What can users do to add value?
It's a question that's been on my mind for a while. In his recent postWhat can users do to add value?, @timcliff asked the question:
The answer is really simple, users should blog about what they love by expressing it with the best of their ability. Of course, not everyone is capable of doing that, because some users are preoccupied with making money fast, that they are blind to the purpose of a social media. To earn more, focus on quality. Nobody will remember what you ate for breakfast or how cute your cat looked this morning. To captivate the attention, users need to ask themselves: Is what I'm posting useful to the rest?
Surely, we need to have some fun too. Being too serious and trying to always post quality could be draining and not always met with the expected upvotes.
What types of contributions do I consider are adding value?
Value is relative and can be found in art, music, history, politics, science... the fields are endless. One thing common to all those, value is something that is useful to the rest of the community in the long term. What that means, if something is worthy to be bookmarked or pops up at the top when doing a web search, then it's a valuable and useful asset. Therefore short term vs long term determines what value is.
As an example, when a musician plays a piece, the audience would certainly appreciate the talent, but the true value comes from composer who wrote the piece that transcended the centuries!
What types of things will I upvote/reward?
I have appreciation for everything in life, in particular arts, music, science and computers. I will curate those mainly, but that doesn't mean I'm oblivious to other types of posts when brought to my attention.
What types of things will I downvote?
Spam, scams, unfairness and abuse. I don't necessarily seek them because other projects are already taking care of that (@steemcleaners, @spaminator, etc). But when I see them in the comments on my posts, I'll downvote them immediately.
What types of projects will I consider delegating SP to?
There are so many interesting projects on Steem, which is great, they brings a diversity to the platform. Although I do appreciate and would love to delegate to so many, I'm not a super whale so I'm limited in my options. Also, big projects like @utopian-io (focused on developers) have massive delegations already, thus I'd rather delegate to smaller projects or people.
Obtuse thinking
Unfortunately, some people think their own opinion is what matters most, so they look down on others with disdain. I'd like to reiterate to those people that Steemit is a social media platform, it's meant to be multicultural and multisubject. If they don't like some type of content, that's fine, they should search and seek what they like, instead of going on a flagging crusade. Tastes and interests are relative. Downvoting content is one thing, downvoting it out of spite or hate against the person is a different thing. The latter does not add value at all, it suppresses it. We should all remember that, in particular the large stakeholders, since they have a bigger impact and may discourage new comers from continuing and loving this place.
Total value
The total value is the sum of all the little values. There will always be contention between the good, the bad and the ugly, that's what human nature is all about. We need a mix of everything otherwise life would be unidirectional and boring. If each individual can focus on offering their best, the total value of Steem will rise. Those who do that will shine, those who don't will slip into oblivion.
Available & Reliable. I am your Witness. I want to represent You.
🗳 If you like what I do, consider voting for me 🗳
If you never voted before, I wrote a detailed guide about Voting for Witnesses.
Go to https://steemit.com/~witnesses. My name is listed in the Top 50. Click 
once.
Alternatively you can vote via SteemConnect
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Well, I try my best... though in my case my feed is an "artist personal blog", I do not think I have a particular niche except maybe a "fantasy-nature-geek thread that joins it all). So it is more a "personal artist page" than a blog per se. I've been posting some old songs, but ever time bringing over things or anecdotes I have not shared before, and I've been sharing also new things as they are being born now.
I just hope that people who click follow have a consistent idea of what I write about at a first glance... so I try to keep them reasonably entertaining. Of course that doesn't mean I will step out of comfort zone to post about other things sometimes (even my opinions on Steemit as I've done on occassion, last one was the enthusiastic newbie... maybe soon again a bit further into this experience).
I see a lot of need of more "steemcleaning" and people showing desperation for the rewards falling into misuse, and it's sad as a whole, they don't see that long term, they're cutting wings to themselves precisely.
Of course in all honesty I need it too, though I don't want to go personal here, I'm not well off precisely and some of my projects have been stalled a while due to it, but I try not to rush it, not to hurry... I trust in building up slowly and consistently. And maybe someone stopping by will somehow see... ok, this might be interesting and check.
