From now on, 20% of all earnings on this blog will go back to you-- the ones who actually engage with me and others who have read any of my content.
Since the last hardfork, things have changed a lot. Engagement has taken a hit, and the few decent comments I do get seem to be hidden amidst a ton of spam.
To be completely honest, I am losing the desire to create content while it seems that so few people are even viewing it, so I have come up with an idea that I hope will bring some more attention to my blog and the message I am promoting.
To encourage attention and engagement on my blog, I have decided that from this post going forward, 20% of all earnings made on every one of my posts will go back to those who interacted with my content. This applies to each and every future post of mine-- unless it clearly states otherwise in the post.
The rewards will be paid as follows;
10% of the payout(20% of the SBD) will go the best comment on every post.
10% of the payout(20% of the SBD) will go to one random person who resteemed that particular post.
I am currently working on a method to prove that it is a random resteemer selected each time to receive 10%, but when it comes to the comments, I don't trust voter abuse and so it will always be my subjective opinion. I may choose the most insightful comment, or I may just choose the funniest one. I may even choose a troll if their comment makes me laugh and there's nothing better to reward.
I am curious to see how this change will effect my blog, and if it works, it may be a good way for others to encourage engagement on their own steemit blogs.
This change is now in effect, so I encourage you to resteem this post to spread the word. You or one of your followers may just earn something from it.
I hope to be engaging with many of you soon-
I do highly appreciate your effort to engage the audience @son-of-satire. I hope you will succeed, but even if you don't, it will be a useful info of reaction to — in essence — rewarding better curation work.
That's the best way to look at it I think. Thanks for your comment!
Also, I will probably do a follow up post on how this went in a few weeks, so we will see if it was beneficial at all at the point.
There once was a noble man...a humble man who came to be known as King Son-of-Satire. In his humble beginnings he stumbled upon a large sword embedded in stone deep within the Steemit forest. Many before him tried but could not remove the sword.
However, the Steem was strong with young Son-of-Satire and he removed the glimmering blade from it's stone confines...fulfilling a prophecy that made him King. The people of Steemit rejoiced as the newly crowned King showered them with gifts of Steem and SBDs.
Most took only what they needed but from the shadows crept out those looking to take advantage of King Son-of-Satire's generosity...willing to trample on the weak to get what they want.
Wise as always, King Son-of-Satire already knew the sword he drew from the stone was double-edged. The king reared his mighty sword and struck down the greedy with a well-worded comment. The majority then knew to retreat back to the shadows but a few persisted. The King had no choice other than to strike them down with the ferocity of his feared flag.
The kingdom lived happily ever after as the remaining spammers and scammers fled for the hills in shame!
Lol. Well that wasn't half-creative. You have me thinking about my novel now. How can I make an allegorical reference to the #waronspam ? lol.
I'll figure it out..
The land of Steemit had fallen on hard times. There were mass spamming's everywhere. Agoras, gladiator arenas, markets, crop fields, riversides ...nowhere was safe.
Legislators sought to ban automatic spamming, but they failed to realize the spam being used was only semi-automatic and was not technically classified as 'assault' spam like they loved to spew far and wide to brainwash the clueless peasants.
The kingdom became divided as they all regurgitated talking points from the daily headlines to each other. When intelligently questioned why they were for or against spam it seems neither side could conjure a logical response.
People shouted hateful things from the rooftops because others did not like their canned meat. They screamed until their faces were red with angst and their voting power was drained. They rested for a few days until continuing the pro-spam protests within the kingdom walls.
PS
The Libertarian Steemians are still living happily in their own community in the woods
The PS part of your post indeed.
It is a creative approach to a challenging problem. Interaction with readers is one of the most important and valuable aspects that Steemit possesses. Without discussion, both pro and con, posts are just pages in a diary. I hope this works out. If not, don't give up. Adapt, overcome, and conquer. There are still many people on the platform, you and I included, that work hard to provide thoughtful insights and consistently respond to readers comments.
Never. Stop. Engaging! It makes society better.
I'm with you 100%
I'm also currently developing a debate project which will encourage even more engagement within the community.
