Since I got invited to participate of Steem, I've spent a lot of my time studying how people interact. What the successful users do in comparison to the ones who are struggling to grow. I should say that as much as I have certain conclusions on the subject, I'm not entirely sure there is a specific formula that works most of the time.
Maybe, its because of this that many users give up. The path to a successful blog, is nothing anyone can truly guarantee or even teach us specifically. I started watching many videos on the subject and came to find a lot of "power users" making promises that were unrealistic simply to attract people to the platform.
No doubt this approach is a double edge sword, meaning that most of the users who would join Steem thinking they would make thousands of dollars, would end up leaving and possibly bad mouthing the platform. Now, I do understand these promoters, in the sense that in order for you to sell something, you can't start with cautionary tales and caveats, but I'm hesitant to call them a net positive for the future of Steem.
Since my early days on the platform, I've changed my mind quite a bit. Not only through researching some of the claims made by some of the power users, but also because of a deeper understanding of the technology and the proposition of value behind it.
It becomes apparent to me that most users of the platform can't effectively think of Steem as the ultimate solution for making income online and this fact might not change anytime soon.
I was reading the white paper a few days ago and found myself stuck at this particular paragraph. This to me was an indication that my efforts to curate the comment section of this blog and engage in dialogue, not only feels right to me, but its also the correct thing to do for the health of the platform.
The naive voting process creates a N-Person Prisoner’s Dilemma whereby each individual voter has incentive to vote for themselves at the expense of the larger community goal. If every voter defects by voting for themselves then no currency will end up distributed and the currency as a whole will fail to gain network effect. On the other hand, if only one voter defects then that voter would win undeserved profits while having minimal effect on the overall value of the currency.
After reading this, I started to look into other authors, and found many of the "power users" ignoring the readers and commenters. I can't help but to ask, Do they know and not care? or are they oblivious?
I guess time will tell, but for now, I'll keep on my path....
Wonderful insights again, @chbartist, thanks for that! And thanks for keeping on your path, as it is the right one, no doubt.
See, those "power users" that self-vote and neglect the audience are not oblivious, nor do they not care. To only mind your own income is the normal way of thinking and acting, as harsh as that sounds, for them. The difference between them and us is that they see Steemit as an income-opportunity and we see it as a social platform to interact with other people, with the income only being a nice side-effect. With that attitude the platform as a whole and the reward-pool as a whole benefits most, so all can share the fruits. With the purely capitalist attitude of regarding ones own gains only, the reward-pool as a whole doesn't grow, and nobody would benefit financially.
This is the same way the economy works off-chain; must of us are just social creatures who don't have to be extraordinarily rich to be happy, to be able to share our joys and griefs with our loved-ones and friends. And then there's a totally self-interested greedy few that benefit from the reward-pool unjustly because the reward-pool hasn't grown because of them, but because of the normal living masses. Same thing. No difference. So what you describe here is yet another way to show that no economic model, no monetary solution, no decentralized public blockchain shall save us from this. Mentality has to change, and you, as well as @meno and a few others I've met on Steemit, do a great job setting the right example. Thank you @chbartist! :-)
@zyx066 Like a year ago, good content was always in good circulation and now it's not worth sharing an excellent post without the use of bid bots.
This is exactly why I think its important to put this message out there.
I'm so glad you found that out also @chbartist. Just a while ago, I learnt that voting oneself isn't healthy. When I first joined this platform, as I was told, I only came to make money--quick. But, as time goes on and I learnt more, I realised that the powerful people simply gets more powerful and that just a few like you are willing to help and encourage new users. Let me also use the opportunity to thank you for your interactions, encouragement and most importantly, your useful and valuable post!
Hey, Brazil draws with Switzerland!!!
it was an intense game, no doubt!
😀😀😀
thanks for that..its really good..
I guess time will tell, but for now, I'll keep on my path....
I took around 1 hour a day to compensate and responds to the people who take the time to leave comments on my Steemit blog.
The bit about people voting for themselves and not voting for others and thus making the store of value not have a lot of worth was interesting.
How do you think we overcome this?
Luppers
I don't really have an answer, but I guess it starts with us. If you are not curating your comments (im not accusing, im just making a point) then you are not setting the example neither.
It's a self-correcting problem over time though...
Some ways it might change:
New money comes in and the current stakeholders are just built into the economy.
The price falls and new people buy in and change the culture or the price comes down enough average users can and will buy stake.
People understand that the Steem is the blockchain token and they build Platforms and SMTs for purist content sites and interaction.
The distribution is getting better and that should help spread steem around to more hands, with more visions.
