Once upon a time, there was no steemit...
Then @dantheman came along and created it. Many of us could not accomplish this. No matter how hard we tried, we would not be able to create steemit. That does not matter much now though, because steemit already exists. Since it does exist, now we get the chance to make it.
MAKING STEEMIT
Now that steemit exists, we do have the chance to make it. Each member of this community can contribute to it, and it is our combined efforts that will make steemit what it will be, and they are currently making steemit what it is. So then, exactly what are we making it.
This post will touch on subjects covered by other steemians, and is written as a way for me to gather some thoughts and share some ideas about some recent trends affecting (or perhaps even infecting steemit.)
THE OLD GUY STARTS TALKING ABOUT "BACK IN THE DAY" AGAIN
Back in the day, when I was still new around here, things were not even close to as nice as they are now. Please fully understand that before you go any further. There were less whales to go around, no delegated voting power, no curation guilds, and the vast majority of votes from your average users were more or less completely worthless, at least as far as dollar value is concerned. It took me many, many months to ever have a full power upvote be worth more than 1 cent. Now, rather new users are throwing around nickels or more.
Trust me, newer users on steemit have no idea how good they have it. Yet, many do not want to invest much, they just want to get paid. Those who do get paid want to get paid more. (I write this in direct response to no one, just as an attempt to discuss a current trend.) Even though nowhere else on the internet has ever paid these users for any of their efforts, making a few cents as a new user is not enough for them. Trust me, I know the feeling of having a lot of work not get noticed much.
AN EXAMPLE FROM PAPA-PEPPER
Even after almost three months on the platform, I had posts periodically not make very much. I did a wonderful post about scorpions in blacklights, and it made 54 cents total, of which my portion was 43 cents.
I had even taken a selfie with a live scorpion unrestrained in my hand, just to prove it was original work.
I made an original video to include demonstrating how I pick up scorpions without getting stung.
I made another video showing how scorpions glow under a blacklight to show people that the photos were not edited.
And I included cool, original photos like this one above. You can check out the post here to see what I am talking about. Sure I was still learning, but the point is that I was taking a lot of time to make original content that was consistently of a decent quality.
So, when I saw that my post was going to be "undervalued" how did I respond? Did I spam link every user on steemit? Did I make 100 comments on trending posts saying "I upvoted you, PLEASE UPVOTE ME?" Of course not. I went about making my next post to the best of my ability. In fact, if I remember right, this was my next post and it paid out at 82 cents total. It was just another original post full of my own photos and writing. Still, who else was ever willing to give me 82 cents for some photos and paragraphs? No, that only happened to me on steemit, and I moved forward again as I always did.
COMMENTING
Multiple times on steemit I have mentioned that when you show up on steemit, no one really knows that you are here. Unless you get out and comment on some posts, you are unlikely to meet others, make friends, gain followers, and gain support. I never really used commenting as a tactic, but upon reflection, I made the suggestion to others, because I believe that it works.
This illustration is NOT what I meant by making comments. So many users seem to only use this method. When I look at a post with 20 comments and half of them are people begging for votes and followers, it looks really lame. How do you think that this looks to the rest of the world online? They are free to check out our posts and read our comments.
Personally, I have upvoted and followed people who have left replies like this. I figure that there is a learning curve for newer users and that I should cut them some slack. However, if they feel that this method works, what will stop them from continuing? For this reason, I've pretty much stopped responding to those comments.
When someone leaves an actual, thoughtful comment on one of my posts, I often will check out who they are and what they are up to. I'll upvote and follow users who leave comments like rather than the vote-beggars every time. It amazes me that some people will even leave comments like "tansks for the good post, upvote and folow me for relly good posts please." Trust me, that will not work.
MAKING INTRODUCTIONS
Of course an "introduceyourself" post is the way to introduce yourself to the community, but when you comment on someone else's post, this is actually you introducing yourself to that user. If the first thing that you tell someone when you meet them is "upvote me," it becomes very obvious that you do not care about that person as much as what you can get from them. Basically, you are telling them, "Let me use you!"
