Steemit is a lottery. Nevertheless, I see a lot of eager content creators making the same mistake I often do - making their posts too long. A related mistake is putting too much effort into high quality content with a very low follower count. (In the latter case, I recommend posting high-quality comments in fresh threads in the Hot section. Like, really high.)
"...The economic effect of this is similar to a lottery where people over-estimate their probability of getting votes and thus do more work than the expected value of their reward and thereby maximize the total amount of work performed in service of the community."
The more entries you have to the lottery, the more chances you can win. Is a post that is doubled in quality going to have double the chance to earn large rewards? Perhaps if it maximizes quality and not quantity, but I think the limit to this is a lot lower than we may think. In other words, you are "overestimating the probability". Plus, you can only jam so much quality into a casually-readable post.
It's an unfortunate truth, but most of the social media audience is from the "ADD generation". Our attention span is very short owing in large part to the type of technology we've grown up with. You've got to be short and sweet to capture our hearts and minds.
I think the sweet spot for a post is 4 paragraphs or less, with 2-5 pictures. That's just a guess of where the best effort vs audience engagement (and thus reward) currently lies for all but the posters that already have huge followings. This can be a real handicap for those who like to explore complex topics or do a lot of research with citations. I originally planned to make my tax series one single post, but realized that I needed to split it into at least 4-5 parts or I would definitely lose the audience. Even then, you'll probably notice a dwindling in audience with subsequent parts of a popular post; it's very difficult to recreate the success of something going semi-viral each time.
The Steemit interface itself is doing no favors to those of us who like to return to long posts to finish them, but I think the real issue is the audience. I, myself, have a noticeably shorter attention span than I had ten or fifteen years ago. I've had a number of jobs where patience was critical to the job - lifeguarding, data entry, poker, trading - and yet even after actively practicing patience, I am now part of the problem too. I am noticeably less patient thanks to the instant gratification that modern technology provides.
I can barely watch movies or TV anymore unless I have a laptop or other device available for looking up or taking notes on the many things that cross my mind. I recently went to see Baby Driver, partially after reading a positive review of it on Steemit. My girl loved it, and yet I was a little bored. There was no good reason, it was the type of movie I would like, full of actors I liked. I'm just used to the endless ability to move on to the next tab the moment my interest wanes. At various times in the movie, I wanted to look up something on imbd, etc...
As a result, when I open a new Steemit post and see the scroll bar is tiny, I feel a bit daunted and hope there are a great many comments instead of an enormous article. I often need to vote for articles I can't finish because I can tell they are quality but that, in terms of my lagging interest, I am the problem.
At any rate, I'm already well past my own recommended length, so I'll simply say I'm eager to hear anyone's opinions on the length issues in the comments. I won't fault you if you want to keep your posts long; maybe you will end up having better luck that way.
Sources: Steem Whitepaper
Copyright: The Simpsons, ABC News, CNN News, Calvin & Hobbes
yeah, but what if it's a book?
https://steemit.com/marijuana/@surfyogi/the-joys-of-an-herb-garden-at-home-v3-part-1-of-3-updated
part (a big part) of the reason that Steemit is like a lottery is 'bots
a HUGE percentage of the voting is by bots.
they don't read the article..they don't curate it...they just harvest votes.
consequently...why pour your heart and soul into a lengthy post..
when a meme (or as you say...three or four paragraphs) will get just as many votes.
That's one reason I do so many newslinks. I can do MANY news links in the same time I'd take to write a post...and get as many vote from EACH newslink as I would the post.
bots and flaggin are a scourge on Steemit.
I will quote you on that:
"bots and flaggin are a scourge on Steemit"
I agree; it's not a level play field, there are arrogant early users that think it will always be their playground of 10K users forever, and a lot of name calling, cliques, and popularity politics that get in the way of doing business, making new friends, and finding your way, on Steemit.
@ned
It's not the first time I've said that or something similar.
I've made post about flaggin and bots before.
Include a link man!
check my blog....I've only made ten thousand posts or so...
right.. exactly my point.
I don't want to fall into the trap of posting mindless and vanilla content though. At least not yet. There are many accounts with higher reputation and more views than mine who only post a single picture and fewer than 50 words in the content (which probably indicates that I'm doing something wrong).
Oh yeah, I completely agree that bots are the bane of Steemit's existence!
oh I dunno...it might mean they have a group of followers who have high steam power and vote for them on a regular basis.
Whales voting for whales? (or perhaps orcas?)
I'm thinking A strategy would be to make a few mindless posts for the bots..then make a couple or three that have intellectual value for humans to read....a day.
I think the new strategy is 1. becoming a whale, 2. creating an upvote bot where people send you SBD for votes, 3. reap the rewards of everyone sending you SBD for "Free Votes", 4. reap the rewards of your bot by sending SBD to it yourself (then sending the SBD back to you in a big recycling of your own SBD), 5. destroy the future of Steemit (check out my link in my previous post for a slightly more detailed viewpoint).
Strategy for everyone else is 1. develop a following, 2. develop content that people will read / upvote, 3. pray that people actually look at your content and upvote you .. a much more difficult endeavor ...
two questions...what is a what (how much SteemPower) ...how does one become a whale?
I though flagging was essential to get rid of posts and behavior that was hurting the community. If it is being misused maybe all flags should be validated by other curators who again are validated by the community.
who's gonna watch the watchers?
what is this "community' you speak of?
You are you implying that your followers are not mentally capable of paying attention for more than 4 paragraphs?
Definitely applies to me....assuming those 4 paragraphs have pictures. Without pictures, maybe 2 paragraphs tops.
I conqor
Steemit is not a lottery, it's well known which content will get the upvotes, it's not much the content than the author.
