The importance and value of being original in Steemit.
How it all started: My Steemit birth
I created this Steemit account exactly 15 days ago with an account name I thought I was very lucky to get; isteemit! Super excited and geared up to dive into this new blockchain platform, I joined the bandwagon and I created an introduceyourself post just two days later, with very a bare minimum know-how of this ecosystem. Upvotes started flowing in, with Wang being the first to welcome with a 'Great to have you in the club!' comment. Little did I know that Wang was actually a bot. I even thanked him. However, I felt welcomed.
Emotions: First Impact and Value Created
As the upvotes and the numbers besides '$' started increasing, I felt like a kid unwrapping his birthday presents. It felt amazing. Needless to say, I was keeping an eye on the activity like a CCTV camera controlled by an overly attached stalker. Yeah, that. The next day, after returning from my university, I saw that I had made $246.29 with 88 votes and 16 comments including mine. It transformed to $123.14 Boy, I was excited! It felt great.
Those mathematical calculations in my head - "Did I just make $100SD with 1 post in 24 hours?", were just engulfing me deeper into this ecosystem with all the possibilities and all the money I was getting as rewards for my contents. Meanwhile, I had a nice introductory conversation with tshering-tamang and it felt really nice to meet him.
My next shot on creating valuable post
I like writing raps. So, I did. I spoke my mind out and wrote [an exclusive piece for Steemit](https://steemit.com/usual/@isteemit/what-is-life). I received some comments and 22 upvotes. Must have gained some good numbers in value. Right?
Wrong!
I wasn't even rewarded $1SD. It felt bad. I felt like I was no match to the standard this community possessed and I had to work a lot harder to be rewarded well and value wasn't gonna come easy.
Hold up!
But wait! What about those posts which were not technical, not detailed but were still making more than $100?
"Perhaps, it doesn't require original content to get rewarded, I could just post whatever I liked, just like most of the top posts (other than the introduceyourself posts) being posted that day".
So I started sharing links and articles to get myself a little more comfortable and get 'easy rewards'. I shared most of the stuffs for fun and not just for rewards. I was still not okay with what I had been bagging with all the time and effort I was putting in.
Directionless
I was still experimenting my ways to gain value. I then tried doing what I loved, [a detailed post about my take on current Rap-Hip Hop artists raising the bars](https://steemit.com/money/@isteemit/detailed-post-eminem-is-my-third-favorite-rapper-you-probably-haven-t-heard-of-the-top-two-and-it-s-time-you-did) . Still, very less appreciated by the community.While the everyday top posts were averaging more than $1000SD, I hadn't made $1SD more than what I had done with my first introduceyourself post.
Mind Calculations and Lacing up!
It had started to get a little demotivating now. Then I kept sharing links just for fun. I wasn't getting rewarded anyway. So I thought, I'd just use steemit to learn more and explore instead of just using it with the intention of making money. And I did that.
I thought, I was being dishonest to myself as I wasn't putting much effort. So, I got laced up again! I put hours and made what I called the Steemit theme music ; it was different and it was original. I don't know how good or bad steemit found it to be, because no one really bothered to check it out.
Hit the bottom?
So, it's been 12 days since the first payout and I haven't garnered even $1SD with several original works.
I do have one more post idea in mind, A full verse written rap on Steemit! I just want to do this because I like doing it. But if this is how the community is going to move ahead and not show appreciation for the original work brought to the platform by its users, the users will just lose motivation and it probably isn't what the community wants.
Bottomline?
This post is not a rant by any means and is just an attempt to get heard and noticed for what I feel is justified which I am not sure if I'll even succeed at. I am sure I am not the only one facing this problem and individually solving this isn't feasible. However, a notion of appreciation towards creative and original content has to be brought in the principles of the community in order to stay in the race and evolve to win it eventually.
Bouncing back
As for me, I am still going to bring in my original work and contribute to this community and won't let the motivation fade away this easy. It's 2:30 AM as I am posting this right now.
It would feel great if the community showed some appreciation or at least constructive feedbacks to help us improve and grow together.
Great post. I'm a bit disheartened now though I just spent hours on a post with a crochet pattern I designed. https://steemit.com/crochet/@phoenixmaid/alice-motif-crochet-pattern-us-terms-skill-level-confident-intermediate-advanced
Just because I've had lots of people asking for it in the crochet groups on facebook.
I thought it would be a great way to bring some struggling designers over to steemit, but as it's slipped into post purgatory already i doubt many of them will see steemit as an additional way to earn from their designs.
Well look at you earning now :)
Thank you!
The crochets are beautiful. I love how you bring diversity to the Steemit ecosystem. Great work and good luck! I am sure a lot of designers will benefit from your post. I'd love to have one of those. Afghani crochets are the best.
@phoenixmaid - I know the feeling I spent 3 days working on 25 Jokes about Redditors
https://steemit.com/funny/@nephilim/you-might-be-a-redditor-original-content
One guy liked the picture and 2 bots upvoted it and that was it, I don't know if it sucks or just unread because steemit.com went down for 36hrs after I posted it. Any feedback would be nice and I wouldn't mind if people downvoted me, at least then I would know.
