In my short time in the Steemit community I've seen a few big 'whale wars' and drama around certain topics. We are not going to talk about any of them in this post. Instead, we will be looking at how taking part in the drama affects us and our blog.
Most of the users on Steemit are minnows or super fresh newbies trying to make a name for themselves. It is best that those of us who are looking to grow our blogs don't get involved. This does not equate to me saying that the whale should not downvote, because the downvote is an important part of this platform.
If two or more choose to downvote each other into oblivion, that is their choice. From what I can gather, these wars and dramas never start out with the intention of getting out of control. It is the rest of us that blow these events to more than they need to be.
Below is a list of four reasons all minnows and anyone looking to grow their blog should avoid any drama that arises on Steemit. There will always be downvotes and someone will always be offended by that downvote. It is our job to keep our distance from the action. The less we talk about it, the smaller these events will seem.
1. Risk Of Enormous Downvotes
This is the most obvious of them all. When a person gets involved in any Steemit drama or 'whale war,' they run the risk of being downvoted into oblivion. If the downvotes are large enough, it may be impossible to recover. This is more likely to happen the lower the reputation of your account.
When an account's reputation gets too low, the posts they make become hidden. They may still display if the reader clicks the button. The reason this is an issue is that when Steemit hides a post, it tells the potential reader that the author probably produces low-quality content.
Even if we make the best post the internet has ever seen, we will still come off as a poor content creator. Simply because we got involved in some Steemit drama which led to massive downvoting from whatever side disagreed with us. Do yourself a favor and don't risk your account.
2. Formation Of Enemies
Participating in any Steemit drama will make us more enemies than we would naturally. There is never a way to please everyone, and we all will gain a few people that just don't like us. This happens more and more as our account grows because some people hold onto a lot of jealousy.
However, when we add our two cents to some Steemit drama, we end up picking a side. This in turn makes everyone on the other side your enemies by default. Why would we want to potentially make fifty percent of all Steemians our enemies? Seems ridiculous and a great way to shoot our progress in the foot.
The only upside is that if your post gets a lot of traction, then the side you agree with may become a support beam for you. But this is never a guarantee. If the support does not come, we may find ourselves with a lot of downvotes and enemies. Both of which we would not have if we kept the two cents to ourselves.
It is best to give ourselves the advantage by not getting involved in such drama. Don't be foolish and create enemies that would not be your enemies otherwise. By picking a side, we alienate a large number of people. These very people might have become huge fans of your blog, but since you don't side with their 'team' in the day's Steemit drama, they ignore you.
3. Loss Of Productivity & Focus
This one is a bit less tangible than the first two, but is still important. By keeping our focus on whatever Steemit drama is happening that day, we cannot focus on our blog. This creates a dip in our productivity and we get less done for our blog's growth.
Our goal needs to always be more growth for our blog and content. More growth leads to more views on our work, which leads to more income. We need focus to achieve this long-term growth. If we spend all our energy on some 'whale war,' we will have no willpower to create awesome content.
Willpower is a finite resource that we receive each day. I read a book a while back that explained this concept. The idea is that our actions are determined by a few things such as willpower and emotions. The author mentioned that our willpower is like a man riding an elephant. For a while, the man can steer the elephant and make the beast go where he chooses.
However, if the elephant does not want to head in a direction, it can overpower the man on top. This is how our willpower works. Every day we get a set amount, and once it is gone there is no way to get it back. It is smart to use the willpower we have each day to grow our blog and not add to the drama.
4. Underachievement
Number three leads us here: underachievement. By using up all our willpower on whatever Steemit drama is happening that day, we end up not achieving that day's goal. Missing today's goal pushes off tomorrow's goal and so on. We end up with a domino effect of unproductive days.
Even if we don't have a specific goal to reach that day, it is not good for the mindset. My goal for the year as I write this is to hit five thousand Steem Power by the end. If I were to spend my time in any drama, fighting for a side, I would not be able to add the focus to these posts. That would lead me to earn less, and then not hit my goal for the year.
Keep Growing On The Sidelines
By distancing ourselves, we are able to watch the events unfold and escape the mess without a scratch. If two people need to 'duke it out,' then let them. Just stand back, let the dust settle, keep calm, and carry on.
Steemit drama and 'whale wars' will always happen, and that is fine. It is on us to not make them some big event to focus on. Instead, we must put our full effort into creating the best content we can for the Steemit community. That is how we keep Steemit amazing and bringing in new creators.
Thanks For Reading!
If you have a topic that you would like me to cover and share what I learned over the last ten years of blogging please let me know!
Other Posts In The Series:
Using Journals To Improve Our Blog
How To Leverage Criticism To Improve Your Blog
Simple SEO Techniques To Unlock Exposure
How To Stay Motivated As A New Blogger
Simple Networking Skills To Unlock Success
lots of good information for newbies on steemit
good points! steemit, differently by mainstream social media (FB), is driven by content and collectivity, there will be dramas in the future for sure until the platform will adapt itself, but as you suggested better don't be involved because creativity will be affected...individual creativity and different streams of thoughts are what make steemit unique.
I totally agree! It is in our best interest to focus on our work if we want to make the best content we can.
