Sitting here with my morning coffee, trying to get the neurons to fire... I'm contemplating the eternal undulations of sentiment here in our Steemit community.
There's this never-ending debate about the "necessity" of quality content and bringing value... and the drawbacks of so-called shitposts, spam and low quality content.
I've often been part of that debate.
Here. Have a random cat. Brady in mid-yawn. Ho-hum.
Now, let me preface what I'm exploring here by adding that such things as blatant plagiarism (which is "theft"), identity theft, scams and phishing... I'm dead set against that sort of thing: It Gotta Go!
But Beyond That:
We talk a lot about our hopes of Steemit getting to the point of "mass adoption," so let us consider this:
The TV show "Seinfeld" was hugely popular in the 1990s... and it also very openly billed itself as "a show about nothing."
Random squiggly bits. Actually: Decoration on the hummingbird feeder.
And yet? In the course of its almost 200 episodes, most info I've been able to dig up suggests it averaged a good 30 million viewers per episode.
The Seinfeld finale drew over 76 million viewers, one of the highest ever ratings for any TV show. Ever. Period. Sure, the Super Bowl draws over 100 million viewers... but you're comparing a nonsensical sitcom to the year's biggest sporting event, here in the US.
What's my point here?
Mostly, I think we worry excessively that too much that "junky" content will somehow cause the demise of Steemit.
Whereas it's a valid concern and part of me shares it, I'm not convinced that's entirely true. Just to reiterate, I DO believe scams and manipulation could cause the demise of our community... but not so much just plain average and dumb content. And think about it: Facebook and Reddit attracts millions to their respective oceans of crapulence.
So who is to say that Steemit couldn't become hugely successful as "A Website About Nothing?"
In reality... isn't the vast majority of Social Content "about nothing?" We'd like to think it's "something," but on the greater scale of life...? Not so much...
As a footnote: That isn't to suggest that you shouldn't be original and do your best. And if you feel like writing a dissertation on the effect of coffee on motor neurons, please do. Just be ORIGINAL and create your OWN material.
If it worked for Seinfeld, why couldn't it work for us?
What do YOU think? Were/are you a Seinfeld fan? WHY did you watch the show... if it were about "nothing?" Or was the show actually about "something?" Isn't most of our lives about nothing? Is social media in general basically a reflection of our daily lives, which are mostly about nothing? How do you think that approach would work on Steemit? Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation!
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(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for Steemit)
Created at 180817 09:38 PDT
I agree with you that people should be allowed to post whatever they want on here (within the confines of the law). That being said, I think you vastly over-estimate people's ability to separate the money from the emotion. At least personally, it is extremely frustrating to me to see a post that simply says "Today I will have a grilled cheese for lunch" get four hundred times the payout as a post I spent 3 hours on. I don't mind, per se, that someone has posted that. What I mind is that they are getting rewarded for their stake in the platform and their social network through the same mechanism that rewards me for the times when I produce a post of sufficient quality.
Let me put a different way using one of my favorite things: an analogy.
Robert Denham is a name I would bet a STEEM you have never heard of. He is a former board member of the company Chevron, and also its second largest single shareholder. Now, Chevron pays a dividend on it's shares. A pretty nice one, too, over $4 a year. So for doing absolutely nothing, Mr. Denham is pocketing hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars a year thanks to his stake in Chevron.
Imagine if Mr. Denham worked out a deal where instead of dividends, he could go to the local Chevron gas station, pour himself a Slurpee, take one sip, and then hurl it against the window. Then the cashier would then open the drawer and hand over $500 and Mr. Denham would leave the store and carry on with his day.
Can you imagine how frustrating that would be for the cashier? This guy is making less than $9 an hour, and yet this other fella gets to walk in, act like an idiot for 2 minutes, contribute nothing of value to the store or the company, and leave with more cash in his pocket than the cashier brings home in a week.
When I look at Steemit, I see this play out every. single. day.
And I try not to let it bother me, but it does.
So, quit complaining and make a suggestion? OK, here it goes:
Mask the dollar amounts that each post has earned. You can still see the number of upvotes, but you can no longer see the payout.
It's a simple fix that I think would go a long way towards fixing some of the frustration that I think people here feel when they perceive a lack of "quality content." I can only speak for myself, but it's not the lack of quality that bothers me: it's the rewards that this crap can pull down. Post whatever the heck you want. Just don't rub it in my face that you're making more in 2 minutes that I can make in 2 hours.