I guess it hasn't reached many. Upvoted the post. Keep coming up with new good ones, some of them are really good :)
It happens brah, sometime i get 70 vote, 5 cents, sometims 40 vote 40 bucks, sometimes 1 vote lul
use the scumbag squid template. Minnows resenting whales is SOOOOO in season rite now.
https://steemit.com/funny/@ma3/whales-who-upvote-comments-on-their-content-vs-scumbag-squid
I gave you a vote and I don't even crochet. It'll take time for the niches to form here, I think, but think of yourself as a pioneer. You may not get much attention now, but when the various categories start forming up, they'll be looking to you for guidance as one of the "old timers." Stay encouraged!
That makes a lot of sense, I also upvoted the crochet
Thank you for the upvotes, your right i should see it as a way to corner the scene before others join in and maybe add some videos to.
@phoenixmaid I like you and I hope you succeed, then maybe someday you can teach me to crochet if my fingers can handle it.
I love your name
Hello @phoenixmaid ! I'm a jeweller on Steemit, I'm going to share my art here :) I hope we can grow a community of us! Will check out your post. Don't lose hope! Just be yourself & love what you do no matter what :)
Very true. I truly believe this platform will mature down to a system which rewards original content, and if you keep your spirits up, you will benefit over time. The resilience of the platform is being tested at the moment by dark forces of this world, but has gained respect from the rest. We wait and work and write, till the day we have something akin to what you have written about, and that day will be a good day, not only for us, but also the whole world.
Agreed. The resilience of the platform and its users are being tested. I hope originality gets appreciation. Steem is on a roll. It's still in beta but the model is unique and lucrative to attract a lot of crowd and curating the posts from an ever-flowing crowd is difficult and it becomes difficult to get noticed for one's work. I guess it's a matter of time and a stroke of luck. Whatever it is, we need to keep up the grind.
I think there is a fair way to go before we see original content getting the recognition it deserves. Having used quite a few revenue sharing social media sites before (non have truly managed this and most folded under the weight of spam or their own mistakes (google bubblews for a prime example of one that spectacularly failed on both counts)
things steemit need to get in place asap for those coming over from that side of the internet are
a working follow button (this will change the game for the shrimp and minnows)
a way to organise who you are following
"channels" we tend to write about a lot of different thing but that can be confusing for those following you
a copywrite free photobank - copywrite issues will occur without one..personally i'd love this to be a way for photographers to earn by using an app to take their pictures (it proves they are original works and someone using your picture would act as an up vote.
a preview of a users past work on their profile rather than a list of their actions.
i don't know what the teem have planned but i hope at least some of these are on there.
Those are some really good suggestions!
I am sure they are working round the clock to make improvements on so many levels.
We need Whales. No, not Kim Kardashian . I'm talkin' about a big fat Whale with fat juicy blubbery steemitpower to upvote good posts like this.
BRING ON THE WHALES!
I'm feeling this. Made a tutorial for Australian users yesterday on transferring their SBD to AUD, literally made no money. Put way too much time into it. I'm sure this will change once all of us small fish are also whales :)
Keep up the grind. I'd love to see the tutorial.
As requested, sir
https://steemit.com/howto/@senseiteekay/transferring-your-steem-dollars-to-australian-dollars
Please do for us antipodeans! I made a few bucks with a photo and then wondered how I could transfer to real dollars. Still with my L-plates on and learning!
https://steemit.com/howto/@senseiteekay/transferring-your-steem-dollars-to-australian-dollars
Lol. Thank you! You're funny. I hope the whales visit this at least once.
Whales smoking Cannabis! Who has a picture that would fit? Any photoshoppers in the house? lol
Keep it Clean!
When you said fat, juicy, blubbery, big fat whale, Queen Latifah came to mind.
The post is a hit. :P
Thanks to everyone who supported :D
"This post is not a rant by any means and is just an attempt to get heard and noticed for what I feel is justified which I am not sure if I'll even succeed at." - as it appears, you did it... although it does have somewhat of a rant quality :P
I guess it worked. A lot of people supported. But it wasn't a rant though. I put that line to make sure it isn't perceived as one :)
For all of who you are writing in overdrive, afraid to lose in on the rewards, this post might help put things in perspective.
Don't forget to rest. Don't forget to eat properly. Don't forget to spend time outdoors. Don't forget to socialize.
Steemit will still be around tomorrow, and you will have more stories to tell.
Add to the entropy by living the life you are capable of living (I am going to go out on a limb and say that this is probably more than spending most of your awake hours revolving around steemit).
Then come back, and share what matters with the rest of us :-)
Looks like many of these meta-postings gets the most votes, instead of original articles. My posts only have 2-3 votes, too. They are written by me (but published elsewhere before), not just rip-offs as you see often on steemit, but I guess still not enough users or good categorize functions.
I'm glad you finished your post on a high. Let's not forget the reason we blog: it's an online journal/platform for our thoughts and ideas that may benefit the community. The money should always be a by-product of this because you get noticed for your original content and folks see value in what you post. If they don't, keep hustling! Hard work pays off.
Thank you for this post! I have just joined today and I can feel your struggles, I think its important to keep doing what you like and what you are passionate about, eventually there will be people voting your content up! Dont be discouraged, hard work always pays off! Here you go, you gained 1 new supporter :) Alla x
buddy ur luckly that u got @isteemit username ;P goodluck
Yeah! Thanks :)