I haven't written on Steem in a while. Here is why. (by Charlie Shrem)

in steem •  8 years ago  (edited)

Update- Here is the first post I'm publishing for a writer: https://steemit.com/story/@charlieshrem/letter-to-an-inmate-by-garryke-reposted-by-charlie-shrem

I had a dream last night.

I walked into a bookstore and there was a petition started by asking me to continue writing on the platform. It was not hostile, but the general tone was that I let the community down.

Over the past few weeks, I've posted less and less. This has nothing to do with my belief in Steem. In fact, I've been more active than ever working behind the scenes. I will be speaking about Steem in Miami and Switzerland in the next few months as well.

I noticed that when I wrote, I was taking funds from the rewards pool from other writers who also deserved their share of the rewards pool. I'm flattered that everyone loves my writing, but at the same time I want to encourage new writers.

So I took a step back and noticed a better distribution in the rewards pool.

But I miss it. I miss writing. I miss the comments and everything that comes with it. Writing is therapeutic.

So this is the solution I came up with:

  • The 'Charlie Shrem' account will now feature up and coming writers. These posts will be personally vetted and read by me first and will be the highest caliber. Some of these writers will not be on Steem yet, so I will be introducing them.
  • ALL rewards from those posts will be given to the new author.
  • I will continue my writing and posting a new Geek in Prison post this week!

TO THE MOON!

-Charlie Shrem

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  ·  8 years ago (edited)

Yes, there's no reason to discontinue posting because you're successful :)

By all funds do you mean the SP half as well?

Nesting limit, so I will revive here...

It sucks we're running into the comment depth limit here but the concept of draining the reward pool is a bad one that leads to confusion.

Yes, this idea of "draining" because some people earn more rewards than others - without any actual abuses occurring - is absurd. It is not "draining" - it is allocation by stakeholders.

Unfortunately, there are too many people who still do not understand the stake-holding aspect of the platform and how that stake is weighted when it comes to voting and rewards allocation. Even more unfortunate is that there are long-standing members who still do not comprehend this and actually perpetuate the ignorance of it among new users who then become disenchanted, complain about it without understanding, and ultimately leave in frustration.

I think the frustration stems from the slogan "everybody gets paid to post". Really? "Everybody?" The slogan starts a expectation. I have been getting dimes here and there but when I started out I would get posts that earned nothing.

It's no reason to quit a day job for. Unfortunately someone did that.

Agree. You don't get paid to post tou get paid to invest time and energy into a long term involvement in creating content. Many 1 cent posts have turned more valuable the longer I stayed in and got more followers and upvotes especially from high reputation users. It will pay but only if you are putting out something someone else wants to hear and values hearing.

Is it really that Charlie doesn't know what he's talking about? So if a popular author writes an article and gets many votes and a significant payout, it has no impact on any other author publishing at that time?

Is it really that Charlie doesn't know what he's talking about?

I wasn't referring to Charlie.

So if a popular author writes an article and gets many votes and a significant payout, it has no impact on any other author publishing at that time?

Sure, it has an impact. But what does "having an impact" mean?

It means money. What did you take it to mean when you agreed it has an impact?

He's an expert at red herrings. Ask him a question and he'll respond with a question. Give him an answer and he won't hear it.

What @ats-david knows but fails to realise is that coins that are distributed widely have more value than coins that are hoarded by the few.

When users vote on posts that have already got high pending payouts, their vote weighs more. So a dolphin that might give 1c to a low payout post might also give 20c to a higher pending payout post. That means that the 20c does get pulled from the lower payout posts.

This is not a bad system IMO. I think it could work if people were better educated and there were better incentives to avoid pile-ons on over-valued posts.

So you have a problem with how rewards are allocated? See my initial comment.

Perhaps I should have asked: What is the problem with this "impact?" Is that not how the system was designed? A fixed rewards pool that is allocated based on stake-weighted voting?

Yes, it was stupid, this is my solution

Of course :)

  ·  8 years ago (edited)

I think you can also make it a no-rewards post? Use the option "Decline payout" !

(edit: I noticed others also mention this. Added a screenshot for clarity)

Great success in Miami & Swiss!

I disagree @roelandp , that decline payout option should be reserved for special circumstances and being a successful blogger on steemit is not one of them, and should not be.

  ·  8 years ago (edited)

Ok but as Charlie mentions he wanted to keep writing but not drain the rewards pool, it could be an option..?

I mean... for me he is very welcome to "drain" the rewards pool as much as he can..., but if he wouldn't want, he could also just use that?

