"Thanks for Sharing!" - If a Post is Written on Steemit, Will it Still Make a Sound?

in steemit •  7 years ago  (edited)

I'm currently quitting smoking, so I'm having a serious case of nicotine withdrawal, which is why I'm in a terrible mood, and figured I'd use the energy to make a rant.

Ever since I joined Steemitover a year ago, one meme has been persistent throughout the entire duration of my Steemit life.

No, I don't mean the incompetent development team, though that is a strong and persistent theme, as well.

I'm talking about Thanks for sharing!

Why am I bringing this up?

I'm bringing it up because nothing underscores the fakeness of the Steemit community more than morons by the thousands commenting "thanks for sharing!" on other people's posts.

Not because there's anything wrong, per se, with being nice, but because of the fact that it's not real. No one ever says "thanks for sharing" while being sincere. Do people comment "thanks for sharing" on Facebook posts? Reddit? Twitter? YouTube? Anywhere?

No.

If one reads a post and wants to comment on it, great! But "Thanks for sharing" is just the mantra of what is still Steemit's biggest flaw: it's so absolutely fake.

Instead of being what it's advertised to be - a social media - Steemit is a hollow platform where people try to make a buck, and nothing more.

People spread the "thanks for sharing" nonsense on posts like cancer because it's the easiest, most unimaginative thing that one can comment on a post without even reading it.

The intent?

To get upvotes and followers.

Upvotes for posts that serve no other reason than to get upvotes.

Let's play a game, shall we? Imagine Steemit without the rewards. What do you have? What's left? Not a userbase, that's for damn sure.

We're currently in the middle of of this vote buying/delegation drama, which, to me, begs the question why is it that on Steemit users need to be bribed to be a part of it.

People don't need to be bribed to be a part of Facebook, they don't need to be bribed to be a part of Twitter and Reddit. They are a part of those sites because it's fun, it's engaging, it's hooking.

Steemit is not.

I guess the devs thought that hey, people can make money on Steemit, so there's no reason to work on functionality, usability, or any of that nonsense, since people will come here for the money.

Yeah, except there's just one slight problem with that.

Sure, free money does attract people, but it attracts the scum of the earth: the scammers and beggars of the world.

There's all this talk about getting more people to Steemit, but it's not more people Steemit needs, it's better people. People with something to give, something to say, something to contribute. Not spammers who litter blog posts with crap like "Thanks for sharing" in a transparent way to get ahead, and nothing more.

Not people who happen to get an autovote or two locked in, and then shit post all day long to make a few bucks.

I've said this for over a year now, and will say it again: the right way to go would have been, and still is, to design Steemit in such a way that it's attractive and fun to use even without the money.

Then when you add in the money, you have a winner.

Posting on Steemit often feels like posting for robots. Sure, I get the votes I get, I make pretty consistent rewards, yay, but I'm often left missing genuine conversation, actual engagement. Discussion, jokes... Socializing, goddamnit. It's a fucking social media. At least theoretically.

Not to mention the fact that summer high of $2+ showed me that the quality of the content on Steemit is inversely proportional to the price of STEEM.

Most of the stuff here has always been pretty terrible, but I did find it easier to find good stuff during the days of 7 cents, as opposed to the summer of $2.

That, to me, tells that people attracted to the money will come here to post and spam shit, and generally annoy the fuck out of at least adequately intelligent people, which is why I'm opposed to luring people here with the promise of rewards.

A real life story.

My girlfriend loves photography and art, she does both herself, a lot. She's also very, very talented at both. She's also interested in sharing - hah - her stuff on different platforms.

However, she's not really into money. True story. She makes enough selling her stuff to get the stuff that she wants, and that's that's just how she is.

So, I was thinking about getting her to Steemit once, but then really stopped to think about the fact that making extra bucks just doesn't interest her, so what else is there for me to use as a selling point?

There was nothing.

I could not come up with a single selling argument to use as to why she should join Steemit - if she's interested in the money.

"So, basically, you would post your stuff. Very few people would ever see them. You'd mostly get comments from either robots, or people who spam 'thanks for sharing' in every single post without even reading them. The UI is terrible and confusing. The site itself looks like a wordpress site from 1997. And most importantly of all: no one cares about anything you do, every interaction that anyone has with you is just a way for the other person to get over. It never has anything to do with you. But you should definitely join, it's fun!"

