Engagement Rates on Steemit Vs. Facebook - Why Numbers Don't Tell the Whole Story

coruscate (75) in steemit • 7 years ago (edited)

Image 26.JPG

In this vlog, I analyze the difference between engagement rates on Steemit versus other social media sites such as Facebook. I have a few case studies listed below where I posted the same or very simliar content on both platforms.

An interesting thing happened... I got higher engagement rates on Facebook, but much more meangingful engagement on Steemit.

Facebook has created a culture of short, shallow level engagement - where Steemit has crafted a culture where thoughtful and quality comments are celebrated.

This difference in culture really allows users to get to know one another on a deeper level, sparks meaningful debate, and broadens their world view.

A Few Case Studies

As you can see, my posts on Facebook yieded a much higher engagement rate. What the numbers dont show though... is the quality of the engagement. I would take six thoughtful, meaningful comments anyday over 80 generic "This was great!" comments.

Facebook Post

Steemit Post

Facebook Post

Steemit Post

I honestly think this kind of culture is part of what will help draw more users to the platform. Once they start to see the kind of deep dialogue and discussion that happens every day here, they will start to bore with shallow interactions on other social media sites. I hardly spend any time on Facebook now because my time feels much more meaningful here on Steemit.

I hope you found this vlog interesting and/or thought-provoking. Just remember that every meangingful comment you leave here on the Steem Blockchain only helps to build this community even stronger.

Ps... I mention my sister @maryjaney in this vlog and how setting up her intro post sparked the idea for this video. If you want to stop by her Intro Post and say hello... it would mean the world to me! <3

▶️ DTube
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A Few of My Recent Posts

Dtube Exclusive - Hey There Delilah by Plain White T's (Ukulele Cover)
	Mutual Friends - Why Introducing Each Other will Help Grow the Steemit Community
I Tried Intermittent Fasting... Here's my Experience (Full Blog + Dtube Video Inside)

steemit dtube vlog community video

7 years ago by coruscate (75)

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demotruk (69) · 7 years ago

How many followers/friends do you have on Steem vs Facebook? That is surely the primary factor at least translating into raw numbers of comments.

stackin (78) · 7 years ago

Now I to follow ya on facebook 😂

coruscate (75) · 7 years ago (edited)

Hahah do it!! You can find me under Lea Thompson. Blow past the Back to the Futute actress and you should be able to find me. 😆

Also, thanks SO much for stopping by my sisters post and giving her some love! So cool of you!! ❤️

taskmaster4450 (78) · 7 years ago

Thank you for putting this together for us.

I agree with you....culture is everything. So far, with the user base we see here, the culture is one of high integrity (for the most part) and thoughtful interaction. Yes there are a few bad apples and we have lots of "great post" comments. Nevertheless, there are many who tout the value of comments.

Personally, I write more words per week in the comment section than I do in my articles (I usually post articles twice a day). They are of extreme value to the steem blockchain and for the authors themselves.

I often thing will this change as more people join this site especially from the likes of FB and Reddit? Are we going to see trolling taking place like we do on those sites? Will there be the negativity that exists there?

One advantage on this blockchain, is compensation is tied to a person being liked. Trolls will not get very far unless we are overrun by them. Fortunately, they wont have much SP to start so, perhaps, they can be squashed before they get going.

coruscate (75) · 7 years ago

Thanks for the thoughtful response @taskmaster4450. I think you hit it on the head when you say that we may have a flood of trolls and negative people join the site, but I imagine they will quickly lose interest because they will not be able to get very far. The beauty of good content being rewarded, is that those quality members of the community also contain the power to set the direction of the culture with their votes. Of course, if we get a bunch of trolls that are filthy rich and have a lot of power, then maybe that would be different. I imagine that is a small minority though!

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destrudo (50) · 7 years ago

Registered past summer albeit started using the website only weeks ago.

