If you've read some of my previous posts you're aware of the fact that I strive to encourage, motivate and inspire my readers. I want my readers to feel welcome and I want to give them enough motivation to produce quality articles and replies..
I work hard and I've tried to focus on many things to increase the experience for people on Steemit. Especially for my followers. I share tips and my knowledge. I share tricks and my experience. I give everything I can afford to give.
That being said..
increase my earnings even further.I am happy, satisfied and amazed over all the people who's been supporting me and my content. Just recently my earnings increased numerous times and with the help of @randowhale, I'm also able to
However, even though I'm excited, thrilled and happy over the results I've had, and still have.. - I'm a bit concerned.
The option to vote on content without reading it is bad for authors.
We've seen it hundreds of times before.. Authors with hundreds or thousands of dollars in potential rewards, with 500+ votes.. And not even 50% of them have actually read the article..
During my time here, I've had some concerns regarding this before too.. But today, I just felt like sharing this.
Take a look at this:
- That's 43 votes and only 4 people have read the article..
This is the post I'm talking about:
This post is very special to me, as this post includes my father. This is very personal and I wanted to share it with this community. - And yeah, I won't lie. I'm glad it got some attention and I appreciate all the upvotes I've got.. - But still.. 4 people have read it and 10 times more people have voted..
With that being said..
I believe it would feel better for most authors if people actually read their articles. If they got some real exposure for their hard work and not only votes. Well, at least I am one of those people who'd appreciate actual eyeballs on my content and not only the votes. Even though I still appreciate the votes & Resteems.
However, I can't help to feel a bit sad when I see things like this happen.. - And I can see clearly why some authors publish relatively bad articles and still reap hundreds of dollars each day. - They don't care about the things they publish, they care about the rewards.
- Perhaps it would be better to just remove the amount of eyeballs instead? - That way, no one could know if and when someone actually read a post until someone replied on the content.
If i understand the eyeballs correctly, that's only the viewcount from steemit itself, not including chainbb, esteem etc. ?
Yeah, maybe it's time to remove the eyeball count if it serves no real purpose.
That is correct. So, the only thing the eyballs are doing right now, is to feed people with inaccurate statistics which ultimately leaves people with "bad results" on their posts. - And when that happens, people gets unsatisfied and stop believe in themselves.. And when that happens, they won't bother to share high quality content... And if that happens.. - The beauty of Steemit is no more.
Sure, that's a bit drastic I know, but in the long haul, we want high quality content and we want to make steemit a better place.. - So I can't see any good reasons at all for having the eyeballs, or, to upvote content without actually reading it either.
We want people to interact with each other. We want to discuss, help and share things with others.. - Is it too much to ask that people actually read what you write?
I agree... The eyeballs have lost their meaning now that a lot of users are interacting via other front-ends. I'd look at the comment to view ratio as well.
I guess a lot of the voting without reading is done by bots?
And trails.
However, it is nothing wrong with upvoting content you don't read. I know you can't read everything you upvote but I'd love to see more readers in general. And I'm not talking about my own posts, I'm talking about all the posts on steemit in general. People also upvote content directly from the front page, without reading the articles and I strongly believe, that things like that will lead to less quality in the long haul.
Yeah, good original content paired with an engaged audience is what will drive steemit forward imo.
That said, it's going to be interesting how we scale from 10k monthly active users to a million monthly active users. The 'new' feed will be flooded in thr current format.
click here!This post received a 9% upvote from @randowhale thanks to @hitmeasap! For more information,
Hi @hitmeasap, While I don't argue that many people bot vote and lend their voting power to others.
I do want to point out there are many other ways to read a post besides just SteemIt. (This only shows those who read it via SteemIt.)
Some view it directly from the blockchain, and others via Busy.io - There are quite a few others.
Not trying to distract from your post, but provide a bit more information. Too be fair, many posts get more votes than views. Over time, I am not as concerned about this as I used to be.
