Upvotes: Finding The Style That Works For You

in #voting7 years ago

People often talk about upvoting and what is the best way to go about it.

I think it important to note for all new people, everyone on here, whether Whale or Red Fish, operates under the exact same voting rules. While the value of the vote changes as one amasses more SP, the amount of votes does not waver.

Each person is entitled to 10 full votes per day (100%). This is because it takes 2.4 hours for a 100% vote to replenish.

When one is new to Steemit.com, the voting slider bar is not available (from what I understand, it is available to those who use busy.org). Hence, all votes have to take place at 100%. I do not know the reason for this but it is how it is. Once a person hits 500 SP, the slider bar is available and will enable one to vote at lower percentages meaning he or she gets more votes.

Before deciding how to vote, I think it is important to know what your goal is?

Being a part of @fulltimegeek's program, we see a weekly listing done by @abh12345 of what each person who was delegated SP does. One of the big areas is the number of votes cast. If you click on his last update, you can see the voting is all over the place.

To read abh12345's full post:

https://steemit.com/stewardsofgondor/@abh12345/fulltimegeek-s-stewardsofgondor-weekly-stats-with-self-vote-percentage-data

As you can see from the chart, the number of voted given ranges from 55-1600+. That is quite a spread. So which method is correct?

The answer is they both are, depending upon the goals of the individual.

With voting, there are basically two approaches:

Giving fewer votes but having each worth more.

This is the method that garners attention especially if someone has a lot of SP. Here is where a post can really jump. From my observation, this is a method that many whales use. They will go around upvoting content they like yet give the article or comment quite a lift. These are the ones who are really looking to reward quality content.

Of course, it isn't only whales who do that. I know a few dolphins who are not as active as others on here, hence they can vote at a much higher percentage and still keep their VP up. It is nice to get these votes and these, people, even though they run in small circles, tend to be remembered.

Giving lots of votes but reducing the amount of each one

The individuals in @fulltimegeek's program who are casting 1,000+ votes a week are utilizing this approach. To them, giving votes to many different contributions is important. They certainly are from the "spreading the wealth" camp. If you look at the number of people they voted for, it tends to be a high number. They are all over the place upvoting things that catch their attention.

The first approach is a significant monetary award for putting up a quality post that someone likes. If you goal is to really reward the best of content you can find, this is the way to go.

If however, you want to motivate the masses, then spreading one's vote to as many different people as possible is very effective. This carries on even added meaning when upvoting newer people. Since their voting weight is not much, getting a vote worth .10 or .20 S.T.U. makes a difference. It could be the motivation that someone needs to stick with the site. We all know how frustrating it is when new.

Personally, I use a blended approach. To start, I have someone I adopted under the 1KSP program. He gets two 100% upvotes from me a day. The goal with this program is to move him ahead to 1,000 SP as quickly as we can. Hence, the votes I give him carry some weight.

I also upvote the quality comments made for my articles. Most of the unique 183 unique people I voted for are those who comment on my articles. Since I tend to get a lot of newer people reading and commenting on my stuff, I reward them each time they post a comment. I usually do this at 6% voting power which is roughly .60 S.T.U. There are a number of people who get 14-16 upvotes from me a week which, looking at their growth in their SP, is having an effect.

Obviously, I wish I could upvote everyone at 100%. However, the system is not designed for that. We have to put some thought into what we are doing and how we are using our votes. One thing I think imperative, at least for me, is to keep my voting power as high as I can. I rarely let it drift below 90% (I try to run it down to that level twice a day). As I wrote in the past, I do not want to take the delegation from @fulltimegeek and waste it because I ran my voting power down to 10%. In that situation, I just threw away 90% of the SP he delegated to me.

What about self upvotes? Many people seem to take exception to those who upvote their own stuff.

For me, it is simple. I take time and put a great deal of effort into my posts on here. Because of this, and based upon the feedback I get, I feel I produce quality posts. Therefore, I have no problem upvoting my own articles. Since I do 13-14 a week, this is the number of votes I give myself.

That said, I do not upvote my own comments. When I post a comment, it is in response to what someone else wrote (either an article or a comment). It is up to that person and whoever else reads it to determine whether the comment is worthy of an upvote (and for those who have seen my comments, they often are longer than many people's articles).

There is another reason why I believe in this approach. As my SP increases, so does my VP. Upvoting my articles brings in rewards that I use to power up, hence increasing my VP on a weekly basis. What this does is that, over time, the amount I am upvoting other people increases. It is rather simple: the more powerful you become, the more powerful I become: the more powerful I become, the more powerful you become. The system on here creates this magical circle.

