"Steemit is growing and will continue to grow as long as the quality of content is maintained. Quality and quantity are both factors, but quantity is of no value if it has no quality." @bycoleman
It has now sinked in to me that the quote above will be the my basis on why I should advocate for quality contents. Since I got my first @curie upvote, I have been trying to post contents that passed my standards of quality. Also, I always encourage my fellow steemians to post quality contents. Good thing many have tried to answer to my call. Later in this post, I'll mention notable steemians I've known who started to maintain the level of quality in their posts.
In this post, I'll enumerate what are the elements that I think will distinguish a quality content from just an ordinary content. This is not to discourage or diminish the efforts of my fellow steemians, but to inspire and motivate them to always aim for quality in their posts.
1. It Has a Clear Intention
If you want to inform, by all means, be informative. If you want to persuade, then be persuasive. If you want to argue, then present your arguments. If you just want to release the musings in your head, no one's stopping you. The point is, you should be able to distinguish your intention and have it get across to your intended audience.
Part of showing a clear intention is knowing your audience. Your have to determine which part of the demographics is your target. To be able to do that, you have to search what types of topics your target audience are interested in. It will be difficult at first, but you'll get the hang of it.
2. It Adds Value
Let's go back to the quote above. Steemit will grow and will continue to grow if quality is maintained. This is because value is being added to steemit. Value can be relative depending on who assess the inherent properties of the content, but we are in the digital age.
Remember that any post that you have will be recorded in the blockchain. It means that every post that you have is information. In this era, the most valuable commodity is information. Once you possess the right information, your power is innumerable.
Since everything is public, any query will be able to access those information, making steemit a valueble tool. @steemstem and @curie are encouraging novel and exceptional contents because those contents will make steemit valuable. This is also the reason why negative and other derogatory posts are discouraged because they will be forever in the blockchain and they don't add value to the platform.
3. It Has a Desired Length
This is a little bit controversial for me because there are other contents with quality but lacks the desired length. Besides, "desired" length can be very subjective. Some might consider a post too long, others might consider it okay, while a few might say that it could be expounded further.
Since steemit is not just a community of content creators, but also a community of content consumers, longer posts with all the qualities mentioned in this post are usually well-appreciated. My usual line when I give advice to newbies is:
Do not hold back in your words. Let it flow. If you think it's already long, add more because it might not be long enough.
Longer posts with all other qualities are usually regarded as exceptional because the author goes an extra mile in creating that post. There's always a little bit of "extra" in that post that you can say it's not made out of mediocrity or just for the sake of posting.
My basis for a post to have a desired length is not on the number of words, but on the impression that the content has imparted on me. If your content highlighted the main points and never missed out a single detail, then your post must have the desired length. I never counted the number of words in my blog, but according to some bloggers, 1000+ words in a single blog is advisable.
As long as the post covers everything that needs to be covered and it doesn't leave me hanging, then I'll consider it to have passed the desired length of a content. You don't have to follow @sweetsssj's travel and food blogs because she's on a different level, but you can get inspiration from her way of presenting her content.
4. It Is Well-Supplemented
This is more on the packaging of the post that makes it more appealing, engaging, or authoritative. Depending on the intention of the post, adding infographics, embedded videos, and photos would make the content it more conducive for the readers to continue reading.
Photos, videos, or infographics should not only supplement the whole content, but also complement the texts in that content. Although not mandatory, adding captions would make these supplements an added bonus. Captions make those additions complementary and stand-alone at the same time.
Aside from being complementary and supplementary, those additions mentioned above would also cater those who are inclined to process visual information. Those type of people would just scroll down the whole content and look at the photos, videos, or infographics. This is why it would be an added bonus if there is a caption for them to read.
5. It Is Coherent and Has Good Grammar
This is another controversial element for me. Questions would arise like, "How about those who are not good in grammar? Or those who have other languages as their primary tongue?".
Steemit has been very supportive of anyone who wished to share something. As long as it adds value to the community, regardless of what language is being used, there will always be someone who will support that content. But if you want your content to reach a wider audience, then it would be better to have a good command in English language.
In one of the guidelines of @curie, it will only upvote posts that are written in English. I think this is for the spirit of transparency that @curie wants to achieve. If written in English, majority will be able to appreciate the content being upvoted.