I hope you are right, I haven't been here long enough to have enough context.
The platform works like the russa roulette. If you are lucky you are voted and if they do not kill you, they ignore you
lol, pretty much exactly the way any entertainment field that includes money! We didn't quit being human when we came to steem. :) Cheers.
in steem you find the key of success.
hats off you.@chbartist
I try to stay away from users who refuse to engage or/and reward their followers. I think it is selfish of people to focus solely on their blogs and not care about other users on the platform
Agreed, i think they must have a heavy rotation of followers. People giving up reading, and new ones showing up hoping for engagement and giving up soon after.. maybe.
If power users do so,,, soon new users stop reading them. And the whole system wouldn't work properly.
Great post. I agree, too many people on this platform are focused on their own content, and not on the community. There are lots of loopholes for self-promoting posts, but I strongly believe that healthy organic engagement and interaction will pervail, or so I hope.
I believe in the engagement too, if not what would this be? it would make little sense otherwise
Agreed. Keep up the great work!
I think there is diversity like in any group. Maybe those that have become power users were naturally more inclined to focus on generating income; however, I do see examples of people working together for community benefit.
I think Steem is a good thing and am excited to see it grow.
Well said sir. U deserve my salute
There is no short cut to success..people who are looking for quick success this platform is not for them...
Excelente publicación, la plataforma también permite la interacción a través de las publicaciones, esa debería ser la finalidad , pero en muchos casos no se da así, @chrbartist.
In recent times I have read many posts of people concerned about the fate of Steemit, apparently the erroneous practices of many users are distorting the initial idea of the platform and that is serious and worrying, for those who have invested here and also for the new ones we want to continue in it. I think it is important that you value the interaction with the people who vote and comment, because that is what gives this network a different feature.
I keep on wondering about the fate of Steemit too, but not so much Steem. There is a big distinction...
Thank you mam. Very helpful comment.
It's interesting that what you say is true and that from my experience on the platform I can confirm that people who engage in their community draw more people in.
Indeed. I'll admit right now. I comment and engage a lot more than I actually post. Hopefully that will change when I can get my personal blog back up, though that's neither here nor there. Regardless of what happens, though, there are lots of things that I possibly have yet to learn; lots of things I've only ever been exposed to from this platform alone. I intend for that to continue. Keep it up.
What happened to your blog, was it on the this platform or some else?
It is more than a blog, for I'll have other stuff up there, but for the most part, it was on a server that couldn't host everything that I wanted it to; I do self hosting in various locations; I could go on and on all day describing the complicated infrastructure that my friends and I have. Plus I'm trying to get Letsencrypt working via IIS and the Certify module is being a pain in the ass. That's just about as technical as I can go.
hi @chbartist
I just found similar post written by you on ezira and I really liked it. So I figured I may try to find you on steemit and luckily it wansnt that difficult.
Also I just checked your profile just to realize that we seem to share a number of interests :)
In particular that we both share a similar passion towards cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology :)
I will follow you closely :)
Take care, Piotr
@chbartist
would you also mind sharing your view on Ezira in comparison to Steemit?
good i am following you and voting you please follow and vote me back
@chbartist I see you are the only one thinking of people like us, who are growing and need support of people like you on this platform. I wish you success and seek for your support. Thanks
good job my sweet bro
thanks @chabartist to sharing your internal thougt about steemit .. it is really every body dont know more about it. everybody need money .earning is hard ,many people think that. but actually we really dont know the way.if they know the way then it should be easy. every thing is hard when we start first. this is the life as well.
heplful article, after reading this my thoughts is clear about it!
my opinion is that every author must reply some of the genuine comments
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I agree with you that there is no single formula to succeed on this platform. I have 2 months here and I'm still looking to offer interesting content and grow.
Congratulations @chbartist!
Your post was mentioned in the Steemit Hit Parade in the following category:
Nice article, there are many who thought forming a big group and voting each other give them a big amount and easy money so this article proof them wrong.
sometime The one short line can define the whole thought ....
really great .. what do you say friends?
good i am following you and voting you please follow and vote me back
Experence article
Hello chbartist sir,
Sir can you tell me about some formulas of growing on this platform.
Sir can you write some articles on steemit growing like how can grow on steemit and how much earn on steemit and why some peoples are not interests in steemit.
Thanks for your insight into this topic. I always wonder why steemit is not working to me. can you suggest me something I have to look into.
The post is verymuch helpful to me and all new usears especially. We all are a team in steemit as well as on the earth.
Thank you @chbartist . Keep helping us.