That is very true! - Sorry for not including that in the post. It totally slipped my mind. Thanks for sharing it! :)
With that said, and having that in mind, I still believe it would increase the amount of eyeballs multiple times, if they removed the option to vote on content directly from the front page.
That's a good point actually. I hadn't thought of that either.
hitmeasap , great and thoughtful post. I will always remember to always read before upvoting...
Thank you, I appreciate it. Well, in all honesty, I do understand that people can't read everything they vote on. I just wish people read more of the articles they upvote.
We are with you hitmeasap! Keep up a good work! :)
Thank you! :)
Agree with you to some extent. I think that maybe after your rep got up to 65 or higher then people could vote on your post from the main page. But there are alot of us little guys who just get voted and not viewed. Dont get me wrong it feels good to see the votes but doesnt give much motivation to the fact that we should be producing quality and quantity.
Thanks for the share. Followed my friend.
Even though I understand your point I don't fully agree with you. - I think that would separate 65+ people from the rest and make a huge gap between them instead. However, I do understand that this is a suggestion to make things better but I think it would turn out pretty bad at the end, due to things like that. The gap between minnows and dolphins.. Minnows and whales.. - No matter who you are, you should have an equal chance to make money. And that part is already pretty messed up at this point. - So we don't want to make a bigger gap between different users. - Thanks for your reply! :)
At the time of reading this you have 92 votes and 68 views for an article about upvoting without reading. Hope it reaches more people :)
At the time I reply to this, I have: 110 votes and 108 views. - That's amazing!
In my humble opinion, it should be kept. Why? because we sometimes only need to read the title of the post to like that someone actually made an effort. No one has the right to tell anyone else what to like or not like... at least not in the earth without politics and bullshit.
upvote,reply,resteem and follow @victorvazco
Thank you for your reply. I do agree with you, to some extent. No one has the right to tell anyone what they should like or not, I agree on that part. I also agree on the part that we could like a title.. - But I can't see why you have to be able to upvote content without reading the articles.
I wouldn't like or share something on twitter or facebook I didn't read.. So why would I do something like that on Steemit? - Because of the money.. And that's the wrong approach in my opinion.
However, I've gone from "remove upvote button" to the "remove the view-counter" instead, as the numbers of views are totally inaccurate.
Thanks for stopping by! :)
I understand and respect your point of you personally and a lot of other people, including me, not retweeting something you did not read, but the reality of it is that a big amount of people do retweet without reading.
upvote,reply,resteem and follow @victorvazco thanks!
When I came back and saw the "views" counter on my post I was a little bothered at first, too. Mostly because I was getting very few comments on my posts and that was a little disheartening to see people upvoting my content but not actually responding or reading it, even. I am glad to know the counter isn't an accurate representation of how many are actually viewing the content, but I can see where it can cause some confusion and frustration.
I hear you and that confusion and frustration is what I would love to get rid of. - It would encourage new people to share their best stories and inspire them to continue to share further on.
I think it's better like it is now. Reason is when it is not mandatory to open a post in order to vote i see the real amount of interest in my content. Votes can be placed in hope of curation rewards etc, but actual views is the thing i really like to know. Even better, when I see someone has downloaded the music track I linked to, that's the best :D But yes, strange how big the difference between votes and views often is.
Oh, interesting thought. You turned it into something valuable instead. Good for you and thanks for sharing. :)
That's a great idea actually, good job!
Thank you very much. I don't know if it's such a good idea actually.. But it's an idea at least. :D
That would be the perfect steemit growth to me............
It would most likely help authors to feel better about the content they share.
I agree 100% with you mate......Seeing many upvotes but fewer views kinda makes me feel stupid considering the efforts put into my blogs....
Yeah and that's exactly my point. I've been posting about Steemit on other platforms, I try to inspire and encourage my readers and all that, but the fact is, that the most common question I get, when I tell them to post high quality content is:
I like the idea either ways.....
