community won't have the power to support the growing community we care about. Those who are growing are often the ones who don't care about the community at all or, are extracting out into other coins and banking on EOS. This isn't just the whales, orcas and dolphins either.

I and others have said before many times that this place needs a healthy middle class but I have failed to become part of it by being community orientated. That in itself is an issue. I wasn't in early enough to take advantage of the early insanity of 10,000 dollar posts, knowledgeable enough at the right time to buy-in, and too late to attract consistent support from the circles. Timing is everything as they say.

You know, Haejin could have been a hero with the support he gets but he chose to be a C-word instead and it isn't 'community-minded.' He could have had a massive affect on distribution and user-retention just by upvoting comments for 700 dollars a day. Here are some of us struggling each day for scraps and there he is suggesting to buy fortune 500 stocks for 200 dollars a post and 15,000 SBD a week. WTF?

"Opt OUT of FIAT & Opt INTO Cryptos"

He has that line on his profile confused it seems. I wish he would, Opt OUT of STEEM & Piss OFF

Asshole. C-word.

I do not know all of the future issues I and my family will face but, ethics unfortunately don't pay medical bills and being a decent human doesn't come with perks. People like to say that people will get what they deserve and perhaps it may be true at times in the negative but, what about all the good people suffering? Don't they deserve better?

Meh, I obviously take all of this shit too seriously. It is a pity I wasn't here at the right time or had the money to buy-in to potentially make a difference. The problem with putting your money where your mouth is that you have to have the money upfront. I still have to work to earn mine and no one is going to hand it over easily.

People like to cut down tall poppies but, this place needs some tall weeds uprooted and burned.

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]

This is my niche; overly-long, meaningless shitposts. Don't worry, it won't take much from the pool.

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We mice get it Tarazkp. We mice could go into business of producing Cheese only for ourselves and this would provide us with short term gratification. Instead we have chosen the more difficult, community building path. Thereby creating a platform to allow others to succeed.

We like the path we have chosen, though from time to time we do look back at the easy path we passed up.

In the long term though - the communities will succeed and the the Steem price will grow and the middle class will thrive.

We thank you for the love you have shown to others friend Tarazkp.

my favourite duo 💖

Haha. My boss has been bringing my department through this teaching (who moved my cheese)and it has been pretty fun. I read the book years ago and I am sure it heavily influenced my ability to adapt to the situations I am in. Good work here guys!

Hi Sniff. Very well put.

Thank you, it is appreciated.

This is a complex ecosystem and it takes a lot of diverse activities to get it to operate well. The overall arch should be the community but the pathways might twist and turn and sometimes be dead ends. At the very least, it keeps it interesting and we are slowly creeping forward.

@sniffnscurry how i can join you . ???

The SteemChurch executive aims to support both the poor and the middle class - but admits that the balance is often difficult to find.

You are right friend Tarazkp - timing is everything. The legendary SirKnight made a post about 'being where the puck was going to be' a mere 11 hours ago. You may want to check it out.

Who knows, perhaps those happy little blockchain mice will be along later to reward you for the community support you provide.

STEEMCHURCH

Will drop in and check it out and say hi :)

Don't get too upset over this. It's such a mindless, stupid mechanism, you know? Even the smallest users have people coming over and commenting in the hope they'll get an upvote. It doesn't really seem to matter if you give 3 cents or 30 on their comment. Some people are just like that and not worth worrying over.
Or getting upset over.
Some of us here (many of us) know that you write quality posts that are worth reading. You know, not so much for the monetary reward, but for the good content, which really is hard to come by, these days.
But you can't get recognition from all. No one can. So, don't be so harsh on yourself. I like what you write. There are more like me on here. You are a voice in the community, an important one.

What a nice brother I have huh? :)

You really do, @galenkp :D You really do. One that sometimes doesn't seem to see that :D
But I think we're lucky to have both of you here.

Thank you. :)

I second this.

I think my crisis is being a vice without having the means to be more than a voice. Air is enough to breath, but not enough to live off. It is not like I am going to stop writing or working for the community but I do have to adjust somewhere.

It is not like I am going to stop writing

Good. You really shouldn't. I understand your frustration, or at least, try to. But maybe you should just take it easy, remember that Steemit is still a wonderful opportunity, one that did not exist five years ago, something good and even that air that's just enough to breathe might not have been here :) I know you know this and probably understand what Steemit means way better than me, but still...everyone needs a bit of cheering up :)

:)

I think I just feel stagnant and a little inept that I am unable to do a little more each day. I think it is time for some experiments.

