Regardless if we like it or not, life and Steemit are not always "fair". There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes so if you are constantly comparing yourself to others then the journey can be one of just bitter realizations that some things are rather rigged and not everyone is going to hit their stride on here.
Some Realizations and Tips to Soldier On and Not Let the Bastards Grind You Down...
Trolls happen, this has been true on every platform I've ever used and Steem is no exception. Feeding them or bantering a bit back and forth if it is relatively harmless is up to you. Personally, I either ignore or say something back to perhaps remind them that being a douche nozzle is their problem not mine. Don't expect people to rush to your aid, standing on your own two feet able to hold your own is an admirable trait on here.
Try not to feel discouraged or buy the hype that everyone's wallet is the whole story...
Not everyone shows their hand on here and many who do well pay it forward A LOT. I've personally chosen to lay off using most bots as they really haven't added all that much to my posts personally. I upvote my posts as a bit of a countermeasure to bot users and if I use other forums like BB or Zappl then there is an additional amount that is taken out of your earnings. Some people I know who use bots and self upvote (not talking for thousands of bucks btw), are out there starting initiatives and do quite a bit of donations and "pay it forward" work. Someone's wallet can say 3 dollars and they actually just have it somewhere else or invested differently, as they wish to remain a bit private on a platform where you can look up some financial stats.
This is YOUR Blog and YOUR Stake, Period! Do not be surprised of some trying rather heavy tactics on how they feel you should write or spend your money or what you should spend it on. Newsflash, this is your ride and nobody elses. If someone is full of brilliant ideas all the time with little to no follow through and clog your dm's with a scorecard of what they did for you 2 months ago or how you should loan them money then empower yourself. That is Your call, not anyone elses. You can not please everyone and doing so tends to eventually make you look like a fairweather steemian and people really tend to pay heed to those who magically come in to do tons of posts everyday when SBD's are up.
Taking Breaks is okay in my opinion (for what that is worth ;) )... If drama or pressure to be "on call" for the 10th podcast of the day is unpleasant then it is perfectly fine to say the magical word, NO. The vast majority of people will either relate or understand that not all of us are on here 20 hours a day nor do we want to be. If you can find your Vibe Tribe and perhaps a person or group on Discord that can help mentor you and show some of the do's and don'ts of a place with "Incentivized Kindness".
Navigate how you want to and Adjust your Sails Accordingly...for more musings and mental droppings follow,upvote, comment @battleaxe
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To self vote or not. That is the question.
Look, I vote on my own articles but I never vote on my own comments. And truth to be told, there's no right or wrong with self votes.
The default settings on Steemit, is to vote on your own articles. So Steemit themselves encourage everyone to do that.
Many people have things to say about it though, and we can see a bunch of people that never upvotes their own content but, they use bid bots instead and they buy votes for anything between 40 and 100 SBD for each article they publish. - I personally would say that using bid bots and spend 100 SBD to get votes are worse than self votes, because most of the people on Steemit doesn't own a million Steem Power, so the self votes aren't worth that much.
I definitely encourage people to self vote, but I don't recommend anyone to buy votes for 100 SBD, because that will minimize the chances for everyone in the same bid rounds to get a decent ROI. I also don't encourage anyone to self vote everything they do.
At the end of the day, it comes down to who you are and what you're trying to accomplish. I for one, wants to build a great community and reward those around me. I want to help others to grow, but I also want to grow my own account and my own audience. The more I grow, the more I can help others to grow... And with time, those I've helped might help others around them too. But with that being said, I don't want to grow my own account at the expense of others just to grow rapidly myself. I want to build my account long term, as I believe others will benefit more from that.
Steemit is "unfair" and it's easy to get discouraged and to feel despair... But that's usually because you're comparing yourself with others.
If you compare the results you have today, with the results you'll get tomorrow, you'll get motivation instead of feeling ashamed and feeling miserable.
That's my 2 cents.
