No such thing as making too much. Never sell yourself short. Just picture a busker in the subway. Would they stop if they reached their quota for the day? Would they even count the money, or would they just play? Would someone who produced a viral video know in advance their video would go viral? They'd make a lot of money. If someone went platinum on their first music release, would they say they made too much? Most of the time it's unexpected, unless you've signed a contract.
People are spreading it around. That situation is slowly improving by the day. There's always been a shortage of curators. Creating a culture of people content with earning a few tokens, getting paid to be entertained, is what this platform needs. Entertainment can be anything really, including steem posts, if that's what people like. Some of those steem posts are disingenuous though and I see where you're coming from. I've seen this happen before. A long time ago. People dropped what they came here to do just to write about Steem. The steem post market became saturated with junk. Then what happens is those who shit posts about Steem start complaining and bashing the platform, because they didn't earn. What was once a positive, history shows, will turn into a huge negative. People will get frustrated with the amount of steem related content cluttering their feeds. This cycle will have to come full circle again. Things will settle down eventually. There are some individuals who do a great job of commenting and reporting on steem and some just chasing the money. Make that money easy to get, you'll get more chasers and the quality will drop, then the people get mad. It's common sense but some folks haven't been here long enough to know what happens.
uhm. i have known some buskers. if the 'business" is good, they stay. if its meh, they tend to play until they have enough for a bottle of wine and some food then call it quits. they'd much rather hang out with friends and earn nothing than play for people who pay them but dont stop to listen.
lol bad example, but i know what you mean. you dont know you've got something viral until... the same people vote on your post every day whether you shit post or write something epic.
my answer is the same, I dont want to be there. that means people arent really engaging, or listening.
i guess Im an anomaly. entertainment is all good, but I want content, not waffle. if a photographer posts an amazing photo yet tells me nothing about it, i dont give that much worth. if another guy posts average joe pics but tells an good story, gives me perspective on what im seeing, that post gets more value.
after the 79th amazing photo, its just another photo. and i think this is where people get confused about what makes great content, and what we should be rewarding. talent counts sure, but without perspective and meaning, whats the value?
this is where quality over quantity fails for me. i will reward more for the effort in creating a good quality amateur post than i will for one incredible photo with no explanation.
I don't mind making a dime if i know i've put in the work. but if someone started rewarded me 50 steem for every post? I'd turn around and give most of it away to people I thought deserved it as much or more than me. because to me, that is the meaning of community.
People tend to follow other people, not posts. Just like anywhere, people tend to support other people. If the photographer doesn't add their personality to each post, it's true, the image just becomes another image in the sea of images. Same with art. If the art post is a simple Here's what I made, and then the art, it's hard to support that post if the one next to it is the art and something interesting to say or the art plus creative writing combo. If it's just a picture of a tree, I can't follow a tree. The moment they include their personality and talk about the experience, or anything, even rambling about their day, that makes the post unique and it's much easier to follow someone who seems interesting. I've been trying to explain that to a few folks for years.
Had I not powered up nearly everything I earned, I would not have been able to give this post, or anyone, the vote with value. Under this system, over the long term, if you give that Steem away now, you end up giving less than you could have if you powered up. If your posts suddenly dropped in value, and you gave away a lot of your earned STEEM, you've then created a situation where you cannot even pass around votes of higher value.
sure, i follow other people. i have 50 people on my gina, and when their post pops up, i read. if it is good content, i vote on it. if it isnt, well maybe i give them a minimum vote because i like them.
some people i no longer vote because they no longer write good content. but i dont know that if i dont bother to review their posts every so often.
there are very few people i vote 100 percent every time, and usually its because they only post one good post a week, or a month.
that is maybe 30 percent of who i vote. the rest i go to curation sites and look for new or undervalued content. some of it i curate even tho its simple or needs improvement because that person TRIED. they did their best.
not all of us have talent. I will be the first to tell you that i am a hack photographer, that sometimes i do punk posts. but i do them to the best of my ability, so ya my photos are fuzzy or my art is a total mess. it's the experience that counts.
the photographer CAN and SHOULD add their personality to the post. posting isnt a contest measuring technique or skill. if that were the case many noobs would never get voted. if the photographer goes so far as to say location, then i have a reference. if they say, this was the tree where i met my wife of 50 years, then i have a story. without that, I have a photo with a lot of specifications that mean nothing to me.