Well, it can't hurt trying something new, can it? Who knows when you strike gold. At the very least, these experiments of which you speak might get you out of this mood, which I'm sure would be a very good thing.
A little more for yourself or the community? 'Cause it seems to me like you do plenty for the community already :)
Whichever it is, I hope you find what you're looking for.
:)

I and others have said before many times that this place needs a healthy middle class but I have failed to become part of it by being community orientated.

With 20,000 SP you are at least middle-class if not lower upper class. In 16 months, you have made $60,000 worth of SP. I don't think that's bad at all.

I agree Haejin is a total reward pool rapist. The trouble with too much focus on the war on Haejin is that there are many others.

Hi Markku. There are too many like him. Unfortunately what is distasteful is the redirecting of people to people like us who enjoy comments and will upvote.

Middle class here needs to be around 50k SP to be able to support a significant number of small accounts to come. The problem is that more are coming in in the lower reaches than can be supported, even at a low level. Having even another 200 community people with 50k would make this place amazing.

I agree Haejin is a total reward pool rapist. The trouble with too much focus on the war on Haejin is that there are many others.

Yeah, there is the queen of travel shitposts too and the alts/family

I read the article. I don't feel sorry for them . If they were as active as us they would be growing. They don't need to because they are in a comfortable position and is more of an investment. All the others are trying to get bigger so overtime will slowly close the gap.

yes, I have seen that but it depends how you look at it and at what those numbers mean. There are a number of whales that are powering own into smaller accounts for various reasons too but, they still hold the stake. I know that some want to have stake in anon accounts for safety/security so it makes sense. I think the numbers are too simplified to tell the story.

But even with that, there needs to be a much much larger fat middle section if mainstream is to happen as mainstreaming means most will come in with very little.

Can I ask who the queen of travel "posts" is? Do they include the phrase "Walk with me, something, something, something" in their titles? Asking for a friend :)

lol. sweetsssj

Thought so :)

Just dropped upvotes on the comments she was too stingy to reward on her last post....To be fair, she is more generous than the two-bit TA.

still struggle to make a significant impact

Would you be willing to break down more why you feel this way and what you would like to be accomplishing? In a post if it gets long. I feel like you're one of the people I'm listening to most here, and I frequently use you as an example when I'm trying to teach other posters how to build a strong comment section.

You're like 10x as big as me, I don't see why you couldn't be effective. I have an edge in that I'm willing to take vote-buying profits and spread them around, but I don't think that's impossible to overcome.

Well, I have been in here since Jan 17 pretty much doing what I am now for a lot of that time. I have powered up a great deal of my earnings and work 40-60 hours week writing what I do without factoring in the comment replies. why?

Well, consider something like Haejin, who earns ~200 dollars a post. It would take 60 of me to wipe him to zero and the willingness to act which is a hard thing. It wouldn't allow for anything else in the community. However, 600 of me giving one flag a day and he is gone. This is without a whale acting at all.

But, this would be 200 in a middle class with ~50k SP which is possible and if they are community orientated, easy to mobilize. However, these same community people will also be massive distributors of steem which will attract and retain even more. They will become nodes that niche communities can be built around and a whale could support 3 or 4 nodes heavily to build them and then transfer support. Distribution can happen relatively quickly here if community people were incentivized instead of Haejin types.

I would like to work my way into becoming a node in the future that can be a distributor most of the time and flag when required but, there needs to be enough people similar to both offer support and protection.

The main thing though is the community growth and distribution though as the more people with significant stake, the more smaller users get supported too as there can be more eyes in the waters. But, because of the bidbots taking most of the eyes, stake and SBD, growth for community people is painfully hard and slow with many of those using and operating not community orientated at all.

Dunno what it will all amount to but, I have worked really really hard to fall behind rapidly. The only reason I can support the level I can now is because, I haven't powered down or used a dollar of crypto personally. This is not because IRL I am in a comfortable position.

I would like to work my way into becoming a node in the future that can be a distributor most of the time and flag when required but, there needs to be enough people similar to both offer support and protection.

I am patiently waiting for that day .
You can't measure what you do in a monetary value . Do you deserve it ? yea you do . Take a good look around and see some of the people you have touched . look at what they are doing . If you can get a return of 2 out of 10 of the ripples you created your doing good . I have no doubt that the day will come when the weeds will be uprooted .
If this was a shit post it would be in "Trending"
The smaller accounts with no value yet are growing and growing .
One supported bot could have made a huge impact . but the big boys wanted the status quo

One supported bot could have made a huge impact . but the big boys wanted the status quo

The bots that could have been distributing haven't been distributing widely enough, at levels too high and to too much crap. They could have done better but, their profits would suffer.

