With the upcoming decrease in author rewards that are set to trigger in Hard Fork 21, I've been thinking about all the work that goes into my posts, and I am sure other authors are doing the same. There have been some people on the blockchain that have whined that authors are being paid too much as it is, and that those who merely upvote a post (which someone else has written) deserve more rewards. One of those people happens to be a developer on the blockchain — I wonder if he would feel the same if this discussion were about developer rewards, and that the profits of developers were being slashed so that more of the rewards could be given to the users of the dapps which he develops...? But, I digress... this post is about the brainpower that I put into every single post I make here.
[IMAGE: https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/thekittygirl/PJfgNcf9-GalaxyForming.png]
All of my posts begin with ideas, with thoughts in my head that I want to get out, art or photos or poetry that I wish to share, etc. I do not use an app that basically writes posts for me based on my number-of-steps (like Actifit) or how well I scored in a game I played (like DrugWars). All of my posts are actually crafted by me, carefully and thoughtfully, in a front-end to the blockchain.
photograph by meEven if I only have a photo to share, I write at least one paragraph about it, telling where the photo was taken, describing the subject of the photo, or divulging what it is about the shot that I like. The photo at left, for example, is a photo which I shared in a post recently. I talked about the history of the building, about its original purpose and what it is being used for today. I thought that was much more interesting that just dropping the photo and saying nothing about it. If the subject is a permanent feature of the landscape, I also like to include a link to its location on the @steemitworldmap project. It's disappointing to me when I find posts on the blockchain with nothing but a photo in them and wonder: where was this photo taken? what is that magnificent building /flower /statue...? and discover that the photographer has left us hanging with questions that are unanswered. Even if they don't know anything about the building, they could state: "This shot was taken in Kraków, Poland" or something similar. That isn't too much to ask, is it? 😕
image by NeoxianAG, color-change by meI recently nominated some communities for a contest, where a delegation was being awarded as a prize. The post, itself, took me an hour or so to write, typing-up a paragraph about each of the communities I was nominating and editing the wording a few times so it represented the community accurately. I double-checked the contest post to make sure I had satisfied all of the requirements. Then, instead of simply snagging the graphic for the contest and using it, I edited it to make it unique for me, by adding my name ("nominations by thekittygirl") and then applying a pretty color-change effect to it. Sure, that was a bit more work than was necessary, but I wanted my entry to stand-out and be attractive. 🙌
For a more routine post, however, I have to roll-up my "mental sleeves" and do some digging. If I am writing about a flower I photographed, then I want to know what kind of flower it is, whether it is native to this area or came from somewhere else, how it propagates, what colors one might see in other similar flowers, and so forth. I spend much time reading articles online, checking encyclopedias & dictionaries, looking at maps, and whatever is required to learn more. I then load the photo — or several photos — into my PaintShopPro™ software and process them so they will look their best.
Also, I usually take great care to ensure that "Registered" symbol ® and "Trademark" symbols ™ are in place and used appropriately, as well as diacritical marks in words that appear in, or are derived from, words or names in other languages (e.g., décor and the aforementioned Kraków).
When all is said and done, several hours go into each of my posts, usually spread over numerous days. Of course, some posts are easier to write: my Old Barn Posts usually take from one-to-two hours each, but my post about the medical condition Pseudoxanthoma Elasticum took at least 8–10 hours of my time, perhaps more. Some of my posts about coins or flowers have taken 3–4 hours each, although I spent 5–6 hours researching the Republic of Minerva (which included information on the republic itself, the sailing vessel that discovered the reef, the coin that was minted for the republic, etc.)
screenshot from my PaintShopPro™ software
So, why do I spend so much time on my posts and include so much information in them? Because I care. And because I believe in quality content. And because I enjoy having people read my posts and feel like they have actually learned something or were entertained. Because of this, I will probably continue as I have been doing, even if my rewards are diminished. But, consider: if everyone stops writing posts so they can spend the most-lucrative-and-easier time simply upvoting others' content, after seven days there will be nothing new to upvote.
😊
21-Aug-2019
I'm in total agreement. There are posts that take me two or three hours to create, but those are in the minority; most take me upwards of six to eight hours, and many far longer than that.
I haven't been posting recently because I've felt like crap, but I'd be lying if I said that this hard fork didn't bother me, along with its further confirmation of just how little Steemit Inc. cares about content creators.
Or people in general who aren't whales.
But I'm sticking around all the same, still commenting and interacting, and I'll start posting again soon. I may even go back to a daily haiku to start, just to get the ball rolling again.
I was never here strictly for the money, even though it was a nice bonus, and I've never cashed out a dime. And I don't plan to start.