(Thanks you did, by the way)
I think the true power of blockchain is that it stays to talk about what you do, or what you've shared... so I do try at least to put some love so it stays in a way that is meaningful. Posts of steemit doesn't expire on seven days... the thing about the chain is that you're leaving an imprint on the internet that lasts longer than that. Make it mean something... about any field, of even about your work.
I would say start being part of organizations or creating them yourself that either helps the needy or spreads awareness on Steem which is a win win situation
Thank you for the timely reminder @drakos. Sometimes it does feel tempting too just churn out a post for the sake of churning.
I like how you summarized it:
This is a great topic! I'm pretty new to steemit, but it seems to me that people who buy their way up may be able to get away with less quality content, and still make it, because they bought their way up! So this can feel a bit disappointing when you see some whales who don't really post great content and still earn a lot with it. The poor can never really compete with the rich, I feel...
We all start somewhere. Right now, we are all one of only 60.000 active users on steemit! If you believe that eventually there will be 6 million or 60 million active users in the future, and you stick around - you will also be one of the rich that other people feel it is difficult to compete with :)
That's a good point! But also, the more people join, the more will buy their way up, and who knows what chaos and what contents this will bring on. I guess we'll see! I just wanna suggest to everybody to not to buy into the Numbers, but search for Undervalued content, content that's not so In Front Of Your Eyes. Because that may be much more valuable. Stay real! :)
Writing for more than 5 hours a day is hard and challenging and I get used of it but the sad thing there is no one notices or just small people appreciate your hard work that you put in it which is discouraging. I came to the point that I almost wanna give up in Steemit. But I realized I needed to extra push my self and limit. Hays Godbless you@drakos Yes good to have some people like you who are willing to help and vote.
Thank you for the information! It is really interesting, sometimes it turns out that I think a lot that should publish, I think if they really liked it or not or if I give enough votes, so I pressed too much and I forget what really matters, be myself and I think many people are the same , only those who really want to dedicate themselves to Steemit manage to grow
For me something that instead of giving value to Steemit detracts from it, I mean the bots because thanks to them many can deliver the SP and earn a daily percentage and the community runs out of curators, this generates that people are disappointed of Steemit since they spend hours creating something and in the end not receiving rewards, instead the contents without some value earn a lot of money and thanks to the bots that vote for anything.
If the new members enter and see that a publication obtains 100sbd and the publication is only a picture of a panty, they will think that Steemit is a social network more than the heap where anything without content is published and that is why they will make money.
I also believe that there are many projects that are only responsible for flagging but in my opinion I do not think that is good for the community, I mean, I do not say it is bad, I just say that these projects mark anyone or despise instead of first teaching the new member who should not do that, here things should be built and not just about making money the easy way.
Instead of that kind of projects there should be something like a Steemit school where they teach people to be true bloggers and how to make good publications, I think that would give Steemit more value.
That is my humble opinion.
Well said, you almost explained the whole steemit philosophy right there. Value is something that will always get my upvote and appreciation, and I do hope that creating value is the main goal for most people here in the steemit community.
This made me laugh :) Maybe your intention was not to be humours and maybe it was but it did resonate with me in a funny way. I get that some people have a blockade or something and occasionally post a simple "this is my breakfast/cat/door..." post, that is ok but there are some who only post in that way. I am not judging or saying that behavior is wrong (we all have our preferences) but I upvote more the ones who actually have something clever to say. I am subjective, of course, and what I may find to be a great post does not have to be for other people. Maybe (for sure), that is the beauty of this platform, our great diversity.
Honestly these are the kind of whales we need here on the blockchain. People who seek to support and assist others who adding value to the community, i hope other whales will see from this and also apply the same. A've gat so much respect for you sir. Stay blessed
I feel like I went way too deep on my search for this answer. Maybe this will translate way better with people and of course I agree with all of it.
I wonder how big the palette of idea gets. I'll wait anxiously for more quality posts about the subject to show up.
I am not so good in English and my knowledge is very limited to my world and experiences right now. That is what I want to share to the rest of the world. To let them know me. To show them who I am. And hopefully, to inspire others if I can. I just hope that with that I am adding value here in Steemit being its user.