If we step outside of the steemit realm and take a walk offline, I think that we can paint this picture in a different hue to help you understand. Imagine walking up to a stranger and immediately asking, "Can I have $3.00?" I'm not sure how many of you would actually do this in real life, but if you wouldn't do it on the street, perhaps you shouldn't do it on steemit. Also, if you would do it in real life, perhaps you should stop. (That is just a suggestion.)
PAY TO PLAY - THE VOTE-BEGGARS TURN VOTE-BUYERS
Yes, recently there has been the growing trend of selling upvotes. I completely understand that from a business point of view, this approach makes a lot of cents (sense). For the voter, they are getting even more than just curation rewards for their votes, and their votes aren't really costing them anything. For the vote-buyer, they are getting a good return on their investment. Often, their investment (money spend on buying the vote) can more than double. Wouldn't you give someone $1.00 if they were to give you $2.00 in return? Eventually, you'd be rich if you kept that up.
However, in a scenario like selling upvotes, some things just do not matter at all, like quality or originality. These two key factors used to play a huge role in getting noticed here. Yes, the content creators would have to invest (or "waste" if you prefer) a lot a great content to get noticed and consistently supported. Without the great, original, quality content, it is hard to gain a following and get some good payouts, but often that means that a lot of good content does not get good payouts while a user is trying to get noticed and gain support. (Trust me, I've been there, and done that.)
Obviously, steemit as a platform and as a community continues to change over time. Whether it improves or not is up to us. I'd rather not be in a community of greedy beggars. Please take note of these things that I have constantly said over the last year:
NO ONE OWES YOU ANYTHING
STEEMIT GIVES YOU AN OPPORTUNITY, NOT A GUARANTEE
If you want to take advantage of the opportunity that steemit offers, keep in mind that you may not get a return on your investment. It may never "pay off" for you. It may never "pay off enough" for you either. If you try, you could succeed, and if you quit then I can guarantee that you will not. It is that simple.
No one here is entitled to anything. Truthfully, we may not even deserve the opportunity that steemit offers. Dan did not have to create steemit, and steemit did not have to give you a free account.
ADVICE FROM PAPA
If you want to try to earn something from your time on steemit, do not ask others to follow or upvote you. I've made almost 22,000 comments and posts on steemit, and I have (to the best of my knowledge) never commented on someone else's post begging them to follow or upvote me. If I can manage to make tens of thousands of comments without begging maybe you are capable of the same.
Actually interact with others and even try to care about them, instead of just caring about yourself and your wallet. Don't just run around on other people's post asking them to give. (They don't even know you.)
Speaking of not knowing others. I'd recommend the same thing for private chats. I have plenty of people that I chat with in private, but I'd recommend not spam-linking others in private chats. Sure, I've cut some people come slack and I've given out some upvotes, but others may flag you for doing so.
I actually had one user tell me to "give them some Steem Power" in a private chat. I had not previously met this user and was curious, so I asked them what they meant. They then told me to "give them some STEEM or SBD" so that they could power it up. Yeah, someone really said that. To tell you the truth, I did not give away my hard-earned STEEM to them just to help them power up. Would anyone?
THE COMMUNITY IN MY MIND
There is a steemit in my mind, and it is a steemit that I am laboring to create in reality. It is a community of generous, talented people interacting with one another, collaborating with one another, and helping one another. It is a community of people that actually care about one another and are willing to listen and help one another. It is a community of individuals that realize they can accomplish more by working together than they ever could alone. It is a positive community of encouraging individuals that is attractive to those on the outside and able to entice them into joining. This is the community that I already exist in, and for me, it starts on my page and spreads out from there.
THE CHOICE IS YOURS
I am officially inviting you to join in on making steemit the community that it should be. Many of you already are. No one has to, and if need be, I will exist in a parallel universe on steemit that operates on a different mentality and philosophy than the greedy beggars. Hopefully though, we can still steer this community the right way.
For the record, if you spam-link or vote-beg in the comment sections of my posts, I will not flag you, but I will also not upvote you. If you would like me to personally check out your most recent post, then just read my post and leave a real comment that may catch my attention. Perhaps I'll make my way over to your page. Perhaps not, as I am only one man. I currently have just over 30% voting power, but I vote when and where I can.
I DON'T RANT OFTEN, BUT WHEN IT DO, I TRY TO HAVE A POINT.