So far i loved this platform and when it comes developing meaningful contacts, here it seems definetely more of a possibility as i have already discovered so many interesting people that i hope i will even end up meeting in some meetups!

In some ways, though, it's weird. The kind of engagement here it's promoted by monetary/power reward, isn't it? Does that promote genuine contact or shallow? Probably both. But similarly to reddit, there are ways to get your post upvoted and that way is to be actually engaged in posts you act on. That to certain extents certainly help authenticity.

Off topic: cool you! Saw your interlinked post on Intermittent Fasting. I am currently experimenting it and so far so good! Not popular idea, but instead of making my cognition slower and more easily fatigued...quite the opposite!

Regardless, followed you and resteemed!

jeftek (36) · 7 years ago

I think tangible reputation has value, and in order to maintain that, you also need a solid identity to attach reputation to. Steemit has applied a monetary reward toward reputation, and not just popularity which is a difference. I am new to the Steemit world but I find more reasons in the content to want to engage with VS just scrolling through. Perhaps it is the innate competition of the reward system that makes people want to post quality content VS just volume of content?

coruscate (75) · 7 years ago

Great insights @jeftek! I think you are correct that the monetization of content does make people want to actually interact more often then simply scrolling through posts like they would on Facebook.

Those who focus on creating consistent, quality content will do well on here. :-) Best of luck to you getting started out! If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out!

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coruscate (75) · 7 years ago (edited)

Thanks for the thoughtful response @destrudo. I think you were right that the monetization of content certainly drives both quality and shallow comments. I think people are usually pretty good at seeing through that though. For example, I always do my best to give upvotes to quality comments, but will not vote a comment that is spam me or makes it obvious that they didn’t even read the post.

Also, very cool that you are experimenting with intermittent fasting as well! What style of fasting are you doing? Also, it’s great to hear that you have had such a positive response to it. I am only two weeks in, but have been very happy with how my body and mind have felt.

Thank you for the re-steem! That was so kind of you.

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destrudo (50) · 7 years ago

Safe, dudette! Had to resteem (& follow) given the quality content! A bit of a late answer, these days have been so busy!

In all honesty, i can't say that i am following a real pattern because ~~i am defective~~ i don't experience much discomfort so i try to stretch my fasting times as much as i can.

We can say that i surely adhere to the 16:8 pattern that involves fasting for 16 hours (sleep hours included) and an 8 hour timeframe in which you are allowed to eat ~~the world~~ .
I even ended up fasting for 48 hours few times (In the name of Science) but personally that is well beyond my sweet spot because i started losing the cognitive benefits i obtained and started feeling a bit weak.

Overall, i absolutely love it! So much so that i am thinking about making a post about it myself! Hopefully we will get new recruits in our would-be-huge masochistic army ✌️

coruscate (75) · 7 years ago

It’s great to hear about your experiences with fasting. I am actually thinking about switching to the windows of eating model, giving that a try. If you ever do a post on fasting, I would love to check it out!

Man... 48 hours would be tough! Good on you to do that though!

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bitcoinflood (77) · 7 years ago

This all comes down to rewarding those and building your community of followers here on steemit. If you reward those with shallow and meaningless comments then you start to say to everyone else well that is ok. If you reward only those who have read your post and provide value in return or just share a story and some insight ralated to what you have posted about you build a strong communit of saying you better take the time to read the post, understand it and then add value and for doing so you will be rewarded because I as a poster value that.

This is one of the advantages, but can also be a disadvantage of steemit depending on how you as the creator work with your vote values. But the cool this is here on steemit you have the power to decide what that is.

Also hey to your sis @maryjaney I will be dropping by her intro post

P.S The other big bonus is you actually made decently good money from your post as well as better thoughtful engagment WIN WIN!

coruscate (75) · 7 years ago

Aww thanks for the great comment my friend! Ps... THANK YOU for engaging with both of my sister’s posts!! Seriously, it means so much to me!

