🆕 Do You Trust New Users?
Trust is hard to come by. That's why my circle is small and tight. I'm kind of funny about making new friends. - Eminem
When I first signed up to Steemit, I was instantly drawn towards the World of Football community - apart from the constant posts about Messi and Ronaldo, there was content that I could appreciate. Well written, professional football content.
It didn't take me long to realise that I'd been duped, as had all other honest users within that community and the well written, professional content had been plagiarised.
My first instinct was that plagiarism was simply an accepted part of Steemit, which after querying was quickly dismissed... which meant Steemit had a problem.
My well-documented and all-consuming fight against plagiarism and abuse started that day and the things that I discovered, things that I learnt and in the main, things that continue to this day have tarnished how I view Steemit, in particular with how I view new users.
New Users ➡️ New Content
I'm always keen to find new users, writing original content that I can follow and support. Doing my part in keeping the better content creators on the platform which in turn, should attract similar content creators of a higher standard. The obvious place to find these users is the Newcomers' Community but I never find anybody. Every post I open appears to have been written by the same person... in the same format... with the same photographer. Of course, in some cases, they have been. Many of them tarnished by their push to be verified and to be curated which is seemingly their right. I see no original thinking, no creativity and in my eyes, nobody worth following.
Another route that I take is within World Of Xpilar, as you know, a community that I'm a moderator for. But when I come across an unfamiliar name, I often find a soulless article trying to teach me something about an item I have absolutely no interest in - or somebody's 852th (not 852nd, 852th) photograph of the day from a user I've muted, whose content simply won't disappear.
The worst thing for me, is that I read so many impersonal articles and think "they haven't written that". When I joined, this would result in some in-depth analysis, translators, etc. but given the prevalence of AI generated content, there's no guarantee any more. It's too easy to be wrong, no matter how confident I might be that I'm right.
Have I Filtered Out Too Much?
It's been over 2.5 years since I signed up... it feels like longer. I have little interest in photography or art (sorry WOX, your photography and art is great 🙂), I don't read Diary Games or Steemit Engagement Challenges, I'm not interested in the health benefits of bathing in elephant poo or anything else... your reports telling me who you've introduced, the nationalities and communities that you've voted for don't excite me... am I unique in this respect? I'm certainly not the only person who wants to find an original author who stands out purely because they share my dis-interests (is that a word?)
Whilst I feel that Steemit's still a great community, I can't help but feel that the heart and soul's disappear(ed/ing) with so many users simply entering contests or joining the Engagement Challenge in the hope of winning a prize / upvote. I don't remember any of these users and surely the curators that they're trying to attract can't be remembering them either?? And since these initiatives get so much focus, the chances are that these users don't notice me either. Or other users like me.
Let me know in the comments if you're reading this and also somebody who takes part in the Engagement Challenges!
Do I Belong?
It feels like there are only a handful of users like me - users who seek more from other users - users who are entrusted with keys to the steemcurator accounts exactly because we demand something different, something original.
But what path do new users take when they join? Are they attracted to the contests, to the engagement challenges where they know curators will have to visit... or are they attracted to the unknown - the uncertainty that they could go unnoticed. It feels like the answer is obvious... which means that my circle will remain small and tight... no matter how hard I try to grow it.
Where do you look for new authors? When you do look, what are your criteria for supporting them? (e.g. don't buy votes, reply to messages / interact with others, etc.) How many hours does it take you to find somebody, if indeed, you succeed? Do you even bother any more or because you've accumulated good power, do they find you?
I'd love to hear your thoughts... the chances are that if you're reading this, you're already within my circle and somebody that I consider a friend but it'd be nice to hear from somebody new... somebody who when I look at their profile, I don't see content that AI could've written... or contest entry after contest entry... come on, I know you're out there.
Sometimes I discover new good authors. It doesn't happen often. I discovered only one this week. When does this happen? Usually when I go outside of my inner circle, outside of my follow feed.
The first source of interesting authors is the process of creating my magazine. During the selection of posts, I open every (!) post that is published in WOX. Sometimes, but not often, there are new interesting finds.
The second source is the work of a curator. On days when I curate content, I read more than 50 posts. It's tiring at times, and usually consumes my entire day, and I'm always hesitating whether I should continue. But on such days, I may come across new (for me) authors that I support with pleasure.
