A Reminder: CREATION with no CURATION Puts Steemit Off-Balance... Hands Up Who Else Is Frustrated?!
It's become very clear that the vibe of the Steemit community has changed, and not in a pleasant way. I posted briefly on this last week, but it's clear now it needs some serious attention.
First – hardly anybody is voting. The voting choices that are being made are generally on the popular 'trending' posts (usually the same handful of people), and it's getting embarrassing to witness this ass-kissing. It's like being at school again!
Using my own blog as an example:- I have 1200+ followers (apparently) yet my recent posts get about 5-20 votes. That few??? Where is everybody? And I see exactly the same thing happening to numerous others who I've 'grown up with' on Steemit. We used to get 100, 200, 300 votes... not any more!
Second – many successful bloggers now aren't responding to comments, or showing appreciation to their voters. They used to back when they were just starting out, but now they've stopped. What's this about? Too busy? Too important?
It's all reap and no thanks. Is it not common courtesy to reply to a nice comment that someone's taken time to give? No matter how busy you are, a reply, a word of appreciation is the decent response. And if you see the same loyal supporters popping up in your comments thread or in your upvote list, you really should be returning the support for their blogs.
This isn't about envying their popularity or moaning about lack of rewards on my posts... that's not my complaint. My frustration concerns the GOLDEN RULE – treat others how you wish to be treated.
We're seeing too much taking and not enough giving. It's destroying the community. For Steemit to be pleasant and beneficial for all, there needs to be a balance. But go ahead – carry on taking and taking, and see eventually people will notice you aren't retuning the support, and they will withdraw it!
Personally I have commented on several posts during the last week alone that have had no acknowledgement... and so out of curiosity I visited those people's blogs to see if they reply to others and to my disgust, I saw they reply to no-one! Yet they're getting lots of votes and earning big bucks! Tell me, why continue to vote for people who show no appreciation and no respect for your loyalty? Do you check whether they vote for you? Chances are – they don't! Go, take a look!
Yes, we can forgive a few times of no reply, and hope others forgive us when we don't/can't, but to consistently do it, that's just plain rude.
Ok, so you're busy. Same here! I still reply to comments! So do other decent Steemians who have community in mind and not just what's in it for them. Most of us have lives outside Steemit, and families, and chores, and jobs, and other blogs etc etc etc... yet we take the time to reply because if it wasn't for the votes of our followers, we'd have no rewards at all. So please, show some respect for your voters.
This evening I scrolled down the trending #introduceyouself posts, and saw the highest-earning posts were mainly the ones with the most ego (not all – I did see some lovely people among them too!) It seems the more you say things like “Look at me, I'm awesome, I already have ten million followers elsewhere and I have cool sunglasses and a pet jaguar” the more likely you are to get big bucks. Well, that's okay if we want Steemit dominated by people full of themelves, but personally I prefer and admire those with some modesty, some humility. I don't vote for ego, and I don't like to see people lapping at the feet of the ego, it's so humiliating.
Steemit used to be full sincerity, appreciation, kindness, support, etc this time last year, and it had a very pleasant vibe. Granted things were S.L.O.W and rewards weren't great, but community spirit was strong. People were having conversations, and learning from each other, and helping each other to grow their blogs. Not so much now. It's all dollars, popularity, curating because there's something in it for me. Me me me me me me me me. I am so sick of Me Me Me!!! That's what Facebook is for!
Ok, so I think I've made my point. I do hope things balance out again, because a community of reapers is not a very nice place to hang out.
Many thanks to all my wonderful followers! I sincerely appreciate your support, and do try to visit as many of your blogs as frequently as I possibly can, so don't give up on me either!
Much love x
I too thought it was just me seeing this and chastised myself for being touchy. Now that I read that others are experiencing this strange phenomena I can exhale.
I have noticed the lack of upvote with some that I follow, not just on my posts but also on those I support. I read replies where some have replied to high earners that they comment mostly because they make more money doing so than posting -they called it piggy backing.