I hope this provides some insight into how I use my voting power and offers ideas of the best way to approach yours.

One final thought, every person on here should make sure he or she is using the allotted voting power each day. This is how we move others, and ourselves, forward. The systems gives you 20% of your total voting power daily, use it.

If you found this article informative, please give it an upvote and a resteem.


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I appreciate every upvote I get, whether it's .01¢ or $13.16 which I received from a very generous Steemian on a comment I left on your post Task.
I will remember that one for a very long time. (Actually I screenshot it)

I try to upvote 5 times in the morning, then 5 times before I go to bed, while searching for quailty content.

I try to upvote the freewriters in @mariannewest group but there are so many great writers, I really have to watch my VP when I'm sharing the love.

Really looking forward to the slider at 500sp. Great post task. 😎

Keeping VP always above 90% is a good idea to make sure we always operate at enough power. However sometimes I found out when I surf Steem a lil more active than usual, I would cast more votes than usual and bring my VP down.

I chose not to vote later on while keep reading new posts but I felt guilty doing that as those quality posts definitely need every reader's vote. Though my VP is not significant but making wise use of them makes me feel good.

Yup, I like to drop full upvotes on Minnows I see producing great stuff and then vary my vote based on quality comments on my page and users I follow. If I see an article I really like I try to upvote 100 and upvote in the comments as well.

I think it's important to upvote comments on your own posts, it's a great way to retain followers and show your appreciation

I agree. If someone takes the time to leave a legit comment, it is worthy of some type of vote.

With few comments, one can upvote at a higher amount...but as the comments expand, it gets to be brutal...then it is time to reduce the percentage some.

Nevertheless, I have seen the SP in many of my followers growing...especially the Red Fish. I want all of them to move up to 500 SP then 1000.....

As the price of STEEM increases, this can make a big impact.

What defines a red fish btw?

Under 500 SP is my understanding...

I think they call it planktin but I can never remember that so I just call it red fish.

I try to give much bigger upvotes to smaller accounts. For users bigger than I I usually give 5-15% , for users around the same size I give 20-60%. Smaller accounts usually get votes of 50-100% if I have the voting power for it. I’m not sure if this helps my own growth very much as I’ve never received 100% vote from a dolphin or whale but it spreads the distribution of wealth which is what I’m all about. Hopefully the big fish who know me don’t mind.

The thing I´m struggling with at the moment is, that I´d like to spread the wealth too, while keeping my VP up at the same time. It´s hard to find the right balance here. Also there is this contradiction of wanting to support newbies, while knowing that upvoting a newbie post most likely doesn´t give you any curation award at all and therefore slowing down ones own growth (and future potential to spread the wealth further). So yes, there are some upward spirals here, but as with everything in life, they are part of the yin/yang circle.... which brings up some ideas for my next post I want to write, that will be called "The TAO of Steemit" ;) Thanks for the inspiration :D

Upovted just for "The TAO if Steemit".

Run that by @wwf...I bet he would have amazing insight into that.

ha Thanks, that´s lovely. I may make this a series like my "Trade like a Crypto Monk" articles, but since I still have a daytime job and these articles take quite some time to write (...of course you know this...) it won´t happen before friday - ideas already coming in.... Thanks again for your daily inspiration! :)

Yes I know it and I work around it as much as I can....in fact, I am kind of over my job but hanging in for a little while longer.

I have to write a post at night to have it ready for the morning....so I can send it out first thing before leaving to go to work.

Soon we will all be full time Steemians.

I still have not figured this out yet. So when you up vote someone you lose steem power? And in order to power back up you have to use your steem? Also is there a bar to move your steem power to a certain percentage? Probably dumb questions but I thought I would ask any ways...

You don´t lose Steem Power but Voting Power. SP is your liquid Steem "powered up" and bound to Steemit for at least 3 months and is the basis for how much your votes are worth. Voting Power is decreases by each vote and replenishes itself over time - you get a slider to choose your VP after you got a certain SP value. If you look, there are many articles for newbies here on Steemit, that explain these things way better. :)

Good tip!

Like you, I am a "blended UPvote" person.
Having two steemians a week that I will UPvote 100% for the week, once every day' then I go about my business and give 10% here, 15% there, another 20% here. I watch my SP on steemworld and am constantly making sure I keep my SP between a 50-60% at the end of the day.

I let it re-charge overnight and start off the following day with around 90-95% SP and charge forward again.

I agree with all you wrote...that is my approach @goldendawne.

Keeping the VP up is difficult and requires discipline but it is well worth it.

I do not want to give someone an upvote worth .10 when it can be worth .60...the only reason it will be down is because I failed to discipline myself to vote in a manner that protects my power.

