logo by @cass
I didn't really finish my last thought on my previous post The Blockchain Doesn't Lie & Adding Value to Steemit.com by @patrice, so here it is.
Adding Value to Steemit through Sharing
As a member of @steemcleaners, my goal isn't to censor what you have to say. I like many users in the community want to see your original works, thoughts, and comments when sharing content.
Sharing is a great way to engage with others, but copying and pasting another person's work with or without citation doesn't add anything of value by itself. It is your thoughts and comments that add value to the post and promote engagement with others in the community.
I see discouraging pure copy/paste posts as beneficial to the community by keeping tags clean of posts by users that do not engage with the community and only wish to post content created by others in the off chance they get an upvote from a whale who might have found the article interesting.
On the surface allowing users to either manually or use bots to post content that has no original content may be seen as "harmless." In reality, it is harmful to the community in two ways I can immediately think of.
- Posts of new contributors who wish to engage with the community are being buried in the new feed under various tags that are popular by those who simply copy and paste.
- Tags can also be rendered unusable as we recently found out when accounts started posting links to sports stream sites. See the sports tag here
Ideally the occasional copying and pasting of an article by a member of the community for convenience such as one posted recently by @anduweb which included his personal insight and commentary isn't something that we should be concerned with. After all, he is an active and respected member of the community. Not only does he engage users in discussion both within his own posts but also in posts created by others.
What about when an active member of the community doesn't have the time to add their own insight or comment to something they wish to share? The problem, of course, develops when a post like this is rewarded. The thought is "If they can do it, why can't I?" And that inevitably leads to thoughts of:
- If I can do it once, why not ten times a day?
- Why not create more accounts and post ten times a day on each?
- Why can't I have a bot made to do this for me?
I want to thank @anduweb for editing his post and his help in supporting what we are trying to accomplish.
@Steemcleaners Conspiracy Theory
We had a good laugh out of a conspiracy theory post by @kolin.evans titled Is Steemit Cooked? due to the The 'Flag' option? - Steemit a failure? But it's OK because Steemit uses 'Websockets.'
I invite you to hang around a bit longer than 3 days before passing judgment on steem, steemit.com and the members of @steemcleaners and their fellow friends in #steemitabuse-classic.
It's just a fact that if VPN spammers weather they be from NSA Monsanto or fucking Microsoft can spend a little money (or none) and censor content on the platform then you have little more than a failed unpopular 'Myspace' not even that really. you have Reddit but all of the content will be Cat pictures and poems.
Source
That is actually part of what we are trying to prevent, and unfortunately, we receive push-back from the community when we comment to ask users to add commentary and sources to their "Cat pictures and poems" to encourage engagement and acknowledge the original author or source.
Most of us, however, do upvote content that doesn't contain doxing, copy/paste, plagiarism, hate speech toward a group or person, misused tags, or spam that has been hidden (greyed out) for no apparent reason by others other than they disagree, even if we disagree with the content itself.
I'm about to go off and write a book if I don't wrap it up and get back to my original thought.
TL;DR Add value to what you share
Whether you're sharing a new article, blog post, youtube video, or any other content that wasn't created by you -- add your own thoughts and comments to it. Ask a question, engage users. Not only does this keep steemit.com clean of spam by discouraging others from posting pure copy/paste posts, but it also has the potential to gain you followers and engage users in a way that positively affects your rewards payout.
Yup. Basically speak for yourself, put things in your own words, or else let people know what you didn't write it. It's just fair play. ;)
Peace.
Well said - you are so succinct! Meanwhile, I do well to say my name in 25 words or less :P
I certainly appreciate all that you guys are up to, and that you are helping to educate newcomers on how to properly use steemit and interact within our community. Great job, and keep up the good work.
Thanks to all of you helping us minnows or smaller, or those less familar with all this crypto stuff. (:
Thanks for the support!
Couldn't agree more, spot on!
Spot on, also love the tl;dr version. Straight to business.
I see no problem with requiring that the content be original OR attributed.
Agree - we're almost all stealing pics currently to get attention to our posts. And if we stand to make money, then that's a sticky legal situation, I'm thinking.
"Attribution" is the very, very least that we should do. Same for posts.. A lot of "aggregate news sites" get away with it. They don't post original content often, but at least link to the source (at the end)... or maybe only post a few paragraphs with a hyperlink saying "for more >>>"
Thanks for the clarification, and no offense meant! And i wasn't saying that you had done so. And i said "almost". And I upvoted your comment before even typing a response. But that's a great point. It's too easy to assume or accuse that a pic has been stolen, without knowing what free or attribution-free resources exist. Could the same be true for text articles as well - now or in the future?