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And there is my full 30 cents for that input! THANK YOU. I have ONE exception that I have made on upvoting my comment - what do you say? I have entered contests where my entry is on the bottom of the stack, and a small upvote brings me closer to the top of the page. I have done that once, and I checked other entries and all the ones at the top had self-voted... In contests where self-voting is NOT evident in the top posts, I do not either. Trying to be a little bit "when in Rome" about the contests, I guess.
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Thank you, I appreciate. :)
Yeah, I mean, I don't personally see any problems with upvoting your own comments or articles, but I wouldn't recommend people to upvote everything they do, because that would ultimately result in less rewards to others. Since the VP would drain.
But, to upvote a comment of your own from time to time or a couple of times per week or whatever, that's obviously not a problem at all. Let's say you're making 50 comments and 2 articles per day for instance. I wouldn't have a problem with someone upvoting 5 of their comments and both their articles. But if people upvoted all the comments and the 2 articles, well.. That wouldn't look to good. In my opinion.
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Truly appreciate the input!
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You're welcome. :)
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you can't please everyone and the "when in Rome" bit really is applicable
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And at the risk of having a bot decide I am comment spamming... Thanks, I truly appreciate the input!
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boom ya~ that's one hell of a reply
;)
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Yeah... I might have overworked it a bit... :D
Oh, and also. People should never be discouraged due to stupid trolls or whatever that comes in their path. I can totally see why people might feel low and get sad or depressed if someone is acting like an asshole towards them... But what's important is to not let it get to you, and to interact with those who'll give you inspiration and strength in those "dark times". Steem.chat and discord are good options to find nice, honest and funny people to talk to. - That's how I found you, and even though I haven't been talking to you much, I still remember you.
Cheers!
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Thanks for that - good thoughts! The self-upvote thing is something I wish were discussed more often, more openly. I know one of my "mentors" says No self upvote. Period. OK, I tried that. I am starting to stand on my own feet a bit... But where is that magic cut-off? I did NOT buy in, I had ZERO vote power for a long, long time. It was 2+ months before I had a post break $1, and I still rarely break $2. At this point, there is a silly challenge I am in that I am "winning" because I have the most votes, so I will be responsible to pay a charity $1. (No problem with that, I am illustrating a point here.) The other 2 people in the challenge both made over $2 on their post, I have not made $1. I got more votes, but they all were worth few pennies. The other two only got a couple votes, but people gave them 100%. If I do not upvote my post before it pays out, I will LOSE money. I don't mind taking a little loss for charity but I cannot afford to keep doing that, so which is the "right" answer? Upvote myself so I at least break even and am willing to continue the challenge? Or not upvote myself because that big 30 cent vote of mine is just draining the reward pool... and then drop out of the challenge because I can't just keep losing money on it?
Hmm... apparently I had a rant in me wanting out... thanks for springing the trap door lol!
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the ones abusing the reward pool tend to be known, my whopping upvotes also help fund my life as I have bills and also contests where people have fun and can win sbd's.......it's not for me to judge and I will keep some opinions to myself but it is your stake, that being said I am going to go check out your blog now <3
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Thank you, for the reply and blog visit!
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I know I'm new but I'm already finding it hard not to get discouraged. I'll post a simple picture and it will get a few upvotes. Then I'll spend 2 hours or more on a series and not even get a view. So what is a simple upvote on my own post going to do? I know I know...persistence.
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fear not @irieco, this happens to pretty much all of us, it happens to me a lot and I just realize things will 'hit' or not....persistence is key and being strong, all you need sometimes is a lucky or good break from someone who can get you into good groups that can support you
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look now you are rep level one up and got an upvote from commenting on my blog ;)
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Tid-bits from mental droppings yummm :D
lol
Really, though, this is good stuff. Self-voting and even vote bots can be socially acceptable if used in moderation. I hope you are not displeased with me when I sent a bot your way, Miss Battle-Axey :'-( I had the best intentions! ;)
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everything in moderation including moderation
<3
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I can't help but hear music in my head. Yes We are family. And you are right Its your thing, do what you wanna do. I tired of the rules and the way things are supposed to be. I am one with the force, and the force is one with me. I am a grown man. I know the difference between whats right and wrong. People like us are going to help others out, but sometimes we have to help ourselves out too. When we are out there spreading the love we have to save some love for ourselves
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I feel like I say this a lot when I comment on your posts, but I can't help but agree. We are all here to do what we can with however we are motivated and really should not feel OBLIGATED to make their blog or how they invest their stake here or anything. I also fully agree with breaks, I think we all need them. The same goes with how we use our time. Some may only see a sliver of what you are doing with your time, let a lone why should you have to explain it to them? Again, insight dropped by you. Love it!