I should've mentioned your Blogosphere magazine - I know that it's a popular source for people who want to quickly find good content.
I remember the feeling well. Even with the advantage of various tools for filtering content for what I was looking for.
The feeling is mutual!
I didn't come across any of your posts earlier. I'm new and did a lot of silly things in the beginning. You better not look at my earliest posts.
So, the other day, Maxwell innings got us (I & husband; he is a big sports freak) all excited, that I had to write about it. I posted it in wox. Of course nobody noticed. And then I remembered that I heard about you from Hira, I think she said something about you and sports, and I had to find you... That's how I discovered you :) Erm, maybe, I stumbled upon you post about checking club status before that...
Either way, I'm happy that I did!
And I loved this post of yours. I would not have understood much of it a month back, anyway. How eloquently you have narrated everything. I couldn't agree more! But the thing is; this is a completely different kind of medium. I would have done more silly things if I didn't have any help from Hira. I explored a lot on my own also. I, myself, have participated in contests and have enjoyed most of these. But I still regret posting in one such. I would never want to post in that community again as in ever. There was a total lack of creativity as such. I, myself, may not be avery creative one; but that one
... I can still taste the bitterness. They put my post under some invisible microscope and sliced it like a butcher. I had poured my heart in that one!
Anyways, I'm so very happy that there are people like you on this platform. I think I can stay motivated for as long as possible.
I fear that's a problem with Steemit at this current time. There are lots of communities that want booming support from the Steemit team so their interpretation is that there are rules that must be followed. So criticism (in the form of guidance) appears to be the norm for newcomers. Which I think puts off a lot of now, potentially good users.
I'm not as active as I once was here. I keep thinking that I'll do more but never quite get around to it.
Yes, one day, I will have more clarity and understanding of these rules and all...
The positivity I've received from, I would say, the veterans in this community helped me overlook all the negativity. One such mentor (whom I'm a bit hesitant to mention, but I'll take the risk 😜) is @chriddi (please let this be one slip—I had to).
And mark my words, anyone who receives mentoring from her should consider themselves lucky. She has the patience of a saint, truly. She walked me through little things with so much tolerance. She taught me like a teacher. Thank you for believing in me chriddi :)
Love it 🤣
😉
😘
Haha, fear, is really good at keeping Riley safe!
Love you too ❣️
So true... I don't have the time and leisure every day to really search extensively through everything that is published on the Steem. That's what my feed is for - and "my" favourite authors, for their part, sometimes resteem writers still unknown to me. The easiest way to discover new things...
Sometimes I stumble across pearls - when I was a Community Curator, there must have been four or five that I was allowed to discover apart from any Community Just the other day I found a user who has been active on the Steem since 2018, posts a very, very good poem about every 2 weeks - and has never received a single vote!
I myself also took part in a challenge last week because the topic appealed to me. As a review, I received the helpful hint that I should better stick to the given list of questions and the tried and tested outline... Have I written this before? It seems familiar to me somehow...
Never mind. Yes, I trust you for the time being. That gives me a better feeling than having to check everyone down to their underwear. Am I ever wrong? Of course. And why not...? It happens the same way in real life.
Ah yes, thank you for reminding me of this - it's how I've recently found 2 authors that I'm now following.
I also discovered somebody else recently purely by chance... I think upvu accused them of that hack (which they had nothing to do with) and it turns out that they're a very talented jazz musician who has been around far longer than me... I'm hoping they'll cancel their delegations (which they don't really benefit from) and join WOX so that we can get them some better curation and booming support. Time will tell 🙂
Oh dear... and if you listened to their advice, you would become yet another sheep following the herd.
I've probably taken inspiration from an Engagement Challenge but I really don't like the "assessment" of having my effort rated so will never enter one. I think there are better ways of appreciating somebody's work than giving them a score out of 10 based upon criteria unrelated to their efforts. Imagine if every time you wrote something, somebody replied giving you a grade like you were back at school. With a lolly if you do well. Not for me.
Once bitten, twice shy. I can't remember who it was now (I've erased them from my memory) but I remember being devastated that somebody I'd supported was a scammer themselves... ah yes, I remember. It was somebody who'd had their work plagiarised and they cried out for help, so I helped. Within a month, they were stealing other people's work. I didn't even feel angry... just sad. Linking back to what I wrote in my post, I've seen so much, from so many people that trust has become a slow process for me.