Also, I have noticed that some discord channel groups are producing an unintentional segregation. Vote only within your group. Comment first and mostly on your group to support them.
Sometimes I feel like I am intruding on posts bc everyone who belongs to a "group" is high fiving each other - which is fine - while ignoring the outsiders. It's like grade school.
I do get good rewards with my posts, don't get me wrong, I am grateful for that but I am concerned about this trend and don't know how to fix or address it especially when I see my friends get comments and no upvote, while up-voting the comment people who are riding on the coat tails so to speak. Not everyone looks to see if they have been upvoted by those who comment. I do bc I usually upvote comments and have stopped upvoting those who are there to make SPD on their comments.
Lastly, I do understand that newer people have less voting power. I know, I've been there and it's frustrating. At the same time, they ought to know there is a reason for it and it ought to be a reminder for them to slow down and ease into things.
Thank you for writing this and thank you for allowing me to put my opinion into words. ;)
Hi @countrygirl, thanks so much for sharing your thoughts... and enlightening me on some things! I wasn't aware that it's a 'thing' to group up and only support each other in those groups... what a funny attitude. I get it, but it's not very nice! Just like you, it's not only my own blog I'm concerned about, it's other bloggers I know who consistently put out wonderful posts, and hardly anyone reads them or votes. I too have noticed people comment without upvoting, and it's hugely insulting to whoever has created the post. If its worthy of a comment it's worthy of a vote! You seem to have a good way with words, and insight that could be helpful for the community... Perhaps you could consider doing a post of your own on this topic (please send me the link if you do so I don't miss it and I will re-steem). I think the more of us who bring these issues into community discussion, the more likely it is we can affect positive changes! Thanks so much for saying all this!
I'll give some thought to writing a post about it. Thanks though for bringing your concerns to the table. You did it in a fair and just way. I'm following you now. :)
Thank you! I try to keep things objective rather than just moaning from my own point of view. This is an issue close to my heart. I appreciate your support @countrygirl :-)
Right, I already brought up the infantile nature of school yard bully brawls on different threads about whales fighting each other over who deserves more rewards (Hint: none of them do! ;))
I like your post for the fact you express your feeling.
I don't like the fact that you are complaining for not receiving enough votes.
My advice to you, let it be
Human nature will always be the same.
Steemit cannot change people to apply golden rule.
It is their choice to upvote you or not.
I vote your post cause it is for me the right thing to do now.
I will even follow you.
I have to tell you we are in this together.
DO NOT SHOW YOUR WEAKNESS.
STAY PERSISTENT TO YOUR LINE AND YOU WILL CONTINUE GET YOUR UPVOTE.
KEEP ON STEEMIN'
Thank you @pouchon. It wasn't a compaint about my personal lack of votes per se, I just used myself as an example of what many of us are experiencing right now. My love for Steemit has little to do with money (as in my life outside Steemit too) but has everything to do with community. I fell in love with the community aspect, and am concerned about what I'm seeing is happening to it. I don't consider raising these concerns as showing weakness... I see it as a show of solidarity with my fellow bloggers who like me aren't merely here for the rewards. I know things are fluid andf constantly changing, but we can sit back and say nothing and allow ego and money to take over, or we can discuss things and help take it in a positive direction... not to mention give each other reassurance that we matter to each other! At least that's what I always try to do :-)
Thanks for rectifying,
It is good to show solidarity when efforts are well shown.
Keep on steemin'
Spot on, Joanna!
I'm gonna resteem this :).
Thanks very much @kotturinn! I have noticed actually that you're one of my consistent 'few' voters, and I thank you very very much for not abandoning me!!! You're a good friend!
Of course, I enjoy your posts!
Thank you :D
OMG! So true! I thought it was just me who was observing this happening! Even though I'm pretty new to steemit I find it so easy to identify to off balance! We are trying to lift each other up! How is that so hard?? Anyhow.. I'll continue to upvote and comment for content I genuinely while also creating my own! I hope others can do the same.
