I absolutely love and appreciate everything you've stated.
First point:
There should definitely be accountability. A verbal agreement is still an agreement. If people sponsored someone and they reneged, those funds should be refunded unless that was part of the agreement. At the end of the day we've only really got our integrity.
Second point:
There really is no one telling you what to do here. Sometimes you get money out of your contribution, sometimes you don't.
Yup. I tell everyone that I try to bring in that there is a potential to earn but have NO EXPECTATIONS. I've personally put in an Herculean effort to get where I am and my payouts range from under a dollar to maybe $30-something. I don't have anything to complain about! It's more than what I'd be making anywhere else on the internet. And frankly, the people here are smarter.
Third Point:
CONTENT might be subjective, but FORMATTING is not.
Those who put the effort to make a nice presentation of their post, regardless of their content is QUALITY to me. They are the ones who use titles, tags, headers, and white space thoughtfully. THEY CARE. It is like house hunting. Look at the bones of the house: foundation, roof, solid walls, good electrical & plumbing. Everything else can be changed and modified with a little paint and purchase.
So, @kevinwong, thank you for your honesty. From the other comments, we are not alone in how we feel about Steemit. :)
Spoken like a true writer/editor :) do you work in the field?
I completely agree with the importance of formatting! There's definitely a way to present your ideas to make them accessible/interesting to the community.
Hi @avantmidi - I've been writing nearly all my life but worked 7 years as the manager, editor, writer, and paginator of the obituary department in a mid-sized daily newspaper. Imagine screwing up in that field? LOL
It's a sort of game I play... Let's call it the split-second game. If I opened a post and none of the formatting was there...or if I took the picture/video away, does it still catch my eye? If it does, I continue to read - usually upvoting and commenting. If it doesn't - I click away. (I don't think I've used the flag button since I've been here - not even on my one troll. LOL)
Haha I imagine you triple-checked your text before sending it out for printing... anyway, it shows in the way you express yourself.
I've been an editor for a university's online publications about 4 years now, and have come to appreciate more and more how much impact a slight visual shift could have on text!
Just followed your work. Looking forward to reading more!
Thank you @avantmidi! I'll be looking at your work as well.
And let me tell you... There is almost NOTHING worse than printing: There will be a PUBIC viewing in an obit - or calling one's brother a BOTHER. Oh boy, have I got stories. LOL
Hahaha... I can imagine you have some stories! One also wonders how much of those slips are Freudian :P