Stopping Spam: How to avoid Upvote Envy
At CommentWealth, we believe that begging for an upvote in another Steemian's comment thread is not only bad form, it's spam. We've even started flagging some spam comments that are guilty of begging.
Of course, we all want upvotes. But sometimes, we can allow our need and greed for these upvotes to negatively influence our behavior, justifying blatant spamming of other people's posts in our search for that upvote fix. It can be very discouraging when our posts don't do well, according to the number of upvotes we receive. So how can we handle this discouragement and give ourselves the best chance for success on Steemit?
We need to lose our Upvote Envy!
Recently, a number of Steemians on MSP PALnet were introduced to the ideas of self-empowerment facilitator Byron Katie (BK). Her program, The Work, was recommended in the Audience Chat during an MSPWaves radio show, The Dark Side, hosted by @isaria and @stitchybitch. The hosts were discussing depression and anxiety, and in response, @aggroed posted very helpful information about BK's philosophy on ending internal suffering.
One method BK shares to avoid suffering is to let go of our obsession with outcomes. On her blog, she explains this process as involving the realization that there are three kinds of business:
Notice when you hurt that you are mentally out of your business.
If you’re not sure, stop and ask, “Mentally, whose business am I in?”
There are only three kinds of business in the universe: mine, yours, and God’s.
Whose business is it if an earthquake happens? God’s business.
Whose business is it if your neighbor down the street has an ugly lawn? Your neighbor’s business.
Whose business is it if you are angry at your neighbor down the street because he has an ugly lawn? Your business.
Life is simple—it is internal.
Count, in five minute intervals, how many times you are in someone else’s business mentally. Notice when you give uninvited advice or offer your opinion about something (aloud or silently).
Ask yourself: “Am I in their business?”
It's not difficult to extrapolate and apply BK's insight to our activities here on Steemit. When we covet – or worse – beg for someone else's upvote, we're in their business. It isn't our business how, why, what, when, or who anyone else chooses to upvote on Steemit. And it's not our job to try and force an upvote in our favor.
So what is our job?
Producing quality content on Steemit that informs or entertains or shares or engages. Doing that keeps us in our own business and leaves the business of others to them.
Ironically, doing this is probably the best way to elicit a bounty of upvotes. Focusing your energy on your own business will likely make you not only more successful, but will also help you feel less envious or obsessed with the number of upvotes you receive.
Who would you be without your upvote envy? Maybe a happier person.
Please let us know your thoughts in... the comments! After all, that's where community happens.
Often times, I can come up with a preconceived notion or conclusion of what something will be, what something will look like, even if it's how I feel and intangible in terms of physical appearance. On the flip side, if I have a set goal, but without a set conclusion, then I can have room for adjustment and be content no matter what the outcome is. But when I am fixated on those conclusions, those preconceived notions that I sometimes come up with, then I can be very disappointed, and usually, in myself.
I have learnt to not remain fixated as much. I'd like to see better results, such as faster healing progress, better photoshop results from what I'm trying to achieve, more YouTUbe views, more curation votes on Steemit, etc. I have an image in my mind of what my photo looks like, of how I feel in the future, of some of my view counts, etc. I'll be disappointed if I stay fixated though. It's a goal, it's visualisation, but I know that it might look very different than what I think. I might have curated only a tiny bit on my Steemit post, but perhaps the comment that someone wrote encouraged me to know how much they appreciated what I wrote. That comment is worth a lot to me. SO I may not be able to do everything I'd like with my very old version of photoshop, but I figured a few things out and my lightsaber blades look pretty awesome, plus I have a few ideas of how I can do a few things with some different tools to make the tip a bit pointier, even if I can't do "that other thing".
Posting on Steemit, posting on YouTube, it helps me with things within myself. The popularity, the monetary gain, will come over time. Some posts do better than others. I am always nicely surprised when I make over $1.00. I know that I will at least make my own $0.02, so there's that. I know that people show up to read my posts, so that counts for something to me. I know that people comment and show appreciation. It would be nice to make a lot more than I do, but it's already pretty awesome that I've made enough to pay certain expenses.
Some days, I will feel bad. I think that's normal. But I know that it makes me feel uneasy when someone starts going on about upvotes in a comment. So out of courtesy, I don't do it. I try to give back value to someone who shared something of value.
Some excellent advice there... for Steemians of all levels. Reminds me a bit of a post a wrote a few months ago-- "Who's minding YOUR business while you're busy minding everyone else's?"
"Our" business is simply to do our best and create engaging content. It can be hard sometimes, when we pour our heart, soul and time into something... and it feels like "nobody cares." But we can't "make" anyone do anything... they will either do, or not-do. And behaving badly certainly won't help our cause.
Great post!
Thank you @denmarkguy!
Excellent reminder!
I liked the Minnow's Guide to Comment Curation better. However, I see a lot of begging for upvotes and/or following.
Community is adding sincere value. Anyone could copy and paste an atta boy comment that isn't even relevant. That is the other thing I've seen too much of. However, your Minnow's Guide also showed me how to leverage that for a bit of value as well. :)
I trying to encourage community by asking for comments on my posts as well. To me, genuine comments that show there was an actual read are sometimes worth more personally than the upvote as at least I see someone read what I'd taken time to write.
That's a great point and a great attitude, @gregvence, and we agree!
I'm glad to have subscribed and happy that you continuing to support small sincere authors as we grow. I'm sure I'll reference the "Minnow's Guide" in my posts somewhere.
Is there a good steem-etiquette way of referencing another's article(s)? Or perhaps an article referencing inside Steem and referencing outside when we have to?
You can always reference the posts of others by linking them in your own post!
Good advice and hot topic right now. I agree with you. We should focus our energy.
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Thanks for the perfect post! @commentwealth
@commentwealth So much information thanks for sharing.
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