Sounds like you have a great attitude @cynfullliving! Steemit doesn't really work so well if people think selfishly... we all have to support each other and read and upvote, otherwise it'll be no different to mainstream social media sites, and that's what set it apart in the first place! I wish you all the best in your blogging... and stick with it, it can take a while to re-balance when it's been off!
Thanks! And ofc I will!
I make a point to answer every comments on my posts, I might be missing the ones that come 4 days later on it, but for the majority of them, there are all from my lovely fellows and it is a pleasure to answer, thank youing, and communicate
...Does it take time ? Oh my it takes a lot ;-) but I post once a day instead of posting ten times, because I would hardly feel to leave my posts just for being upvoted with not caring of the people who took time to leave a comment...
Here is a bouquet for you to uplift your mood @woman-on-the-wing ^_^
I'm with you dear Barbara! I would rather put out one good post a day and take time to communicate with everyone who stops by! Then there are so many wonderful people putting out great content I don't want to miss any of that either. I'll even go a few days in between posts if I don't feel like I have something worthwhile to put out.
My rewards are pretty low most of the time, but I figure I would rather take time and really connect with people and hope that eventually it will even out! Much love to both you ladies! 🤗
You are both the women after my own heart :-) I am not big in the numbers of followers, but I am whole heartedly sticking with sensible people who take time to interact and appreciate other people's time and goodness.
You are a wonderful woman too my friend! Lots of really awesome ladies (and some gents 😆) I have met on here that I am so happy to support and get to know better!
You do right @icybc, stick with the bloggers who appreciate and support, and not with the selfish others! I think I may have told you of my appreciation recently, but if not I want you to know I always do appreciate your support! And I will continue to return that support because I like what you post! :-)
Thank you @barbara-orenya and @plantstoplanks! Have a wonderful day!
Yeah, I noticed you're one of the bloggers who isn't getting many votes either these day @plantstoplanks, just like me, and it bugs me greatly because your posts are genuinely interesting, informative, and clearly you put much time and thought into them. Grrr! But hey, I give you my word you'll continue getting my support, because I want you to keep sharing all this great stuff, and fingers crossed in a little while things will improve! What a good thing you're a sunny person!!!
I try not to get too frustrated since I had absolutely no expectations when I first got on Steemit and the rewards go far beyond the upvote values. It is a hard pill to swallow though when I see a very simple post that probably didn't take any time to put together get 10x the support than my post that I spent not only hours putting together but also time in the kitchen developing. And that is by no means me being disparaging to the more simple posts--some of those are great, too! It just makes me wonder what I could do better. Regardless, I very much appreciate your support and I try to reciprocate with the quite a few others who I also know take the time to read my posts! I'd still much rather 10 genuine followers that I can connect with than 1,000 who don't even read my carefully worded post. 😘
Same here! It's not the numbers that bother me either, like you say it's better to have a handful of genuine followers than stacks of indifferent ones. I don't think there's anything you could be doing 'better'... I don't think the issue is anything to do with posts lacking something, it's that people aren't really reading or even scrolling through the feed. They're quickly having a nosey at the trending posts and clicking a few buttons. Or at least that's my observation of late! I hope the fact lots of us have had chance to discuss these issues might encourage more reading again! :-)
Aww thanks so much, I ADORE your wonkies @barbara-orenya! Your loveliness has indeed lifted my spirits! I think you and I approach things in a similar way... usually no more than one post a day otherwise, like you point out, there's no time left for reading and voting other people's posts. I also find the interaction side of things a pleasure, and not sure why anyone would want to skip that aspect? Maybe if rewards is all that's in people's head then community doesn't matter so much. But community is what makes Steemit wonderful, so I do hope we can pull through this odd phase and get back to love!!! :-)
I do think both community and rewards count, because i like it the most when, doing what I love, I get likewise rewarded for that...I mean, that's how life is meant to be, it is not meant to be a struggle to obtain money and hate money because it is only painful to obtain... As an artist, I choose to do what I love and let the joy of doing it be my first reward...then it has somehow to lead to rewards, in a way or another, because when you feel abundant, abundance comes more and more, it's a natural law, so if it brings money, that's cool, if it brings beautiful people, that's cool, if it brings peace, that's cool...