And I know I'm not alone thinking this way. It's just that people are afraid of criticizing this golden goose, since for a lot of people here this is the only way to make any money. Also, being branded "TOXIC" can essentially kill your account because it drives people away, as they are afraid of supporting you anymore, even if they agree with you.

Steemit has this weird culture of positivity fascism almost - if you allow me to bend the definition of the term "fascism" a bit, as is fashionable these days - where realism and honesty are frowned upon, and only masturbating in a happiness circle and ejaculating smileys is the correct way to go.

And my God, the ass kissing that goes on.

Hey, trending page regulars, sorry to break this to you, but no one really likes your content. They're just kissing your ass, and most likely aren't even reading what you're posting. You can make the exact same reads by posting one word per day, so why don't you save yourself the time and trouble?

Too few people on Steemit have the balls to say stuff out loud.

The enjoyability of Steemit has nothing to do with the math, it can't be fixed with hardforks, and no seminar of workshop at Borefest will tackle the actual issue, which is that Steemit's brand has attracted the wrong kinds of people to the platform, and as a result the community sucks, and most people of intellect don't find it fun to be a part of.

That's what needs to be fixed if Steemit ever wants to be a social media giant.

Though I don't think Steemit, INC. is at all interested in this. But I'm just sayin'.

Re-Steem if you agree, and all that. If you have the balls.

Community Liaison FullHQ

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None of this made sense...maybe add some pictures next time?

Upvoted, Resteemed, Followed, Upfollowed, Refollowed, Upsteemed, and Revoted - Check out mah blog 4 interesting content.

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

Hope you succeed in quitting smoking, I'm coming up on 2 years cold turkey. The first 2-3 weeks is the worst.

However you get there, vaping, smoking ganja, the patch, hypnosis, will power... just get there. It's a good feeling when you break those chains.

Along with the generic "thanks for sharing" on the list of annoyances is the "Please upvote and follow" spam. When I comment, I try to say something relevant, just like on other social media platforms.

Yes, and they became a lot more prevalent once the price of STEEM pumped in the spring. Imagine how terrible Steemit would be if the price would theoretically hit something like $10?

It'd be unusable for any sane person.

Perhaps it's time to actively flag spam as a disincentive. I have been politely presuming ignorance on the part of new users thus far, and trying to offer constructive replies. I was berated by a steemit.chat user for my "bad attitude" for saying PM links and v4v offers were bad etiquette.

Thanks for sharing!

jk.... haha but for real, good for you for quitting smoking. Keep going forward and don't ever look back. Keep on ranting on STEEM if you have to :)

(PS. sorry for being positive)

You just had to do it, didn't you.

It's kind of true, my cousin had been trying to get me on steemit and I just recently joined. I try very hard to find content that interests me and browse like I might on Facebook, but UI is really poor and makes it hard to sift through all of the shitposts i see on here. I could already tell how many fake bots were on here the very first day, just reposting other people's work. I don't know how to make genuine connections on here when most people seem so fake.

Sharing is caring...
You could find more shit at 7 cents because nobody was using the platform.
Site feels fake, because there are 27 end users, thousands of bots, and 5 investors who still care about the site.
I always enjoy a good rant.

You want real? I think you're whining and looking for attention and it's frankly pathetic. It's not about positivity, it's about reality. I think you haven't flagged enough to keep the "thanks for sharing" people out of your comments. Social media is what you make of it. The quality of the posts you see directly relates to the quality of the people you follow.

Go look at my blog. See the depth of commentary and social interaction in the comments. If you're only getting bullshit it's because you're not seeking out real people and engaging in their blog comments to build a real community you care about. It's not about the money. It never has been. Go back over a year ago where I shared a script to hide the $$$ on Steemit so people could answer for themselves why they are truly here.

I congratulate you for quitting smoking. That means you value life more than death. It means you care about the potential for a positive outlook. I think you're on to something. I hope you follow it to a logical conclusion and see just how amazing this community can be.

Or that might just be the few glasses of wine I've had tonight talking. :)

Ah, I should have known it'd be you. Dormant most of the time, but when someone is negative towards Steemit, there's Luke to the rescue.

Yeah, at a quick glance your posts seem to get engagement. But do you notice what the posts are about? They're about Steemit.

Kinda like on Facebook all the posts are about Facebook, am I right?

And get the fuck out of town with the "Congratulations for quitting smoking", man. Your comment started out good. I was like "Oh, Luke being angry, like an actual human being, instead of a robot", and then you go right back into robot territory by doing the "Oh, I'm on your side" shtick.