Grammar and coherence will always go hand-in-hand. Coherence is more of how you connect different ideas in a seamless manner to form one big story, your story. If written with good command in grammar, there's authority in your story. If it's not really possible to have it in English, there's nothing wrong with using a language you're most comfortable with. Your local community will always appreciate it.
6. It Follows a Recommended Format
This is more on the overall aesthetics of the content. No matter how novel and exceptional the idea is, once presented with mediocrity, the result will be out of mediocrity. There are recommended formats in presenting your content and it is encouraged to take your time in learning and applying them. You can also make your own format in presenting, as long as the quality is not compromised.
Presenting your post in an aesthetic manner will entice your readers to continue reading your content. Since humans are inclined towards what's beautiful and pleasing to the eye, presenting your content beautifully will attract more audience.
7. It Encourages Valuable Comments
Valuable comments do not necessarily mean that they agree to the content. There might be a clash of different ideas, but that's the beauty of it. It builds up from the post and new synthesized ideas will form. As long as the discourse is healthy, comments should always be welcomed in the post.
I believe that comments are part of the content and they also add value to steemit. That's the reason why I measure the success of my posts by the amount of engagement they get from the community. To encourage more comments, I always take time read and reply those comments made for my posts.
8. It Is Not Plagiarized
This is giving credit to where the credit is due. No matter how good a content is, but it was copied from another work without proper permission and citation from the owner, the content is as useless as the author who copied. There's nothing degrading with admitting that you got the information from other sources.
Plagiarism is a crime and it is punishable by any law applicable. Getting inspiration from others' work is fine, as long as stated in your own words and not copied verbatim.
9. It Is Part of the Author's Consistency
I added this one because it reflects the truest intention of the author. If the author consistently posts high quality content even if not always recognized, then that author must be regarding quality above anything else.
Conclusion
Consistently creating a quality content is not easy. There are efforts to be expended in order to achieve the desired outcome, but the outcome will be all worth it.
All the elements mentioned can be used to gauge the level of quality a content has. You can formulate questions related any of those mentioned and if you will be able to answer them, then your content must be of high quality.
1. @legendarryll
First Curie: Sulfur Miners of Kawah Ijen, Indonesia
Second Curie: Singapore Art Scene
Third Curie: UNMASKED: A Chance Encounter with One of Bali's Master Masked Makers
2. @thegaillery
First Curie: The Confidence Project
Second Curie: The Japanese Food Experience as Told By a Non-Japanese
3. @xaydtrips
First Curie: Mactan Island Hopping: Witnessing a Magical World Through the Lens of a Diving Mask
First Steemstem: Reaching Our Visions: Negros Island is Now the Philippines' Solar Energy Capital After Years of Renewable Energy Campaign
First OCD: Mt. Talinis: Cuernos de Negros, the Sentinels Watching Over Oriental - Life in the Tropics 06
4. @dioncrediblehulk
First Curie: The Day Apo Whang Od Inked Me and Grabbed my Crotch
Second Curie: 8 Success Lessons l Learned After Interviewing More than 20 Engineering Topnotchers in the Philippines
First OCD: A Guide on How to Get Inked by Apo Whang Od, the Oldest Traditional Tattoo Artist in the Philippines
5. @davids-tales
First Curie: Exploring Japan
Second Curie: Exploring Southern Leyte: Chasing Whale Sharks and Stories
If you might contest with my list of steemians; please be advised that some of them are just starting to bloom. What I'm asking is to watch out for their posts as I believe that are now realizing the importance of quality here on steemit.
Expecting your next quality post,
Kim, @ybanezkim26
All images are taken from pixabay.com
These are some great pointers @ybanezkim26! It's definitely encouraging to see a lot of great writers from the Philippines being recognized. Keep doing an amazing job! :)
Thank you @jazzybells! It's now my advocacy to help those who wanted to be helped in their writing. I'll do my best to encourage everyone to always go for a quality content.
Thank you for sharing this post. I can tell you put a lot of effort and intention behind how you presented your case. I like the titles, the list structure, the easy way I can skim it to look for relevant points, and the words themselves. You present your arguments concisely and well.
My inspiration from this post is to remember to make my work "skimmable." I sometimes forget like poets full of themselves often do that the reader is lazy. I say this in the most fond and affectionate way (I'm a reader and I'm awfully lazy when it comes to engaging with a text). It is respectful to our readers to give clear paragraphs, clear headings, and directions on what to expect: you do this nicely in your introduction.
