Steemit.chat Changing Hands And A Milestone In The Steemit Witnesses Ecosystem
I don't know if you saw this already, but I just bumped into it a few minutes ago, when I wanted to check out some messages left for me in the steemit.chat.
In short, @riverhead, one of the most respected guys in this ecosystem, and the owner and maintainer of steemit.chat "got fired".
I didn't understand very well how he "got fired" and I don't want to enter into the intricacies of his work relationships, as this is entirely his job (pun not intended).
But I am interested in another part of this story, namely the one in which top 21 witnesses are seeing a huge discrepancy in payments compared with the rest of the witnesses. And the discrepancy, as he writes it very clearly, is that top 21 witnesses are seeing payments between $200,000 - $500,000 per year, whereas the rest are seeing $50k - $90k.
I share a lot of @riverhead's opinions on this topic, although we never met and I don't think we ever talked, not even in the - now defunct - chat. But I know how difficult it is to create and maintain a service related to a constantly growing community.
When I started steem.supply I did it mostly to solve a personal problem: how to see when and how much am I getting paid.
But the community picked up on this, started to provide feedback and, before I know it, steem.supply became a service on which businesses built on top of Steemit are relying. Thousands of people are visiting it every day and are expecting it to work and to work accurately. Just like thousands of people were expecting that @riverhead's steemit.chat would work all the time.
And, just like @riverhead' steemit.chat, steem.supply needs hardware, bandwidth, maintenance and improvements. All of them were provided as is by myself, in exchange of a witness vote. Which I always thanked for and felt a lot of gratitude when offered.
I'm well under the top 50 witnesses (not even dreaming to ever reach top 21) and I never complained. I'm not complaining now either. But I'm just saying that, if there isn't a massive change of perspective about how witnesses are treated on the Steem ecosystem, valuable and consistent services, like steemit.chat, or steem.supply, will simply disappear.
There is no free lunch in this world. Everything has a cost. Luckily, these services are only costing you a vote.
Think about it.
And vote consciously.
I'm a serial entrepreneur, blogger and ultrarunner. You can find me mainly on my blog at Dragos Roua where I write about productivity, business, relationships and running. Here on Steemit you may stay updated by following me @dragosroua.
Wanna know when you're getting paid?
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I know the feeling. That's why I created steem.supply, an easy to use and accurate tool for calculating your Steemit rewards |
The noble idea of decentralized and open community creaks and groans. I joined a months ago, just getting familiar with the system, but I can see fights and battles, supportive and destructive emotions. I think that's the human nature. Where it comes to money some people keep trying benefits from it. Especially if you have a chance to have a look in each wallets.
Anyway, I follow you, because you write about things I'm interested in, I use steem.supply and I hope I can do it in the future. And now you will have my witness vote as a thank you for your efforts.
Thanks, appreciate your support!
top reply, sorry this is a crap reply but I really couldn't add to that perfect summary.
Some witnesses 'game' the system as regular members do and with huge sp, their success is obviously greater. They are also not immune from posting shitposts.
I didnt realise that witnesses who were outside the top 40 were actually witnesses as opposed as trying to win the votes to become a witness..hence I didnt see your name but will go back and look and vote for you.
Id also ask you why members get 30 votes ? Why not just 4 or 5 ? Ive only had any sort of interaction with a few so would never vote for someone I didnt know ! The vast majority can never be arsed answering their comments anyway, especially after 30 mins after theyve posted......
On top of this, most of the witnesses who post just post about crypto. This whole ecosystem is so much more than that. On top of that, it gets a bit boring, the whales and big players with their guides to help new members (which rake them in a fortune)....if they tried reading a few memos posts and gave them a decent upvote to get them started , that might actually be something useful to encourage newbies. (will mention the amazing @surpassinggoogle over in the philippines communities at this point of being a perfect example of how a whale or witness should act)
Without new members joining and staying and being nurtured, all that will be left are a few people sat on a pile of money. Good for them. Anyone taking 200-500k in payments is taking the piss no matter what they do here.
Crypto was about creating fairer communities but as in the old world, it seems more and more that the rich get richer. Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely....
PS will go back and vote for you again :-)
May be @riverhead was supporter of @dan ...
I feel like this is the free market at work. Steemit Chat is great but maybe the market didn't feel like it should be paid $500k per year when perhaps $90k per year is enough to cover all the operating costs and pocket a reasonable profit besides.
He could've campaigned to try and get back into the top 21, right? Perhaps adding a few flashy features to get attention and reach the trending page a few times?
He's free to do it his way, but I don't think the system itself is flawed in this case.
I feel like we can safely agree to disagree on this one. I truly believe that top 21 witnesses should provide serious extra services, the type @jesta does, or @riverhead, with his chat. Top 21 witnesses are active stakeholders, they are actually improving the system. This is different from what a huge token owner, a whale, does. A whale can live very easily off of curation / interest rewards, without clogging the pipe of the 21 witnesses with a static spot.
On the other hand, nobody said Steemit is fair. Nor is it life, FWIW...
" I truly believe that top 21 witnesses should provide serious extra services"
yup I believe this too, and also agree that whales are not automatically good witnesses
I felt like this also. I don't use steemit.chat, (which isn't to say it isn't important) I haven't heard or seen a sign of @riverhead since he flagged Beanz for opening a channel on Discord.
I guess we are magically supposed to know what he contributes and what his costs are.
Instead of writing a few posts explaining what he is doing, he throws a rage fit and shuts down steemit.chat. If those are his problem solving skills I am glad he isn't on the top of the witness list.
Thanks for this post @dragosroua . I did happen to see this in the am but wasn't quite sure what to make of it. Part of me thinks it's a bunch of Steemit drama in which some rich people don't wanna share with everyone else regardless of the value one brings to the ecosystem. The other part just simply doesn't 100% understand the whole witness process. My simple mind figures it like this: hmmm, I like the steem.supply feature and I use it on a daily basis and I like his posts, I find them informative. Sure- I'll give him a witness vote. Beyond that I really don't know what the top 20 do or why. Kindly let me know what else I can do.
You can start here https://steemit.com/steemit/@dragosroua/steemit-newbie-faq-witnesses-what-are-they-and-why-should-you-care <- this post explains what witnesses are and why are they relevant
I think, one problem is that a lot steemit user did not vote at all.
I agree, and why would they bother with all the apparent crap going on that clogs our feeds daily, especially when huge figures are being mentioned !
Its always been a stacked deck whether you are a witness or a content contributor. Regular users unfortunately can only push witnesses like you so far up the list. You are on my witness list - unfortunately even a thousand of me wouldnt get you near the top 20! Really enjoy your posts - hopefully change will come and witness pay will be more equitable to everyone outside the top 20.
Thanks for your support, really appreciate it!
Man i loved steemit chat but i never new who made it. If i knew i would of voted.
Steem.supply needs a Donation button
Anyone having issues should hit @transisto up. Him and his various account are building a @devfund and he has begged for money a couple of times.