- @papa-pepper
Trust me, I do care about all of you, and @papa-pepper does want to help. However, I cannot provide all that you need. No one can. Sometimes you have to put in a lot of hard work and effort to get something in return. Sometimes, you get nothing return. That is reality, and that is where I live. Stop by any time you want. Thanks everyone! Be blessed.
Until next time…
Don’t waste your time online, invest it with steemit.com
This is really a great post. Most of it is common sense that we should all know from our upbringing; courtesy, politeness, caring, etc.
I sometimes get in a groove get a little giddy and take things for granted. I may start to forget those principles that I was raised on and take some freedoms.
Anyhow @papa-pepper thank you for reminding me about proper etiquette and whats really important here and what the real value of Steemit is .
That was golden!
That was a great point too!
It is amazing that a comment like this makes me want to follow and upvote you, even though you did not suggest that I do so! I guess since I'm already following you, I should probably upvote your comment and then go look at what you've posted recently! Thanks @sneakgeekz!
Wow, you sir are truly a gentleman and a scholar. I am humbled by your words and that you replied.
In honesty I'm not surprised because you always reply to your comments.
Thank you for the upvote and checking my stuff.
Great post! It's really encouraging on not to give up and have the right approach to build a good comunity! This should be our main goal, and we could also have the RIGHT expetations on incomes then. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Edit: I forgotted to underline what you said: we could spend ours on other blogging plattforms or socials, without making A CENT if you don't invest a lot. Steemit is actually one of the few (or only one) that permits to really raise something, even it could be a little.
This is really great content @papa-pepper. Thanks for this educational post :)
Some days this kind of thing gets to me also.... but I always hear a little voice in my head reminding me of 2 things:
1/ You are part of a global community truly now....
2/ As such there are broad cultural differences here and we need to show some grace or patience.
That said, I agree with a lot of the things you say here and I ALWAYS try to remember what it is like to feel new here and lost completely.
I really did not like those days and I try (try) to use time on here as discipleship time / teachable moments and I cannot always do it..... but I try.
Yeah, I know those feelings. WE have to extend grace and exercise patience to newer people here. Very valid points @barrydutton!
I am about to cross 2 major Milestones on Steemit today and 3rd major one in a day or 2!! One has already been crossed by the time I woke up today and I think I am a couple posts away from 15k posts!
(:
--
20K SteemPower is also a day or 3 away!
I know you know how tough it can be on here, I missed the easy/glory days of May/June/July last year when you throw a post up and it made $500 or $1k.
Pretty much related to what you are sayin here about hard work and I appreciate the things you have done for me, and a lot of us here, sincerely.
Brilliant, @papa-pepper!
This may be a "wee minnow" account, but I have 20 years of blogging experience elsewhere... and everything you're saying (and suggesting people do) is precisely what Steemit needs to be a beautiful and viable community for everyone, in the long run.
And that's the key, right there. "The LONG run." The whole follow-me-upvote me begging for attention tends to be a very short term philosophy, centered around what can I do to get something NOW, generally with complete disregard for the long term well-being of the community. Maybe you've heard the cautionary tale of those who would kill the goose that lays golden eggs? Let's not have that here... this is much to great a community for that!
Unfortunately people start "behaving badly" when there are rewards involved... I've seen it dozens of times. Earlier today I came across the account of someone who joined last month is already following over 7500(!) people (bot doing autofollows?) and spamming copied comments everywhere. Made me very sad. And it made me sad that "senior" Steemians weren't more ready to step up and -- if not actually flagging-- at least saying "hey, copying and comment spam are uncool!"
Thanks for an inspirational post!
I always wonder, does that whole begging and spamming thing really work? Or are these people just stupid expecting to get something in return for begging. I mean besides judging their effortless try to gain something without contributing.
Wow! 20 years of blogging experience? You must bring a lot to the table!.
Hopefully when the beggars come up relatively empty they will move on. Thanks!
Lol. I love that shirt!
I had wondered for a while why I am on steemit and what I love about votes and comments. I think i was able to understand myself better and I put in a post yesterday. It is odd that I am reading today.
https://steemit.com/life/@nedspeaks/a-memo-to-myself-and-other-minnows
About 99 plus percent of posts ask for upvotes. This may be a cultural norm now. Begging for votes is culturally acceptable on this platform but I do get your point. I think that one point has made an impression enough that I will stop asking for upvotes. Thanks for the post.