Plus, when doing like you are doing (as am I) with the 100% upvote to help more newer ones along, we see a greater impact if our VP is up. Again, giving them a vote at 1/5 what it could be doesnt serve them.

Discipline was the hardest part when I first was able to help so many people, but I have honed in on my UPvoting and SP.

Yeah...now comes the part of giving all that SP away. I havent done a lot (nowhere near what @wwf did) but am making progress...just delegated my third batch out.

Just keep passing it all on.....the compounding effect.

I did my third Golden Ambassador over the weekend and we announced it today. Hoping to keep adding a new one once a month now.

I don't let my VP drop below where it can charge back up in 24 hours. With the Debate Forum and the Stewards of Terra Mater, I want my vote to be as high as possible. But I also want to reward people for coming to visit and post meaningful comments on my posts as well. So does not give me much room to do much else. lol

I had 100% of my SP delegated yesterday, but I keep making more steem each day and so now it is down to 99. 8% and it will keep dropping until I find yet another individual to delegate towards.

We really are rewarded when we give. :) <3 Bravo to the two of you for working it through and paying it forward! whoooohooooo

It has taken some thinking to get to delegate to people. I was nervous, as you both know, but now I am good with it.

My plan is to keep doing what I'm doing, keep moving forward and upward and adding a new delegate every month so I can have 12 people in 2018, guiding and assisting new steemians.

Bravo! Good for you!

Young lady, you do a lot more than that. The @qurator account showers the platform with incredible upvotes that are extremely encouraging and you should be very proud. It's people like you that are essential for user retention...

Thank you! I am constantly on steemit looking for new members and quality posts. I love what I do for qurator and being a SOG for @fulltimegeek has been such a whirlwind experience.

Wow he called you "young lady".

That means I am a "young man" also. 😁

well, I am 49.. and have five grandchildren. Not so young here!

Hahaha, you're both young and enthusiastic in the eyes of all Steemians!

Right on your heels at 48...

I appreciate your mixed approach and the fact that you are supporting people who are trying to reach 1000 SP. This is the goal to which I aspire. I believe that this is the main goal to which every newcomer should strive. It is with 1000 SP that a serious "game" begins.
It's great support and you're doing a good job.
Whenever I reach 1000 SP, I will also encourage young users. After all, as the wise saying goes: "when we give - we get"
Thank you for your good informative article.

1000 SP will be serious money at some point in my estimation. That is why I felt it a figure that is important to get to. Those with 1K SP will easily have 100K at some point...potentially $1M if things go right.

Thank you for your support.

I agree with you, before I was engaged in investing in US stocks, but now I switched more to Steemit and crypto-currencies. I look at things from the position of the investor (long-term investor). In my opinion, STEEM is an asset that manifests itself and constantly invests in the Steemit and increase the power of the voice - this is promising

The returns in crypto are much greater and going to create enormous wealth over the next couple years. I agree that STEEM appears to be one that will be a total winner. The potential is absolutely sensational. We could well see 4 figures off this.

If that happens, everyone who is active on here now will be a very happy camper.

Time is the ally...use it to build up as many tokens as possible.

I agree with your words, time is our ally and the most important resource of any person. We must use time and invest wisely.
That's why some of the money earned here, I spend on increasing the power of voice.
Now my voice is small, but I will work further (to create content and comments) that would speed up the process of increasing the strength of voice.
Thank you

It is neat to see the problems that the people have with alot of steem power. When you are just getting started all you can think about is "man it would be nice to have a vote that was worth something" but when you get there i can see from your post life doesn't get easy it gets more complicated. Very informative post.

It seems like you and I are doing many similar things. I come from the "spreading the wealth" camp but during these last ~11 days or so, when I've been trying to recover some VP, I have started to upvote less content, but with a higher percentage.

This week's report by Asher will probably look different than the previous ones... But I'm totally fine with that. Because, even if I continue to "spread the wealth" like I did prior to the VP recovery, the votes will still be worth more than before. So it's a win/win either way. At least to me.

Many different ways to approach it @hitmeasap.

That is what is wonderful about it all...there is no single way to approach it. Some prefer hitting up a ton of people which will motivate them while others like to lay a nice big fat up vote only on a few people. It all works out in the end....

As long as we are using our VP, we are spreading the wealth.

That is very true. I'm still trying to find "my way" so to speak and I'll shortly start to delegate my own SP to "pay it forward" and to help others to grow a little bit. I will probably give them a few higher percentage upvotes on a daily basis or so too, to help them grow a little bit faster. I mean, the end game for me here, or the dream scenario, is to pay it forward and help others, so they can help others too in the future.