I decided to write You because your post really touched me (I don't mean earn for the comments here...no!) The key phrase from Your post: "to be completely honest, I lose the desire to create content, and it seems that so few people even watch it..." . The last two days exactly the same thought never leaves me. I am struggling to find a way to change that. To bring anything new. If even such a respected and popular person like You has less views than before. Then, compared to You, it turns out that I have a very bad case. Your attempt may not be successful! Anyway, I sincerely wish You this. Maybe it's the crisis of the genre :). (I'm trying to justify myself :)), but when there are five comments and two of them are spam or begging, then I want to drop everything and leave. I from the first day on steemit was Your follower and really want to change for the better. Only forward and only success!!! Thank you and resteem.
Yes I think we are all feeling it. Other than those who have guaranteed whale votes coming on every post, but they're always going to do fine regardless.
Your words have really made my day, so I thank you a lot for that. Perhaps there are still those out there who pay attention.
The most important thing is that for some people Your experimental idea may have seemed easy prey or attack You spammers. Time will tell! This needs to be spread in chat rooms and elsewhere. (God , how bad - do not know the language)
I understood just fine. Don't worry. And yes, I will try to promote it a little before I do my next post, just so that it will be a good test of what difference this might make.
@son-of-satire I just found your page as a result of a resteem and this post resonated with me. I'll stick around to see what you come up with on your blog. ☺
Stumbled across your post while I was searching for tutorials. It's too bad that spammers are inundating Steemit. I just joined about a month ago and I've been enjoying Steemit so far. Will check out your other posts and try to be active to help prove your random resteemer method.
I suppose without the memory of what it was like with next to no spam at all, the current state of Steemit is probably not as hard to stomach for newcomers. But if you are enjoying yourself then that's all that matters. Maybe I am just being a bit of a girl, but someone has to or the silence will be interpreted as permission for them to keep doing it.
Loving your posts @son-of-satire. Saw them in my feed resteemed by @tonyr and just followed you. I try not to follow too many people as the feed becomes too overwhelming to keep up with and frankly, I have better shit to do. Tell it like it is brother. I wrote about Steemit's originality in my second ever blog post from just a few weeks back (as I am just a wee minnow). I jumped over here because I want to inspire and empower people and Facebook was killing me with its drivel. But I am beginning to think Steemit wants to be the next Facebook when I see what is trending and making money. It seems like being a whale ensures you just keep making money whether it is "earned" or not. A lot of people are just posting content here they posted somewhere else first ("Internet celebrities" whose names I shall not utter). Others with SP post a stock photo and a few paragraphs about cryptocurrency or the blockchain and make tons of money. I was skeptical of social media anyway. Would really just love to meet some of you cool Steemians in person. F#*k people who are only in it for the money. Their empty lives will haunt them on their deathbed, because unless I am mistaken, you can't take it with you anyway. The only thing that is real is who we are. Full stop. Give your Steem to people who really need it: find some worthy minnows or cash in some Steem and start a cool community project. Much ❤️!
Pretty much my sentiments to be fair. I like the idea of succeeding together, because I don't think some people doing great and more people doing shite amounts to success in my book. Especially not when a lot of the most original content is coming from those who are making pennies.
I keep hearing the word wee today. Are you from Scotland?
No, from the US, haha. Just like the word. Yes, success to me is when everyone does well. If Steemit cannot keep getting people on the platform to create and curate content, won't it ultimately fail and Steem go into the crapper? Then how will the Whales fare then? Just wondering because I have been noticing a lot of discontent on here. I did not expect to get rich, but I think a lot of people would like to feel like their work was valued in some way (and that for most people is not money but reader engagement and appreciation). People just want to be heard.
How to quantify engagement? If anything, I would guess that there is more commenting activity since HF19, but a lot of them being two or three word responses.
But readership and upvoting does seem to have dropped off rather dramatically. At least for the drivel I post. 😅
Yes, you're correct. My vocabulary is clearly insufficient for what I was attempting to say. But, it sounds like you know exactly what I'm talking about anyway..
I wish you success, but are you sure monetary motivation will attract the right people and not the opposite? (I don't pretend to the reward, just interested).
No, you're right. I know it will attract a lot of the wrong types. But, I thought about it, and if those "wrong types" go on to resteem the post and it finds the right kind, I call that win. Will have to see how it goes though.