Then the better way to let abundance enter in our life is to make what pleases us, like interacting, if we love that, and then feel abundant of all the kindness we are surrounded with, and one day or another, it will transform in more cash rewards if we don't prevent money to come in our life by focusing on it's actual absence ...
Oh my goodness, I love everything you said there... so true :-) That's why I've never chosen to get more into the technical and game-playing-to-boost-rewards because that's not where my heart lies. I love the chance to get creative and then to share that with a community that (until very recently) has always welcomed and appreciated that expression of myself, and that's never happened in my life before. I never felt this accepted anywhere. I live in a very remote area, with no neighbours even, or family, or friends, and so Steemit is my social life! It's a very special community but has amazed me how quickly its foirgotten some of that specialness. But hopefully it's not lost, just on the backseat for a while until we start reminding ourselves what made Steemit wonderful in the first place. But knowing there are still poeple like you here is really encouraging, and I appreciate your input to this discussion VERY MUCH! Thank you :-)
It's a pleasure and you put your finger on it just there :
I think you just have to focus on what you love here to make it re-appear just right now,
the thing is not to get caught on negative discussions on things or people, cause before long, it brings more of that things or people in your vibrationnal neighborhood, and that's the opposite of what we want, don't we..? ;-)
I wish you a wonderful and aligned day @woman-on-the-wing ^_^
You are so right! It's always good to be reminded, thank you :-) I too wish you a wonderful day (or night, whatever time you're on!)
I agree entirely with your post - although I officially follow a large group, I consistently follow only a small group for reasons you outlined here - now I'm following you
I appreciate your support very much @johnjgeddes. I am and always have been more interested in community than rewards or popularity, and though I can't fully express in these few words how Steemit has affected my life, it really, really has. The feedback, the genuine comments and appreciation for what I've shared, and these are the things I value in other bloggers too. It would be such a shame for Steemit to become more concerned with power and money than community and all that encompasses, because then it will be no different to the 'mainstream world'.
Spot on! There a few exceptions but I have the feeling this behavior might kill steemit at the end, making a few very very rich! Steemit might turn into the myspace of the social media and get pushed to the side for something more popular... just as Facebook did in the past. BUT it's not too late. Thanks for bringing this to our attention and raising your voice ;)
Thanks Amy... that's just what I'm afraid of... Steemit becoming like FB or one of those sites where people post a photo of the slop they ate for dinner, no recipe, no food info, just a photo of slop, and they get stacks of upvotes! On my FB feed recently someone has posted their burger, and they got about 80 likes, it was ridiculous! If Steemit become that I won't be able to stay! But hopefully it won't... I do think a heck of a lot of us care way too much to let community die.
We'll see how it evolves. Maybe something better will come or maybe they will improve the system. Whichever it will be it is not in our power to make those changes :(
No, unfortunately not! Thankfully there are stacks of up-and-coming platforms being created right now all across the blockchain, it's very exciting! I suppose whatever happens with Steemit as it moves forward at least we got to experience the community at its finest, even if it never returns to that level of fineness again! So all's good really!