You bring up a lot of great points in your response. We as content creators have the power to set the culture with our votes. By only upvoting quality comments, we are encouraging that kind of behavior.

It’s been pretty cool to see the difference of engagement on posts like these, compared to my music posts. I think it’s true that thoughtful content tends to invoke more thoughtful comments as well. I’m actually having a bit of a hard time keeping up with replying to everyone, which is such a cool problem to have! 😜

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sadovskaya (44) · 7 years ago

I think that you even can’t compare steemit to any other social network. Here people get paid and the psychology is totally different- on steemit you just upvote those who will get you also profit back (sadly, but it is like it is), but on other platforms- you can put likes as many times you want and you don’t put this to get your “like” back. You just like the content you enjoy. On steemit you would pay attention to whom you upvote- that’s why engagement level differs.

coruscate (75) · 7 years ago

You are correct that they are not and even comparison because one is monetize, and one separately rewards in “popularity”. I use it as a comparison, because that is the social media platform that most people are currently using.

You are correct that some people focus on the on cue ration reward, and so they simply vote for people who they think will make the money and not just call tent that they like. This is not everyone though. If anything, it seems like people tend to vote on authors posts where they really enjoyed their content or have built a friendship with and thus want to support them.

Thanks for stopping by and engaging in the conversation!

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orlandumike (60) · 7 years ago (edited)

Thanks for running that live experience. It's a great argument for selling steemit, especially new bloggers and vloggers.

Knowing people better and having a deeper connection helps you learn more from your audiance and improve your content over what people really like.

Also having deeper connection will propably turn out to a better sell process where people are already more engaged and more willing to throw a bunch of money to purchase a good. In fact, that could be a great experience to run. Have a 3 products (album, TShirt, ticket to an event) to go out in 3 weeks on both platform and see wich one produce the more purchases. That could be interesting results to analyse.

Also deeper connection can really more engage people to participate and eventually meet in real life which is in my opinion a great way to really bond with people and allow real life experience.

I'm glad I found your account and your thoughts really contribute to the community.
Have a great day!

coruscate (75) · 7 years ago

Thanks so much for the thoughtful response @orlandumike! You bring up some really great points here. I thought your idea for an experiment on the sale of a good was super interesting! The only thing is my mom is on Facebook, not on Steemit, she might skew the numbers a little bit. 😆

Joking aside though, I think you’re correct that when you have deeper and more meaningful connections with people, they want to support you! For example, someone that I regularly connect with here on Steemit posted the other day that he just wrote an e-book that was for sale on Amazon. I went out and bought it simply because I wanted to support him! Even though the book does look interesting, I wouldn’t have normally chosen to purchase it, except that I just wanted to support my friend. :-) So there you go, your idea already has some backing for support!

Thanks again for stopping by engaging in the conversation!

orlandumike (60) · 7 years ago

Glad that you appreciate my opinion.

Our feelings and intutions are telling us that we are right, but it would be great to have a confirmation that statisticly it have a real impact on sales.

I'm sure you will find a way to test it out or delegate it to someone else.

*If you do it, ensure your mom register an account on steemit before ;)

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endless.drugs (65) · 7 years ago

I deleted Facebook recently, it is so full of censorship and honestly this is incredibly complex because the biases the platform has are horrible! I love Steemit and it is a great community, it is decentralized and no one can delete it for no real reason! Great work Corus, this is a loving community and I love to find some thoughtful debates in the comment section of my posts! Enjoy being a steemian! :D

coruscate (75) · 7 years ago

Thanks for piping into the conversation @endless.drugs! The decentralization and lack of censorship are huge selling points for the platform.

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michaelakintola (47) · 7 years ago

Yes, these are some truth you uncover for everyone of us. I was also wandering around on Facebook but couldn't get any tangible thimgs from whatever I should post on their. Steemit is not just only to earn but to learn. Thank so much for sharing this, I'm really impressed. I remain your fan @coruscate

coruscate (75) · 7 years ago

Thanks for the comment Michael! You bring up a great point that the content on Facebook tends to be more shallow, where there is a broader range of education, news, culture and arts here on Steemit.