I totally perplexed when people say things have gone down for them after hardfork 19
Here are some rough average figures for my posts - prior to the hardfork I was averaging about $4 a post. Since the hardfork more than $40. Votes are about the same, but now the people voting for me actually have some money. Yes views have dropped, but not that much.
For example one of the last posts I did before the hardfork got 200 views and paid $3. That was fairly typical.
A post I did last week got 100 views (so halved) but it paid $70 ( so 23 times as much). Comments have remained similar, and I'm getting very little spam. The only reason I'm not posting more is because it takes me hours to do a post and I haven't got enough time. I have got 260 post ideas noted down though!
Well I think you may be the exception. Most people I speak to are feeling it too.
One of my main motivations for posting is that I have a message I would like to share with the world. As you say, page views have dropped significantly since the last hardfork, in spite of their being a lot of new people.
I don't know if this is because no one cares about reading anymore and are just in it for a buck, or if it is that homefeeds have become so overwhelming that not even my followers are able to find my work amidst the work of the other 100's of people they follows. I follow less than 250 and I can't even nearly keep up, forcing me to actively type in the address of those whose work I would like to check up on.
But yes, it is the lack or viewership that I am most bothered by. I would love to make good money too, but I think I accepted a long time ago that I will never make a ton on this account, as too many fuckers with all the influence think I'm a cunt for calling them cunts. Lol.
I'm glad it is going well for you though. And I too have a massive list of articles I want to write at some point. Most of them came to me when I was high though, and I written them down shorthand, so have no idea what the fuck they even mean lol
I think I've always had bugger all people reading anything I posted - used to be I got 100 votes but only 20 actual views.
So I just post stuff for myself and if it gets 10x the payout I'm happy.
But I do always check wallet sizes before calling anyone a cunt :)
I've noticed that half the cunts on Steemit make indignant squeeking noises about "piracy" so it was great to see you mention it.
I seem to be the go to source for movies software and TV for everyone I know so I download about 200gb of "illegal "stuff a month . But when people spazz out about copying and pasting an image, I usually don't mention my hobby of piracy
I'm feeling the same way you do @son-of-satire. After HF19, engagement has been down dramatically. It's a shame that you have to resort to paying people to read good content, but apparently that's what it's come down to.
I didn't really see it that way, because it is the people who engage with my posts who are technically paying me. But, now that you put it that way. I do feel like the uncool kid at school who wants to buy everyone's friendship with free sweets. Lol.
I see your point, it's more of a shared earning relationship. Want some candy...
I hope you can get more people to view your posts. I am also having the same problem
Seems like a good way to get your audience engaged. I am writing this just in case you had to send the reward to @shaikrafiq (since it was the only comment at the time I posted). But, other than that, I hope you get a good response.
Haha. Thanks for that, because I would not want to pay a spammer, but hate to break my word tens times more. That was thoughtful as fuck. Cheers-
No worries, thoughtful as fuck, just as always. I see they be flocking to it already so it is sorted. Got a fair amount for your random pick test. All the best!
Yes, and surprisingly, all but one seem to have actually read the post before commenting. This shit may very well be working..
Just goes to prove that financial incentives don't always attract the most deeply engaging audience but rather people looking for a chance to get their hands on those incentives. That, and also there are many fake, bot like, accounts. Everyone want to create but, with consuming...they are not that fond of.
Unfortunately have to agree.
¨Create good original content¨ they said.
¨Start blogging about your life, add pictures, post daily¨ they said.
¨You´ll make more money than with your fiat blog¨ they said.
So I did.
And what did I get? Spambots and 0.02$. Fantastic.
I´ll stick to my regular blog for now, at least I get value out of readers who ACTUALLY READ my posts and appreciate them.
Not sure if Steem will survive.
Resteeming out of principle.
I have also noticed I've lost quite a bit of reader engagement. At first, like many people, I was very excited about hard Fork 19 because I am a minnow and my vote became worth about $1.00.
It had previously been worth about $0.03. However, it did not take long for the rewards pool to drain. I usually make a few dollars per post but my last one only earned $0.89.
Many of my friends are concerned about the lack of fun on here lately and they are not feeling it anymore. As I see the price of Steem sit steady at about $1.20 that truly concerns me.
