There is no doubt the mindset changes when you bring money in to any equation. You may want to read Pre-suasion to get the full picture but in essence, people's motivation to do anything as soon as money is involved drastically changes. There should be no mention of money at all when advertising this platform but rather focus on the social elements.
It took me a while to shake off the mindset about posting for "money" (I've only ever powered up so don't consider anything as earnings here) and go back to doing it for the social aspect with any payouts considered as "a bonus".
Then joining communities and feeling like you're part of something really helps keep me motivated. I'm sure that's why people stay past the "6 months make-or-break stage"?
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I think we see this place through pretty similar lenses @nickyhavey; the rewards, to me, are definitely nice, but they basically represent a sort of long-term savings account that may (or may not) end up building to where it has a fair amount of value... some day.
I definitely recognize there is money involved... which actually inspires me to do a better job, because I am a firm believer in the idea that if I get paid for something I should provide value. Which evidently is "backwards" to how many people approach Steem.
Seeing what I have seen here — in terms of community spirit and connections made — now makes my primary motivation to do what ever I can to help make this venue "look good" so more people will be authentically attracted to the idea of being part of it.
Nice idea with the "Making it look good" side of things but seems there are people with big accounts on here looking to destroy it for their own gains. Pity as it may just wreck any long term prospects despite best efforts of the majority who use steem for good
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Yes, there are always "destroyers" everywhere... I see you've found the crosshairs of one of them. It's one of the ways this reminds me a bit of Reddit, which is a site I never liked much....
It was only a matter of time they came for me mate but que sera sera hey! Life's worth more than getting pent up about some upvotes/flags from bots. Steem isn't my only source of income from my blogs (crypto or otherwise) and I've earned my 1,300 steem, 64.3 rep through providing content that has been curied, curated by manual communities. As soon as an app comes out for one of these other sites, I'll probably switch my engagement focus for obvious reasons 😉
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I know you're pretty active with @steemitbloggers and I also know you don't get in that door unless you have something of substance to offer!
I am grateful for much of what I have learned and accomplished here, and I plan to continue helping build this venue as long as there seems to be a good reason to do so.