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thanks for really taking the time to read and follow my work, I do my best to return the favor and am always just a dm away ;)
and your show rocks, wish I had a link for it, if you do...feel free to drop it on this post :)
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Great thoughts
I particularly agree with the perceived pressure to be on for a certain amount per day and expectations of others to do this or that within any given period
As you so rightly say “This is YOUR Blog and Your STAKE”
Do as you want with it, that the way I am I am to old to let pressure get to me LOL
As for Bots I personally choose not to use them, but for others it works for them and again its their blog they can do as they wish
Tip!
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thanks for swinging by....exactly, I agree with basically all you said
let the people decide what is or is not generally accepted, forcing or trying to force anything usually accomplishes little, education and handling your own biz is better received by some
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Yes i think were both very much in synch on our thoughts i this regard
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so it has been included in
the latest issue of 'Notes'.
Pop over and see what the fam is up to!
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thanks , just saw this here
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I've never looked at there being a clear right/wrong way to go about it when it comes to specific actions. Many people are very generous here, and even if someone is not generous, that is okay. We can all agree it is easy to tell when someone is abusive though.
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nicely stated :)
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Was expecting a raging post... was pleasantly surprised heads weren't rolling this time.
Self Vote is Love, Self Vote is Life... always do it in my posts... always will :D
Cheers
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yep
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Vibe tribes and mentors are good. I like that.
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"This is Your Blog and Your Stake" - perfect I 100% agree with you. I've grown to really quite enjoy this platform, it's not perfect but what is. At the end of the day though - you do what you want to do and are comfortable with. Rewards from posts are nice, but I really enjoy helping people and see them develop. You can make a massive difference to some by doing what really is very little - and I know the majority really appreciate it when they get a little help.
#thealliance
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Or whether you should keep your SBD or trade them for STEEM 😁
Somehow this sounds familiar loool
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Perfect.
Trolls, pressure, whatever... it's always there, no matter where we go. But as you say, HOW we deal with it is our choice.
Well written.
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thank you, yes it's hard to keep your cool sometimes and sometimes I've totally gotten triggered but overall steemit has been a good ride, thanks for stopping by :)
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I fully agree with these lines the most:
I am not on 20 hours but do tend to spend quite a few hours, only to think back later, "I shouldn't follow the feeds so much!" Now I am trying to restrict myself to a few authors' posts, including members of The Alliance, which has been the ideal group for me.
Even though I am receiving a bit less engagement than I expected, I am happy to be reading posts that are much higher in quality than the hot and trending feeds of Steemit!
About breaks - I took a 3-month break due to some exigencies due to which I had to severely restrict my time online, and I hope I never have to stay away from Steemit for so long.
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the Trending Page has driven off a lot of people, a friend joined yesterday who would have "killed it" on here ,looked at the trending page/politics and decided not really in synch and I don't blame one bit..... that makes a rather non -small number of people who leave because of that section that is up to ego jack off some...it has also run off people who were coming on , best selling authors some in media with quite large followings due to that format, if you want to keep boot licking the revolving door of whoever dominates the trending page for a hot minute, awesome....also realize how many who bring or could have brough a TON to this platform find it scammy/spammy looking, (emphasizing the look of it, not the content)
I am only going to cheerleader so much and basically tell them what I really think off of here
ce la vie
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I'm thankful I do not have to smell all the trolls.
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me too, the magic of the interwebz
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Couldn't agree more with all you're saying here. Especially about the wallet isn't the whole picture, paying out forward, dms, standing on your own two feet. Well basically all of it
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#the alliance #steemusa
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