Your point of view about value and Steemit are basically my point of view, but you said it better :).
Anything that's worthwhile takes time...as my great grandmother used to say. Whether it's relationships or building your account on steemit. I've found those that actually put the time in...to write, to post, to experiment - to spend time on discord or in the comments. I didn't choose an easy territory to blog in (photography) as there's lots of people trying to make an easy buck but I agree with Yidneth - because I'm putting it up on the chain, it feels permanent and I want to leave a good impression :)
Adding value can also be by commenting on other's content and start an interesting discussion about the topic of the post.
For the first few months I was only upvoting, resteeming and commenting. I think that is a great way to get a feel of what the platform and the community is like. People who are actively commenting will eventually mend up making valuable posts (at least occasionally)
When it comes to charities my new found favorite place is @fundition I've discovered several projects to support there. Please take a look at them. It's really amazing work that is worth supporting.
https://steemitimages.com/0x0/https://gateway.ipfs.io/ipfs/QmZuVefqrcYxma4VFrg9t9o1KixvMyy85CU3CGueoJRcFY
@haveaheart is another great place to show support. @bigdude is also doing some great things in Venezuela. Check them out. They are all very tiny projects that haven't got any proper attention. It'd be cool if you can resteem few of their posts.
Thanks for the mention! We truly appreciate that!
I agree! If you are able to write meaningful comments, you'll be also able to publish posts, which will interest other users.
Another way to add value is to bring high quality content creators to use the STEEM platform! That will also provide massive value in the long run
Even the smallest thing we do now has an effect on the general perception of the outside world towards Steem.
Our contributions are our own to choose. But it think its not just content that we can focus on. Our attitude towards the issue at hand is also important.
We are part of a society here and voicing our opinions is super important. Opinions voiced create a consensus on what we think this platform should look like. Flags are too aggressive imo and cheap in regards what your comment on a post that deals with issues in question can do.
Its more then ok to just create content but we are in a system that allows us to speak with our votes (for witness) even if we are scared to do so with our words.
Im still not sure if steemians vote witnesses at a high enough number.
To the question in the title: "Everything".
People need to realize that they have the power, even if they are the smallest of minnows, to have more impact on the platform then even the largest of whales. I wont share how i know this so you will have to trust me. :)
If you truly wanted to, you can find a way. Vague, i know. ;)
Thank you for the useful information!
(would be great if you could support my latest surreal post)I hope you like it ;)
Great post! @steem-ambassador and #promo-steem has been adding value to the steem blockchain since June 2017 by promoting the steem blockchain! We would love u to check it out!
even writing a well coment creating a good discussion about the topic will for sure give a great value tothe main content.
Certainly a question in which we should consider a lot.
We have asked this question when we want to write a specific article Sufi give everything we can and we are very keen to be useful and value to the things we offer
Adding value is crucial for the growth of this platform. In order to add value to the community, users should try to publish only posts, which they would also find interesting if they would seen them on other persons wall.
Thank you for encouraging people to write good posts! Please take a look at my latest post and if you find it interesting it would be great to get your support.
Thanks!
Really ;-)
I will remember this post of yours. You just showed the perfect example of what quality posting means!
Also, i would like you to know, that i appreciate whenever i see you gave me an upvote ! You make my day :-) Thank You !
I discovered you through that owl contest. I like your art style.
Excellent article to read for newer (as well as old) members of our platform. I hope more will see this and benefit from it. Keep up the good work and content.
Your post had been curated by the @buildawhale team and mentioned here:
https://steemit.com/curation/@buildawhale/buildawhale-curation-digest-06-06-18
I think the users adding most value to the platform right now are those that are not in it for the money. I am trying to strike a balance by only posting when I have time to put something at least vaguely interesting to someone up, even if it gets a bit niche/synthnerdy at times. I am trying to stick mainly to what I know (music and music production) but there is a lot of content that is a new subject matter that I still find interesting and comment on. I know alot of advice out there seems to be to post almost every day but I am thinking I am better off posting something well thought out once a week if that is what I have the time and inclination for right now