What should I do so people would actually open my content?

in steemit •  7 years ago  (edited)



I'm struggling for months now on Steemit, thinking what exactly went wrong? I'm here for a year and half.
I have more than 1300 followers and reputation score 70. I put original content and really try here everyday,
but for months now nobody really cares, I don't get 10 upvotes anymore, not to talk about not earning anything, but nobody even opens my posts, and 80% of comments are ''nice, pls follow back''.
7 months ago, I was getting more than 100 upvotes, and actually good comments, but something changed.
What is it? My content stayed the same, but that was not good enough anymore? And I'm not posting just my photographs. I'm translating interesting art content, movie reviews, stories about shooting music videos...
I try to put quality content here really.

I'm thankful for this platform because it changed my life in so many ways. First I got money to pay my rent when I moved away from my parents house, and it meant a lot, because I'm a film director and a photographer, so I don't earn a lot of money.

Second, it moved me away from facebook, I don't scroll anymore and really don't hang around there.
I wake up, make my coffee and instantly when I turn on my computer I write a post.

And third, I'm learning a lot, because when I decide to write a post, I don't just do it to write anything, if I don't have any original content for the day, I search for interesting articles in my language and translate it so people here could read it.

But now I'm really struggling whether I should keep this pace of everyday posting, because it doesn't get any attention, and I'm not sure why. I don't want to suck up to whales and comment on things I don't sincerely like just to get an upvote.
All in all, I don't now what the fuck should I do?

I don't know if there is anyone here that is experiencing the same?

Love ya all, and happy Valentine's Day
<3

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I know what you should do!
Upvote me, and follow back!

<3

I feel Steemit tends to work in waves - just like real life - sometimes you catch a high wave and sometimes you're on a low but right at the moment that you start wondering if you will ever get picked up again, the wave starts rising again.

I would advise you to keep doing what you're doing. I feel you're definitely adding unique value to this platform.

I also agree with @namiks that writing/ posting less - every now and then - might actually help (making you noticed more). Says I, who just started posting more.

Who knows, perhaps taking some days off and start afresh will do the trick.

But who am I to tell you this, you spent a year more on here.

Keep up the good work and keep your head up!

Cheers,

Vincent

P.S. Do you ever hang out on Discord?

@vincentnijman
I got hooked on Steemit to be fair! :)
My everyday begins with steemit, it's hard for me not to post everyday, I know that sounds silly, but I think now when you got use to post more, that you could understand that. It's like poker, I have two bad days, and I don't think, chill, drop it for a day or two, no I think ok the third day will be THE DAY.
It's a circle :D

I don't hang on Discord, but I was thinking lately to join in! After this, maybe I will these days, sure will let you know! :)

I know what you mean. I'm on Steemit and Discord whenever I can. I'm a full time Steemian.

I'm hooked myself and I don't like addictions but it is probably the best one that I've ever experienced. There are lots of ups and downs though but that's part of the game.

Discord is addictive too but it certainly helps to build relationships. Makes you feel way less isolated. It even led to me being where I am right now, in Berlin :>)

Hope to chat with you there one of these days!

Hello, I'm Oatmeal Joey, and yeah, there seems to be waves on Steem and it has happened for me as well at times. I'm usually on the low end of the waves.

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

I have also noticed that my upvotes and comments have dropped over time.

I want to say that maybe I changed, and my content changed, but looking back at how Steemit itself has changed, that's what seems mostly responsible.

The truth is, there are so many new users jumping onto Steemit every single day, and it's getting harder and harder for good content to get seen by people that do have a significant voting power and a will to connect with others based on particular topics with so many others posting as well.

It can be super discouraging, for sure, but perhaps the answer for now is to start pacing yourself a little differently; start writing a little less and generally try not to burn yourself out. I've noticed that I have been taking a few days off from posting lately just to let things slow down and keep myself from becoming discouraged.

It's easy to assume that a more mainstream adoption of the platform would lead to more eyes on your posts, but it's really just adding more water to an ocean; there's more to see, but things are harder to find.

Another thing to consider is that while we have pretty decent follower counts, I'm sure a vast portion of them aren't even that active on here. They too were probably discouraged from low rewards and left the platform quite early on.

I don't think the answer is to adapt to the platform, as you're doing exactly what you should be doing: posting. I also don't think there really is an answer. This is a dry spell that's to be expected, and all you really can do is accept it and push onward without stressing yourself too much.

I've noticed I keep editing this and adding more, but I totally get how hard it can be when Steemit in the past has provided so much financial support and freedom (I've been there myself, and I still am there, really). I genuinely believe approaching this with an optimistic mindset is how you'll get through it.

@namiks
''more mainstream adoption of the platform would lead to more eyes on your posts, but it's really just adding more water to an ocean; there's more to see, but things are harder to find.''
beautifully put!

And yeah, I think from my 1300 followers at least half of them are not around here anymore, it's really easy to get discouraged here, but I'm stubborn, so I stayed for months here until I got some recognition, but it's hard when you come to the ''top'' and then you have to start over again.

PS
For the record, you write really good reviews! I don't catch up all the time, but I do every third at least!
Cheers!