I'm reminded of high school english literature class and the five paragraph essay. There is a reason we do thesis statements, then refer back to them throughout our text. They make sense and are easier on the reader.
As a fellow @curie recipient, I too feel the need for high quality content and struggle against days where the enthusiasm just isn't there for it. Our time is so precious!
How do you manage your time versus the rest of your life to produce quality content?
😱😱😱 The great @jocelynlily has commented on my post!
Regarding your question, I think I have sacrificed some parts of my life like sleep. I usually sleep 8-9 hours before, but right now, it becomes 5-6 hours. Haha.
I usually take advantage of my sudden burst of enthusiasm to write. I never forced myself to write if I don't feel like writing. Ideas usually come when I'm sleepy, so I keep my phone ready when I'm about to sleep. That's why it took 2-3 hours before I can sleep.
By the way, congratulations on your first @curie upvote! Continue with the level of quality of your first curie and I'm sure it will not be your last. You're just starting!
Oh god, I'm all embarrassed now.
I feel like sacrificing sleep for writing is the modern equivalent of killing your prized goat and burning it in sacrifice for good fortune. It is an expression of how willing you are to achieve your goals, but not the best choice. Apparently anything less than 8 hours of sleep is just as detrimental for your health as not sleeping at all. Be careful!
For the longest time, I too struggled to write. I had to be struck by the "sudden burst of enthusiasm," as you say. I didn't write for a whole year once.
Now, I write something every day. Even if it sucks. Even if it is terrible I have a "daily quest" to just write something. Once I had that habit to write one thing, it got easier and easier to do. My writing sessions lengthened, and now I'm up to like an hour or two a day of just writing; mostly in my off time in the morning or after work.
You can do it too if you're not already. Maybe in liu of not sleeping :)
Thank you for the encouragement! I read your awesome post about how to get a curie upvote! Holy wow! That was worth the sleep sacrifice!
I'm now slowly regaining my old sleeping pattern. Hahaha. I usually write when I'm commuting to and from work. You know, the traffic here in the Philippines worsens every single day. It's an advantage for me though. Haha.
I have an alarm in my phone every 8:30 PM; just to remind me to read or write something, but I don't follow it. It's just a reminder for myself to consistently strive for excellence.
About my Tips and Tricks to get curied, I'm glad you appreciated it. I hope it will spread to more minnows so that they can feel what a first curie upvote feels like.
The great @jocelynlily commenting on this post implies that this is of quality. I know of not enough words to even come close to what our great master had written. But please know that this post is highly appreciated by this mere mortal, Kim. Please accept my humble upvote and resteem.
Thank you, Gail! You were mentioned in my list of notable steemians because both @legendarryll and you have been with me in this advocacy. You were the first to head my call for quality posts. I'm elated to know that you both are now slowly making names on your own.
Wait, it was @legendarryll who said that we should never compromise quality over quantity. I just adopted it. Haha
:( I'm all embarrassed; worried that this is sarcastic.
You have a lovely voice that appears in in your writing! We want moar!
She has a mesmerizing voice when she's talking @jocelynlily! That's why people would always listen to her when she's talking.
About you being the great @jocelynlily, there's nothing sarcastic about it. We always talked about you and you were our inspiration to be better in our writing.
I was worried that you'll take it as such, @jocelynlily. But know that we only have respect for you! I get that a lot. Hahaha! I still have to decide whether that's something positive, so...
Thank you @thegaillery, I'll do my best to live up to your high praise!
I enjoy sarcasm; it is just so hard online. There is no context, no inflection online. Your kindness and genuine good nature show through!
Whoa! I made it to @ybanezkim26's list of quality post!!! The stars have aligned!!
And guys, this is your fool-poof guide to making quality posts. So read it, make it sink into your system, and then read it again.
We are very lucky to have you, Kim, who has been very patient in sharing insights on how to succeed on steemit. Padayon.
Thank you for resteeming @xaydtrips! It means a lot to me.
Padayon mo! You're all slowly making names on your own. I'll claim that your successes will also be mine. Haha. I'm proud of you! Keep on steeming quality contents!
Wow thank you @ybanezkim26!! Im honored that I got into your list!!
