You forgot to mention possibly the most corrosive aspect of guild curators using whale accounts to self-vote many of their mediocre posts: when people consider joining steemit and take a look at what trends at the top everyday.....they look at that and say to themselves, "Nah, that kinda sucks. I'm not going to waste my time there."
We're all in a bubble, but this is happening. It has to be dealt with. SOON.
This is serious as fuck, people. The reputation of a blogging platform has to be taken seriously, especially when we need to provide serious competition to Medium and other platforms that contain real virality at the top of their trending pages.
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This has been true for me, in every case where I've had friends and family look at Steemit, since 'trending' is what comes up first. I explain that some of these top posts are just a way of getting earnings to people doing other services for Steemit. But then it sounds even worse -- like it's a way for an employer to make those people pay both employee and employer taxes in a gig economy. If people don't want to trigger tax issues, then they could set up regular transfers as gifts, not earnings. Otherwise, if the process was completely transparent and it's about payment for services, the top trending posts would simply be receipts for those services, upvoted in the same way the articles are now. Or the articles would look more like what we see from the witnesses, where they describe what value they've been creating behind the scenes.
For writers I have brought here, I have to keep saying, "Do not compare your writing to what's on the trending page. It does not represent readership value of those posts." Writers who are trying to evoke emotion and connection with readers may be more sensitive than me about getting feedback on whether they are "good" at their craft or not. But that sensitivity exists and I've seen them spend so much time trying to dissect what it is about the trending posts that are connecting with people -- as a way to improve their own writing. I keep saying "that's not what the trending page is about -- do not do that!" An engagement-based tag, like you've been suggesting, would help shift their focus to something more productive. It was easier when I could direct people to the Active tag instead of the Trending tag.
I think it says a whole lot that the rewards pool is not representing the community and that you have to give that disclaimer. I no longer bring people to SteemIt for many of the reasons discussed in your comment and in this entire thread. I would like to recommend it. I just can't in good conscience ask people to come here and watch this and expect people to understand the whales are "paying" people with their votes instead of voting up content.
THIS:
I'd partly agree with this. Corrosive is an overstatement though. It's just that SG's payment via posting is unfortunately the main determinant for post positioning in trending. (It could also be argued that it's worse if they're doing it discreetly. As it is, I think it's okay because at least its happening transparently for others to weigh in on what's happening)
That said, of course it makes sense that subpar posts shouldn't take up the trending space so frequently, but again it's not to say that I think all the self-upvoted posts are mediocre (although it looks like its - it's just easy to see it that way if one is already in Steemit long enough because it causes all sorts of butthurt from seeing the same accounts over and over again. I daresay that butthurts will still happen even if an account is over-delivering with great value in trending consistently and all too frequently taking up space in trending).
What you've said here may be inconclusive of how outsiders / newbies will think of the trending page, simply because any random mediocre, decent, or excellent posts may be taking up the trending any point in time even without self-votes from SG. The trending could also be entirely filled with shitposts. Which is the whole point of decentralization - you won't agree with everything, and expect it to get "worse" because the world's not going to be in agreement with our tastes all the time.
If a good-looking trending page is what you're fighting for, then it's best to say that the trending page should be filled with posts that'll persuade others to join - "that's kinda good, I think I want to spend time here" - but what are those posts going to be? Everybody is different in their heads. Treasure may be trash to another. Just saying this to drive my point about your statement above. It's more of a reflection of your own thoughts (and most of us in the network) about the matter, not others (outsiders / newbies).
Even if it's entirely true that newbies are "disgusted" by the stuff on trending page, it's more like they want to control what's on trending themselves. Just a fact that most people think their own post (or taste / curation / selection) is the best. Me included.
Well said @stellabelle, especially the part about being in a bubble. I would encourage people, including those directly involved with these 'guilds' to take some time away from Steem/it and then come back and take a fresh look. I do this regularly because I'm more involved with other activities now and seeing it with a fresh eye makes even more clear how dysfunctional the bubble has become.
I agree with taking a step away for awhile (which is what i've been doing). However, also please consider that dissatisfaction is usually louder - so is it a vocal majority or a vocal minority? Those who are happy with the platform wouldn't complain (and that may be the majority). I think such an asymmetry in the nature of things should be considered too.
Plus I want to add that a network that's not growing "as much as it should" is also not a definite indicator of network health. I'd suggest considering the points in the materials I've linked up in a recent post: https://steemit.com/steemit/@kevinwong/building-and-evaluating-the-value-of-blockchain-communities
Those who are unhappy may also leave. It isn't clear at all which way the asymmetry points.
One thing is for sure though. The true majority is neither the satisfied nor the dissatisfied. The true majority isn't here because what is being done is not working. The current model simply does not appeal to any user base that actually exists and and is reachable with the approach being taken. Guilds are akin to rearranging the deck chairs (and being overpaid as deck hands to do so). A much bigger reboot is needed.
"when people consider joining steemit and take a look at what trends at the top everyday.....they look at that and say to themselves, "Nah, that kinda sucks. I'm not going to waste my time there."
100%
Says the guy who has sucked out 10's of thousands of dollars from Steemit's reward pool for posting a few selfies with your celebrity friend and videos of songs that you have published elsewhere.
Where is your celebrity friend? Why isn't he on Steemit? Have you written any original songs to help this community? Of course not. It is far simpler to complain about people who are working hard and helping the site to grow.
Did you miss my original song that raised $1000 for charity and was posted by Ricky Gervais on his social media generating 100k views of a video that ended with the Steemit logo?
Keep trolling, buddy.
It's fascinating to see this person trying to denigrate you when he obviously has no idea what he's talking about. It is precisely this kind of toxic behavior that I was talking about at the beginning of this post. There is no place for it. It adds no value at all.
If memory serves, this is the same guy that threatened @val with a lawsuit for questioning the effectiveness of curie.
@sigmajin
Yes, it was this post:
https://steemit.com/steemit/@steemship/open-letter-to-ned-and-dan-you-badly-need-a-communications-community-content-expert-and-i-hereby-nominate-stellabelle-or
And he said this:
if there's a case-in-point argument that some bot-bait authors do not abuse their status, its TIBB. He posts every couple weeks (or "once a fortnight" as he put it in chat).
He might not be posting a huge amount of content, but its original content from someone who has some degree of celebrity of notoriety.
You got me there and I'll admit it. Nice of you to have done that song, thank you. I guess it made the rewards on those other posts worthwhile, too.
No one is 'helping the site to grow', so you'll have to try again to explain what it is you are doing in practice. It isn't growing.
"It Isn't growing".
Seems some are missing that point.
Why should @thisisbenbrick invite any of his friends to Steemit when he receives responses such as yours for simply posting that he agrees with another commenter?
Your comment @steemship is out of line.
IMHO these words deserve a flag. It's trolling.
You're right on this @stellabelle. The front page has to be a meritocracy or Steemit is toast.