300th upvote on this post... somehow, that amused me.
Where were we?
There's an invitation inherent in social media for people to be who they are. Unless, of course, you're representing an organization or a brand... in which case you'd probably be smartest to snap in line with the organization/brand's goals... or look for the nearest exit.
I'm pretty resigned to the idea that the Human race pretty much is what it is. I have lost several good gigs (and jobs) to greed leading to bankruptcy, to outsourcing, to just plain overexploitation to various other things. My general observation about humans is that if anything good (and particularly "idealistic") comes along, we WILL destroy it... or, at the very least, reduce it to the lowest common denominator.
So I'm pretty much without attachment to anything being done/used in any particular way. Let people be who and what they are, and let the pieces fall where they may. Which — usually — is "apart."
Let's be real... it's WalMart that's making billions, not "Fred's Conscientiously Handmade Goods."
Meanwhile, I'll have fun till there's no longer a place to have fun with!
The problem isn't the content and people being people. The problem is the incentives don't give incentives, in my opinion.
Well, yeah, the incentives are a little screwed up.
I'm going to stick with something I tried to point out over a year ago... which is that @dan & co (in their original creation of the Steemit idea) grossly underestimated the level of green and self-servingness inherent within many people.
The incentives would probably work just fine in a world where all Steemians were "rational adults working towards maximizing the common benefit for all."
That world is a fantasy.
The real world is more like what happens if you throw a handful of coins on a crowded street. People scramble uncontrollably to "get theirs" even though a handful of pennies and nickles make NO material difference to their lives.
Yes, I'm cynical in certain ways!
I can't argue that. There is also a lack of understanding human behavior and how to reward good behavior and ignore or punish bad behavior. Human behavior is not hard to predict and impact.
I've spend hours and thousands of corporate dollars sitting in courses on how to motivate people, be an effective leader etc.
I compare this situation with zero leadership like a teacher leaving a class of children alone and without a task. The expected result would be chaos.
I'm fine with decentralized, but a visionary leader would be really helpful! I guess I am cynical also. I still have hope that a leader will develop.