Greetings friend @the-gorilla.
As always, you have brought a good topic to discuss or rather to debate. Personally, I have always had the experience of sharing with various groups in my college and university life, so I understand very well that we will not find anything alike anywhere, for my part, I spent enough time to share with good students "I am one of them" that we strived to understand each topic, each class received, but I also shared some moments with students who did not pay attention to the classes and were only there to annoy. What I want to say is that, we will always find different personalities, whether good or bad, it will not hurt us to walk among each one of them.
We will always learn something from someone, even if it is from their mistakes.
Very true - it's also natural that we gravitate towards people who share our world view... people who think similarly to us and who share our values and perspectives (perhaps why those who are being introduced follow the same approach as the introducer).
Disagreement and listening to "opposing" perspectives is a healthy part of life and gaining consensus from opposing views will always lead to better outcomes, but seeking that opposition... looking for people who see things differently is almost unnatural in today's society and demands a level of energy and patience that few of us possess.
I read your post and I agree with you in respect to finding good posts on Steemit, it is quite difficult but not impossible, most people nowadays are just participating in contests because it is about the only way to get a decent amount of votes and even then that is not a given, because, let's face it most of us suck as writers. I have been at this for seven years now and am just as bad at it as I was the first day. On the other hand I have found a couple of guys who are quite good, as an example I have this guy who as far as I know, only participates in contests and tags me a lot so i started reading his posts and I found most of them to be quite good so now I read most of what he posts, and he has never let me down, even though only in contests all his posts are good.
Ha ha - I quite enjoy your sports content, I'd like a little bit more detail (describing key events for example) but it's personal and how you've seen the game which I like (even if I don't always agree 😉)
I have no doubt that there are good authors within the contests, as well as within Diary Games but if there are 20-30 people (for example) writing about the same subject, then I'm unlikely to read any of them.
You mention that this user tagged you - if somebody comments on my post and it's clear that they've taken the time to read it, I'll often reciprocate that time and look at their content to see what their interests are... because they already appeal to me because they read the content of others (in this case, me 🙂).
Rewards are always a problem because they convey votes and influence content. It's like this everywhere, steemit, youtube, blogs, it's clear that when you expect a profit, things change. As far as quality is concerned, it is difficult to decide to give your content to steemit with steemexclusive and then be recognized for just a few cents. So sometimes it's easier to participate in a contest without giving too much of your ability. I love drawing, but it takes me hours to finish a drawing, and I only publish it in contests because every time I published it spontaneously it went ignored and it's like that for everyone. Furthermore, there is content that is not particularly interesting and is compensated with a lot of money and this is also noticed by newcomers, as in all social networks those who are better at networking and finding friends have more votes, but this is not necessarily linked to the quality of content. I have seen the exact same mechanism in many platforms, steemit is no exception.
I think that a lot of your thoughts support how I perceive these contests, in particular:
Whereas I want to see the ability and I'll return to those who like to share their ability (assuming it's something I'm interested in) over and over again.
All of this, my post, the replies, Steemit in general comes down to this simple statement:
People come to Steemit expecting a profit and their behaviour is driven by this sole goal whereas...
...is true. What comes through from these users though, is that desire to network, to make friends, to be genuine and not solely driven by money (which is an added bonus). They're there supporting others so when they share something, this support is reciprocated and "we" lift each other. A real community.
Our platform is unique and was created to reward good content writers. Content rewards have gone in a completely different direction and it's our own fault. The focus is more on earning than creating good content. In my early period on steemit, not many people got my vote, but most of the people I voted for deserved that vote.
Today I vote for many users who are part of the wox community and I wish I had time to find more content creators in the steemit community who deserved a vote.
It's as you say, many join competitions to be able to be rewarded. As you know, I organize a writer's competition based on my digital image. But I have a problem because I can no longer distinguish the stories from whether the author uses his own words or that they use Artificial intelligence (AI) to write the story.
So I wonder if I should even continue this type of competition.
Maybe it's possible to create another type of competition that attracts good writers, because we need that in steemit.
