Nothing. That is the answer I can put forward.
However, this is going to depend heavily on perspective of what "something" is. I don't have an application, I have not created a community, I am not a leader of any kind here. But, I have been able to develop a network of people who are knowledgeable, talented, invested, forward thinking and most importantly, fun to interact with in various ways.
People tend to forget that while Steem is not strictly social media, there is a social aspect that is required for participation in the community and is key to personal growth and development. There are many advantages to building a group of decent people around you and it goes beyond all of the potential to earn. What I find is that when people complain heavily about Steem, they tend not to actually have many friends here. Yes, they might have people around them but, friends?
With so many taking the "what can you offer me" approach, friends can be hard to come by unless one is generally interested in other people. This is no different in the real world though where the people we feel use us, are generally not in our lives for long as either we get tired of giving without return or, we have nothing left to give and are therefore useless to them. Do you know anyone who is only interested in someone only if they are able to offer something desirable?
I do. That person has lots of people around them but, they don't have many (if any) real friends. Everyone in their life comes, buys-in to the shill for a short time and then quickly leaves as they realize that they are nothing more than food for a vampire or, the vampire has gotten their fill or another fatter target has come along. That isn't friendship.
But, there are other factors on Steem besides friends, they just make the experience much more enjoyable.
Just like decentralization benefits from well, decentralizaton, having people around is somewhat of a stabilization mechanism as it means that while there are always those who come and go, there is much more likelihood that a number will always stay.
One of the problems with centralized platforms is the power they have over individuals as they encourage a person to build a strong following and then, that following doesn't travel well meaning the account must comply with the platform in order to keep their following. Again on Steem, a follower list isn't application dependent meaning while one could effectively stop using a particular interface, the follower list and the wallet travel well anywhere on Steem. Are your followers yours if they can't follow you off the platform?
On the centralized platform, if one chooses to no longer comply or agrees with the platform, the platform doesn't care as they will retain the user base anyway. This is obviously a growing use case and opportunity for Steem though as the centralized power concentrations of the likes of Facebook and YouTube are coming under question and fire more often.
But again, there are there factors past this and that will include getting support and maintaining some consistency and reliability. A lot of the early users onto the platform benefited heavily from being in early and a few whales supporting them heavily. While there were many arguments, they always maintained that it was because they deserved the vote however, they were entitled for being early adopters or networking well. This meant that many had easy Steem and sold, knowing that the next stream of large votes was coming anyway.
However, once the delegation and then the bidbots arrived and their voters had a better way to maximize their earnings, the support dropped away very fast and they were left high and dry, friendless, voteless, lonely. They didn't often react well and many of them rage quit. This is the problem with expectations and entitlement on Steem, no one is entitled to anything other than what they can provide themselves. Again, much like the real world, despite what many of the 'everyone gets a prize' generation believe.
There are obviously other reasons to build a community and social network also, but my point of this is to remind people that in the long-run, it is going to be those who have people around them that are going to not only perform the best but have the most fun and opportunity on Steem. Building a social network doesn't require being an extrovert, but it does require interaction and a little bit of quid pro quo, not necessarily in the vote arena but at least in the friendship one.
One of the things that has been the hardest in the last few months for me on Steem is that I don't have the time to engage well with people in the chats or join in on the various community discussions at the level I did or would like to. For me, Steem is an ecosystem that offers an increasingly full and diverse range of life experiences that enrich my world in many different ways. There are people here that I am eternally grateful to for their support and I hope that while I find my feet with my family and work situation, they don't feel like I have abandoned them or perhaps worse, take them for granted.
I do know however that there is a long way to go on Steem and while I may not have built anything real, I do feel that what I attempt to do does bring various forms of value to the blockchain, points that are going to increase in value over time. And that value is hopefully going to extend well past the economic boundaries of the platform and deep into the lives of us here on Steem and all of those who will benefit from us being here on Steem.
This is another factor that many people don't necessarily think much about; while we are on Steem building, interacting and earning for now or the future, we are value adding to the world around us, to the people who may have never heard of Steem, blockchain or cryptocurrencies at all. This goes beyond our immediate sphere of influence of family and friends, it also encroaches into the lives of strangers and those we will never know or meet.