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loose-change (28) · 7 years ago

Very insightful vlog. I heard about Steemit through my Crypto dealings which in turn lead me to dtube. After wondering around for a few hours I could quickly tell what was going to carry this to being wildly successful, and that is the community! Just an amazing experience being involved with everything going on here. You hit the nail on the head as far as interaction in other ecosystems vs. Steemit/D.Tube. That's how I knew fairly quickly that I wanted to start producing content to do my best to add value to this community. Just have to learn navigation a bit better. Thanks for your content.

coruscate (75) · 7 years ago

Thanks for the thoughtful response @loose-change! I think you’ve got the perfect mindset for starting out - get to know people and build community around you!

Best of luck getting started out! If you ever have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask. :-)

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tudors (62) · 7 years ago

On facebook, people just want to show themselves. More like, like for like. They dont really care about the article, they just want you to know they saw your post so you can do same to theirs

coruscate (75) · 7 years ago

Great insight @tudors! We still see a little bit of that mindset here on Steemit, but for the most part people simply interact with the content they enjoy, and don’t feel obligated to vote for someone just because they voted for them.

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scottshots (67) · 7 years ago

Nice. I've noticed the same difference in comment quality. But I've also noticed I've been better about giving better replies to comments on facebook now that I've been on steemit for a couple weeks. Funny how actually caring over here is reminding me how other social medias are supposed to work and training me to be better at it.

coruscate (75) · 7 years ago

Haha I have noticed the same exact thing! It’s funny how I have been leaving better quality comments on Facebook, but people still respond with short responses most of the time. Conditioning I guess.

Cheers to Steemit making us more thoughtful commenters! 😉

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scottshots (67) · 7 years ago

Funny. Cheers to that! (Short reply this time lol).

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jeftek (36) · 7 years ago

Steemit is new(er) and has a higher barrier of entry than Facebook currently, so it may sway toward people looking to engage VS observe. That being said, Steemit has a monetary system tied to reputation and identity VS just volume of content. Being recently new to the platform you can see people are experimenting with different content types to see what stands out and gains that attention. The system rewards both roles of creator and consumer to be engaged which is unlike Facebooks reward of just getting likes or popularity. With Facebook you have to convert that popularity Into some other vehicle like ads or referral marketing to capitalize on that earned attention. I find myself looking for good content to engage with VS just consuming on Facebook.

coruscate (75) · 7 years ago

More great points here @jefftek! Consumption versus engagement is a big differentiating factor between platforms. Monetizing popularity on Facebook is not all that easy and often doesn’t equate to much. People need huge amounts of followers on Facebook to even start monetizing, we’re here on Steemify people have the potential to start ordering something right away, even without a huge follower base. Of course, the more people you know on the platform and the larger your follower base here helps, but there’s always that possibility of an article being “noticed” and upvoted! You are right that experimenting with different content types is usually a good way to get started. It can help people figure out what they enjoy posting about and how people respond to the content.

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jeftek (36) · 7 years ago

So here is a question, does your Steem Power erode/decay over time? As I understand it, more weight is given to those with more steem power as far as their curation goes. In a traditional sense, if I stop posting content/interacting on FB/YT, my previous followers may move their attention elsewhere, eroding my visibility. However it would seem that once you build up SP, it's persistent so you don't have to keep fueling that fire to maintain visibility. The SP you earn/buy is retained over the lifetime of your account (unless you power down? or delegated SP is over?). As a side question, are there any notifications in the web app of replies like a time line or do you just have to periodically check your comments/posts feeds?

coruscate (75) · 7 years ago (edited)

Sorry that I’m just responding now!! You bring up some really great questions.

