Focus on your own blog and success. Thought on Steem distribution.
There seems to be this notion on the platform lately that if the Steem would be distributed fairly that the platform would be a much better place.
I beg to differ.
I'm pretty convinced that the moment this would happen a part of the community would be selling their STEEM straight away and another part would be buying and given enough time the distribution will be similar to what it is today. (with maybe the exception of the Steemit account).
Every time I read comments about fair distribution from someone I check their wallet. Usually, they are powering down and selling. And I always think......but....this way there never will be that fair distribution that you want.
My view of the whole situation is just different. And I guess that's because my mindset is different.
I think whales are whales not because they were lucky. They are whales because, before they were whales, they spend a lot of time learning about Blockchain technology, and maybe they were active in the Bitshares community or another reason (call it reason X).
So when the blockchain was created they were their first to scoop up a ton of cheap Steem. They had the know-how at the right time. It's not like they were just googling how to make an apple pie and suddenly learned about the Steem blockchain and instantly knew how to mine it.
The fact they have a lot of Steem seems perfectly fair to me.
When I learned about the Steem blockchain that cheap phase was already over. I got on the platform in July 2016. Steem was around $4. It was the first time I realized that blockchain could be used for Social Media. And later when I truly understood the potential of this blockchain I started to write and invest my own money and time.
At that time I started, there were some authors making thousands of dollars worth of STEEM a day. It was a magical time. These authors were on the platform a couple of months before me and were scooping up all that easy blogging STEEM.
Again they were there at the right time monetizing their skill they honed over years. And It feels perfectly fair to me.
In the big downtrend that followed soon after, I was still seeking my blog direction but I realized I enjoyed writing even though I didn't make many rewards. It didn't bother me at all. I just kept writing. Focusing on my blog.
But when everyone started selling I could utilize my own skill I learned trading crypto for years. I realized what was going (panic selling) and I bought as much STEEM as I could. There were others that bought even more STEEM. I don't think this was unfair.
I also kept writing and I never powered down.
And now we find ourselves with the distribution we have today.
And it's fine as long as you focus on your own blog and success. But the moment envy sets in you will have a hard time. But that's nobody's else's fault. That is your own mind.
I wrote yesterday that I believe every Steem token will be precious in the future. And I truly believe that and I always acted accordingly. This is an article I wrote 11 months ago, where I'm saying the same thing.
Now with the announcement of SMT's they have the potential to be even more valuable if that idea turns into a success.
So even if you enter the platform today you still have time to earn some STEEM tokens with blogging. Even though this will be harder each day because the blogging difficulty has gone up (more users competing over a reward pool that is fixed). It's more than you get anywhere else!
Also, I think it's often forgotten that everyone that has STEEMpower is also putting the value of that Steempower on the line each and every day.
This is crypto after all. Even the developers said that there were a couple of times that the blockchain could have come to halt. That's the sort of black swan moment I rather not think about.
My biggest advice to anyone joining Steemit today is to focus on your own blog if you want to make it as a new blogger.
Create content every day and about the things you enjoy. And it will probably take you about 14 months of hard work to get regular payouts. (I think it took me about 9-10 months but with fewer users).
If you just want to have fun on the platform do whatever you want. And that's cool too.
Almost anything goes here.
It's a fun place to be.
The same can be said about the real world, as well.
If all of the world's money was distributed equally today, tomorrow we'd be in the same situation as prior to the redistribution.
Simply because money managing is a skill, which some have, while others don't.
There was a show in the UK a while back where they would give money to poor people, so they can accomplish their dreams.
A poor single mom of three or something was given tens of thousands of dollars, and she had spent it all in a month or so.
No conspiracy, no coercing, no nothing was needed for the poor to willingly redistribute her own money back to the wealthy.
She bought stuff like make up, hair jobs, dresses, and so on.
There's a lesson there.
Interesting. Same happened here in the Netherlands with people winning the lottery. Such a waste of opportunity.