It sucks we're running into the comment depth limit here but the concept of draining the reward pool is a bad one that leads to confusion. Steem stakeholder accounts vote on posts and their staked vote says where the rewards go. Nothing is "drained," just distributed.

  ·  8 years ago (edited)

It's his personal choice what reasons he chooses. From reading the post it sounds like that's what he wants to be able to do; write and get to the trending page (or just be read) while still seeing the steem token widely distributed -which gives it more value.

It would be cool @dan if we could choose the percentages on payouts, like we do for voting power. Instead of 0/50/100 let us choose 0-100. :)

  ·  8 years ago (edited)

AFAIK it's possible in Steem to set a cap on your payout, this is how the payout declined posts works. But you could set it to say $50 or any other number you like. By default it's set to $1,000,000 according to steemd.com pages. It's not implemented in the Steemit UI apart from a setting for $0.

That would be interesting!!

To the moon man!

I agree with @pfunk, there is no reason to stop posting.

It's a great gesture that you're making. Looking forward to see more new people. :)

UV and RS this post for you Charlie.


I appreciate you a lot. Some of us are not tech pros online or bloggers but work really hard at making content and have had to learn all this since joining here.


I appreciate your heart man, I have always told you that online. We are lucky to have you trying to continue the chase of true #Liberty for us being a leader in a space that is rapidly evolving daily some of us are not 100% familiar with.

I will say it again, I really appreciate you Charlie.


Didn't you lose your passport along with your conviction? (re. "I will be speaking about Steem in Miami and Switzerland")

I was curious about that too...

Could be also a video conference?

Just write normally and write what you want. I have made more than my share of rewards during the life of Steemit so far, but I keep writing and posting. One reason for this is that I enjoy writing about various subjects. The second reason is that I use most of my earnings to fund other programs such as @outreach . The featured author idea has been tried extensively and there was some backlash, so those who were running those posts ended them when we got the re-steem feature. You are welcome to try featuring authors and see what the community thinks, but I would be more interested in reading your own blog. Just don't overdo it; post once a week or so and no one should complain.

  ·  8 years ago (edited)

I will say what many are probably thinking -- this has been tried before, and it was outright awful. I don't think it can't be done well. But i do know that it has been done very badly in the past (this is, of course, my subjective opinion). though, IMO this:

ALL rewards from those posts will be given to the new author.

is a huge step in the right direction.

just this one guys opinion, but IMO, you should promote it with this account, but have it posted with an account that belongs to the actual writer. Especially with resteem, promoting it from your account should be easy.

For one thing, that will make it easier to get that other guy/gal the SP. For another, IMO you (or anyone else for that matter) shouldn't be getting a reputation bump for posting someone elses work.

Also what happened to steempower.org?

YES, you are 100% correct in the method you explained, any other way would look shady and be shunned upon by the community

I disagree about reputation boost. I think it is good for a person to do this and therefore makes sense that their reputation get a boost for doing it. But I also think the reputation system is currently extremely flawed (and still subject to drastic changes if I'm not mistaken).

But I agree with you on the practicallity of resteeming rather than posting and then transferring. I would hope that @charlieshrem would still write his own content, and if he feels the rewards should be distributed more widely he can decline payout from time to time. It's a good example to make and I have a lot of respect for him for recognising the value in wider distribution of the reward pool.

I guess you never noticed that "decline payout" option

That's ideal for this scenario. I've also seen it used where the person was just posting a video by someone else and didn't think they should get paid for that. It's good to have these options.

  ·  8 years ago (edited)

If you want to post without taking the funds you can decline payment and if you want to help distribute other authors work you can resteem and promote their posts, but when established authors begin posting newcomer's content on their account it is usually only to exploit them for their SP.

I really hope that this is not your intention.

even if it's not his intention, it will be the perception of those who are seeing it, more so because the posts will most likely make it to the #1 spot on the trending page, I think it's a bad idea to post content from other writers.

You can still post and decline payouts. I think people appreciate your perspective because many of us have followed your story from before we joined Steemit. I like the idea of featured writers too though :)

Competition for the rewards is an inevitability. The answer to this issue of limited rewards is to get the market cap to grow so there's more rewards to go around. In the long run even Charlie Shrem will have tough competition, but competing in a larger pool.

You can write but decline rewards via the controls in lower right.

  ·  8 years ago (edited)

Nostalgic Aaah... the return of the "featured author"

Haha, oh god.

  ·  8 years ago (edited)

I wonder if the drama will rekindle too....

as if we don't have enough quite yet

Good to see you! It's been a long time since BitInstant.

I am looking forward to the rest of your book.