The reason I no longer hang around in libertarian circles is because libertarian circles are filled with people like you.

Also, how is it possible to make a post that doesn't seek attention? Making a post and hoping no one reads it?

Every single post on every single site seeks attention, that's the whole point.

Did you see the engagement on all the posts that aren't about Steemit?

Why do you care so much if I want to talk about Steemit? Why does that bother you?

I wasn't commenting about you being negative about Steemit, I was talking about you being disconnected with reality. That's what bothers me. You make claims which I refute with evidence from my own blog and you go on unphased as if nothing happened. It seems evidence can't impact your little negativity bubble of anger you seem to enjoy so much.

And no, I won't get the fuck out of town congratulating a fellow human being for no longer slowly killing themselves with cancer sticks. I genuinely care about people and their wellbeing because it creates the world I want to live in to see their lives improve. Is that concept truly beyond your understanding?

As to seeking attention, there are social norms about "Hey, here are my thoughts on this, what do you think?" compared to saying things which aren't true just to get a rise out of people.

That's petty bullshit.

I care deeply about the Steemit community. I hung out in person with 300 of them in Lisbon. When you call it fake, I call bullshit. Simple as that.

But hey, enjoy your angry rant.

I started smoking when I was 12 and I'm near 60 now. I stopped in 2010 and I smoked everything from Players unfiltered to Drum to Menthol, Winstons, Turkish, to using tobacco for Hash and Oil--well, hey, I fcukin' loved smokin'--there was just something about it...
But I don't miss it one bit and I really do feel better without it. Ultimately I think it's better if one stops but there is a time and a place for everything.
BTW: the 2008 crash? Brought on by the positivity cult of the Wall St. elites! Hey, when there is no risk from gambling with other peoples money (OPIUM) because the gangsters in gov. will bail you out it's pretty easy to be positive-excessively so...
IMO< there is probably darker secrets behind​ Steemit but I'm full of light today so I'm not going there:D

I guess in the end the uses that will suck up to your post in three words, will in the end disappear and new suckers will pop up. People think easy money and hope to get their name out there, but do not want to put any effort in.
Its like wellfare to me, begging for money, complaining about the mandatory job interviews, but not willing to educate to make a chance to their life.
In the end these kind of people always be there (and I admit also being guilty to this!)

Embrace your free ticket to ranting due to your quiting attempt! It does just make you cranky, period!

What a great post. Thank you for sharing this incredible information @schattenjaeger . Steemit is so great, FOLLLOW ME!

hehe xd. I think you are spot on that Steemit should have the money as a bonus, an alternative to places like youtube with the extra that you can give money to your content creator without any 3rd party involvement.

As soon as you start to see Steem as an investment where you want to rationally maximize your profit, you will end up in one these "join us on discord and get upvotes"-communities.

The thing where I disagree with you: It is not the people, people are people and they will go the way that the platform incentivizes it. If moral/good/honest behavior is not what drives the vote, but only raving on how awesome Steemit is and how well this Anarcho Cap Petri Dish works, then you will only have scum and half-scum that stays active.

I quit smoking 10 years ago, it was the best thing I could have done. Good luck with fighting addiction, the best way to leave is to get other "addictions" to distract the brain, but you have to choose healthy addictions. ;-)
You can continue to post posts to steemit, not everyone who walks around here is a robot. :-D
Upvoted and resteemed. Do you want to know why? Visit @pf-coin.

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These are definitely valid concerns, and I share many of them. On the whole, though, one can choose to have a better experience on Steemit than they can on other social media sites. I'll take the spam I see here over the advertisements filling my screen on Facebook any day, and as for Twitter and Instagram, those don't seem to be anything BUT spam and the desperate attempts of attention seekers to stand out.

I rather prefer the retro interface here as well. It keeps the focus on the content.

Sure, I'd love a more sophisticated editor, and the sooner they fix that broadcast error problem, the better. And I'd love to see the spammers go away. But by taking some time to seek out decent writers (or even interesting people who are poor writers) and by expanding and then pruning my feed, I honestly feel that my biggest problem on here is that I don't have enough time to read all the things I'd like to read.

And that's what I mean by having to choose to have the right kind of experience on here. It takes work, time, and engagement to make it worthwhile. But even without the financial rewards I have to say that I've met more interesting and engaging people here than I expected to.