The intertwining of life and the blockchain is what is going to take Steem to the moon but, it will be the vast and complex networks of interactions between people who would not otherwise be connected that is going to be the mass of value of the blockchain. Millions of people all doing their thing together on Steem, is going to be a beautiful sight to see.
Keep building, anyway you can.
Taraz
[ a Steem original ]
Yeah you need to get back to those chats, quite boring when you're not around! :P
Hope you find the time to soon.
But yeah, many have asked me why I reward some users more than others, and while I may not always have gotten the trust factor right, those that I have supported the most have been the ones that have remained so I'm happy how that turned out. This isn't even about powering down which many seem to think is what I mean by it, it's just about being here and providing anything they possibly can offer to the blockchain, even if the majority is "just" curation. In hindsight if they had powered down it would've been better for their stake and curation if they had bought back now, maybe next time.
So what I'd tell new people is get to know others, become friends, if they share the same goals as you here then being more friendly with curation is great cause you'll always be around and distributing the reward pool together. While there's still a lot of "bad" mining going on on Steem it's insane considering how it won't care, there'll always be buy support and people gambling on the price. Those who earn Steem easily and don't believe in it's long term existence are those that easily sell it and like you said, now find themselves having a hard time getting that stake back from the pool.
Holy wall of text... :D
I am one of those and I am thankful and I think there are people that are still pushing here because of me too now... mostly my shilling ;)
This is what I am hoping the new buyers and decent earners are going to keep doing and slowly bring more into the fold.
It is a shame ;D
Haven't built anything on here either really XD And can't speak for any other introverts but this kind of platform works all right for me because I can pop in whenever I feel like it and interact whenever and at whatever level I like. Sometimes I feel chatty so comment spatter cannon happens, other times I'm too tired and don't (and often feel guilty for not commenting but anyway).
I don't think you have to worry too much about your followers feeling like you've abandoned them or taking them for granted, you have told us numerous times that you were getting a new job and anyone that has ever had a job at any point in their lives knows that it takes some getting used to and the first few weeks is often exhausting while you're learning all the things. We understand :D
I like the freedom to come and go to but it seems I prefer to ... Ah... come. :D
For the introverts I think there is the added mask of anonymity to some extent that can free up the pressure a little too. I am surprisingly introverted a lot of the time but have learned to be social when I choose.
In a few months, I think the work load will ease up a little.
LoL! XD
Again I don't know about other introverts but while I prefer being pseudonymous online that's less of a factor than not having to talk to people face to face, I find text conversations much easier. Plus I hate having a lot of people looking at me (irony is I have this flaming brightly coloured mohawk, sucker for punishment).
So you're an extroverted introvert then? :D
Hopefully! Is it mental load or physical load or both? The mental load should ease up once you get the hang on things right :)
If you have not built anything here in your eyes, I should be leaving as your content is an example of what community building should be from an individual’s perspective. You are one of the few thay can write multiple posts with high engagement in terms of comments and everyone just keeps coming back! You mention that we can only be entitled to what we own but not even that as flag wars have demonstrated!
Posted using Partiko iOS
The flags can't take what is in your wallet, they can't stop you delegating for maximum return and they can't stop you posting your mind onto the immutable blockchain. They can take your pending payouts though.
.
Your voice itself is a sort of creation that you built from scratch. Without you knowing, that’s what brings value to people around as well :)
Posted using Partiko iOS
It is indeed and I keep saying, everyone needs to find their own voice.
Yup! Really see the impact there 😎 working on mine as well.
Posted using Partiko iOS
Nothing. Fought for a lost cause, gave up at the end. Now thinking about what shall I focus next. I like to be around since I'm not active in any other social media platform. I need to find another hobby on the chain.
By the way you and a few others might be the reason we are keep getting back. If you guys leave the feed alone to drama, bidders and all other jazz, it wouldn't be so charming to stay.