There is an option that you can deny any rewards

Awesome! I've been waiting for another Geek in Prison. I love the series, and I'm not a book type reader. Maybe that's why, each are short and real life. Prison life fascinates me, I think it's the psychological aspect.

Meh, take the rewards, that is how it's supposed to work..., it's not like it was 3x a day.

Welcome back home, we you trust in the process of our team, all for one and one for all!!! Good to have you back. Namaste :)

Glad you are back Charlie :)

Ironic that i just came across this post, as i just finished watching "banking on bitcoin" great Documentary to watch, I've only been in this cryptoworld from November 2016 but loving it, i'm a big fan and especially steemit but steemit has opened so many avenues for me and learned about crypto, especially just seen the movie and love it. Going to spread the word, every single person need to watch it and especially get some knowledge about blockchain is the future, I've learned so much in the last two months. Wish i started this path in the beginning but as we say "better late then never" crypto or blockchain should be a subject in schools.

How does a writer apply to get 'discovered' and promoted by you?

What's the criteria for applying?

Are you including writers already here on Steemit or would you prefer 'Steemit-virgins'?

Do you prefer certain genres?

I'll post this to my Facebook and Twitter accounts if it will help some of my friends/followers who are not yet here, on Steemit.

Of course, those of us who have carved out a tenuous niche for ourselves already would welcome a @charlieshrem boost too... hint-hint ;)

great story @charlieshrem - upvoted and resteemed

Can you tell me where in Switzerland will be your speech about Steem?

Give it to the people, powerup whomever you want?

It's the people's votes, they can do as they please.

You, too, can do what you want, but encouraging others with the procedes makes sense to me.

Such a generous and bold move to feature upcoming author's work. Might even be transformed into a great token such as those initiated by @taskmanager and @virtualgrowth on the Bitshares ecosystem.

Fantastic solution.

You are an inspiration Charlie. We are glad to have you writing again! I missed your unique perspective on life and the changes that altcoins are spearheading. Welcome back!

Great idea Charlie.. I'll be watching for your posts for author posts I can add to the Steemit Ramble to help support them as well.

I was thinking why did you stop from writing since you were so loved by the community! Now I know why! Cheers!

Good to see you back :)

You have some alternatives. You could also send people SBD from your account from your own posts for articles you find worthy. People were doing this often back in July when I started. If you attract what you believe is more of the reward pool than you like you can always turn around and give some of that away to authors as you like. It is only one choice though. Ultimately you should do what makes sense to you. Personally as you gain in power the most important thing I think you can do would be to continue to vote for things you like. This will put your new power to actual use somewhere. Though speaking about steem and promoting it other places is also a very good thing too. There is also this thing called life. Sometimes we all get drawn away. That doesn't mean we won't be back.

Welcome back! I was wondering what happened to you. Glad to hear that everything is ok.

As for the reward pool, well, I don't think it's drained. Like @pfunk said in a comment, it's just distributed when someone votes on something. And that's the way it should be.

With that being said, I'm looking forward to your new stream of upcoming writers.

Best of luck!

such generosity and enthusiasm, sir! the community appreciates you.

Was wondering where you were at brother, happy new year! I might stop by the conference in Miami this month.

Upvoted and resteemed!

Obviously, many people enjoy your writing! It would be a shame to stop. I'm glad you were able to come up with a solution, and I think it's awesome that you are supporting new authors.

Great to hear from you, Charlie! Looking forward to discovering new writers featured through your account. That's a very generous and growth-oriented approach you're taking. Cheers to a moon bound 2017!

Thank you for this initiative @charlieshrem ! :)

when will you be in Miami?

  ·  8 years ago (edited)

Good idea, i'm trying hard to introduce people to Steemit, most like the idea, but are reluctant. I don't have this Rep to consider your idea, but i like! Someone mentioned a Steemit within Steemit on an earlier post.

ah, great idea!

It's good to see that you'll be posting more again.

Cool idea about featuring authors! Don't worry about the whole "draining the reward pool thing. Like others say, it is more about allocating!

Awesome :)

There will always be a sub-set that wants to highlight a 'perceived' negative - you are above that I know.

Great initiative and all the very best with it.

Cool, I love the series "Geek in Prision".. please keep writting and if you are getting rewards is because people like your stuff.. also consider that there are people who count on you to get curation rewards as well, so your writting is also making other people money! :)

Interesting idea maybe do some resteeming of posts also.

So awesome what your doing ! and very glad your back ! Cant wait to see your selections of up and coming authors ! To the Moon and Back ! steem on !👍😉

Thanks Charlie. Thought I hadn't seen much of you of late

I like the way you incorporate your thoughts :) , happy to have you back :D

I believe once something is already way at the top there is little consequence to down-voting you. Keep the good work!