I agree most of the points you set out is true. Even if some people might contest against a long post I believe its the writers duty to set the pacing. A long post may not feel long with the right pacing and flow. I started aiming for lengthier posts after the 6th meet up when @bellatravelph told us that longer posts are encouraged. At first I had a bit of an adjustment from the one liners in instagram to one paragraph posts on FB but as I kept writing I got more comftable with words and using as many of them as the post needs. You do need to avoid length for the sake of length.
And if I may add it also helps when you keep in mind consistency, in a sense that the writer stays consistent in storytelling and doesn't segue too much. Its one of my struggles like if you start talking about technical stuff in a travel blog or go into a heavy politically charged topic while doing a personal reflection post. Its best to in engineering terms recalibrate and refocus. 😊 and have more than one draft for sure 😂
Wow! I couldn't agree more to what you have said. This what I'm referring to as valuable comments. It adds value to this post. Thank you! Keep on doing what you're doing because you're on the right track. 👍
This is very helpful.
Thank you @morken! I hope many will be able to accomplish a lot of feats here on Steemit because they have been inspired by this post.
Just when all ideas are out and I don't feel like writing, I came across this post and the fire juat lit up! This is exactly what I needed, thank you so much @ybanezkim26 for your never ending support to all of us steemians, especially newbies like me 😊 You are legit spoonfeeding us 😂
Hahaha. I like the "legit spoonfeeding" thing. Hahaha. My take on that is, no matter how good I am at explaining things, the action will always be at your side. All the efforts in applying what you learned from this post will be all yours. I'm just presenting my ideas on what works and what doesn't. In the end, your efforts will be the determining factor.
By the way, thank you @adeline24 for dropping by. It's always an honor to help. Spread all your wings and fly! Keep on steeming!
Thank you so much for sharing your informative post @ybanezkim26 . I wanted to try making a good quality post but I'm running out of ideas recently . I felt unmotivated to do so . :( but since you posted interesting it motivates me to create something creative char. :) Anyway , resteemed your post mwaaah :*
Thank you so much, @joancabz! I really appreciate it! I'm excited for your creative posts.
You should teach more heheh are you going to the boodle fight later? :)
I would love to, but I'm still at work. Muapas lang guro ko.
apas lng eyy after work huwaton ka namo :) hehehe
Hey @ybanezkim26! I'll forever be grateful to the support I'm getting from you. I'll never get tired of saying thank you for believing in my talent. Keep on motivating everyone to produce quality content. I am now seeing how your efforts affect the community. I'm just proud to share this journey with you and the rest of the team.
-Darryll
😱😭😱😭 I am also thankful to the team for heading to my call for quality contents. Your successes were the first wave of the ripple I tried to create. Through you, I was able to put more authority in my advocacy for quality contents because you were the first to propagate the waves and pass it on to others. Thank you so much for the support! I'm also forever grateful to you and @thegaillery.
Anyway, I'm thankful for being here, I meet new friends.
Thank you.
See you around........
@iamwhatiamnot here.
This is what struck me the most because I was planning on making a post about this. It's really true. Anyway, thank you for dropping a comment like this. It helps me continue with what I'm doing. Thank you!
See around buddy!
I hope next time it would be @iamwhatiam. Hahaha
Point #5 is what makes everything difficult. It is a challenge to everyone to write all the ideas smoothly from one sentence to another to let the reader understand what you want to express. This is one of the technicalities in writing. I think Cohesion with the use of the cohesive devices and the organization should be in the list as well.
This post has given me enough idea on how to make my next curie-worthy post. This is worth resteeming. :)
Thank you @honeyletsgo! Thank you for accepting the challenge. Hahaha. I'm excited for your next curie post!
bookmarked your post! very helpful and informative esp. newbies like me. I would always look up to you as one of my favorite blogger! Thank you for the inspiration. Grammar is a challenge though when it comes to writing. Thank God my husband proofread my blog but his lazy reading my lengthy post ahaha
It's an honor to be looked up as such, @orhem! Thank you!
I am very much enlightened with this post. I am newbie, a month actually and it's been a struggle to really come up with something. But somehow this blog had given me so much idea. I am more than inspired to keep on writing and honing it. Thank you!
You're welcome @mcamayra! It's an honor that my posts were able to help.
Thank you so much for the tips. We'll slowly learn about these tips and apply on our posts soon.
I'm always here to help. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have issues or concerns.
Wow! Great to know that. This is what motivates me to stay. The great people willing to help. Thank you so much for that.