Your steem power stays there as long as you don’t power it down. The amount of money that it is worth though, depends on the fluctuating price of steem. For example, my 100% upvote is currently worth about half of what it was the beginning of January, because the price of steem has dropped. Starting out the year, steem was at a record high! Which meant that everyone’s votes were worth more, and so post payouts were higher.

You are correct that if someone stops posting regularly, their follower base may move on to support other people. This is part of why staying consistent is so important to building “your brand”.

As for notifications, there are a few things you can do! First, If you click on your thumbnail image in the top right-hand corner, it gives you a few options. You can either go to your feed, your blog, your comments, your replies, or your wallet. Checking the reply section, is a good way to make sure you haven’t missed anything!

Even better... get the Steemify app if you have an iPhone. It is currently only available the App Store, but I think they have plans to make available for android in the future as well. This app is such a game changer! It sends you notifications if you get a reply, an upvote from someone, or someone mentions you in a comment or post.

I hope that helps! Let me know if you have any other follow-up questions, and I promise it won’t take me three days to respond this time! :-)

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jeftek (36) · 7 years ago

Thanks for the answers, and no problem taking time to respond!

I'm using android, and have tried a few of the SteemIt apps, with varying degree of quality. eSteem does provide notifications, so I did turn them on for replies/mentions. It doesn't seem to be near real time, so it must be polling periodically to determine it. I did see Steemify and am waiting for it to appear on Android.

I have since learned the limitations of bandwidth, which kind of was the missing link to understanding the platform a bit for me. I was wondering how the system attempts to limit the of people freely voting/reblogging/commenting less than quality content since it seems like there was no penalty for spamming. I like the bandwidth approach since as your reputation grows based on your quality of content, you get more bandwidth, etc.

I also learned I wasted alot of votes on voting in the first 30 minutes on new content since I was browsing the new stream alot :)

Thanks for the info!

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bil.prag (68) · 7 years ago

i am on steemit just for 2 weeks+ but i have a feeling that like 3-4 people see what ever i post. i am new here and i understand that it takes time but when you make something and it is seen by 3 people it is discouraging.
i am mostly engaged in photo community but i would like to see more comments "this sucks because this, this and that" "this is good because of this and this" you are right comments like "beautiful" are not that great and likes on facebook are overrated.

coruscate (75) · 7 years ago

Thanks for the thoughtful response @bil.prag. The photography portion of steam it is definitely one of the largest segment, which also means it can be one of the hardest to get noticed in. I think in that tag, people are really looking for original work, so make sure you are posting your own photos. Also, sometimes there are photo challenges you can join! Keep an eye out for those, it may help you get to know other photographers on the platform. 😊

You also bring up a great point that it may be helpful to the community to have more diverse comments. I guess my question to you would be what value you see in comments like “this sucks for X reasons” as opposed to the reader just thinking that and keeping it to themselves. I’d love to hear your thoughts!

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bil.prag (68) · 7 years ago

well if i am into photography and i post something and you came and you write "this photo sucks because you overexpose it for 2 stops, your perspective is like you just stopped and take a snap, your subject is out of focus and has a lamp post growing from his head" if i am in delusion that i am the best photograph in the world i might be offended but if i want to learn maybe i would next time see that lamp post and think it should not grow from my subjects head :) and if you kept that for yourself i would continue to photograph my new species "manlamppost" creature :) (and i am out of Bandwidth yet again. sorry for the response delay)

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coruscate (75) · 7 years ago

Thanks for the response! Sorry that I also had a response delay! I totally get where you’re coming from. Sometimes people need a little bit of a reality check.

I think I just tend to come from the mindset of providing feedback in a way that is constructive instead of condemning of their work. We are all at different points in our creative journeys I think most people feel really vulnerable about sharing their art or creative work. Harsh criticisms that can feel pretty personal.