You absolutely right, is a bit frustrating. I'm starting to feel like that , but I though in my case is because I'm not fluent in English yet and I'm still learning .., maybe my readers are getting lost and bored...?. Whatever the reason might be, I'll keep trying my best to post and interesting article.
I am not native in English and there's several incredible authors who's not native in English either (who has amazing results), so that's not the "problem" you're facing.
Keep up the good work and don't give up. - That's the best advice I can give you for now :)
Thank you !! :)
You are welcome! :)
You bring up a valid point. At the end of the day, it's your gain and their loss for up voting something they didn't take the time to appreciate.
I agree. There are people in the community producing some excellent stuff which definitely deserves a view. It's probably just the pedant in me but i could never upvote without first knowing what I'm voting for.
You're a smart person @deirdyweirdy
Ah shucks, thanks @joshualawhorn, but I bet you say that to all the girls;)
Yardy know
That's a great thing to do! - If and when you read something you can vote on the content with clear conscious. If you don't read the things you vote on, you might even hurt your own reputation, depending on what you vote on.
I totally agree.... and it's great entertainment. There's some really good stuff here on Steemit.
thanks you
You're welcome.
Steemit is still pretty young and unknown. Right now is the time to hone your skills and build an audience. The numbers and exposure will grow as Steemit grows! I bet in a years time you will be much happier about these metrics if you continue to write good content as you do now 😉👍
I appreciate your kind words and I know exactly what you're talking about. The thing is, that I'm building my audience and I'm trying to support my readers by giving them inspiration, courage and motivation, so they can publish posts and/or replies too. - Which ultimately makes Steemit a better place. (A high quality place that is).
However, it's kind of hard to encourage my readers (the right way) to write amazing quality content, when they don't feel satisfied about the actual amount of people they'll reach. - No matter the rewards.
The money is not the problem here. The amount of actual readers are what bothers me a bit.
I can't agree with this.
However, perhaps if actually reading the post boosted the value of the upvote... That might be something.
But taking away everyone's potential income because you want people to read your stuff...ummm....no
Either, I haven't explained this properly enough or you didn't understand what I was trying to say.. - I'm not talking about taking away everyone's potential rewards.
What I'm talking about, is the fact that you can vote on content on the front page, without reading the actual article you vote on. - Which ultimately leads to less readers on content and in the long run, probably poor quality posts too.
EDIT:
Steemit is a social media platform.. - Do you like/share content on Facebook or twitter too, without reading it? - Probably not, and I don't want this to become Facebook or twitter but I do want my readers to interact with my content and not just earn rewards by automatic upvotes. - We share & care. That's what Steemit is all about in my opinion. Not just money.
Changing that though affects income for everyone here. Does it suck that our posts aren't always read, yeah of course... Do I or anyone for that matter want to stop collecting those upvotes though...hell no.
I understood you perfectly.
You aren't going to be able to stop shitty content either, but most of those types won't last anyway.
Thanks for your follow up reply! I'm glad you understood what I was trying to say. - I know I won't be able to stop the "garbage" posts being published, and I know that this "solution" would affect income slightly. However, if you look at the trending pages for instance. Most of these people gets their posts upvoted automatically.. - And this so called "fix/solution" wouldn't prevent that, so they would still earn their rewards. Or most of it.
The intention of this, or my thought & reasoning behind this suggestion, is that I want to encourage my own followers to establish themselves on steemit. - And that's a bit tricky at times due to these sort of things.
Further more, I personally, want my readers to interact with my content. I want them to read what I have to say. No matter if they agree or disagree with my content, I still want them to interact and discuss things. - That's social media to me. - Thanks for your input, I appreciate it.
I just don't agree with your proposition.
If every account had the option to disable upvotes unless the content had been read... Nobody would use it. You aren't getting the votes because you had a click bait title...it's because someone with some voting power and followers liked it, and their opinion is respected by others and that respect has been passed along to you. This in turn helps build your reputation and grow that same respect from your own pool, which allows you to share someone's content and the cycle continues. What you think is a bad thing really isn't at all. Because of that I completely disagree that any change should be made to any already beautiful system.
