The core of Steemit is the content. Authors pour their hearts and soul into creating posts which will be appreciated by the community. Part of the recognition comes in the form of Steam Power and Steem Dollars associated with up-votes. Authors want to build a following, enhance their reputation, and interact with the community. As viewers up-vote and comment, there emerges a dilemma.
Should comments from viewers be up-voted by the author as a reciprocal way of showing appreciation?
What is the correct Steemit etiquette?
Common courtesy would say yes, reward those who took time to comment on the post. But there are other issues to consider. Namely, the number of votes the author has to dole out is limited. The general consensus is, members should only up-vote about 30 times a day or risk their voting power be depleted and the value of their up-votes to suffer greatly. This generates a problem. If I create a blog and fifteen people reply, do I commit half of my daily allowance of up-votes to them? Perhaps yes, perhaps no.
All up-votes and comments are appreciated, some more than others. I think it is a personal choice by the authors. Up-votes should be treated as a treasured commodity that helps the steemit community curate itself and stay healthy.
Here is my new policy.
If you up-vote and give a comment which is meaningful, then I will return the favor and up-vote your comment. That will tie us, the author and consumer, together in splitting the reward. Your comment should add to the discussion, clarity, or debate which makes the post even better. I will recognize those who contribute, in a micro way, to the post with my up-vote until I am depleted for the day. I believe the feelings, ideas, and concerns will increase the passion and hopefully fuel a larger audience participation. We all win.
Some of my cybersecurity blogs where you are welcome to join the conversation:
- 7 Methods to Fight Back Against Ransomware
- Ransomware Help is Here
- What Cybersecurity Topics are You Worried About?
- Will Fake Profiles be the End of Steemit?
- Security IQ Quiz and a Chance to Win a Windows Surface Book
- What Cybersecurity Topics are You Worried About?
I upvoted You
IMO the same rules apply to comments and posts: if the comment adds value, upvote it. IMO it shouldn't matter if the commenter upvoted you.
For example, I often answer questions in users' posts, by commenting. If the question as such doesn't add value to steemit, why should I upvote the question? OTOH, if my answer is helpful to the OP, don't I deserve an upvote?
You bring up an interesting point. "If the question as such doesn't add value to steemit, why should I upvote the question?"
But it then begs the question : Who determines if it is a value? It might not be valuable to you, but it might to others. It probably was to the author of the post. Therefore couldn't it be valuable to others in the same mindset?
For example, the other night I saw several posts, asking how to insert an image in a Steemit blog. I responded with a link that had a good explanation. I was not seeking any up-vote, nor did I get any, I was just doing my community service. The answer, which has little value to most of the community, was needed by the author and likely others who will follow in their footsteps.
So, who is to say if responses to questions are valuable or not? It is an interesting question. I think if I post a question and get a good answer, I would likely up-vote the reply (at least the first one who answered my question)
That's why we don't have a single judge here but a voting system instead.
Good/bad/valuable/junk are all highly subjective. Just do what you think is right, and thanks to decentralized voting a result will be determined.
Are you recommending we have a broader set of voting options? We have an up-vote and down-vote already. Perhaps NSFW, Spam, and Dangerous (or some other combination) to better express our views or warnings-to-others which can be tabulated as part of a voting system? If so, I like your idea sir/madam!
Do unto others as you would have them do to you. I try to stick that principle. And less thouts about reward. Greed destroys people. It's social network. If you like something, just like it. It does not matter article or comment is.
That is a good principal to live by!
I fear people might focus too much on the dollar signs and not enough on the quality of content and passion of the messages.
I think you hit the nail on the head when you say that we only have a limited number of votes to dole out.
I feel like the correct etiquette is to vote on what moves you. If you have a hit piece you're not going to be able to vote up everyone.
If you're the commenter, you shouldn't be commenting only for rewards, but because the article was valuable to you and made you want to engage. if your comment doesn't get votes, so what. If it was insightful, people will remember and associate you with insightful commentary.
You'll build your reputation for being a quality commenter and in the long run that will be more rewarding. This article moved me because I was thinking about this last night, so have an upvote! No reciprocity needed, unless you want to!
Well said! Comments should add to the overall community engagement and in turn, authors should recognize good replys.
Hence your upvote! :)
There is no right or wrong
Think one should consider freedom and value. Freedom of upvoting or not. And value upvoting to add value to that used if the author feels value was added by their post.
As far as etiquette I believe a comment may simply deserve a comment. Comment in a reply to that comment or something else the comment author wrote in their blog post. And/or an upvote on one of their blog posts as I thank you. Plenty of choices of etiquette which I believe will be different for different people and situations.
So in short, don't establish an etiquette per se. Intentionally keep all options open as acceptable social choices.
I can see your point and the value within. But if I apply that back to traditional society, abandoning all etiquette and social norms would make our world a far different place. I like opening the door for my fiance and shaking the hand of someone as a greeting. I especially appreciate how it is unacceptable for people to chew food with their mouth open in restaurants. Some social rules are good and should be passed down in my opinion.
..and I choose to upvote your response as I think it is adding to the topic! :)