Maybe someone has some ideas for that
Ai is becoming a big problem but I have to say next to AI there is all the hysteria about AI detectors, which are just as stupid programs as Ai generator. I write in Italian and then I use Google Translator and Grammarly a lot to help me with a decent translation, but if I put the English text in some detectors I find up to 30% Ai and it's not true (that is, it's true because Google Translator and grammarly are AI, but they did not generate the story). I once took hours to fix the part that the stupid detector said wasn't right, I'll never do it again! Sometimes I publish the original text in Italian, but I know very well that automatic translation is crap, so the dilemma is: publish a well-translated text risking the detector or an original text that will seem like crap to English speakers? 😑
For your last question, I think we need to understand and use steemexclusive better and sometimes we can exclude it! If a writer is good and also publishes on other platforms, why can't he publish here and vice versa? In your posts it is written that it must not be published in other blockchains but it can be a text published in other personal sites, and I think it's good, but I think in other communities this is not explained well, I have always thought that steemexclusive excluded any other type of publication until I came accross your post, and perhaps we need to understand this.
Also quality content cannot be written every day, it is very difficult and takes time and effort, so I think that a content can be used several times by its author even on steemit. For example, if someone posted a fantasy story three months ago and then there's a fantasy story contest, why can't they enter with their old post? It's their property. 😎
I totally agree - AI detection tools are crap and I don't think they should be used.
This is an interesting dilemma. In many ways, I prefer users to write in their native language - it's then easier for me to use my preferred translator and it's easier to interpret "mistakes" or "changes" that translators make, knowing that the author's own words have the meaning that they've intended. If I translated my content into Italian without providing the English, I don't know if some of my "feelings" will get lost in translation. The flip-side of this is that I'll sometimes look for new content on my mobile phone, where translation tools are cumbersome and I'll only look for English content.
This is another interesting dilemma - one reason is the detrimental affect that it has on the SEO of the sites that you don't publish to first. Each post on Steemit, Hive, etc. is automatically marked as "canonical", e.g. for my post...
<link rel="canonical" href="https://steemit.com/hive-185836/@the-gorilla/do-you-trust-new-users"...this code means it is the master version - i.e. it has not been copied from somewhere else. If Google sees multiple sites set as "canonical", with the same content then it then automatically decides that the most recent (i.e. not the oldest) has been copied, therefore plagiarised and therefore the site is "marked down" as a result... which then affects that site's Search Engine Ranking.
Academically speaking, copying your own content is still considered plagiarism. Whilst I agree that you should be able to reuse your own content, and I wouldn't criticise anybody for doing so, a simple solution is to reference your original article... perhaps even with a simple introduction of "I wrote this some time ago ..link.. which appeared to be ignored so I'd like to share it with you again as entry to this contest" or similar. Like an academic reference to your own work 🙂
Excellent comment, thanks for your thoughts 👍
I didn't know the trick of google Seo here 😑, yes could be a problem.
For the self content, for sure, I agree with you, should be done with clear reference and links to the old post! I'm not for re-mixing and recycling old materials out of laziness. But I believe that if when you post you know that the content will last beyond 7 days, it would also be an incentive for quality.
That's a good point. I've come across good content that is more than 7 days old which I'd like to support but "likes" aren't registered and the author won't benefit (whereas I think YouTube still rewards creators years after the initial publishing). This would be a great incentive for increasing quality and that quality would subsequently attract more traffic from Search Engines.
There are so many challenges with regards to maintaining quality. Using me as an example, I know that every post has a minimum amount that it will be voted due to the auto-votes & curation trail support. So (in many ways similar to a voting service), I could write a "lazy post" every day and hope that my current supporters don't lose interest. But that's not me and I take pride in everything I write and everything that I share (including the comments themselves)... which is why that "base level" support exists and I don't post something every day.
Linking back to your other comment, it ultimately comes down to motivation for writing. If users are solely motivated by the rewards, then I believe that comes through in their activity which will probably have a detrimental affect on their rewards. For those that take pride in everything that they produce, it could well be a "slower burn" but once they're alight, they'll burn long and strong.
TEAM 1
Congratulations! This comment has been upvoted through steemcurator04. We support quality posts , good comments anywhere and any tags.Thanks @o1eh 👍
Your experience is interesting because in many ways, your role in Steemit has changed as the years have passed. When you began, there wasn't the expectation that you support everybody but now, with the responsibility of the WOX curation trail, there's a greater expectation that you're everywhere and everybody gets supported. I think that individual users, who haven't taken the time and effort to create the community that you have won't have that pressure - like when you initially joined.
