The Thick and Thin: Prune the dead wood

It seems that Steemit is kind of down at the moment and is struggling. I have tried to comment a few times to someone but have instead given up and figure I would write a little post about writing posts. Meta.

The other day I wrote a post about people waiting for better conditions and sunshine to act whereas it is those who adapt and work in the rain that do the best. I thought I would provide a small addendum to that now.

Working when others are not is something I enjoy however, reading much of the work at these times is something I don't. It is now that you can really see the difference between those who are posting for money and those who enjoy what they do. Yes, the post count tapers off but that is not the worst part. The worst part is that people who would at least fake caring enough to provide something of interest and quality no longer even hide their contempt for their audience.

It isn't just New and Trending I am disappointed to say, but many usually decent posters are providing a lot of junk. It seems that brain cell counts have fallen at about the same rate as that of the markets, perhaps even a little more. At least though, I am confident that the markets will recover but, I can't say the same about these authors.

For me, what people say and the way people behave in good times is not a great indicator of their character. It is how people behave in the difficult times that is indicative of who they are and their personal ethics and, there have been very few surprises so far. Those who have harped on about 'quality' and 'doing it for the love' and complained about 'poor content' are often the ones who fall the fastest and from the highest.

People buy into their nonsense words in the moment but, I would suggest keep an eye on the people you support when times are more difficult. You will definitely find out if it they are talking BS or actually live and breathe their words. You will find out whether they care about the community at all. Keep an eye and mark them for when prices go up as you might want to think twice about providing support to them again. Does that sound harsh?

Many of these people benefit a great deal when prices are up and are all about 'building' community but when times are difficult, they disappear back under the rocks. How can one claim to want to build community if they are only willing to work when conditions are favorable?

Communities are built on the thick and thin and if the people you are investing into are only 'good timers', you are investing poorly if you want the community to be strong. Because, as conditions degrade, they slide away and leave a vacuum for those who are not here for the community to fill and, the rot sets in fast. They are the over-subscribed entitlement crowd. Consider cutting them off early.

Pruning them back means not investing into them and suffering sunk cost fallacy errors. It is to clean out the feed and restructure it for better content and most importantly, better people. It doesn't sound politically correct when I say it does it but, a strong, long-term view community requires strength of character actors who are willing to keep pushing even though benefits are lower as they are looking long.

A strong community must have people who behave consistently for betterment and when the difficult times arrive, we can all see who these people truly are. Pay attention and don't fall into the trap of supporting them again. There is a Fool me once situation at play yet time and time and again I have seen the same thing happen here and then people wonder why things aren't improving.

The fastest way to improve this community is to support people who are improving this community and removing support from those who are not. When times are good it is harder to tell which is which but right now - open your eyes, get out your pruning shears and cut back hard.

Taraz
[ a Steemit original ]