Recently there seems to be a lot of misguided hate towards whales who are sending posts past the hundred dollar range with a single upvote. There have been endless posts claiming vote rigging, content rigging or just a plain lack of whales caring about good content curation. Im sure in a few cases these happen to be true, however if you look deeper, many of the big whales are not posting content , but rather upvoting content based on other user’s votes.
If we look at the photo above at user @berniesanders we can obviously see that the vast majority of his activity is from upvoting other user’s content. Not only is he upvoting other user’s content, but he is upvoting it long after these posts have already been made and long after they have had input from dolphins and minnows. THIS is the reality of the situation when it comes to a whale’s curation method, they are waiting for posts to be noticed by dolphins and minnows before they upvote. The steemit ecosystem is showing signs that it is working in a bottom up fashion, which gives every user an important role.
Each class is looking for signals to see what content seems to be the most liked and deserving of an upvote. The whales look at what the dolphins voted on and the dolphins look at what the minnows vote on in order to make a decision. Minnows are at the bottom of the list in terms of wealth, but possibly have the most amount of pull when it comes to finding the content that will reach the front page or go viral. Sure we will get some bad content to the front page, but doesn’t that happen on Reddit and Facebook as well? How many times have you seen simple memes or posts on the front page of Reddit with thousands of upvotes? How many times have you seem the same trending video on Facebook that has been around for 1000 years? The whales are only as good as the signals they are getting from the dolphins and minnows, so if the content they are voting to $10 or $15 is bad, expect bad content on the front page. Don’t vote because it will make you money, vote because it signals good articles. If they are legitimately good you will make money if they go to the front page.
If you desire good content on the front page don’t look for the whales, look around at the dolphins and minnows because they will be the ones that will grab the attention of the whales. Whales are getting 1000 messages a day from people, begging them to look at their content. It is simply impossible for them to look at it all and most of them have jobs outside of Steemit. This is their LESUIRE activity and most seem to not realize that.
The final point I wanted to make is that with whales upvoting content from new creators they are creating a whole new class of whales who in return will create a whole new class of dolphins. This will take a long time but eventually we will start to see that the wealth becomes spread amongst everyone. Especially when we get more interactive tags or something similar to subreddits, we will see people start to enrich the content and communities they most care about on this site. If your content isn’t being noticed now its not a time to give up. I don’t want to use the term trickle-down economics for obvious reasons, but within steeminomics I believe it works because you don’t give away money when you vote, in fact you make money. We are extremely early here and we still have a long way to go, but things will change and the developers are working endlessly on creating a fairer system that people can enjoy.
-Calaber24p
I feel positive about the situation too.
Here's why
"The users who stand to lose the most if Steemit is not successful are those most heavily invested... AKA whales."
This is what im relying the most as I said in my other comment, they aren't going to kill the golden goose because they will suffer the most. Also like you said wealth is being spread and its being spread at a MUCH faster rate than whales are getting richer. We just need to wait and watch. I guarantee the Steemit in 6 months will be night and day different than today and for the better.
I'm with you there. Onward we march comrades.
I've been active a whole day now. I've had 3 posts of my own and have commented on numerous other posts. I've been working hard to earn my first buck, and by this time tomorrow I will hopefully be at 2 bucks. I actually haven't seen whale activity on my stuff yet, probably won't but plenty of other minnows and dolphins have helped me out a lot. Maybe I'll get lucky and a whale will find me, but if not then I'm going to keep working hard either way.
Great post.
It wouldn't be easy being a whale . Even though they have the power to change people's lives, it also comes with a heavy burden. In the world of steemit, Whales are the celebrities, and we all know what happens with celebrities. So like any youthful celebrities, Whales need to mature and test the waters and get a good understanding of how the eco system reacts to their presence under different circumstances. I have been witnessing a growth in their maturity, and i think in time steemit will have many whales and many other fish from the sea to balance out the whole eco system
I think both can happen.
I've seen cases when whale votes create a chain reaction of extra upvotes - apparently more people noticing articles with a lot of $$$ behind them.
I've also seen cases where a large number of small votes "get" the attention of whales and thus they are more likely to examine and upvote it.
As one goes through the newly created list, and checks the last 10-20-40 minutes for new posts, they'll get an idea on what's going on by the small votes. Some will have 2-3 votes some will have 15-20-30. It's indeed the first "filtering" so to speak and an indicator of what might follow. So half the job is done for the whales.
If Minnows Group Together theres power in Numbers. The MinnowsUnite Group On Gli.ph is now 75 members strong.
https://steemit.com/minnowsunite/@cryptohustlin/livechat-join-our-minnowsunite-group-55-members-so-far-on-gli-ph-chat-with-other-steemers
Yeah I agree that both can happen, but Id like to think that whales are upvoting the content most people are enjoying so the site doesnt become undesirable. Ill do a post on this later but in game theory there is an idea that the people at the top could probably make more money rigging the system but if it puts the system at risk for collapse they are going to choose an alternative method that might make them less money but wont kill the golden cow.
It's like bitcoin mining, in a sense. If miners collude to attack the network then the coins they produce lose their value - so the attack vector to "gain", fails as a consequence of their actions which devalued the network.
yeah same idea. Satoshi knew his game theory well, thats why a lot of people think hes an economist of sorts because you can see it in so many design choices in bitcoin.