The challenge of AI will continue to be difficult. I performed an experiment recently to see if I could train Chat-GPT to write like me... I might write a post about it because as I start to explain it to you, I think the outcome was quite interesting. Especially as the finished article bore no resemblance to anything that I would ever write.
I would think that Chat-GPT would have trouble describing you, but it would be interesting to see what it would have written
https://steemit.com/hive-185836/@the-gorilla/is-this-me-or-chat-gpt
I finally got around to writing the article 🙂
Chat-GPT only has data up to September 2021 so when thinking about new contests, you could use a topic that it won't know about yet.
That was the original idea. And in this way, the wheat was quickly separated from the chaff (exceptions always confirm the rule, of course).
I liked the system. This also seemed "unfair" at times. That's just life. But it was always fairer than voting EVERYONE (blindly) for EVERY crap...
This is becoming increasingly difficult... And this is exactly the reason - long before ChatGPT (automatic text generators have been around for ages, and have also been used diligently on the Steem so far) - why I mainly refer to my little bubble of "mother tongue". In this bubble, I can still judge quite well whether a text was written by a user himself (especially in comparison to previous works). And be it by the mistakes in spelling... ;-)
Yes, it is probably easier when you can check it against your own language
I can't believe my eyes and I'm beginning to believe in a kind of soul mate: you've hit so many points that went through my mind during my first "report" and which I deliberately dropped. There is a little diplomat in me after all and I would like to check out who (and there will be many...) from this "group", which I would like to see as a group (not a herd), I am stepping on the toes of.
Your criteria for someone you would like to follow are exactly those I would like to attach to a free, not insignificant delegation of mine. It seems to me that we sat in a room to work these out.
To answer your questions in summary: All is well, you as well as I belong here. I've stopped looking for new users, the same-old introductory posts are a farce. "In the old days" that would have left you a grey mouse on the Steem forever. And rightly so!
Do I trust new users? Not immediately. But I only start observing them when they stand out with individual posts or introductions (because of a resteem or by chance - or do you think I read SEC?). Well, there aren't many. But I'm not that sad because of my very clear feed... ;-)
Oh, how I love your introduction photo. One of the most individual ones I've seen here in years! You are truly authentic - a real gorilla.... 😁
I've been thinking about posting something along these lines for a while - Your report was definitely fresh in my mind as I wrote it. I wonder if subconsciously, I read between the lines and filled in the gaps of what you didn't say 🤣
In one of my replies, I said that I've recently found 2 users who look promising... both of which have just entered an Engagement Challenge rather than continue thinking of their own ideas 🤷♂️ Their posts are still probably very good but like I said... 🤷♂️ Hopefully they'll return to good old simple blogging and I'll take an interest again.
I think that my approach is similar to yours... I probably find people because of a resteem from within my trusted circle more than any other way!
Yes, that is how it looks in many respects. And I'm afraid we will continue to experiment quite lonely with it for a while. At least as long as even SR are still strongly supported for "this-morning-I-brush-my-teeth-postings"... 🙄
At least we have each other...
A true comfort!!! ... 😊
👀… see you on the other side buddy 👋
You don't have to disappear for ever... do you?
Of course not.. I’ll be here, reading your posts, and yours alone😂
🥳
What are you up to these days? You must've finished uni by now?
Yeah, and I just finished my one year service last September. So now??..😂 let’s see
Are you looking for a job? Remind me what your degree was? I seem to remember engineering but my memory gets worse with each day!
Yeah kind of, but it’s rare over here, getting a job right after service.
Geological engineering/Sciences
Hope you’re doing well too.. and the kids?
I’m just here to share my original photography. I also follow other Photographers and artists, so I support those Steemit blogs also. I am not a writer, just an amateur photographer sharing my work with the world. Luckily I have a few followers who support my work. None of the Wox or Steem Curators thought. But I share my work here and on Blurt and earn a pretty good living from the Crypto I make on Blurt and Steemit. As long as I convert some to Bitcoin on the dips.
You love those dips 😃
Yes. Bitcoin dips are the best…. Earn from Blogging on Steemit and Blurt. Every day .. then buy the big Bitcoin Dips. It’s the way to Financial Freedom.
I sold all my Steem to buy Bitcoin at $16,000 … doubled my $$$ ….
So I had to start at zero again on Steemit…. But it’s adding up quickly.