That is just my approach though. I tend to be a fairly non-confrontational person. 😜

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bil.prag (68) · 7 years ago

is you say "that sucks" then you are mean :) I ment that i don't mind harsh critique if it has a point and it has a good intentions.

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presentnworldsc (44) · 7 years ago

You have made an Excellent comparison between Facebook and Steemit. Steemit is much better than Facebook is, specially in regard to content, every touch you get with people on this social network Will grow in terms of intelectual terms, Steemit gives value to users and Facebook doesn't. That's the reason why I invite people to use Steemit, it's a tool to increase knowledge.

coruscate (75) · 7 years ago

It’s so cool to hear that you’ve been inviting your friends to join Steemit! I actually just got my sister signed up as well. 😊 you also bring up a great point that there’s much more meaningful and educational content here and steam it compared to Facebook!

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presentnworldsc (44) · 7 years ago

That´s exactly what I wanted to transmit by my comment, the importance of the meaningful and educational content you can read on this social network, it makes you feel you aren´t losing your time.

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doomsdaychassis (63) · 7 years ago

Everyone thinks they are going to get on steemit and instantly be a whale. Newsflash just because you can box doesn't mean you can get in the ring with Ali.

coruscate (75) · 7 years ago

Haha great analogy! It definitely takes time and a lot of work, but is so worth it!

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oluwabunmi (25) · 7 years ago

Steemit make you resourceful with your time. Everything matters

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coruscate (75) · 7 years ago

So true! For those of us who also have a full-time job, it can be difficult to find time to get everything done!

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aditya-murarka (52) · 7 years ago

I agree with u...thnx for sharing these thoughful post...namaste

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pasie15 (60) · 7 years ago

No comparison, Steemit is waaay better than facebook! :)

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coruscate (75) · 7 years ago

Haha I couldn’t agree with you more!

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travellingwomen (51) · 7 years ago

Very interesting Post Thanks for sharing this Keep it up i wish you all the best

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lifeisartsandy (41) · 7 years ago

Great article. Thanks for sharing.

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izge (51) · 7 years ago

Interesting comparison. Thanks.

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ikechukwu411 (52) · 7 years ago

yea it is very interesting, thanks for sharing

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iamanwaar (44) · 7 years ago

Steemit has less but quality content in comment section,there are far no trolls out there as compare to Facebook using some shitty language.thats big relief.
It's been a good platform to spent some quality thoughts unlike Facebook.

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coruscate (75) · 7 years ago

Thanks for the response @iamanwaar! Yes, it is a relief that we don’t have very many trolls or negative commenters here on the platform. That may change as we get bigger, but luckily, most of those trolls won’t have very much power on the platform, and likely won’t get very far.

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nasnews (35) · 7 years ago

your vlog was actually engaging and well articulated; but i want to ask you a question, are u on this platform to be intellectually positive or its all about the *****ary benefits. 'm asking this question because of your submissions on facebook. lol.

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coruscate (75) · 7 years ago

I think the word you bleeped out is monetary benefits? Hard to tell exactly what you’re asking!

Have you heard the slogan flying around that says, “ come for the rewards, stay for the community”? I think that is a quote from papapepper. I think his quote sums things up pretty well. Monetary gain is not only nice, but it can actually be life-changing for many people(myself included). I see this as a positive thing, but only if we have a robust community to back that up.

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farah-kamran (45) · 7 years ago

wow sis its amazing post you made good effort i like you please give me any idea for making good stuff for seemit

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peakreal1 (61) · 7 years ago

Hahahaha, you make a interesting post. Thanks

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showboybeezy (4) · 7 years ago

Nice work dear
Anyway, i just made my introduction post and not many people have read .
Can you check it on my blog please

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economistkerri (60) · 7 years ago

Hey great post. It gets a bit spammy on facebook...I think they might be confused on their offering as a product right now. Facebook is definitely not the place for meaningful engagement

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izge (51) · 7 years ago

Good job

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tudors (62) · 7 years ago

Heyy beautiful

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