I get what you are saying, and ya I should power up more. Im just a bit burned from steem price dropping so much that my powered steem is worth a quarter of what i put in. so for me, what i curate is more for CC. the steem is just a bonus.
and i agree, powering up counts as sharing. but if that same person powers up but doesnt vote, or votes only friends and never anyone new or struggling, i question that.
still id rather give 15 steem to a new user, if it makes the difference in their ability to post.
I like to spread my votes around. 72 accounts this past week have seen my vote. There are some who get my support consistently because I've always been a fan of their work. I'm not going to stop being a fan and supporting someone just because they've managed to become popular and now earn plenty. I'll add to the pile and celebrate success. Building up consistent support is just as important as creating content that could potentially attract new readers/viewers. The consistent support needs to be genuine though. If someone is earning top dollar every post, but nobody comments which is a good sign nobody is reading, then it does seem strange to reward that member consistently. If you don't get consistent views on Youtube, you don't get consistent ad revenue. There are some I support consistently, yet they are consistently struggling. Again, I'm just a fan of their work, and some of those posts are just simple one image very few word posts. If they decide to ever step up their game, then they'll notice more consistent support trickling in.
Those autovotes coming in from genuine curators who choose to support people are legit. I get some and that means I have to perform well, or I'll lose it. I know this and there's pressure to always be at my best. That doesn't mean I have to change to suit their needs. My style is what earned their trust to begin with so I'm free to keep doing my thing, my way. Many still check in and leave comments. I don't mind autovotes like that. If they want higher curation rewards, good for them, since earning rewards here is what nearly everyone wants to do.
For me, giving someone new 15 Steem is as simple as voting ten times or so, roughly. Plus I can keep going, if they keep going. I thought about delegating SP early on, when RC was introduced. That would have been too much of a headache though. So many people start, then quit. If they go silent for a few days, do I pull the delegation, or do I wait? For me, I'd much rather see them slowly climb and gain momentum and I only say that because that's what I had to do, and I know it works. When I see folks struggling, I can relate.
i spose this is why i am so concerned. i vote 75-100 posts daily. same as you, some people i vote consistently, some i vote for the curation but others simply because i really like their work, even if they only make $1.20 in rewards. this is important to me. rewarding the little people. because without them telling their friends positive things about steem, we are doomed.
i do however disagree with your belief that if people dont comment they arent reading. for me, i just dont have time nor inclination to make 100 comments a day. i reply where i feel compelled. and im sure others are the same, but i also think that quite a few people just vote and never read. and they do that because they know my work.
i know auto-curators are legit. i also know that they have the capability of changing their vote. if someone i autovote goes off the rails, i change my payout to them until i see improvement. but i also give them slack for not always needing to be top of the game. or for writing something that i may not appreciate.
i agree that delegation for newbs is the way to go now. i'll consider this and maybe power up my 42 steem that has taken me almost a month to earn..
I agree, supporting people is a good idea. It encourages noobs, yes and supporting those who've established themselves gives those noobs something to work up to. If noobs saw that you lose support once you reach a certain level, for instance, many wouldn't even start. A healthy balance is crucial to the success of this platform.
I may have used the wrong wording when it comes to post lacking comments. If that member is established here, earns top dollar every post auto-magically, but never gets a comment, that's a good sign even those who are not voting automatically aren't interested. I mean, high rewards, never gets comments. Some of the posts I could point out have had the same voters for three years and most days, there's no one around actually showing proof they were there. That bothered me for awhile because I was consistently making the top ten most commented on posts, and my rewards were one tenth if not lower than some of these posts nobody seems to be interested in. I think things will change now though, since more curators are actually curating.
I know it's hard to leave comments everywhere and I'll often vote without saying a word after reading something. Part of that has to do with the fact I'm a content producer, like many others here, and it's difficult to produce content, and find time to write comments and get into discussions, like this one!
Delegation to noobs is fine, if you want to spend time monitoring their progress. I don't think it's a good idea, personally, because if they go silent for a few days, I won't be sure if they've quit, and if they come back after I've removed the delegation to give to someone else, a headache I don't need develops which is something I don't need. If someone could automate that process, I'd be all over it, helping out.
ya, for delegation i have only done it for a few, i tend to get the pal mods to help out since they are more financialy able. you should suggest that to them too, as some mods can easily make accounts and delegate to them.
as to balance, its getting there, but theres a few people on whatsups top thirty list that earn whale votes yet cash out and barely curate. thats not really helping to support the community