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RE: Why is there so much negativity from people on Steemit?
From what I've seen in the trollboxes after observing and interacting for hours like some strange digital anthropologist, its remarkably similar to the sort of animosity that can develop between fans of sports teams.
Only this has a lot of money at stake, so the passions increase.
Emotions trump common sense or logic in many of the discussions.
There is also the possibility that some of the negative comments have some merit, but this sort of so-called negativity doesn't promote the platform, so users are quick to jump to Steemit.com's defense because they have a vested interest in its success. Supportive comments get upvotes from influential users like @dantheman which leads to more supportive comments and posts trying to get his and other whales attention.
I agree that many of those that complain add nothing to the improvement of the platform with their unfounded gripes, but to whine about the whiners and get rewarded for it, almost strikes me as hypocritical. It surely goes without saying that there must be problems in a new venture of any sort, but the climate here is very negative towards airing that dirty laundry. There is a lack of transparency and fairness that people feel towards how the the site operates, warranted or not, and it is not being addressed and/or actively suppressed by the incentives to promote the site and not criticize the site.
To this date I've only seen successful posts whining about whiners and no successful posts from an actual Steemit.com naysayer. Perhaps the whining articles are so poorly supported with evidence, are not interesting or not convincing. Then on the other hand it might be that users that have been watching the dynamics of the community for awhile know that there will be no financial reward coming, so they refrain from even bothering to say anything contrary.
I know my perspective is unpopular, but this dynamic I briefly and inadequately explain above has not been shot down by anyone with cogent arguments. The usual rebuttal I get is, "You're a whiner", "What makes you think your opinion is equal to the whales?", "Put millions of dollars in to Steem Power and you can do what you want to do", etc.
I'm very bullish on this concept and really want it to succeed, but either there really is nothing wrong with the site in which case the whiners can be ignored, or there is something greater and more fundamental that serves to suppress and marginalize those that don't go with the flow. Exemplified by posts like this that are rewarded handsomely for whining about a non-issue.
If the whiners are so off the mark, why are they even worth replying to? Why are posts complaining about complainers being rewarded? These sorts of posts are nothing new, but they consistently get rewarded, which perpetuates a cycle that doesn't even need to exist, if we assume that the complainers are completely wrong.
Thanks for reading my comment. Best wishes.
I've seen a number of "whiners" get their 'whining' post do quite well. But each one brought some valuable perspectives well-thought out to the table. Agree on the potential danger for creating a sort of closed off echo chamber, but I think there's enough diversity in the whales and dolphins to organically grow in interests and niches without letting the ecosystem sink to that
Hi @blakemiles84
I don't doubt that you've seen a so-called whining post do well. If you can recall any in particular it would be helpful to me for purposes of reshaping my views on this topic. It's my intention to go wherever the truth takes me so I'm looking to have any and all of my observations refuted if they are faulty.
Indeed the diversity of dolphins and whales is increasing as expected, but this was not evident 3 weeks ago when the quality of content was poorer and discussion with others was limited due to Slack not being open to new users.
I'm confident the echo chamber effect is still in effect, but things are very clearly improving by the week. May turn out that something unforeseen shifts that tide back in the wrong direction, but for now I am very pleased by what I'm seeing out here in the "real" world of Steemit.com.
Some of the stuff that happens in rocketchat, though? Yikes!
I enjoy how the Steemit system keeps the comments from turning in to 4chan! However, there definitely needs to be a place where users can let their feelings out. I guess Rocketchat is the place for that.
Cheers and thanks again for your comment.
Thanks for taking the time to respond.
Intriguing!
Are you referring to a sort of "self-induced social bubble" like google creates, as opposed to DuckDuckGo?
I'm not sure if it is the same as what google has created. I do use duckduckgo, but again, I'm not sure exactly the dynamic you refer to in those two cases as it relates to Steemit.com.
With Duckduckgo my feeling is "privacy is the focus". With Google, "no real privacy, but hey we won't do bad things!" is the message.
With what I mentioned with Steemit, I'm not seeing your parallel. Would you mind fleshing out your thoughts for me?
Cheers
I see your point better now, thanks.
Indeed there is some level of the "social bubble", but it's quite a bit different than what you outline with duckduckgo and google. Still I see the parallel better and as I gather you prefer the duckduckgo style, I do as well.
We'll get there eventually.
People go by what they heard: "If it seems too good to be true... well it isn't." They think steem is promising money for nothing. But it isn't. Any whale that buys steem expecting to get all their money back is a fool. And I doubt the whales are fools. What they will get is influence over a community - at a good value for their money. And the money "created" isn't made from thin air. It's made by the hard work of a building a community with valuable posts.
No one is getting free money.
The value of posts has nothing to do with Steemit money creation, or the value of money created.
The value of money is largely a function of marketing , because most people don't care enough to make thorough analyses to quantify value when forming trading decisions. Btw a whale can get all his money back, really many options.
Considering what happened to r/ethereum and r/ethtrader after the dao attack, it wouldn't surprise me if certain people even hired masses of "trolls, FUD'ers" just to completely mask the reality of everything that was happening. I still to this day don't understand why so much chaos ensued cause they wanted to create a hardfork to prevent the dao theft.
This is something I have been seeing happening in more and more communities lately, and I'm glad Steemit is getting a reputation for accounts going to prevent these "attacks".
I agree, people's emotions shadow all forethought on reality.