Well said :) I'm clicking on your link
Your kindness is appreciated
Hey pepper, great post man. You really sat down and did just another powerful post. I should tell you i like your style and originality and that's what steemians are looking for. I really take some of your points as really good and i now I'm wondering if in as original as u man. I've been on steemit just 3 weeks and im growing and with people like you around this means i must be going places. But not not everyone is like u i realise and i respect people like u. Thanks for the post again and i really learn alot about patience.
Thank you very much. I liked this comment so much, I just followed you and 100% upvoted two of your recent posts. You are right about the possibility of STEEM doubling in price in the near future and I think I'll have to see if I can grow some of that herb you posted about too! I love eating healthy at home!
Thanks @johnlue!
You both have me inspired and smiling over this thread. You both grabbed me as a new follower.
A round of likes.. on me as well!
Great advice especially for a Steemit newb like me. Thanks for caring for our future. BTW, I love animals, bugs, etc., however I do not know if I could do that with a scorpion. I'm impressed.
GOOD post.. some useful info here..
Mind you i dont mind people asking or begging for upvotes.. i totally get it.. some people just DONT know what else to say.. even though its SO easy to just write a half decent comment on something.. but that is what i will call desperation.. when people are desperate, their minds close down.. they cant even think about writing an actual comment as they are SO preoccupied with getting upvotes and money..
its ok too.. i have compassion! And it doesnt really bug me.. i can just scroll past it or give them some love.. it doesnt take long.. and to be honest takes less time than reading a long post without any real meaning.. ;-)
ill upvote my own comment this time to save you the bother!
Great post though! Nice and positive and constructive!
Thanks a lot for posting this. You Couldn't have posted it at a better time. I recently realized due to the help of another steemian that perhaps the reason my most recent posts weren't doing so well was because I was only using like two tags that were commonly used. Of course , I didn't catch this. I just saw it all as a sharp decline following hf19. Being a fairly new user, prior to this fork I had the fortune to finally write about a wrongful death penalty in a way that I would never have been able to before. What i mean is steemit gave me a) the platform & b) the audience for this message i was trying to convey. To my utter surprise that post made a lot of money. And, while that was nice, I was proud and felt good inside That I could honor the memory of Michael Perry and raise awareness about real issues that get swept under the rug with our legal system, the death penalty, and wrongful conviction
I wasnt expecting much just had to pour my heart out about it.
Anyway, I started having other modest successes that surprised me. And i was just talking about things that interested me and i wanted to share with others for their possible benefit.
As a relatively new steemian my recent decline in post payouts that were still posts from the heart was tough bevause i blamed it all on this hard fork when in reality and what is more than likely according to a steemian who helped me today is that after hf19, i started posting on new subjects like crystals and metaphysical stuff and i probably just was not using very good tags for visibility purposes.
He is probably right. I've went and edited all of my recent ones with what i felt to be more relavent tags.
Another thing is I REALLY ALSO CANT STAND the recent trend of people spam commenting. Like, recently i posted about a Mercedes I used to own and all the trouble it was. And basically highlighting all the problens the C class i owned had with picture of cracked rim etc.... what did i get?
Comments like "woah rich girl" or "wow a Mercedes"
I actually asked one of them if they read bevause it had nothing to do about me being "wealthy" or bragging or showing off. They simply saw the pic of the car, my avatar and made a very assumptive comment.
There's also been a lot of - i spend 75 minutes writing something. Within less than a minute "great post. I upvoted, you do the same for me? " several of these. Ugh! !
So thanks for posting this and hopefully people will get back on track with what they're expecting to get out of this.
I laughed at your comment of "would you ask someone for three dollars?"
So true to the analogy of what people are doing! !
I got on steemit not for the money honestly. That was a perk for sure. But I'm someone who never got any contentment out of the vast majority of posting real stuff on facebook so to be able to come here, post from the heart (other than an occasional silly meme) & have what i posted be of some value and receive community engagement? That's what it is all about. Thanks again for posting this. I'm going to resteem this because it's great and everyone needs to read this.