I would suggest that at least if you use Steemit.com, you remove the "flag", but I can see the economic argument.
The problem comes with explaining the flags to new Steemit users, because they don't actually show up as regular "votes" here.

How can I remove the flag ? I'm using steemit.com not running it.
I don't get it. I understand that downvote was converted into flag and I'll keep downvoting what I believe has achieved to big a share of the reward.

Just click on the flag logo in the upper right corner on the article, when using Steemit.

Yes, the downvote was made into a flag, which means that if you use Steemit.com you should (assuming that you value respecting the website guidelines) not flag other material than what it is meant for.

However you are not the only steemit user still treating it like a regular downvote; Even dantheman seems to do this.

-It's up to you what you want to do really. Other websites may not even show the downvote as a flag.

Thanks for clearing that out... FYI, By downvoting/flag already popular content I happen to lose any chances of getting curation reward.

Oh yes, I know. I don't think what you did was malicious in any way. As of the time I'm answering you here, the flag rules have actually been changed as well. So now it's most definitely up to each owns taste. =)

To the moon!! keep the posts coming!!

Very well I start to write and I see that it is very difficult to get readers and worse value for my post. I write in Spanish and there is almost no community. I have to translate with google. And this discourages me I see potential in steem but very little support to follow forward.

Thank you! Congratulations Merry Christmas!

I am new her.may be i can learn from people like you.......:)
please write

Charlie, you look so much like J. J. Abrams. Are you guys related?

Cool Idea Charlie!!

Hello Charlie,

Your continued commitment to Steemit and to discovering and promoting new (and yet) unknown writers is genuinely admirable. As you indicate, many great writers are everywhere, not just on Steemit. The introduction into Steemit you give a writer can be just the breakthrough that writer (and Steemit) needs. I believe you, the other whales, developers, and others behind the scenes, are truly commendable for what you have done and are doing with Steemit. Personally, I have found a 'home' here and post as often as I can.

I'm sure you are aware of the effect you and other whales have on so many within this community, however, aside from the fact whales are virtually idolized, no pun intended < on second thought, why not>. Essentially, anyone a whale may promote will receive top votes from most who follow said whale simply because that whale has promoted the person - at least for a while.

Regardless, the person introduced by a whale will be instantly recognized and have a better chance at quickly creating a following than so many struggling minnows who are very good writers, but have no such exposure. As the Steemit community multiplies, posts get pushed down feeds quicker, so those with small followings tend to remain small fish. Building a reputation, even for the greatest writers, becomes increasingly difficult as Steemit flourishes.

Indisputably, it is ultimately your choice of whom you wish to promote and how - within and without the Steemit community. I simply ask to truly search within the Steemit community to find those whom you sincerely feel worthy of a whale's wake.

Oh, and I do enjoy your posts. < Shame on me! I almost forgot to tell you.>

Best to you and everyone in the New Year!
Sophia

Thought maybe you were busy working with the chronobank ico...
Hows that going by the way and how come its not available for U.S. investors?

Thank you @charlieshrem!

A great initiative and looking forward to reading more of your inputs in the future!

Hoping to be back soon myself as well, life is making it hard to focus on Steemit 100% again.

Hey mr. Charlie, I remember how I found who you are - from one movie "The Rise and Rise of Bitcoin". Congratulations for the hard task to be a pioneer I mean about BitInstant. Best Regards from little Bulgaria

Nice to see that someone in your position took the initiative to out the community above his /her own wants and desires. Sets a good example.
By the way, where in Switzerland will you be speaking? Is it open to the public?
Thanks

I look forward to your suggestions.

hi charlieshrem..God Bless You..

I just saw a documentary "Banking on Bitcoin" with you in it and was struck by the hypocrisy of you serving time because someone used your service for drugs while at the same time much more damage has been done by the bankers who provided the tools for drug cartels to do thousands of times more damage without going to jail.

Then seeing Benjamin Lawsky sit up there like a pompous ass act as if he has the right to control or even the wisdom to understand what he was trying to control was beyond obscene. He's on the wrong side of history.

I've been around for a long time and have been waiting for this moment in history which I never thought would come in my lifetime. But one of these cryptocurrencies is going to become the next Google of finance and it's going to cause massive infrastructure inversion (as Andreas Antonopoulos puts it). Authority will not be able to control it. Their manipulations will be rendered moot.

I'm also an IT person (software dev) and having studied the various technologies that underlie bitcoin, I know that eventually we will either have panopticon first or star trek. Data breaches like Equifax make the latter inevitable, it's just a matter of time. I'm convinced of that.