Steem Thought - Steemotions

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Steemotions are running high

In a general sense, Steem and Steemit has evoked an extraordinary amount of passion and engagement in a very short amount of time. This seems only reasonable given the potentially disruptive nature of the platform and the fact that it is a technology that enables and encourages people from all over the world to connect with each other. Despite the fact that every effort has been made to design Steem and Steemit in such a way that high quality engagement is encouraged, every Steemer is witness to the diversity of people, their beliefs, feelings, knowledge, standards and how they manifest in our posts, comments and votes.

People have a tendency to disagree about everything. It might be trivial or it might be profound. It might be the result of differences in experience, availability and quality of information, culture or anything else. Disagreement itself is of limited concern but the manner in which disagreements are articulated is critical to any potential outcome. Might there be an agreement to disagree, acquiescence of one side or another, a merging of ideas into something else that is potentially greater or a descent into spite, vulgarity, bigotry and senselessness?

Steem is a new technology and Steemit is a new means of connecting people. Have any of us yet grasped in full, the complex nature and implications of such a system? I don't believe so. I know I haven't. Here are some points of view that I try to keep in mind that I hope will help Steemers with a sense of perspective;

Quality is subjective & time changes things
There is no point in getting emotional about rewards or votes. There are so many factors affecting why one post garners more votes or money than another. The whales are in cahoots, people are stupid, people are sexist, I'm awake at the wrong time of day, the bots don't like me, I wasn't involved in Bitshares or no-one wants to hear criticism about Steemit. These are shallow arguments that only serve to vent frustration, justify a lack of self-analysis or justify a lack of analysis of the system. Steemit has been around for a just a few months. Instead of railing against perceived injustices, work instead to comprehend the vision and the wider implications of Steem and Steemit, then work to find a way to add value. The rewards for everybody will come.

Reputation, Plagiarism & Trolling
As was inevitable, one of the uglier faces of human interaction has begun to appear on Steemit. It may seem like those without restraint, courtesy or empathy may succeed in transforming Steemit into yet another social media cesspit. However, i do not believe that will be the case. Not only are we able to innovate further solutions, but we've not yet seen the full effects of a dynamic reputation system in play. When we all fully understand the value of our reputations and witness the decreasing impact of those intent on sowing discord, a self-fulfilling virtuous cycle will be born. Our present systems have overemphasized and emboldened some of the more negative aspects of human communication, but the damage is not irreparable.

Worrying about Whales
Do bear in mind that the Whales must add value to Steem and/or Steemit or the % of their stake will diminish over time. There is a penalty for sitting back and it is greater for whales than anyone else. Eventually, the distribution of Steem will flatten and the whale sized influence within Steemit will be far more widely distributed.

Steemit's character
The overall character of humanity results from many many factors, all of which feed into every social media platform, including Steemit. One of the most significant factors is the economic injustice prevalent across the entire planet. If the Steem platform can address this issue, one might expect the overall character of humanity to change. Hopefully we can make Steemit a place where the bleeding edge of those positive changes manifest themselves. If you are presently bearing the brunt of maliciousness, try to ride it out, ignore it or depersonalize it because there are more good people in the world and you will always find friends and support here.

#steem #steemit