I'm staying for the people, the communities, and the friends I've made here. They're worth more than STEEM will ever be worth, because there is simply no monetary measure for great folks. I just wish we were closer!
Hopefully HF21 won't be the clusterf&^k that was HF20, when so many of us couldn't even access Steemit for days on end. Incompetence Incorporated.
I'm hoping they have more of a clue this time, but since all they're really doing is making it even easier to rape the reward pool, I'm not holding my breath.
Posted using Partiko Android
@thekittygirl
You have articulated - very elequontly - the concerns I've expressed in a number of comments on posts that have discussed the benefits of the increased reward for curation. When I started on Steemit, my posts were largely longer ones and then, recognising the benefits of having a "presence", I started posting what I consider to be "fluff" posts - facilitated by Share2Steem while it functioned and now, to a lesser extent, Partiko.
That said, and like you, I prefer the longer posts and the associated crative process. Mine is much like yours and is the process I use with most of my "creative things". So
>several hours go into each of my posts, usually spread over numerous days
BOOM!
And
>There have been some people on the blockchain that have whined that authors are being paid too much as it is, and that those who merely upvote a post (which someone else has written) deserve more rewards. One of those people happens to be a developer on the blockchain — I wonder if he would feel the same if this discussion were about developer rewards, and that the profits of developers were being slashed so that more of the rewards could be given to the users of the dapps which he develops...?
While you said this is a digression, I think it's a central issue and question: Where would Steemit be without content curators?
That it was a platform for sharing my content and engaging with quality content which attracted me to the platform. I have said, often, that I was appalled at what I saw on the trending page and could find very little that resonated, let alone with which I wanted to engage. And then I learned about the bid bots which I couldn't really afford and then wondered what was the point.
This brings me to my final point: I'm very conscious that I am one of those Steemians who has not invested fiat in Steem, and in some quarters that makes us letter mortals. It does, however, bring the argument full circle in that my investement in the blockchain (with little reward because I have yet to power down), is my sweat equity through content creation.
So, like you,
>I will probably continue as I have been doing, even if my rewards are diminished
And I will continue upvoting and resteeming only those posts that resonate with me, and they are also the posts (and authors) with which I will engage as often as I am able.
See you on the other side
Fiona
@thekittygirl,
Late last night, I responded to @blockurator's comment without reading your post. This morning I read it and wanted to add a few insights.
You are a pro. So am I and so is Block. As such, we have standards to which we hold ourselves. We WILL NOT produce crap just because we are massively under-compensated for creating quality.
And we are not alone. There are many others who wish to do the same. We believe that Merit, not Manipulation, ought to be the metric that determines a post's success or failure and are willing to accept the collective judgement of our respective audiences as the arbiter of whether such standard has been achieved.
That is our Game.
To others, STEEM/Steemit is just a big cash cow to be milked in any way they can dream up. Quality of Content is of no relevance whatsoever. So long as people keep posting, a necessary facade is maintained and coins keep getting produced ... coins which accumulate in their pockets despite their having done nothing to earn them. So long as the enablers keep enabling, who cares if they're miserable?
This is their Game.
The two games cannot peaceably co-exist. Sooner or later, the former group will rebel. First will come contempt, then disgust. A some point they will reach a tipping point, a critical mass. And that's when the wheels will come off the bus.
I have written endlessly warning about the consequences of the endless cheating and self-dealing. I will write no more.
In the end, all this comes down to one simple dynamic: A bunch of self-aggrandizing Millennials refused to listen to old men about how to wage war, and to old woman about how to keep the peace. The sociability that underpins social networks is older than Man. It is subject to Rules and one of the most important among them is that salutes are not purchased, they're earned. What the kids could not, and cannot, grasp is that our collective endeavor was never about computer code ...it was about genetic code.
HardFork 21 will be STEEM/Steemit's Funeral Pyre, the final conflagration of the dead (or nearly so).
Perhaps poetically, the Whales will become Minnows. Us Minnows will lick our wounds ... and re-form somewhere else. Sooner or later, a Meritocracy will develop and the Rules than govern human conduct will re-assert themselves. And perhaps more poetically still, the children will take their rightful place in the pecking order ... working FOR those with gray hair.
Quill
@jayna,
>I feel like Steem is only just beginning and there is a giant playground here for developers and apps.
BINGO!!! At that's the problem.
STEEM/Steemit is a closed system. Within the system, there exists a finite amount of capital (SP). As designed, that SP was to play a critical role in the Curation Process. Quality content was to be quickly discovered (by professional curators) and ascend rapidly into Hot and Trending where it would receive exposure to a general audience, and hence, further recompense.