I appreciate your reply and you don't have to agree with me. However, I can't agree with you either. I do see what you mean and I can agree on some of it perhaps.. But as it is now, it makes people uncertain of the fact of posting high quality. - As it doesn't seem to matter that much.
Well thankfully due to the technology this built on, it's not possible anyway
Voting bots - this is the answer!
Sometimes I give an upvote to my favourite authors, who makes only quality posts without reading, and then read it when I have more time.
Well, voting trails and bots are some of the reasons for this. I agree on that, however, you could increase the amount of eyeballs by removing the "upvote button" from the articles on the front page too.
I'd go one step further and only allow an upvote when you read and comment on the post
Thank your for your reply. However, I can't agree on this. You don't always have something to say, so this might actually lead to hundreds of "thank you" replies..
I was tempted to reply 'Thank you' , but you are right it would end up being a bit spammy, I suppose that the lack of engagement kind of annoys me, that said I'm only here a few weeks and I suppose a bit like life it takes a while to make friends.
I'm not gonna lie... I had to resist the urge to upvote this without reading the content.
I appreciate your honesty and while we're at it. I don't read everything I upvote either. I know it's a matter of time & value. - For me, you and everyone else.
However, a post with $100 in rewards, 150 votes and 13 "eyeballs".. That's not a good sight.
I agree. If I see something that is of interest to me I read it and not just upvote the post. Where is the fun in that anyway to just upvote and not read the content. I think just as I like people read my posts other people want that too
This "issue" exists due to the money. - And even though I can understand much of it, I still can't understand why more people don't read the actual content they vote on.
I agree it is concerning for both creator and consumer
I think reading a post is a lot like reading a magazine or newspaper article. Back in the day, newspapers put all the vital stuff in the first paragraph or two. Some people were concerned only with the headline:
ex. Japan Surrenders! or Dewey defeats Truman!
Things haven't changed, but I "feel ya" because you (and I) put a lot of effort into good writing.
In all honesty, I do understand how people are reading things. Most people doesn't read the entire article and I'm okay with that. - What I'm after, is that people actually "open up" your article to begin with. And not only upvote it from the front page. - Then if they read it or not, that's up to them. Nowadays you could just upvote whatever you want, without reading the articles at all. Without reading the first sentence.
Nice idea, upvote option should be shown if you read the content. That way no one can upvote without at least open the article.
If you click the article on the front page, you'll have the same option to upvote the content as it is now, and I can't see any problems with that at all actually. That will encourage everyone to produce high quality content at all times. - Sure, some of the potential rewards will most likely decrease, but it will increase higher quality content.
Don't worry about view counts. Thy only show people logged into steemit and not hiding their online activity with apps and software.
Also if you're tweeting and fb'ing your posts then you are probably getting tons of hits that just don't show up in your analytics.
I know it sucks but some people have 30+ views and only a 5 votes. That's more painful.
I hear you and even if it was the other way around, that you had more views than votes in general, that would obviously suck too. - However, if you had more views than votes, you could analyze your own posts and change things up to see if the results changed or not. - Nowadays, it's just pointless having these "eyeballs" at all. Especially as it doesn't give you the correct statistics.
I truly wish Steemit offered better analytic then they have now. We used to be able to host photos on another site and we could see the view count for the photo which gave a better idea of actual view counts but they stopped that.
This post has been ranked within the top 25 most undervalued posts in the second half of Jun 10. We estimate that this post is undervalued by $52.95 as compared to a scenario in which every voter had an equal say.
See the full rankings and details in The Daily Tribune: Jun 10 - Part II. You can also read about some of our methodology, data analysis and technical details in our initial post.
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Keep Steemit FREE. Stop with the rules already!
Interesting point, hope they come to implement it in steemit.