Reaching for the lowest common denominator?
Isn't this such a big problem with the government and its inability to actually care for us all.
I'm completely guilty of this. So much so I was beginning to become angry that I was putting so much work into my post. But I will definitely take your advice here and make the right changes. Good shit!... and followed of course!
I found myself getting frustrated with the platform too. That's a great clue you are overdoing it. Take a step back and lower your standards for what you expect out of Steemit.
It's only possible to exceed here with either extreme perseverance, extreme luck, or extreme talent. It helps to have at least two.
the harder I work...the luckier I get.
This!
Perhaps one of the reasons for the declining length of adult attention span, is a direct result of all the garbage put out by the normal media. CNN, is what sort of started it, 24 hour news 24 hours a day. The only problem was that in reality it was two hours of news being rebroadcast over the next 22 hours. Hook me with a title, keep me hooked with content. I am one of those, (i guess rare) people that like a really long book. 1000 pages if written well paints a lot of pictures.
I too am willing to stick to something long-term, if the quality is there. What you noted above is no doubt a factor.
I do think my attention span is also affected by technology too, much as I am loathe to admit it.
You should write a post about relationships. Maintaining them with other Steemets and Steemians. I'm learning that's a big aspect as well...
Yeah, it's very true. This platform is basically a full time job (assuming you want to profit from it - if you just want a Facebook replacement, that's something else).
Man, wise words. Me and my homeboy @slickhustler007 have to constantly motivate each other. You're right, it's easy to get lazy.
Enjoyed the read and this is good advice. i remember when you spoke to me about it the first time.
I finally got around to writing it.
And, ironically, the post I wrote about it is like 3x longer than I said any post should be.
lol.
Yeah It's hard to read long articles even if they are good quality. I do enjoy reading much shorter articles. You can remember information better if there's not too much of it. Reading a huge article means I'll probably forget most of the things written there anyway.
Good post if a little lengthy......only kiddin'.
I'm likely in the minority but I love to read and don't mind the length of an article as long as it's engaging. I'm not so fond of posts with videos.
Yes! I agree. Why lower our standards?
OR...anything that jumps around and moves...I find it very distracting.
LOL
You are breddy gud at posting .gifs. ;)
It is a lottery and I'm powering down for the first time ever. So much drama with the higher ups that it's got me nervous.
Yeah, there's definitely a small majority of power holders in STEEM but I think that will change as more users adopt this platform. Look at Twitter or Vine, right? Or even just memes and internet culture in general. We can disperse information to the globe in seconds. 15 seconds of fame is a little more like milliseconds these days.
Or my other favorite - a scroll bar a quarter page long, but only because there is just one paragraph, and links to two 30-minute videos.
Shorter is usually better, although not always. I've read every line of some enormous articles because I was just so very interested in details of the topic. But that's a one out of a hundred event.
That's so on target right now it's getting a 50% from the slide-o-matic (I've been doing 30).
I'm so guilty of this. I knew I was doing it, but it just got to the point that I wanted to be finished so badly that I just continued grinding on it.
It shows.
On the upside, I really am looking forward to your last (or next) tax post.
Thanks for bringing this up.
Followed and Upvoted! Yeah you have to capture people's attention and keep it until you make your point. But I do wonder if some communities on Steemit are more into longer posts, like maybe in education or something.
Yes my attention span is getting lower and lower and I believe that if the headline is not good enough I may never read the content. I guess your title was appealing enough to my mind frame and at the wright hour to see it ;)
Ugh, finally somebody said it. I can only read so many essay before I feel like I'm in school again. At least it doesn't cost me $100k in loans :)
If we look at currently thriving social digital spheres, they all capitalize on shortness. Reddit posts are often just an image with one sentence, Twitter is never more than 140 characters?
A friend characterized this problem perfectly while we were doing some idea generation: 'nobody likes text'.
When I write my blogs in Word I try to keep a one page minimum and two page maximum. I feel this gives me enough room to work with but keeps me from rambling.
I agree with you. Several paragraphs and several pictures will do it for me unless, of course, the article is very technical and needs much in depth content. And, then it must be something that I am truly interested in.
Yeah, and I don't care. I'm not here on Steemit because I'm fascinated with shiny objects. I'm not going to post them either.
I recoil at a world that considers only economic factors. I am on Steemit because it's a rational vision (theoretically) of social media, and that particularly includes rewards. But I do not seek to maximize my income for work performed on Steemit.
Hell, I don't even do that for work! I'm a carpenter because I LIKE it. I've done other things for greater remuneration, but find far fewer rewards - even in fields I have avid interest in.
My posts are rarely created with any thought whatsoever as to how efficiently they'll reward me financially. Rather, I discuss things I am interested in, and enjoy hearing criticism particularly, because it is the grindstone that sharpens the blade.
Lastly (honest!), equating the value of the work in a post to the rewards it earns completely ignores the fact that it is through the quality and content of your posts that you create something far more valuable than a discrete sum: the source of that sum.
Write your posts in order to gain audience, not coin, and you will gain more of both.
I've read many times that the current recommended blog post/article length (in general, not necessarily on Steemit) should be around 250 words. Seems about right.
Great idea, thank you for sharing. I don't like long posts.
TL;DR
...
just kidding, I agree with you, being succinct is always appreciated!
This seems to be an unfortunate reality of posting here on steemit. I try to keep my posts concise, though I do like to explore some concepts in detail.
Perhaps I should shorten my future posts to make them more engaging and digestible. Maybe I'm currently doing myself, and my admittedly small audience, a disservice. Thanks for posting anyway.
Exactly. My very first – and most groundbreaking – post on Steemit was my very first (but not last) mistake I made around here.
Brevity is indeed the soul of wit. People are too too busy these days