Everyone is hoping for that $10 Steem. I think a lot of us now are also hoping that nothing is permanently broken. Things definitely don't feel the same as they did a couple of months ago. I think this thread is a good idea though. Here's to engagement.
I'm not commenting for the reward so please select someone else. I just want to say that when I saw votes and engagement drop I decided to be the change I wanted to see. My votes are up slightly, but I am receiving the most rewards from the comment section. I have discovered really awesome new people and have had so much fun! Your initiative is a good one though, if it gets people to move out of their comfort zones.
Glad you have managed to find a way to counter the negative effects of the latest hardfork. Hopefully this one works for me too.
And I am afraid the rules are very clear, and it is my own subjective opinion, so you are not disqualified from potential selection simply because you want to be. Lol.
🤑😂
This is an interesting approach. I will be curious to see how it will work out in terms of level of engagement, payout, and followers. :)
Yes, me too. Lol. Probably won't help, but I'll never know if I don't investigate.
That's right!! After a while, I hope you'll let us know how the experiment is going!! :)
I noticed my comments dropped off the last few days. Glad to know it's a site wide thing. I was starting to second guess my content.
For me this has been going on for a few weeks since I returned. Maybe it is just my content.. Lol.
I also noticed that engagement has dropped, maybe not only for the fork but also for August vacation and travelling. Making and contributing good quality posts on steemit is hard and takes time. It seems many are distracted from other things in this period.
I think we have a huge disparity between authors/readers. Meaning, we have all authors, and no readers. Lol. Hard to keep up with other content when you're creating a lot of your own. So it is understandable, but, still looking for ways to get more readers. If I want to talk to myself I can just lie down and do it, lol. I don't post on Steemit because I want to talk to myself though..
I'd say from the number of comments you're getting to your post, you could be on to an absolute winner of an idea! I wish I had been smart enough to think of it first, but that's just the story of my life!!
I haven't copyrighted the idea, and I wouldn't give a fuck if someone else had, so use the idea if you like.
But, this post actually has " SBD" in the title, so perhaps that's the only reason? Lol. I won't know until my next post, though I would like a way to easily show that the post pays those who engage with it.
Perhaps I will come up with a logo that links back to a post that explains the 20% giveaway. Then you or anyone else could also make use of the logo on posts that you want to give 20% away on. Could become a legit thing on Steemit that people do, like declining payout, only giving back some of the payout.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out. It may even be a winning strategy that the rest of us have to adopt in order to get some readership.
As we say in NZ 'It's worth a crack Nigel'.
I'll continue to comment on your posts as I get time, but count me out of your reward pool. You don't need to pay me to read your stuff. I already get a kick-back from the system when I upvote your posts. I'm happy with that.
Good luck with driving your real person readership up. Do you have any metrics of where you stand at the moment so you can compare in a months time or so?
It's the interactions that I get at steemit I'm most attracted too. I've been re introduced to Reiki people ( Panama has none ) all kinds of Homesteaders exchanging ideas and stories. Plus I have so many posts written into the blockchain to leave my Grandson to read in the future. Get to know his Grandpa better, maybe share it with his kids some day. So the first 7 days here and the pay is just a bonus for me.
That is why I write mosty Life/Travel stories of mine, to share :-)
Cheers My Friend
That is very kind of you, things have been pretty slow around here lately, hope things will change for the better soon :)
Well, I am not going to pretend I am doing this for the people who will make money from it. I am doing it more for myself, and to see if I can increase visibility of my posts, as their just getting overlooked right now, even with 1025 followers.
Think we are all in the same boat at the minute
Yeah... The fucking Titanic! Lol.
I hope not, I can't swim LOL
I hope that wasn't some damsel in distress type comment, because I am a shitty swimmer too. Lol. We're both fucked.
Yeah but i'm the woman so I get the door hahaha
Still most of the people will interact with you for the 20% and not for the content itself...
I don't doubt that a few will. But if their words have meaning, I can forgive it. I mean, as it stands, how do you know someone who leaves you a comment isn't just doing it for money, for exposure or to get you to visit their blog?
So this won't be much different.
Exactly, it is just the same as it is now... Only difference is you are giving aditional rewards, which is cool i guess :D :D
Also i think the HF19 effect thing was just temporary, soon or later things must get back to normal... Whales and dolphines should keep supporting good content...