I had to reply to your reply. I related/connected to your desire to post from the heart, to have a platform and an audience for the message you wish/must convey. That is exactly why I do blogs, to communicate, to connect. And many times that message is not only a sharing of life and learning, it is also a message with a mission. A mission to make this a better world. I am very new on Steemit - got on because of connecting with the mission of another Steemian. It is people like that Steemian, you and @papa-pepper (this is my first time to read a post from his blog) that will keep me on Steemit. I keep forgetting about checking the rewards. I hope to stay that way. I am more interested in the connections... and the messages... Thank you for being a Steemian that I want to follow. (And I'm not saying that as a way for asking that you follow me...)
@thymewisper
Thanks a lot. I really appreciate this. The fact you took the time to read through the comments is awesome. Yep, i completely agree with you (obviously) ♡
It means a lot to have a way to connect meaningfully. To speak from the heart, to be heard, and to hear others. There are a lot of really great genuine steemians on here. Also, welcome! I'm glad you are here. Though I know you were not asking for a follow, I liked this comment so much I'm gonna check out your content and pay you a follow. Look forward to future chats with you. Have a wonderful day
I have seen far too much of that in my day. People commenting who obviously did not read the post and make it clear with their comments.
You are correct in knowing that adding value to the community is the key! Keep it up, and thanks for sharing!
Will do =)
I am finally impressed with a comment as well as the original post. Papa earned enough so im giving you my penies :) BTW I totally agree.
Thank you :)
@justoneopinion
Great post @papa-pepper
Instead of asking for votes we all should look for better solutions to make this platform grow stronger and better. When I started looking at some post I might have used that words but than I am sure I stopped. And I did make mistakes in many ways, but lately I have started to do things what touch my heart and have been getting to see that I do not make the same mistake again. Thank you for this post it lifts my spirit to work on my own post.
That is right. We all make mistakes, but we can learn and do better in the future. Thank you.
YES! I agree with you that @dantheman needs an evergreen RESPECT & SALUTE for creating such a lovely platform for us to interact with each other. But, the Community ROCK STARS (SUPERHEROS here @steemit) like You @papa-pepper, @good-karma, @officialfuzzy, @jesta, @jerrybanfield and more other Contributors are needed to Contribute in their own way as a developer, promoter or investor to make this BEAUTIFUL System a REALITY !!!
So, Hats OFF To YOU ALL !!!
Thank you, we all play a role in this community, and we can even choose what role that is!
Interesting to read you writing in detaill about the early days, since im here just a couple weeks. 2 thoughts i had in mind. First i expected to have more whales dominating steemit in the past, not less (in ratio to overall users). I hoped for a better distribution of steempower in that period until today (like on bitcoin for example at the start you had 10guys owning all bitcoin and it got distributed over the years). I hope that will be the case in the future. When you mentioned that an upvote rarely was worth even 0.01$. This should have been directly related to the steem price, which is now ten times higher than a year ago. This is what happened to almost the whole cryptomarket in the last 2 month. Do my thoughts make sense?
Yes, the value of STEEM did play a role, to be sure. The more Steem Power we would earn teh more the value would drop. It did play a part, but also until abit and smooth started trying to reduce the whale influence, it never moved up. The mega accounts ran the show for a long time, and they were the only hope for users (newer or older) to really ever get paid. It is a much better ecosystem for newer users at the moment.
You come off as a generous and loving soul @papa-pepper and I appreciate you writing on this subject as it falls under the umbrella of "reality co-creation." We are certainly making constant choices about the way we'd like things to unfold, collectively and individually. It's especially relevant with STEEM as our data is literally inscribed into the blockchain as we create and interact.
I've been on Steemit only a short time, and I am beyond grateful for the way the platform seems to focus on helping new users get integrated into the site and create their unique niche. At the same time, it's easy for us "young steem whippersnappers" to be spoiled and expect unrealistic payouts. I think that is so cool that you stuck it out for so long making quality content without much reward. It shows a genuine love for the community and a lot of perserverance.
There's always more to learn about the mechanics of the platform, and always more possibilities of how it could be developed by the Steemit team in the future. There's always uncertainty as to how things will eventually unfold, no less here in the uncharted territory of reward-based-cryptocurrency-powered social media. I remain optimistic and have decided to invest in the system as I feel it mimics the way nature works, constantly creating abundance from the currents of energy that interact like the waves of the ocean.