Great post :)
awww. Did you made this image?
This artist created several images like this for the community
https://steemit.com/art/@artist1989/custom-steem-and-steemit-art-and-instructions-on-how-to-create-your-very-own-steem-steemit-gear-t-shirts-coffee-mugs-etc
I upvoted You
I think we're seeing what you're talk about in this post happening over at Minnows Unite. Check out what they're doing:
https://steemit.com/minnowsunite/@cryptohustlin/livechat-join-our-minnowsunite-group-55-members-so-far-on-gli-ph-chat-with-other-steemers
You said "The steemit ecosystem is showing signs that it is working in a bottom up fashion, which gives every user an important role."
I like that. This article gives hope to all of us just starting out -thanks
Dont be a follower be a leader , be creative ;)
It could be
great post!
thank you @calaber24p
yes is true
Upvoted! https://steemit.com/steemit/@izzy/why-steem-is-the-real-libertarian-platform
Makes sense to me, i think the most important thing in the curation proccess is that when you get enough upvotes, you establish credibility in the community. It doesnt matter how many steem you made for that post. That will follow. What is impt is for younto create greate contents that will add value to the community. The insentives we get from the upvotes will just be a bonus...
This is how it takes one to follow
Upvoting n follow
The crowds LUV IT 🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀
To da moon
Follows by the MINIONS
Thank you for the information! As a new steemian, I have been gleening the posts for as much information on how to become a good member, and to be able to get my blogs out there. I am not as interested about the money, but I want to blog about my personal experiences, job updates, funnies, etc - and this seemed like a good platform to try out (I hate reddit). Just for the benefit of myself and new members - do you mind defining the difference between a dolphin and minnow? I understand the power exchange, but in terms of their different interactions with minnows vs whales? Would they in essence be the last filter before content hits the main page? Since I assume once whales take notice, things tend to take off?
Don't forget the PLANKTON
Very good explanation of the Steemit ecosystem well thought out and excellent points!
What a wonderful breakdown of how Steemit is trending through the postings and how the upvotes build upwards rather than trickle down. I think that its extremely important to remember that we are the first wave and that it can only grow from here, regardless of your current status.
excelent post
I find the skepticism with me, lies in the fact that the minnow cannot steer the direction of one's post where a whale can. And thus, the whales are deciding who's content is best based on the whale's preferences.
Thus, the minnow never become dolphins, and the economic downfall of 'the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer' is welcomed again, into this new community.
I'm proud of my minnow status, but if @berniesanders keeps upvoting my comments, I won't be a minnow much longer. I bet he gets wicked kicks from feeding all the random little fish. I can't wait to do that shit when I'm a whale.
This is the first post where I've witnessed the term steeminomics . It won't be long before that term is in the dictionary. :-)
I'm still very new to this and if anything i'm the bottom feeder. Still trying to navigate around this website but your post made it alot more easier to understand :)
Nice work @calaber24p ! I think it's an entitled attitude that makes so many so bitter so about steemit. That's lame. Way be positive. Also, it looks like you got a whale on the line! I know I made you laugh before, so click here if you want me to teach you how to catch a minnow next. Keep it up, man.
Thanks @calaber24p for writing this! I didn't know they had people contacting them everyday for upvotes, imagine as steemit grows... They probably have thousands of people asking for upvotes.. Jesus. Talk about pressure. ;)
Very inspiring post. Thank you!
Very nice post that mixes Populism and smart Whales blowjobbing. Loved it !
Everyone started somewhere and why I am constantly reading about the wales etc, if people did a job and did very well and they know how to do very good job, of course they will be marking high and this is how it should be. However I am a little bit disappointing that people who wrote one or few blogs with very little understanding how it is works are crying and complaining that they are not sharks at least, even in the animal kingdom changes takes time. Success does not happen over night. I did myself a little more research about @berniesanders and @dantheman and yes they are doing so well but they are doing 'something' extremely well. Rome wasn't build over night, so the same people position in the #STEEMIT unless I am completely wrong here? Thank you @calaber24p for very good article.
Thanks for the post) I m a little minnow and almost lost my hope. I thought, that my content about my art will be interesting to steemit community but it still gets not so much upvotes :(
Look at the main image. You can easily see that the biggest fish (Whales, if I may.), aren't as happy. The lttle tiny fish at the end (Minnow), seems to be going along just fine.
I'm a minnow and I'm proud.
Very cool your post ... Congratulations!
Yes, man! This exactly. We're building the middle class
It looks like a lot of people are thinking along these lines right now. That's good!
I have a proposal for steem power rental market. Please give me your comments on it when you have a chance. Thanks,
https://steemit.com/steemit/@atomrigs/proposal-steem-power-rental-market
Thanks @calaber24p for writing this. It gives me hope to keep on writing.
You are very right about not hounding the whales for attention because they get that all the time. I will start focusing on dolphin and minnows more.
On a side note, Ive enjoyed seeing your article get more advanced over time and seeing how you progressed from when you started writing. Wanting to aim in that same direction for myself.
So, minnows have to buy steem to grow bigger?