What if I told you, I knew of a way you could work really hard every single day and not get recognized for months, possibly even more than a year for your efforts. What if I told you, you had to get out of your comfort zone, surf the complexities of political waters, learn to deal with egos and become a master people tactician too, to even participate effectively. What if I told you, you could do all this and never make a penny doing it, because that's exactly what happens most of the time. Would you still want the job?

Witnessing - Not all it's hyped to be

Yes of course, you know of people that are standing in the top, raking in the bucks, as they say, but know they are the exceptions and not the rule. In the almost one year I’ve been participating of Steem I’ve seen witnesses come and go, top 20 witnesses get knocked out of their comfortable positions, complete strangers make a splash within months of joining, and almost every combination of events you can think of.

The truth is that succeeding as a witness is not easy, and is not easy by a very long shot. Not only because of technical knowledge you may need to acquire, which of course is important, but because of all the social complexities involved. The competitive nature of others, the political nuances you must learn to tolerate, even at the expense of personal ideals.

Just writing that last line hurts me a little. Why? Because I remember thinking a long time ago that politics where disgusting and I wanted no part of it. However, as I’ve gotten older I’ve come to realize that politics is just a system of social structure, an organic system of governance and something that might be innate to us humans. After all, as a species we require leaders, and crave for structure and guidance.

If you’ve considered becoming one

Or if a friend has told you to do so, know that you are in for one of the most emotionally draining social ventures you’ve possibly taken on. This is of course, if you are really wanting to climb up the ladder. If however, you hold these ideas that your work will speak for you, that eventually people will notice what you do, and how you contribute, make sure you practice enough patience to outendure others, because that is probably your only weapon. In other words, when enough people give up, that might be your chance.

It seems like I’m being a bit of a negative nancy today, but a short conversation with @clayboyn has triggered this somewhat negatively tinged train of thought, and I think that grounding some feet into reality is a net positive after all.

Forget the money, there is none

The difference in income between the top 20 witnesses and someone just outside of the top 20 is abysmal. As a matter of fact, I remember being quite shocked at the way those numbers worked out.

The information is readily available for those who are interested in hard numbers, but it might be enough to know that a top 20 witness can bring about 1800 SP per month, while a witness in rank 32 for example, will be close to 283 SP per month.

At the time of me writing this lengthy post, with the current valuation of Steem, a witness not in the top 20 would struggle to pay for the servers he or she runs. And those witnesses above 50 in the ranking are surely running at a loss.

I’m saying this, so that people keep in mind the reality of the journey witnesses have chosen to embark on. And also to dispel any notions that all witnesses are rich, powerful whales (believe it or not, some people think that's the way it is).

Is the distribution wrong?

I'm not sure about that actually. Maybe it was purposely designed as a way to weed out the weak sort of speak. So that someone with skewed ideas of merit and entitlement will surely learn a painful lesson rather quickly. But, maybe that's just my biases speaking.

However, I do think that some things could be somehow tiered more evenly. Basically, witnesses who are in the top 30 positions are probably handling a lot of work already, have complicated projects they've been running for a while, and to think that there might be some wondering how they are going to pay their @privex bill is somewhat unsettling.

Should you run for witness?

I don't know, and I can't tell you what the right decision might be. However, I think it's imperative anyone who is thinking about making this plunge is completely aware of the challenge they've chosen to take on. Along the same lines, I think it's very important that any new witness understands that the political underpinnings of our governance system.

In truth, as tech oriented as someone might be, that is only part of the formula. This could be clearly seen in the fact that some of our top witnesses are more fluent in the language of communities than others, yet all of them understand the value of both sides of the governance coin.

Why am I talking about this?

Honestly, because I think I might help someone get a clearer perspective on this whole thing. Not only people who are considering becoming a witness, which I'm sure there are tons, but also those who see them as these stoic figures that "made it" and require little to no sympathy.