/rant
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@dollarsandsense, you can have my meager upvote for your very fine rant! I realize that may be cold comfort, but still...
If you look at @jsantana's response below, it's reflective of what a lot of us who got here "early" feel — and have felt — for a while.
Your frustrations and your excellent analogy are well taken, and I don't have a whole lot to add... except maybe this:
I think there was a lot of idealistic notions behind the creation of Steemit, and I think the outcome we're seeing is the result of the simple reality that human nature is everywhere. So how we have this odd dichotomy here... two "factions," if you will... "content creators" and "money harvesters." And they come at doing things here from very different angles.
What you're proposing — making the post payout — is actually an idea that has been floated several times, and has generally landed on the floor with a resounding THUD. The primary argument being that showing earnings and having "transparency" is an essential tool in getting new members to join. I do agree with that — in theory — but looking back across our brief history, it's also increasingly evident that when you promote Steemit to others on the premise of "earning money," then you end up with a bunch of people whose primary objective — tada! — is to earn money.
Well, DUH! Marketing 101...
The wealth distribution issue continues to be an issue, and it is (rightfully!) argued that Steemit needs investors. Sure. Yes, of course! But where the heck did the powers that be get this idea that the only "worthwhile" investors are giant whales, ready to plop down $5Mn to get involved? Why not encourage 10K people to invest $5K each, instead? That would have created a far more equitable distribution.
But that's my own particular hobby horse, and I'll refrain from rolling it out there.
Thanks again for a thoughtful comment!
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Your generosity is always greatly appreciated! Although you know I'd still come here even if your upvote were worth the same as mine :)
Now that I'm calmed down from yesterday, I read through your reply and through the other one you reference. I can see what you're talking about quite clearly, and it makes perfect sense. It's really only human nature.
I'm not sure if I've shared one of my favorite phrases with you before in your comments threads, but the concept of "rent-seeking behavior" plays out all over the place in our modern economy (and really in most economies over the years, come to think of it!). I see it's little different on Steemit. The idea, if you're unfamiliar, is that rent-seeking is an attempt to
So this has been around for ages, and I agree it's not surprise to find it here.
Interesting that you say my proposal has been repeatedly presented and shot down. I am pretty new around here (4 months here shortly), so I'm not familiar with much of the history or the "lore" of this place. I will say this, though. As someone signing up this year, the possibility of making large sums of money was actually not what attracted me to the site. I think attracting the right kind of individual is key, but then again, I'm not claiming to be incorruptible. Maybe one day "it" will get to me too and you'll see me cranking out garbage after figuring out a way to profit off it :P But I agree some care has to be made to portray this site for what it is. Only the most naive people think they can jump on YouTube and start making thousands of dollars a month. It needs to be the same here. And I guess you still have the same dynamic even on YouTube, where some of the longest tenured creators are putting out ridiculous content (look up Jake Paul controversy if you want to see what I'm talking about) and they still manage to pull in tons of cash in spite of it. So I guess it's not surprise that the grass isn't any greener elsewhere.
Kudos to you for staying true to yourself and continuing to put out thoughtful and interesting posts each day.
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Nope.
I think our lives are about whatever we decide our lives are about.
I don't think it is since I think a lot of our lives are even more mundane that the stuff people focus on Social Media, which is a sobering thought! 😂
Well the whole Ulog thing seems to revere this approach and is very popular. Also, I think the whole quality content debate is a bit pretentious on the whole.
Like you I'm against such things as blatant plagiarism, identity theft, scams and phishing but after that I'm not so concerned.
I do wish there was a way to ban certain types of content from our feeds though. DMania for example but, having said that, I don't see much of that nowadays.
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I wasn't all that much into Seinfeld, either... but the premise of the show served as a good example here.
I know most of my life is incredibly mundane, and I am also well aware that most of what is shared on social media basically constitutes the "highlight reels" of people's lives. Hence we don't see a whole lot of "dozing off in front of the TV with a little drool running from the corner of my mouth" types of posts.
Because... GROSS! And yet? It's the truth of a large part of existence.
I tend to distinguish between "quality content" and whether or not something "adds value" in some way. Copy pasta and plagiarism adds NO value and no originality, so I just can't get behind that. I personally find most memes utterly inane (How's THAT for pretentious??) so I very seldom look at DMania posts.
I also wish there were ways to filter our content better, but very little attention seems to have been paid to the user interface here. I'm told "SteemSummit" is working on becoming a better front end, but it was still really buggy, last time I checked it.