I agree somewhat. Not all people without money are bad money managers but it usually does ring true. Its a fact and statistic that you never really exceed higher than what you grew up around. Its because the ideals and beliefs are so engrained no one seeks to set the bar higher and they fall back on what they know. Not sure if you've read any of Rob Kiyosaki but I think you'd agree.
I think fairness is more about everyone having a chance to earn something, but they have to put in the work. If we all just get Steem then there's no incentive to work for it and the platform would go stale. Of course some people were fortunate to be in at the right time to make a lot of Steem or they decided to buy in. I know some bought when the price was much higher than now. There are issues with some people seeming to earn more than their content really deserves, but as the platform grows that may be less of an issue due to more people voting. Some of the rewards in the early days were just insane considering the size of the audience. It took me months to make anything and it's probably easier to make a few cents now. You just have to engage your audience and keep them coming back.
Tend to agree with you @steevc too many arrive expecting instant returns, not that easy. Those who arrived early grew with the platform and earned by sharing good content and growing their tribe.
Those of us who missed the bus, must work at keeping up with all the changes that have happened on the platform and new introductions of bots and extra outside assistance, too much time is trying to come to grips with just settling down and producing good content.
This is the most unusual platform in that you will go to chat groups and try establish a footing there, whereas I would imagine in the early days everyone shared and commented in here alone.
I think you hold some wise words. I think you are probably the most chillout man on the platform honestly. Putting constant effort in a coazy way.
And I do guess focusing on your blog is the most importaint thing here, sadly I just found out recently, that why I started a daily series ♡
Bu still, Ive been here for like 5 months and you can have a look at my wallet and article quality. Its been soo hard to find aome good people to give support. Good thing the lovely people from ecotrain help me, I guess I owe most to them.
Still, hey, thanks for releasing this, honestly it gave me a bit of moral boost to follow my consistency and better my content.
Hope one day I can reach the point you are at.
All the best of wishes ♡
Wow great advice and very important ones. Thanks I am becoming tired of being low reward on my post. Your post has energies me greatly so thank you so much for your valuable post, I hope in one year my fruit may reap properly. Wish you a very beautiful time ahead my friends.
Let me know where you got the mug from because that is art from @overkillcoin that you can see in his link here https://steemit.com/art/@overkillcoin/art-feeding-time-inked-and-coloured-t-shirt-design
Hope they got permission for it, instead of just took the art and printed it.
https://steemit.com/life/@exyle/businesses-on-the-steem-blockchain-are-becoming-real-the-mug-i-bought-with-steem-dollars-arrived-from-the-us
It's all good.
@exyle I have learned so much from you and your BLOG. I have to say I look forward to what you post each day. As for the people that get disenchanted with STEEMIT, I say that's OK because maybe this was not a good fit for them. The KEY in my Opinion is interacting with your commenters when you write a BLOG or making sure that your comments are of such substance that there is something that many others can garner from that comment. The UP Votes will come but you must be Consistent and Engaging everyday !
I agree with you, there are exceptions but usually people are were they are because they manage to get there!
People just want free stuff, the irony is that they don't know what to with those free things most of the time. If you don't earn it then it's likely you don't appreciate it.
Cheap and easy STEEM will not be, you are right, I realized it myself when I just came and started to work. Now, of course, there are two ways, you have to invest and buy STEEM or in what I agree with you, you need to maximize your blog, then there are chances to succeed in Steemit . Excellent article, thanks @exyle
You hit the nail on the head there.
I see the same thing and I am baffled. To start, the people who are complaining, how much did they make off twitter, youtube, and facebook? Secondly, people who attack those who are successful rarely know what it took to make them successful. Being an early adopter is often filled with challenges. The risk is much greater early on. Therefore, those who took the risk when others were passing get rewards...then get attacked.
In the end, changing the distribution system will only elicit further complaints. Everyone will not be happy and many will be envious regardless of what takes place.
I concur with focusing upon your own blog. We all can post, comment, and upvote....regardless of SP in our wallet. Over time, things grow. Personally, I believe steem can easily surpass $100 a coin...that means even a 5 cent rewards will become $5.00.
How many google adclicks does one need to earn $5?