It is pretty funny that the two of us are basically friends and feel the same way about things but do not write on the same topics or find personal quality in the same post that we read.
He made a pretty long winded post on Python that was very well written and easy to follow all while being very easy to follow. I read it, I didn't give a fuck about Python, found no personal use in the information provided in the post to be used by me personally.
I upvoted it, it was well done, it was informative, he knew his shit and that post in turn could help someone who wished to learn Python. To me that is value, it didn't matter that it was of no use to me personally. Steemit is a platform about sharing with the community.
He wasn't trying to get people to join a group, become a member of some discord channel or sell them some service outside of the steemit platform or become his follower on youtube or twitter. He provided a quality post that was a learning tool for anyone to find during the seven days it could be upvoted or in two years from now.
This is blockchain, this is eternal. Crypto post about pump and dump groups, or what coin did you buy this week or where you ate your lunch are fucking junk. They tend to fill hot and trending and the best advice I can give to any user is, the faster you learn there is no such thing as hot and trending those sections are mislabeled and should be called bought and paid for so people do not get confused on what quality is and what makes a good member of the community.
The hot and trending links at the top of the home page are a real problem for people who do not know that the shit at the top of the list is neither hot, trending or even worth reading 98% of the time.I am going to tell a true story here about the 1st week I met @geekpowered
I'm sure there are overlaps in our interests, just not the majority of what I talk about on here so far.
I have wanted to do that python book/series for a long time. Unfortunately I pushed myself too hard, and as a result every time I even think about working on it, I get filled with dread.
I didn't think I was going to make anywhere near that amount on it. I hoped I would make a bit. I came here to make content I want to make, and get paid to do it, without having to deal with an editor, even if it means making less. I didn't really expect to be writing so much fiction though.
I hope I'm adding value. At least at times. Other times I'm just treating it like a social network, and posting fun memes I don't expect to earn anything, but hope people like.
I don't really think about adding value to the platform directly. Neither when I'm posting or when I'm voting. I view this as a type of social network more than some it seems. I think it's alright to post normal thinks occasionally. I even somewhat enjoy making rants. But I don't expect them to earn a lot. Quite a few of them have earned more than I expected.
When I'm voting, I judge based on effort, quality (on multiple levels), enjoyability, etc. I totally upvote some everyday posts, because I do think they're an integral part of here. Blogs started as journals of sorts for many people. Theoretically I can imagine a blog about going to get a coffee and a danish that would totally be worth voting 100% at my old power, but in actuality, many of them are shit. I remember a post that actually made me unfollow someone, where they just took pictures of going to some stupid shot and talking about all the things they liked there. It sounded like a commercial for a random stupid shop. It felt like something anyone could do. There was no unique voice, and nothing of value.
Likewise, crypto posts should teach you the why, not just point out crap in such a perplexing way that even many that trade have trouble figuring out wtf you said.
I support "Hot" and "Trending" being placed in a sub menu, and more advanced algorythms being used. They're making enough, hire some fucking artificial intelligence experts FFS, so we can get recommended posts and whatever other algorythms they can come up with.
Or make a tab called promoted that any post which is paid to move it higher is placed. This needs to be done with post promoted on the steem promote which DESTROYS the SBD to get the post seen as well as with people promoting with SBD that they get back in an bought vote. One is trickery promotion only able to be used by those recycling the same money and those spending their money to be heard because they think their post is worth paying to promote.