Thanks for your thoughts; appreciate it!
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What's "SteemSummit" @denmarkguy? I've not heard of that.
Do you follow @exyle? Have you seen his most recent thoughts about the future of the Block Chain?
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My bad Gillian; I mixed my references... I was looking at a user called "steemsummit" and meant to tell you SteemPeak... with which you are probably familiar.
Yes, I do follow Exyle, and saw the piece you're referring to. I expect he may be right, and I felt a certain sadness in realizing that I will probably be looking for a new place to blog soon... AGAIN. But so it goes...
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So is SteemPeak an interface like Busy is @denmarkguy? Another way to do what we do on Steemit?
I wonder if a hard core group of bloggers will remain here, even if SMTs scatter most of us. It might go back to how it was in the early days with fewer people and more long form posts. And, if the price of Steem rises, it would make it more worthwhile again perhaps.
It could work out well for you and others who truly like to write. 😁
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I thought Seinfield was about cats (lions and tigers)...oh...well.
I agree with you about plagarism....possibly spam (not just for breakfast any more)
My vision of Steemit is like what we are doing RIGHT NOW.
Gossip...er...I mean a 'buncha buddies' sitting around the fire, drinking coffee and solving the problems of the world..
One person's 'quality post' is another person's somnomnulism....
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And I really have no great issues with that model; I enjoy the interaction and there are some pretty interesting discussions here. And, on the whole, they seem to be a little more respectful than the typically trollish firestorms on many other sites.
Good to see you back... and welcome to homeownership.
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Thanks..
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So...here we go...
My view about Steemit has completely changed. 2 years ago (when I joined Steemit) I had the innocent thought that I would be rewarded for the quality of my posts. This went on for a while, but things here have evolved and for the worse.
Everything turned purely business. The bots do away with our "innocence" and in Steemit the boss is who has a lot of money and influence (lots of money), not who generates content. In my view, the social model of Steemit is very flawed and the future of it is very uncertain.
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I hear what you're saying @jsantana, and I mostly agree that the change has not really been for the better, at least not in my opinion.
I had similar hopes when I started here, and I remember reading quite a few posts from the early adopters of Steemit about how this had the potential to become a "great repository of information on the blockchain" with people sharing all sorts of articles they'd written about their particular areas of expertise.
Sadly, it has turned out that these ideals were broken... because our community here turned out to be just another reflection of external life. MOST people are not idealistic and wanting to create greater future for everyone, they are just greedy and want money and don't really care about anything else.
Is the social model flawed? I don't know if I would say that... I am more likely to say that the social experiment gave everyone much different results from what had been expected.
Does that make me feel a little sad? Yes, absolutely.
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I think that the best part of steemit is everyone has the chance to create quality contents while the standart of quality contents are different from one to another. just like going to the book store, you can find many books by hundreds of Authors about the same object and subject, though it's never be a best seller book at all, but the authors keep writing and publish their work.. why? because they like it or maybe because they have to.. so what;s the different with those authors on Steemit, except everybody can also play as a greatest critics too?
yeap.. social media is a reflection of our daily lives and we're not robot. off course we still have a chance to make our daily life meaningfull (IMO)
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I think you point to something important here, that "we are not robots." Indeed, no we are not. And I like the fact that as Steemit grows and matures, the more "personal" angle shows up, more and more.
As a writer, I happen to enjoy writing "article like" posts and philosophical explorations... but at the same time, I really don't care about 300 very similar essays on "Why Smartphones Are Useful." I already know they are useful... I don't need an article of "empty words" to tell me that. On the other hand, of someone has an amazing recipe for curry to share, I find that more interesting. Or some great travel tips from some location I have not been to, but would like to visit.
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of course it was about something. It was about real life observation but it had no common "theme", just different perspectives/personalities interacting with common comedic things in our life.
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Which, in a sense, makes it a LOT like "personal blogs," which often are just random vignettes of things happening in people's lives. In this case, it would apply even more to the "Ulog" phenomenon. But the thing is... "everyday events" like that tend to appeal to people because they can relate to personal stories more easily than "articles."
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Solid point. Most posts on Facebook, when I check twice a year, is about garage anyways
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Steemit came along at a very opportune time for me... I was fed up with all the bickering and infighting over Presidential politics on Facebook; and the attendant TOTAL lack of respect for differing perspectives.
It's a fine place for sharing photo updates with my relatives in Europe, but that's about it.
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Nice cat 🐱 ...
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