Someone's gotta do it :D
I tihnk in time the drama will subside as the community grows and distributes further. There will be new drama of course but it will be less personal and much more global in the ramifications. I enjoy it here though so it is relatively easy for me to stay.
Castles in the air. As long as the air holds, I'm fine :)
Or ideas, understanding, connections to things that were far away from me before.
So bridges to other places and spaces, too.
Castles in the air. As long as the air holds, I'm fine :)
Nothing wrong with air castles, they are transportable at least :)
Well, I guess we could also say we are building a future for ourselves and our family... one post at a time. And through those posts we are leaving a trail for others to follow
Posted using Partiko iOS
Indeed we are and the value of those trails is going to keep growing the more who follow in the footprints.
Hmm. Cant tell you what ive built here. I can tell you what ive wrecked, though.. hahaha
Tried making friends... Didnt work out. Tried the community thing.. got kicked out. rofl...
Well. Got a good thing going on with Whaleshares so i cant really complain. :D
Every time I have dropped into whaleshares I see the same people that were here once upon a time too. Seems like a new circle with the same members.
Well sure.. They might be the same folks but the relations between people are quite different.
A large number of those folks i would see around steemit but never really interacted with them.
On Steem everything is pretty much static. You know who is who, most of the steem is already distributed and any growth basically depends on the same behavior. (Not going to go into that )
Whaleshares lets me be me and grow without having to chase votes, reputation and the other bs like here. I really dont have the patience and the stomach for it.
It is quite different when you have the priveledge of not having to conform.
I haven't looked in a while but last time I was there, haejin was raping it. It was a while ago though.
Yeah. Hes a pestilence... I talked to a few of their devs about it and they said theyre adding "something big" to the platform that will make his self voting inconsequential.
No idea what theyre doing but their enthusiasm suggests that it might fix a few things.
Posted using Partiko Android
Will be interesting to see what they do and still maintain the idea of stake matters.
Indeed friends are hard to find and vultures are many. It would be nice if everyone could contribute tot the whole. Thanks @tarazkp
Unfortunately, many these days only want to extract from the whole but that is their path. I dn't mind taking my own.
Life hits us all and in many different ways
you don't have to worry about that !
you have to put your mask on 1st before you can help others with theirs. make sure your mask is securely on.
I am such a poor flier I would be the one that passes out the moment the cabin loses pressure. :D
LOL
my fear is that I would be in the bathroom and wind up looking like a Smurf
I see you as a leader type on here as loads of us follow you for how you think and what you know. If I want info I come here and ask first. I agree we can't take anyone following us for granted even though we only engage with a small percentage, but these are your core and most important followers.
In time, everyone will naturally drift in various ways, especially as further decentralization of application happens but at the same time, there might be new and cool ways to stay together too.
wow. which camera did you use for make this pic? the photo is awesome.
It is an Olympus EM-1 mirrorless with a 60 mm macro.
I've built a few things that help other communities out. Also working on something to help with on-boarding, by providing SP to people when they run out of RC, giftgiver.
Don't underestimate the value of your contributions. You're one of the people who get it.
My meatspace friends and family are broadly supportive, but really have no comprehension. They just nod and smile politely when I get animated. They're happy to see me happy, but they don't get it.
Friends who get it are rare and valuable.
Few and far between, even on Steem I must say. This is where I think I have been very fortunate to fall into friends that do indeed get it.
I've built KURE for community curation coordination :D
https://thekure.net
Oh, it is up and running now. I will have a look :)
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Like you, I have built some friendships, a bit of stake and people who engage with my posts.
If my own engagement slips off I it drops on my blog too. That isn't why I do it though.
I've learned a ton about crypto, life and many other topics from engaging on Steem. I find that to be as valuable as the Steem.
Don't upvote my comment or this could turn into a spam thread.
The magical times we live in....
I have the same thing happen too but there is little I can do about it at the moment.
Yeah, I understand juggling priorities is a big deal. Not easy.
And also...Thank you.
You are always welcome.
You got a 55.24% upvote from @ocdb courtesy of @tarazkp! :)
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Check our website https://thegoodwhales.io/ for the whitelist, queue and delegation info. Join our Discord channel for more information.
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