Hi @snowpea :o) Interesting read and always good to hear on this topic from people who have reflected upon the goings on here at Steemit and the ways in which their own interaction has influenced their time here. For me, the biggest mistake I made was the lack of consistency - more precisely, I abandonned ship after a run of posts which were met with tumbleweeds. I was very upset about it, especially as I'd put a ton of effort into the posts in question. My irl peeps were telling me I was wasting my time and that Steemit was going nowhere. BIG mistake. This was early on in Steemit-days, and MANY of those who stayed put whilst I was away have gone on to be very successful indeed. I have no idea how or if I'll ever recover the kind of support here that I had in those early days, but the terrain has changed so radically here that I really did shoot myself in the foot, I feel. Posts are worth pennies or nothing unless you're paying for votes, or networking massively, which as a 'lone wolf' type who also doesn't like to spend excessive amounts of screen time, I don't see myself doing. I'm a bit stuck on where to go next with Steemit right now. I feel like I'm teetering on giving up again, which makes me feel sad and frustrated. I want so much to contribute something useful and interesting here, but I'm just not the cliquey sort. I'll check out the resources you've mentioned here, and look again to see if I can find people to interact with who feel like a good fit. Thank you again for sharing your thoughts, observations and experiences. Food for thought for sure! With love, Jay <3
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I hope you don't give up! I'm not the cliquey sort either, and I'm naturally a lone wolf as well. It hasn't been easy to network to be honest, and I feel to be really successful here I would have to be on Steemit full time! Which I would love, but it's not in the cards for me. I already spend hours each morning here.
Not to change the subject...I noticed on your description of yourself that you say you're a radical unschooler. How is that different than the average unschooler? Just curious. Thank you for your comment! :)
Hi @snowpea :o) I keep striving to find the motivation to keep on keeping on - it's reassuring to know I'm not the only one who struggles with the whole 'social' aspect of social media ;o)
So-called 'radical' unschooling differs from homeschooling in that there is literally no coercion whatsoever. It's basically unschooling (which is very different from parent-directed homeschooling, or 'school at home' - blech!) but even more so, lol.
I often meet 'unschoolers' who are still subtly manipulating their children's learning experience and who also 'worry' about all kinds of traditional elements of what they're doing (e.g. can I really trust that she'll learn to read one day without me instructing her? Am I really doing the right thing by 'letting' him choose his own bedtime?) I'd say that 'radical' unschoolers (to my mind) are those who have successfully let go of all that baggage and the trappings of the mainstream schooling system to an extent that they really are capable of confidently supporting and facilitating their offspring responsively rather than superficially, with absolute faith in their innate ability to intelligently direct their own learning experience. It's really a mindset, IMO, and you have either switched over into that zone or not. I can tell within seconds whether a parent is there or pretending to be there ;o)
Just my take on it, of course, and there is a wealth of info out there online if you're interested in researching further. And you're more than welcome to ask me (or my unschooled teen) anything, any time :o)
I have a heart to unschool, but our family is currently being investigated by CPS. I feel like I'm being watched, so I'm currently homeschooling, with a curriculum and everything. I want to just let them be free, but there is this oppressive force in our lives now. One question for you: Do you limit screentime? I'm finding that very hard to do at this point. If I let them do whatever they wanted, they would turn into nocturnal screen zombies and sleep all day lol.