Thanks again for correcting me - even if I wasn't pointing ut anything YOU'D done (more me! but I usually link) AND thanks for the link/info about pixabay! That's my next stop on the internet now...
Holy canoli Batman there's great stuff there! Thanks AGAIN
you have to be careful about pixabay...you can spend DAYS browsing. It's continually updating and increasing it's collection. In addittion wikipedia has a collection of public domain.....everything.
In particular it has pictures.
Note...almost anything prior to 1900 is public domain. That doesn't mean that you can claim it for your own but no one else can claim it either.
No offense taken...I was just funnin' ya.
Thanks to all of you helping us minnows or smaller, or those less familar with all this crypto stuff. (:
Great information!
I'm really surprised that "fair use" and standard copyright law hasn't entered this "cut and paste" conversation more on Steemit. Fair use allows for limited portions to be "cut and pasted" (so to speak) but never ALL of it... (see here, then cont'd in comment so I can link)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use and
And Stanford Law emphasizes the need for "transformative purposes" - commenting, critiquing, or "adding value / your own thoughts" as you said! http://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/fair-use/what-is-fair-use/
I completely agree, if Steemit doesn't have some standards, it will be a free-for-all that will greatly diminish the original authors' hard work (whether they are Steemers or not, like simply reposting a news story, that ten other people are doing the same with). Thanks for the post!
Copyright and Intelectual Property are controversial topics among some here in the community. It was also pointed out to me that copyright can only be enforced by the person who originally created the content.
The more effective argument on steemit has been that copy/paste alone doesn't add value to a post as opposed to pointing out that a user may be violating copyright law or asking them to follow the practice of "fair use".
In the end, I'm asking them to do the same thing to prevent the exact "free-for-all" situation you mentioned.
Thank you for supporting @steemcleaners!
"... copyright can only be enforced by the person who originally created the content."
Ummm, true in court maybe, but I'm thinking "...and by steemcleaners" - here anyways! You go girl, haha! Seriously tho, how can I (or any interested Steemian) help? [email protected]
We have something called reputation
I suspect that someone who continually games the system won't have much of one.
Thank you for sharing this material, I like what you posted. Thank you so much
Ummmm didn't you just say this over at https://steemit.com/music/@neoxian/electro-swing-music-geraldines-routine-by-tape-five where he asked if you're a bot?
Odd that.
I've noticed the same thing.
I've concluded that jlufer IS a bot.
It's a simple question I ask about every post I read or write. "Is the value add?"
If something does not add value then I do not post it or vote for it. Doesn't matter if I agree with the topic or the opinion. It keeps you objective and focuses on prosperity. :-)
@steemcleaners
I'm so glad to join steemit and thankful for your post. It's good to know we're on the same page. Ive learned so much from others that it would be sad not to occasionally share others content, but dont worry. Shared content from me will always be relevant to the story, used to illistrate my point, credited and with no shortage of original ideas on the topic.
Thanks again and SteemOn!
🆙
thanks for you
Thanks to all of you helping us minnows or smaller, or those less familiar with all this crypto stuff. (:
thnx again - it is good to know the type of content that is worth posting and how to add value to everyone
yes. that is what we need. Check this out: Please, Do not call me spammer. I am just environmentalist!
Thanks for the information, I am a new steem and I am learning abput how to post correct ans accurate information with value added to them. I´ll keep reading and learning.
As a newbie I am greatfull for this explanation. This will help me come along the more seasoned Steemers.
well explained thanks
I like to write about random stuff and post it to reddit and other social media sites then to the steemit platform as well. I like the fact that I can Format my posts on steemit and copy/paste them around the internet. Should I change the content on all the other sites I am posting? I have been upvoted by the cheetah, and it did not say that I am in violation. This post was informative but did not clearly answer a couple questions I have. I will also keep searching FAQ's on steemit
Oportuna información, me preguntaba porque algunas de mis publicaciones se colocan en gris. Buen dato. A seguir creando.
Ia saya mengerti, maaf saya baru saya belum tentu paham semuanya, saya menghargai anda. Apa yang anda katakan itu benar. Saya hargai anda.
What is TL;DR ?
TL; DR = Too long; didn't read.
It also means a shorter, summed up version for those who don't like reading the whole thing or a wall of text.