Honestly, one of my long-term goals on here is to just accumulate as much Steem Power as I can. Not only to further improve my own financial situation, but to reach a point where I can ensure that others are able to do the same. I want to be able to truly support content on here that stands out and makes a difference.

I was thinking of ways that I could help do that without having a lot of Steem Power, and I decided to get the Steemit.chat #movies channel created. As of now, 122 people are in that channel. That alone isn't a huge amount of support, but I want to believe it's the beginning of something that could grow into a solid community.

If you have an account on Discord, would you like to help me build that community?

@namiks, you now what,
@vincentnijman just asked me the same! I can't avoid Discord anymore!
You know what! I will! First thing in the morning, it's on my to do list!
Thank you!

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

Excellent. Here's a server I have setup: https://discord.gg/pFZENke @vincentnijman Link will never expire, so you can join whenever you're ready.

I'll give you both admin roles at some point, then we can start from there!

Was reading through this post, and the comments, and stumbled across this. I was just yesterday thinking of starting a Discord channel. Actually I did start one but haven’t tried sharing it with anyone yet.
Would you all mind if I joined up with you? As a newer member here I too am looking to meet new people and work together with others.
I may create a new account that matches my Steemit account, since my old account was created back when I played Clash of Clans.
Anyhow lemme know!

You're free to join if you'd like to. It's something I made to benefit the entire community related to film on Steemit.

I'm not why it opens an empty page?
Any-who, my user name is as same as here marinauzelac

Please feel free to join my channel, here is the link:
https://discord.gg/gxDVVhA

@memesteemit
I just did! :)

Hey, I'm Oatmeal Joey, and yeah, people are joining Steem each day and it is tough for people to see better content in the mix of the rising distraction of everything. On the other hand, you may sometimes get some followers, I mean not just normal followers but hard-core followers, as in fans, like a cult following. For me, I'm following about 40 people and I will try my best to go to my home feed which will only show posts from those 40 or so people. I try my best to only follow people I really want to follow as opposed to the following game thing just to get more followers in return. So, maybe if you are lucky, some of your followers will sometimes look you up or see you somewhere.

Yeah, it seems maybe unfair as it is tough to be seen but it is not always impossible> We can only do wht we can do an make the most of whatever we may have in the moment and we should not take too many this for granted and be happy with some of what we do get and we just got to work hard and everything. It takes luck and a lot of hard work to be popular or whatever.


I know what you mean. A lot of upvotes are bots and people are incentiviced to vote for things, because they will get a part of it. I am only making crumbs with my posts, but that is more than I earned on Instagram with my photos!
I now use steemfollower, which is like and upvote trading place, which works well because 2 people I follow (@Captainklaus and @Valorforfreedom) are there aswell, when I upvote them through steemfollower, I get points to get votes!
I put about 1500 SP I bought with Ethereum, which I now delegated to @Jerrybanfield, for which I get about 1 SBD daily. This works better than curating myself( best I got was about 0.75 SBD daily, taking hours).
I did plan to do this but, I had to adapt.

TL;DR:
You have adapt and change as steemit develops, technically it is still in beta! Keep the faith and Steem on!

I'm keep telling myself this, it's still beta, you need to stick around, things will turn around again!
Thank you for kind words, and glad you commented, I just checked your profile, you have some nice shots!
Followed you! Hope we will stay in touch!

Thanks. It helps to "shop" around for opportunities. Looking forward to your future posts.

you have a new follower now. i also follow both of those guys but have not used steemfollower yet

the simplest answer is 'do nothing' :P
this is even more difficult ....
jokes a part, but to me, on steemit people don't read much. they just come here to get upvotes .

This is reality

@robber7
yeah I know, right? :D
And I had a belief that this decentralized platform could actually be a threat to Facebook, Twitter and such,
but people are just here for the money and nothing else, it's like content don't matter.

Attractive and "in the moment" Titles or to put this another way try discussing something that is in the news currently. Other methods may involve discussing famous people or events. All of these gain a lot more attention than posts about personal ideals or interests. This is the same on most media.

@lifespring
I guess your right, but I thought by now there will be a strong community behind every kind of content
art, politics, philosophy, news...
But as more time passes it seemed it's just getting weaker

Keep striving! I'm new here, so... reading this actually gave me a few ideas I'll be using on my blog, thank you!

@dani-tips
Thank you, means a lot! :)

started following you. i truly believe it is people clicking on hot or trending then throwing a vote on the high paying ones wanting a payout. occasionally you get an anomoly where it is actually good content. once i get some more money in my account i will give the bots a try and see what happens. actually that is a very good analogy . i am gooing to use a new kind of bait to catch more fish. because in reality that is what we are doing here, fishing for upvotes and resteems.

@doomsdaychassis
Yeah when you put it harsh, it's like that! But I'm trying hard not to think it's JUST THAT, that this is community of the future and a platform where you can actually learn and see new interesting things. :)

i think i am looking at my account wrong. i am trying to put out good content but instead i need to gear it up to being a salesman also.