I accept your invitation to be a part of those who develop Steemit into the best platform it can be. Together we can continue to create a supportive, diverse, inspirational community that shifts paradigms and unlocks the latent potential of many. Thanks again for everything you do.
Thank you for accepting my invitation. I am loving and generous, but I'll share truth from the heart and be serious about things like this subject too. Steemit has too much going for it for us to let it become a beggar party. Thanks!
Thanks for this. I have been on steemit for only 4 days now and I already can relate and get what you are saying. I think the begging is a little pathetic. I actually bought steem and steem dollars on bittrex before I even knew what steemit was. I quit all social media years ago. I thought I was wasting my time. I joined because I love crypto currency and thought it was a great way to meet other people with similar interests. And I get to share my life with people again but I am trying not to treat it like myspace or facebook. And if I make a buck or two that is just a bonus... I am not that clever ... so I don't expect to make a lot. I just bought my first steem power and waiting for confirmations to go through. I don't even know what it does, but I'll find out. My favorite thing about steem is most people put out quality posts and comments. Much better than the gibberish on facebook. Thanks for reading.
Hey mate when you said "i am not that clever" i thought you have the right attitude. The people need honesty more than others pretending to be something they are not! Good luck to you
the line sums up everything "don't waste your time online, invest with steemit" , great post :)
It is an investment! That is so true. Thank you!
A very good post, @papa-pepper.
It is like an update to The Steemit Etiquette Guide by @thecryptofiend (which is a must-read for new steemians).
I especially liked these qoutes:
Maybe part of the problem is from the way steemit is being advertised. When you tell people: come join steemit to earn money. Many will come only for that!
Great advice Papa! There really isn't anything else like Steemit on the web.. and you're right, it looks lame to the outside world when all the new people are begging for followers and votes. The power is in our hands though.. new people need to think of themselves as part of something bigger - asking what they can contribute, instead of always receiving
Right, we need to contribute in a meaningful way, whether it is content, information, help, inspiration, or something else! Thanks @drewley!
Papa Pepper. You are a legend. I'm new. I learned from you.
I need to make an intro post. I'll do that today.
It will be just like I'm introducing myself to a new friend. Easy enough.
My favorite part of your info is how you said we're building the community we want. I love that steem is open and honest where people give their real thoughts and get to know each other.
My goal is to add more value than I take.
The "Upvote-Me" thing is so blah. It just feels awkward to me. What?
That's like going up to a stranger and asking to borrow a dollar.
You reinforced that thought. Actually get to know people. Comment truthfully on stuff that interests you and provide good content. The rest will follow.
I guess Steem ends up being a better proxy for real life than Facebook. We'll all get used to that together. I love it.
It is very true. We really must strive to earn the votes on steemit. Everyone should see how much you give back so there shouldn't be any question about your contribution. I posted my rant about steem and its value and what we do to make it valuable. You are a great example of this. You bring some of the most interesting, different and engaging content around. Not to mention I am intrigued by your nature videos. I couldn't do anything that you do. So for your hard work. This amazing post about Steem and Steemit and I applaud you for another one. My main belief is that if you come to steemit with the right intentions then its a win/win. Come in with the mind set that you are dont expect to make money but if you do then it is a plus. Come to steemit to share your knowledge and interests like many do already on other social media sites. Do you beg for followers and upvotes on those sites? If you do, rethink your game. Those arent the followers that you want to follow you. Having followers isnt how you make money here. It is about making great content. Engaging content. Creative content. You can see that @papa-pepper has the right idea. Dont copy him but use him as an example. Just my two cents...
Also, what color did you want this to be?
So that means i won one. SWEET! It took me a minute to understand what you meant lol. Ill need to go back and look up that post to see the options.
That black one would be sick. With white letters.
Black 2XL
But I am not picky so whatever is handy is excellent.
Got it!
Very excellent comment and great mindset. Thanks @nicnas!
Great article! I know I'm guilty of getting a little discouraged, but your right no one owes you anything. This community is "an opportunity", not get a rich quick scam. Steem forward and continue to post what you love. The work you put into it will speak for itself. Great advice @papa-pepper. Sit back and interact. THANKS FOR PUTTING THINGS INTO PERSPECTIVE!