The most consistent thing about Steemit is that it's constantly changing. Things have been worse, and things have been better, but I still invariably blame my own 'crummy headline' choice, or time of my posting being wrong, exactly like I've always done here, going from elation to despair in predictably erratic eddies. I therefore predict that good times are coming soon, according to the chaotic patterns!
The actual good side of this fork-over is that I've been compelled to get out and visit in comments on other blogs more as a result of the desperate loneliness of my own page lately, and I'm having more fun this way already. Even a grouchy old recluse like me needs some interaction, and I can't stand hearing myself blabber on for very long.
I'm not sure why, but I don't believe you. For some reason, if I had to bet that there was another Steemian out there who could enjoy a conversation with their self as much as with anyone else, my money would be on you.
I have no idea how I came to this conclusion. My brain deduces shit that I cannot keep up with. But would I be entirely wrong to think that you have a very good imagination? The kind that is able to prevent one from experiencing this emotion that normal people call "loneliness?"
haha no I get bored with my own chatter pretty quickly, I used to do it on Wordpress, pretending that anybody was actually seeing my work there. I do have an active imagination, and have been told that I live in a world of fantasy, but all of the characters in that world are made-up, and they all sound like me, and they agree with me way too often!
Haha. Sounds like you have the resources available, but have yet to put them to work. I apologise then for being presumptuous, and I thank you too, because your comment inspired me to finally write a post I have been thinking about doing for a while.
I really like your idea. If only there was an app that would let you automate this sharing of rewards. If doing it for every post gets too much you could try monthly or weekly payouts. I hope you post updates on this. I would love to hear how your getting on with it.
It is funny. A social media platform where people are actually getting paid by interacting with other users, has this 68 rep user coming up with strategies to encourage these people - who are already getting paid - to engage in a meaningful way with his content. Content that is actually on the top 1% quality wise and with enough insight to kick those photo or travel posts ass out there.
Puzzling times we are living in huh?
Meanwhile, somewhere out there, a meme post is getting upvoted to trending.
When did we become facebook?
Yo, I feel the urge to discuss projects with you. I don´t even know about what but I just feel I should. Got any discord?
We are getting there. All we need now is a ton of half naked women to turn up and spam the new feed with provocative selfies expecting to get paid for it.. And they probably will. Then we will be no different at all from any other social media platform.
Yes. I have a server for the debate project we're just finalizing, here's a link.
https://discord.gg/DAD8Tca
Good stuff,good luck, good approach, good, good idea - hope it engages
I think this is a great idea I applaud you for it. Only thing might happen with a single winner per post is some competition to impress you. Whereas split the profits equally or per word would be fairer. We need an app for this! :)
It's kind of sad that real content creator have to do this to call attention. Im a newbie in here but really love to create content and is the first time I do it for a Blog and I can see what you are saying. Hope I knew about Steemit one year ago... What do you really think this kind of mess will come? Greetings!
Hii friend I have upvoted u so plzz follow & upvote me @shaikrafiq
You can't help yourself @shaikrafiq. Everywhere I go on steemit today, there you are in the comments, dropping a pile of Spam on someones post. Either engage the author of close your account. Enough with your crap.
Well said. Lol. Now go tell the other 10,000 of them...
lol. I'm starting to think all of the spam is coming from one account. It all reads the same way. One dick who has 2k accounts just botting us out of our minds.
I postulated a very similar theory not too long ago. Not so much, all of them. But, 90%+ could very easily come from an advanced bot that literally creates new accounts, pulls data from the internet to post, and then just cycles through a selection of random comments to post on random new pieces. But who would be that much of a prick?
There are plenty of disaffected people out there that love nothing more than ruining everyone else's good time. One of my brothers is like that. He wasn't very popular in high school and failed to go to the prom. He'll never be happy with himself, therefore he enjoys making others unhappy. Weird.
Haha. Don't drag me into a domestic, mate. Lol.
But yeah, I know the types you mean. "Complainers" I call them. Always looking for something to be pissed off about, or for others to be as pissed off as them. I try to avoid such negativity if I can. It can affect even my mood at times, which is typically very good.