Absent a very efficient and effective Curation Process, the system implodes.
85% of SP is owned by Whales and Orcas. But to a great extent, they are not using it to curate content. Instead, they are seeking to generate higher Passive Incomes by delegating their SP to bidbots and/or an endless number of Development Projects (almost none of which have anything to do with Social Media).
Think of the Curation System as a car. It's going anywhere ... because it has no gas.
Imagine if you read tomorrow that Nike was going to start selling premium coffee because they'd heard that Starbucks was making a ton of money doing so. Would you think that a good idea? Nothing about their expertise, organization or supply chain setup are compatible with such an ambition.
Horizontal Line Extensions are the most difficult things real world companies ever attempt. Consider that Nike couldn't even make Nike Hockey or Nike Golf work and had to close those divisions. Both involved manufacturing sporting equipment but still the dynamics weren't close enough. Those experimental failures, though, didn't sink Nike because Nike still had a very profitable core business upon which to rely.
Steemit was meant to be STEEM's core business but it is near dead, having been sucked dry by self-serving Whales/Witnesses/Dev's too short-sighted and undisciplined to ensure orderly, and logical, growth.
STEEM/Steemit CANNOT afford to be an alternative Venture Capital Funding source for Developers. They need to go raise project venture capital in normal financial markets.
- Notice the people who are most negative about Steemit, those who are endlessly bad-mouthing it and calling it a piece of shit, are all ... 100% of the time ... Developers. Their projects compete with Steemit for a finite amount of SP. If they are to get rich cashing out in a project SMT ICO ... then they must first direct capital away from Steemit (and hence, Curation) and to themselves.
STEEM now has a market cap of $63 million. Relatively speaking, that is a pittance. The greater the number of projects that split up the system's finite SP, the faster they will ALL die.
Quill
@jayna | Aug. 24, 2019, 3:54 p.m. | Votes: 0 | [
VOTE ]
I think it's wonderful that you put so much heart, and so much time into your posts, @thekittygirl. All that care really shows, and makes a huge difference for readers. We all benefit enormously from great content that is not only well-written, but thoughtful, engaging, well-researched and interesting to look at. In some ideal world (at least in my mind), that kind of content would get the best rewards and content that was not well-thought out and well-written would not.
That said, it's not how things really work, and I've never quite been sure why. I suppose there are many reasons. Not only are bots at work, but people get great rewards if they have developed a lot of followers. Some people merely have to pop a picture or a paragraph up there and - BAM - valuable upvotes. Others can write their hearts out and get a pittance. Will HF21 fix that? It's dubious at best. We shall see.
I used to put tons of time into my posts. I ran contests and posted short stories and wrote weekly posts providing writing tips to fiction writers. Then some life stuff happened and my job kind of exploded and I realized I was writing big content for a small audience and all that combined to dissuade me from putting that much life energy into my content. (Plus I am working toward mainstream publications with my fiction writing. So I needed to divert some of the time and energy I was putting into Steem to make that happen.)
What worries me the most is basically what you're suggesting -- that HF21 will be a disincentive for all content creators on Steem, and great content will cease to exist. Without great content, what will draw new users? What will keep us all here on the platform? Why should anyone spend their time and energy writing awesome posts?
My hunch, very honestly, is that it will continue just fine but a little differently. For one thing, I would hazard to guess that putting all that time into your posts is a work of passion, and not just about the rewards. You write beautiful posts partly because it's who you are and you have a drive to produce high quality work. Am I right? So don't stop. Do it for the love of it.
Not only that, but if fewer people have incentive to write content at all, perhaps those who are driven to develop content out of passion for expressing themselves and sharing interesting ideas will kind of gain more notoriety and rise to the top. If you're rewarded a little less, but your followers have more incentive to upvote and comment on your content, it might result in more rewards for great content creators like you. Just a thought.
For my part, as I've alluded to, I'm sort of in maintenance mode right now just due to what's happening in my life. I truly care about great content, but I simply can't put hours into a post. No can do. I write a short post every day. It's kind of like a journal entry about what happened for me that day. I try to make it interesting to read and share something funny or weird that happened, along with pictures. I write through Actifit because I love the incentive to both hit my exercise goal each day and also write a post daily. But I guarantee my posts don't write themselves! I really think about what I want to write each night, and I share images and thoughts that I hope are of interest, and easy enough to read for people who are as crazy-busy as I am.
I hope this provides some additional perspective. There are many ways to be content creators, and hopefully the best content creators will gain the most followers and get the best rewards. We shall see in a few days how it's all going to shake out!