Thanks for that meaningful comment! I too can get discouraged, so I know the feeling!
STEEM ON!
many fine points and very good advice @papa-pepper . i've never asked anybody to follow me, mostly i've made comments on other peoples posts the seem to attract followers, i haven't gotten the hang of making my own posts very good yet and yet i have 160+ followers (not much by your standards i know). i always enjoy your posts and find your videos informative and entertaining.
Good point about solid comments getting you some followers. It is true, that happens. Sometimes even without begging people to follow you, right? Actually no, not sometimes, most of the time!
Great comment @tommyquest and thanks for chiming in!
It's so true, I've never understood people who are so obvious in there intention to receive something. I'm referring to life in general as well. I've always been one to never ask for things and only except if someone comes out and offers. Ive never once asked for a vote or follow here ever, and that's the way I live my life as well, Ive been like this since I was a child.
Too many are not even taught that as children! Thank @cyberblock!
Steemit goes through cycles. Things are chugging along, then someone finds out a way to exploit stuff (remember the guest post business?), the community protests, things get sorted out, but then there is a new exploit and the cycle starts again! :-)
Mannnn this hits the nail right its head! I always believed in hustle and grind. People need to understand to be successful on here, you have to build solid relationships and bust out tons of good content.
I've been here about 30 days and did over 4300+ posts/comments interacting with the community. That's how you suppose to do social media. BECOME SOCIAL!
Great post @papa-pepper ... you have a follower for life :)
Yes become social! Very good point and great example.
Trust me, if someone has a username I already understand that I can upvote and follow them. That's how it works!
That's the truth :)
SPOT. ON.
It can't get much more real than this post. I will admit, I joined in September and quickly fled because I thought it was going nowhere. Looking back now, I wish I would've stuck with it and realized what an awesome platform/community this place is. However I can't change the past, and I am here now! I've read "Come for the rewards, stay for the community."
Now that i'm back a second time: I'm staying for the community. Great post, @papa-pepper!
Glad to hear that you are back, and I am soooooo glad that I stuck with it.
I hope that all of us adding value to the community will provide even more reasons for others to "stay for the community!" Thanks!
So much love, advice and support for everyone and especially the newbies. Great post pepper man! This community is growing and picking up STEEM!!!!!
Thank you!
you hit a homerun with this post. Love the pics and the way you wrapped it up with the advice from papa. That can be a great steemit series "Advice from Papa"
@papa-pepper , your posts here is so entertaining aintruiging at the same time.
It is aslo filled with advise and ways to move forward. Keep it up and keep steeming.
Feel free to check out my latest blog post : Why Steemit will disrup social media and gain market share
I'll check it, thanks @charles1!
Thanks a lot @papa-pepper I appreciate you checking out my post and sending in your support.
As I indicated in the post, steemit will surely be successful and we all will keep on smilling
So well said. We are naturally impatient beings and anything worth while takes hard work and time. This is a great opportunity and we need to get the hard work consistently done and then get out of our own way. Things are much better for newbies now than when I began in August.
Yes they are much better, so I figured that I would let them know! Thanks @team101!
Great post as always papa! :)
Thanks @eirik!
That's a timely reminder, Papa.
In fact, this is a statement that I recommend be added to every confirmation of a newbie being accepted on Steemit.
NO ONE OWES YOU ANYTHING STEEMIT GIVES YOU AN OPPORTUNITY, NOT A GUARANTEEEven publish it on the login page of Steemit. @andrarchy @ned @zurvanic @sneak
LOL - It is an important message!
😊
Great work ....🤙🏼
Thanks!
Very interesting post!! Thank you..!
Steemit is more than the internet itself lol... Steem On babayyyyy!!!
It is incredible, revolutionary, and empowering! Thanks!
Thank you Papa for your candid advice. I hope it will go a long way to help most of us when taking serious.
Thank you.
