Yeah, everyone started at zero.... except whales who deposited hundreds of thousands of USD into their accounts in order to give themselves massive vote weight, so that it is trivial to send their own posts (sockpuppets') to the front page, thereby gaining even more weight.
Nothing that is written by regular users who don't have millions in their accounts is ever seen at the top. Content is incredibly stagnant, sitting there for a week or more at a time, since only whales can push stories to the front.
It's a crap system because it inherently discourages participation unless you are already a whale and can game the system for massive profits.
Incorrect. The amount in a user's account has nothing to do with their rewards, as it is voters that determine the rewards. newbies have stepped in and made thousands on their very first post, with zero in their accounts.
the Slack chat (now Rocket Chat) is open for anyone to come and participate in. it's a brilliant system because it's open and transparent.
a newbie may not have huge voting power, but they have equal opportunity to create exceptionally-valuable content and reach out to connect with the whales or anyone in between.
all are free to join in on the discussions and self-promote. and those who CONSISTENTLY produce exceptional VALUE inevitably do get noticed.
I started at zero. I've done well because the incentivization structure IS ITSELF encouragement for quality participation. The earliest adopters may have had an advantage by getting in at the beginning, but everyone is free to step up, create massive value, build relationships, and earn their way to wherever they choose in life - IF they understand the core necessity of creating VALUE, maintaining integrity, learning the rules of the game, and respectfully contributing to the community's advancement.
Sorry but I call bullshit. I've looked into some of these supposed "newbies who made thousands off their first post" and every single one powered their account and/or used sock puppets with powered accounts to drive bunk "content" to the top.