Even though I'm new here, and I'm not the best person to give advice, one thing popped into my mind. Are you actively commenting on other people's post, and not only providing your own content? I think both of those things are equally important, since there's a huge sense of community here on Steemit!
Happy Valentine's Day to you too! 😊

@jasmink
Actually I was thinking about that lately! I think I'm not commenting maybe enough on other peoples post because I'm concentrating on my so much, and it takes a lot of time in the day, but for the last month I'm correcting that mistake, and I feel better about that!

senior spirit. hopefully senior in the future better

Hey @marinauzelac. I've been following you and, even though I'm new, have been enjoying your work so far. Keep it up please ;)

On the flip side I have noticed a similar thing even since back in December when I joined. It seems like most articles are not getting as much (apart from the whales) and a lot of those users who came in on the buzz are just inactive or something. It's a shame.

I guess there are people here who do create interesting content but I understand your position as I've been thinking about it a lot myself recently. I'm not sure which way to go with it myself but hope I can hang in for the long run.

Maybe if we all support each other then we can build each other up. I'm not sure lol 🤔

@oen
I guess we should find more people and built a small community and maintain it. I'm betting the long run will pay off, even if it doesn't feel that way for some time now.
Btw, I see you travel a lot, nice posts! Followed you!

Thanks a lot. I have a travelled quite a bit haha Glad you are following :) Sometimes it's hard to tell if people enjoy the posts of not lol!

I am new to Steemit myself, so I have absolutely no opinion of value, only my subjective take on your issue. I took a quick glance at your page and other articles/posts. As a fellow artist, I find your content fabulous and exciting.
The only hang up I could imagine are your subject titles. Because I am into art, I am already among a group of people easily drawn to your posts, so the titles don't affect me, but how are you drawing in people unfamiliar with your work/art, how are you appealing to other audiences within a first glance of subject title?

Your content is fabulous. If I were you I would just figure out a way to make my content reach more audiences and peak curiosity through the use of headings/titles/subjects and the first visible few words.

Love your work. Thanks for sharing.

Newbie with great insight!

@redpilldojo
wow, you're gonna make me blush :)
Thank you so much for these words, it really made my day!

I have been following you for more than 5 months now, the BIGGEST question is; do you check on your followers? I doubt it.

Only your followers sees your post on their feeds, except a random user that sees it through resteem service. If your followers are not loyal to you, none will take the time out to resteem your post to more users that you cannot reach.

Since last month, I have been checking on my followers regularly, at least once a week. This act of love has improved engagement on my blog. Remember, people that you follow don't see your posts, unless they intentionally checked on you. Care for those that sees it. Things will get better.

@autofreak
Thank you sincerely for these words, this is the first thing that came to my mind as a reason, so I'm trying to make it up these past couple of weeks. Thinking of maybe posting less and engaging more.
Followed you! I look forward to your posts man!
Much love!

Hey, I'm Oatmeal Joey, and it is tough. There is no guarantee. You kind of have to be lucky. What I do is I try my best to talk to people when I can each day. I try to post a bit here and there and not just in one place or in one thing. And you got to figure out what works or what your audience or audiences wants maybe if you want. You want to post sometimes on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, the bigger ghetto social networks and not only on Steem, Gab, blockchains, online, offline, etc. Make videos. make memes. Post photos. Post jokes. Post something about food, history, travel, you, the news, something funny, something crazy, something about politics, religion, culture, etc. Pick random topics and try them.

Ultimately, don't expect to get a lot of upvotes, likes, fans, friends, money, etc., even if you deserve it. Try to focus, ultimately, on expressing yourself, in sharing your life and everything each day and try your best to be honest and to enjoy the journey as much as you can and be patient and be as real and empathetic and sympathetic and personal with people as possible. Put your face in what you do. Brand yourself and eat more oatmeal.

@joeyarnoldvn
haha, thanks man!
I guess I find it better to post in several topics I'm interested in, than about ''everything'', you know how they say, jack of all trades, master of none ;)

cool

I really like your content and I subscribed because of that. I think that you are having just bad days lately, so don’t give up and steem on!

@sadovskaya
Thank you for these words, so many people commented, I feel really inspired and greatfull!
Much love!

I think it's because people don't read anymore, they just use bots to vote for them or get upvotes themselves. This whole system is open to abuse and if we all had the same vote power, it would stop it. Hope that this will change one day.

@andreiwebtravel
I have the same feeling for months now, that nobody reads anything, and it's devastating.
But hopefully this will change soon.

I'm new on steemit, but I've seen that the same is happening to so many content creators
The platform is overcrowded, a lot of shitty content is being made and the structure of the webpage makes it impossible to find notorious content or authors
You're successful on the platform still, even with just 20 Upvotes and 1$ you are well above average
Don't give up :)

@manuelmendez
thank you! :)

I have the same problem like you @marinauzelac , and I agree with @vincentnijman for what he said about Steemit which work in waves.
I created a community on discord where we talk about movies and tv shows and where members' articles are more visible.If you want to join just tell me.

@themovieplace
sure I would love to!

Here is the invitation https://discord.gg/qgVA6w