I have commented on this topic so many times I thought I would put together a short article. Tell me what you think sir. Thanks again for the great work @jrswab!
https://steemit.com/steemit/@cryptkeeper17/hey-newbie-welcome-to-the-facebook-rapture-we-are-happy-your-content-has-relocated
This is not facebook or regular social media, but rather THE RAPTURE OF (ANTI) SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS. Agreed. Another reason to avoid drama, it is a contagious and highly flammable disease of the personality, often resulting in loserdom if around it or parttaking in it. thanks @jrswab!
Hi @jrswab
Thanks for this fantastic post. It is right on the money. I got caught up on the fringe of one of these "whale wars" the other day, and it was a big mistake. I didn't dive in deep enough to offend anyone, but point 3 you raise above certainly derailed my blog for a couple of days. While the risk of creating enemies and attracting down votes is real, for me the biggest threat is distraction and demotivation.
This is a really well written piece. I also like the look of some of the other titles in your catalogue so I'll be sure to browse through those as well.
Thank you for the comment! There is a place for some people to take care of this stuff but us small bloggers are not the ones to do so. <3
It's scary to think that people can easily destroy a person's reputation for whatever reason they choose? Legit or not. Is there no control over this sort of behaviour?
It is a decentralized platform so there is no authority to penalize malicious down-voting.
It is just sad that you have to be afraid that by saying something wrong or voicing your (in case of minnows very insignificant) opinion, you risk getting annihilated by somebody.
This is bullying and should not belong to a modern world.
I can see why this may come off that way. There is no need to be afraid of the potential kick back if we choose to stay out of the drama. Maybe it is just the way I am that I keep most of my opinions to myself anyway.
Thanks for the comment <3
"Willpower" is an interesting name to give to what I'd just call "energy" or "attention," though I guess it serves as a combination of both.
It's the same old "Open Loop" again. It's not just your blog and writing that will suffer, but you're even going to be thinking about it while doing things on other sites, or offline. Your entire day can be ruined by involvement in whale wars. I mean, if your account is new enough, you can just make a new one to counter points 1-2, but there's no price for a ruined day.
Yes for super new accounts it is not a big deal. My perspective is framed with the view of building a brand growing a blog. If my account got downvoted due to a whale war there is no way i'd be able to create a new account and stay in line with my branding. These kinds of posts are meant to help people create a meaningful blog for their content.
<3
Oh, for sure. I'm just saying it to put it into perspective. People think of "my day is ruined" as something that's low-scale, but the quality of life loss from being involved in an internet drama can suck an entire week away, impacting your interactions with friends, family, and colleagues, and extend far more than just delaying your blog progress by a week or so.
Things, not just people, can be emotional vampires.
Yeah you make a good point. I'm not going to say which whale war I've been following but I think you can guess when I say it involves a Greedy bot general. My gut always told me not to get involved, but I simultaneously feel guilty for not because I don't like whats going on. Anyway I guess maybe the way "fight back" is to simply act in the spirit of why steemit was created in the first place and just focus on making genuine content and adding thoughtful comments to posts that are interesting. Thanks for posting this.
Yes! I do believe that if we all just ignored the drama that it would never last more than a day or two. At least from our point of view. Thanks for the comment!
Yeah some flag wars are just unreal. Although I think sooner or later I will be in the middle of some drama. Lol luckily for me I am a small user and people dont care about me now lololol
Great article stating facts of the matter, i agree its best to let the handlers handle and we stick together as a community and help each other to progress, what is, is, best not to risk anything trying to change the game. Be well bro ✊ @jrswab
Yes! There are users here that have that responsibility to police the STEEM blockchain but we are not those people. Thanks for the comment <3
There's also a fifth reason: your comment/downvote/upvote/support/rage won't matter a tinker's curse. Reason is not winning out in these situations.
P R E A C H !
Hi, I am officially a new fan! I found you when I was tumbling around in the various feeds - your name pops up quite often! I had to see for myself what all the fuss is. Needless to say, I get it.
You are an eloquent thought provoker. I LOVE the way you break up the concept into bite size pieces and tie it all together so it truly feels like your topic was thoroughly covered and the writing feels complete. That’s a major skill! Thanks for adding positive advice to the sea of content. It matters! Great value to the whole community and platform.
🦋⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🦋
Thank you for the kind words! I will continue to do my best <3
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Amazing post @jrswab thanks for sharing
Good advice on steering clear from the drama and focus on productive posts!
Drama? What drama? ;)
hahahaha
Thank you for sharing this outlook.
I have seen a few flare ups between some of the big guys.
It was a bit concerning about the longevity of this platform.
Luckily, there are good people will strong resolve.
:)
Save the drama for Twitter.
Some time i go through by the same way of thinking but what is the solution my dear we are the passanger of same boat i will be very happy if you can guide us towards safe and prosperious way for steemit what is FLAG is it the toll that is used by whale to send small people down to basic level ?? what do you say about flags ...?
it is very good post in my opinion just find out the way???
I'll make a post about flagging and why it is good for Steem as a whole. <3
thank you for your time please post that link into reply box
best wishes for you
Good post. I try to avoid drama. But sometimes it can be difficult