I'm glad I found your post, I was telling my friend the same frustration. I thought I would leave thought provoking comments or something clever and not even a nod my way. It was saddening. I was telling my friend that more users needed to be generous with their votes and spark up a conversation. Use the upvote button until it stopped working. Smash that upvote! Hopefully something would come back to us. But I hope to make relationships along the way. I have only been on steemit for about a month. I know it has potential but yeah we need a Golden rule it'll make everyone happier
Thanks for the resteemed or I may have never read this
No worries, hopefully it spreads awareness and helps the community ^~^
Thanks very much for stopping by to comment @kittysilhouette. I think all of us need to put out some 'reminders' into the community... maybe you could do your own post on this topic to get the attention of your own followers (if you do, make sure to draw my attention to it and I will re-steem). The more the issue is talked about, I think the more people will start to realise it's necessary. It's so good to know many other like yourself are feeling the same frustration... because I wasn't sure if it was even being acknowledged that much! I'm a little concerned the community spirit is being pushed to the back, and rewards are the main objective, and it's not good! But as long as all of us who value community keep supporting each other, things should re-balance and we'll get a strong community back again. I hope!!!
Yes ma'am, I'll do my best @woman-onthe-wing
Hehe :-) Thank you!
I guess it's all still complicated to me. It is tempting to do more to earn now that the price of Steem is quite high and I understand.
I do not feel left out or forgotten mainly because I never got a lot of appreciation for my posts on Steem (except for two whale upvotes long long time ago).
I keep upvoting and supporting the ones I can see potential in. For the new posts, I check #bread regularly, but I don't upvote unless there is a recipe. Posting a picture alone is not enough. Secondly, I do my best to support the Polish community that keeps growing.
It feels like people decide to fall into some sort of a game with the rule that whatever involves sharing the currency is a lost game.
I decided to approach Steem as something without value. It does have it, of course, and I wouldn't mind it if at some point it would turn out that it can buy me a house, but it is not my primary goal. My primary goal is to meet people like you, with passion, dedication, idea, skill or a sense of humour and share with them. It makes it much easier even when the system is misused/abused by anyone.
Thank you for this wonderful comment! At least you have already seen a whale once. The whales I see, are only misusing their power for spreading hate. Sad story...
Yeah, the majority of whales, in my observation, don't stop by the peasants posts too often! And yes, they have often waged wars and left us all feeling puzzled and irritated. I'm sure there are nice whales too, but I have no idea who or where they are! Very sad. I do wish they'd use their power for the good of the community!
Oh yes @breadcentric, you and I approach things in a similar way! Not with rewards at the forefront of our minds, but community, and people's blogs that we believe in. There's a lot of different games being played here, which is fine, and normal, and to be expected, but if it's a game that centres around gain for ourselves and no thought to others, it doesn't work very well. I know what you mean, it's tempting to just create create create during times of good Steem value, but at the cost of community. But like you say, if our primary goal is relationships and community, then we can still enjoy Steemit even when things get tough :-) Thank you for pointing that out!
If it gets bad to use, something new will emerge.
BTW, how's the book project? Also I haven't seen culinary challenges for a while.
Ah, you must have missed all that! I brought the SCC to an end actually... It was taking all my time and to be honest, I wanted to blog on other things and get my new project up and running! I was going to pass it on to another host, but the former host preferred me to end it, so I respected her wishes. It's all fine though... It initially began to help new food bloggers get noticed, but now there are stacks of food contests it wasn't getting as much interest any more. But nothing is lost! I have started my new "Make It Healthy" project (though have to earn some SBD before I can offer prizes). It will be irregular contests rather than a weekly thing, but I still desire to compile a Steemit community recipe book. It would be so amazing to have recipes from all round the world, something we could all be proud of! Yours too! :-)
I can share some bread recipe, or sweets, though not the healthiest ever ;)
I would love to see your recipes in the book @breadcentric! I will make sure to get at least one healthy recipe out of you haha!!! :-)
Healthy - that sounds dangerous ;)
I thought I was the only person to think the same, I have more than 150 followers and only a few vote, I do not know what's happening I do not have much time in steemit it seems great but there are people who do not even respond to the comments that people like I low reputation leaves on his blog
I know how you feel @yesslife! A lot of us are feeling the same frustrations as you, and wonder why we bother creating good posts if hardly anyone reads or votes them. But hopefully if we keep raising the issue and encourage less selfish attitudes, then things will improve in time. We just have to support each other and most importantly, support whatever makes community strong!