This is the best article I've seen on this subject. So true, steemit owes you nothing. I've seen so much of this happening at the moment and I do think it's because of the much larger influx of people joining steemit for the one reason to make money. The opportunity is there but no one likes beggars and nothing in this world comes for free. Put in the work and take part in the community and rewards will follow. Thank you @papa-pepper for a fantastic and honest article
This is a long read 📖 but its worth reading 📖! Very 9ce! No one owes u anything simply means js means expect less from everything and u will be satisfied!
Upvoted. That was an awesome post and I believe in doing this with integrity.
And I had no idea how tough things were. And I am looking forward to the positive changes coming. I was just talking to one of the team that will make changes in his thread.
Best thing you said is. Steemit provides an opportunity and not a guaranteed. Not bad for a zero capital investment if you ask me :)
You have a great mindset and I am following :)
Good Post! I used my flag for the first time today... I'm flagging the follow me comments. If that happens enough, maybe it will quit!
Excellent article friend, continue the successes.
Steemit — is just particle of the real world. We should to understand this and go their own way. To achieve all their labor.
Just because nothing happens.
I firmly believe, that sooner or later will notice. We just have to do, what we love. And write about what us care about.
Like it's your last text, and you want to tell the world about what had learned over the years.
Steemit is on Fire!!
See how I made the Flaming Hot Steemit Logo!
https://steemit.com/art/@bek/i-made-a-steemit-logo-using-the-ancient-shou-sugi-ban-japanese-wood-burning-flaming-hot-steemit-sign-handmade-wood-art
Exhibit A
Lol
lol!
Thank you @papa-pepper, I do appreciate the insight provided by long-time members of the community. "Back in the day" talk is good for us new members to learn from. Aside from blind luck and posting over on discord, what other avenues are there for getting posts that are (not just good in our own eyes, the eyes of the author) for the benefit of the Steemit community as a whole noticed and in front of people who can use the content?
edit- i also do NOT want to hold a live scorpion unrestrained in my hand. :-)
You need to get the author noticed. This happens by building real relationships and friendships. The content should always be solid. Also, you may want to try linking a solid post of your at the end of your recent posts until it hits the end of the 6.5 day upvote period. I talk more about this idea in this post: https://steemit.com/steem-help/@papa-pepper/if-i-was-newer-on-steemit-i-would-be-ending-my-posts-with-links-how-to-utilize-post-links-to-draw-attention-to-your-previous
Yes, this is good advice. Thank you. I started doing that on Friday's with my color challenge post. I do the weekly rainbow montage image then put the links below to the posts that I feature in it.
Part of my issue is getting assets that others can use, like Steemit business cards I made, out there for people to see and use, something more important than one of my daily posts. It was part of sykochica's request to make promotional materials for members to use. I posted them, it's all free for people to download and print (and well past the payout date). I just want people to have have access to them and don't know where else on Steemit to get it out there besides the discord channels.
Wow, this post has me in a trance. This was cool. Followed and up voted.
Do you think Steemit should be policed by bots or moderators that clamp down on this sort of behavior?
No. I think that the bots we already have do a great job in their areas of expertise, but this should be handled manually. Bots can be discouraging, and we don't want to scare people away. We want them to learn how to do better and add value to the platform. Good question!
There are so many different reasons why people are here and how they will use the site. I still see where 100 people will up-vote something and the post has 2 views. I know some of these are bots, but some are people voting without even reading the material. I enjoy reading good posts and looking for new stories that capture my attention. Anyway, I stop by your comment section every now and then because of your good content. Steem on my friend...... :)
-PK
Even the real users sometimes act like bots! Good point!
Thank you for this piece - it is hard as a new member to understand The Good Old Days. There is such a fire hose of posts to sort through now. It astonishes me how much straight plagiarism I see. What's worse, as a new user, is to see how much this doesn't resemble the promised meritocracy. There is a user (and I am not here to call anyone out), who posts 4-5 health topics per day. They consist of links with cut and paste content from pop press, followed by a few sentences of not insightful commentary. They are quickly upvoted to $100+ value - and have 2x the upvotes that there are views. I don't think anyone is finding the content useful (if you are, I'm happy to direct you to yahoo health, which offers more links and deeper commentary).
However, I'm encouraged by your post and hopeful that more people will focus on the community that one can create. I have been trying to create homeschool roll calls (you came up!) and meaningful original content about learning, parenting, and teaching kids to gamble .