I think I also have an edge in that my goals are easier than your goals. You've got a lot of high-level stuff here that's hard to break down into practical actions, and I'm not sure if that necessitates a different approach or a reconsideration of goals from the beginning. There are a lot of dolphinmaking projects springing up right now, and maybe you could find one that would suit you to cooperate with. I'm sure they'd be happy to have you. If you're particularly looking to push for the development of not-bot-using, non-haejinish, community-centered users, I would suggest connecting with @whatamidoing in particular. He has a lot of interesting thoughts in that neighborhood.

If you're not familiar with SMART goals they're sometimes a really useful way to think about being effective. A SMART goal is a goal that's Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely. It might be worth thinking how you can convert some of your longer-term hopes into short-term plans that way.

For me, because I'm looking for things like more high-quality art writing, and more original music, those are pretty easy things to develop actionable programs for, experiment, and figure out what works. We have a pretty consistent stream of new/small posters in those categories, and all I need to do is throw enough money at them to convince them to stay.

I wouldn't care to tackle haejin except on a philosophical basis. I think sticking to spending time on the level where I can be effective is a much better plan for me.

Yeah, @whatamidoing works hard and should get more support to do more.

A SMART goal is a goal that's Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely.

Yes, I do know of this. I will adjust a few things soon so I can align short and long-term positions. At the end of the day, it is going to likely be short-term growth with less community for long-term community gain.

I wouldn't care to tackle haejin except on a philosophical basis.

this is my area ;)

Hmmm, why do good people have to suffer and the wrong ones only take the benefits?

You are doing the right thing, what you are doing is all what steemit is all about. Interaction!

Money is good, but touching lives is better, you might not be having the result of those you consider to be your mate on the platform, but you are doing what most of them are not doing. You are touching lives.

The true value of money is not money, but what you do with the money. What you are doing with yours is the best anybody can do.

I wish I am one of the early adopters too, but I won't allow that to stop me from moving.

Slow movement is also a movement. Not moving at all is the only problem.

I think you should take pride in that in what you are doing.

Slow movement is also a movement. Not moving at all is the only problem.

This is true and it is what keeps me pushing as hard as I do. For mothers, it looks like I am speeding a long but, they do not see the energy it is taking in the background and it won't last forever.

Things like this happens to develop your full capacity, in term of production, you are doing more than most of them. You are not only getting money, you are developing as well, that's another advantage you have over others who do little to earn more.
Time will tell..... Hug

Cheer up, @tarazkp. I hear you... and am having an existential Steem/midlife crisis, myself...

(Living hand-to-mouth and going bald).

But, you know what? Failure would be bitterness, & trying to succeed on the terms of others.

Goodness is its own reward, brother 🙏🏼

:)

But, you know what? Failure would be bitterness, & to succeed by the terms of others.

This is the issue I think as at the moment, I don't think I am doing it on my terms completely. It is a good place to work it all out though.

I agree, and think of this platform as a kind of testing ground, too. Wishing us perseverance, stubborn hope and best of luck :)

I agree with what you say. It's terrible to redirect people to your post because they will get a vote. Just tells you how wrong the attitude is in this place. People aren't wanting to find interesting things to read but are just hunting for a rare vote. I think it is a slap in the face. Direct people to good content by all means but promising them a reward at the same time is just wrong. How many others are rewarding readers then? Is it that rare that you stand out and an easy target as such. I just think the weeding needs to be happening now and to have an eye out for genuine comment makers.

Some reward and if you follow some of the people commenting here you will find the other accounts rewarding too. Some off more than I do. It is quite a little money earner for some I would imagine. I don't mind rewarding them even if they are just in it for the money if they add to the conversation.

I hear what you are saying but it is still a shitty thing to do. Direct people to you. It is meant to be a community so find things you like. Must be quite bad out there if that is how they are helping people.

I am middle aged too which doubles it and I don't have the money to buy a convertible Porsche so, I am triple screwed. Thankfully, I am not going bald.

Ditto.

@tarazkp
Brother relax . why you are hurt so much . leave them . if they think earning in steemit is only from comments so tey are wrong and let them wrong.
But if you are doing a great job by giving them there needs so why you react kike that .
Are you only post for them ???
No , you are not really posting for there needs .
Keep it up and leave them . how much they earn much lomg they do the same . but you dont lose your patients .
You post a good content for you .so focus on that posts qualities .
I read some top bloggers because i want to copy them . i want to learn from them . i am b glad i am doing better all the time . but need some response but i am happy from this .
You carry on we are with . dont panic by these little things