This is Very Frustrating – Stop Blaming the Whales
Before I even begin my rant on this topic, I want to first point out I am a Minnow. When I started out, I started out with nothing, just like the 99% of other red fish and minnows on Steemit. The facts are, most of us start in the same way. There are of course a few that made a financial investment very early after signing up, but for most of us, that has not happened.
Although most of us start the same way, we all take different paths. Some people write amazing content, some people spend hours each day curating, some people lease their SP for profit and some use the rewards to buy more votes. Some people cash out their rewards on a regular basis and some people use their rewards to grow their accounts and help distribute the power.
And its this last part I want to focus in on. Some people cash out their rewards on a regular basis and some people use their rewards to grow their accounts.
Working with minnows and redfish everyday is an eye opener. Its can be personally rewarding but lacks financial rewards. I know this because I do it, day in and day out. Spending votes on minnows and redfish puts one on a backfoot when it comes to growing their SP and their account. Voting on dolphins is way better for your pocket.
I am not dislike accounts smaller than me, I would like to get big votes and earn more. I could always self-vote, and stop delegating power to other for free, that way I could earn more. Or I could take all my earnings and cash out each week giving me the ability to support NO ONE..
And that is what I see a lot of. Minnows and redfish taking their rewards out of steemit, which they are entitled to do, not growing their account, and then begging for votes, saying steemit is unfair and no one is helping minnows.
YOU NEED TO HELP YOU SELF. YOU NEED TO INVEST IN YOUR SELF.
So here is where I am on this topic. I have invested a lot of time in steemit. This has enabled me to grow my steem power. I have powered up a lot. I do this, so I can distribute wealth, not accumulate it. The SP I have earned, I earned it just like you, but I did not cash out.
If you cash out all the time, you will not grow, you will not be able to support anyone. Why should we support people that will never support others? On steemit to give you must grow, you must invest in yourself. Don’t expect people to keep investing in your if you will not invest in your self and you can never give back.
We all need to live, we all need money. I have a family and 2 children. I need to put food on the table and a roof over their heads. If we all cashed out week after week, there would be no steemit and no one to support. Lol if the whales cashed out there would be no one for the minnows to give out about.
So here is what I am saying. Don’t expect others to keep growing their accounts to fund you. Invest in yourself.
From here on in, I will be trying not to vote for accounts that do not invest in themselves and are takers and not givers. I want to see at least a little effort made so that you can support back. After all you want the support don’t you? Well so does everyone else. I see these accounts as takers that are not adding value to steemit.
It’s is not your right to expect others invest money in steemit to support your life style. If you don’t invest in yourself, stop blaming the whales.
If you are a redfish or minnow and are producing good content or are an awesome curator and you are making the effort to grow your account and power up, you will be noticed. It may take time, but it will happen.
EDIT: I have written a follow up post showing how you can grow your account even with medium term thinking
You bring up a great point about minnows needing to invest in themselves. I'm not as involved with minnows as you are ( and quite honestly, I don't care to be, not because I'm "too good" or anything, I just have a lot of real world responsibilities). So first, I just want to applaud people who spend a lot of time on here helping minnows, such as yourself.
Back on topic, minnows on steem are from all over the world. If you ignore the demographic whose rewards are a significant source of income, then you are left with a significantly smaller batch of users. This has a lot to do with the fact that many people on here are from countries where their $1 per post rewards could improve their standard of living to a measureable bit.
The next measure we need to look at in terms of active minnows is also age group. Undoubtly, all age groups are on steemit, but I bet the overwhelming majority of minnows are under 35.
Most of them have very little to offer to make steemit a better place.
This is numerically factual because the vast majority of people who have something to give are older, wiser and from countries where they have the ability to learn how to communicate in an effective manner (and this is a site thats built on communication after all).
For this reason, the demographic of younger users on steemit have a lesser understanding about self improvement. Take the case of the following thought test.
If a child (in this case a minnow), is told that they can have 1 ice cream now, or 2 ice creams at some point in the near future, say 2 hours. What do you think the child will decide, and how will you think their choice is reflective of their mentality?
Neither choices are right or wrong, its purely up to the social-ecological circumstances that the child was brought up in.
I could develop a thesis on the behavior of minnows, but to simply put it, steemit needs to have a more mature adult user base before it can growup.
Its facebook circa 2006, drunk beer pong photos and cute little cats, except this place is more like xanga if I had to compare it.
Nonetheless, great point in your blog. Unfortunately, the only cure is time and more users with more to offer and more centralized services.
(senselessly self upvoted for visibility)
I tend to think that if you are cashing out on everything, it makes the platform more like a casino. People will be more likely to write gimmicky click bait trying to make max profits per post.
Everyone has their own circumstance, but to me, there really doesnt seem a point in cashing out if there is not a need.
I mean, I am still a noob and haven't seen more than a couple dollars in a day, it seems that as you get bigger more people pay attention, if only for the influence you carry...
The money factor should at most be kept on the back burner regardless. Unless you are someone well known who makes bank for blurbs.
you are correct, there are many many minnows on steemit where $1 a day has an impact and steemit enables that. Although steemit enables it, it does not mean it is the right thing for the platform and those that do invest in the platform should have some benefit over those that don't. I see it that we do have a benefit and that is people take us more seriously and there is a better chance of the larger (human) votes.
As for the age profile, i was under the opinion it was higher than you suggested. Someone had posted a copy of the Alexa ratings before and it showed the age profile. Just looked Alexa up myself and I need an account to get the extra detail
I tend to look at it from an external/internal point of view. We can benefit from steem if we earn tokens, but what makes us want to earn tokens? Is it the money aspect? Certainly its a massive component. But is there anything else to it?
Id like to see the alexa stats, but id take it with a grain of a salt. I want to know how they come up with that age group data. I tend to think most of the noise on here are younger crowds. In fact, if you ask most people who own crypto, why they own it. They give you a generic answer with no depth. If we take that idea and migrate it to steemit, most people dont know why they are on here other then to make a quick buck.
Even Dan Larimer realized it when he created steemit. When given the tools to self govern, people often make choices that are not the best for the community in the long run. I've invested thousands into this platform and minnows have largely destroyed my investment because of their poor understanding. But that doesnt mean that the platform sucks. It just needs services to lift it out of its current state.
what sort of services do you think we are missing or under servicing?
i could list a lot, but ultimately what it comes down to is to ask
what is the point of a blogging website where all you do is blog and give each other thumbs up or thumbs down?
Sort of a trick question, but the answer is that its functionally useless for the grandier scheme of things. Theres a billion more uses for the blockchain, but the first step is to create value beyond content.
There needs to be more reasons to exchange steem and SBD, to create an economy not just focused on externalizing the rewards (cashing out). If there is an economic incentive to keep the money inside for commerce or other reasons, then people are much more likely to see some functional use, other than talking shit and paying themselves to do it.
if the 1£ can improve their living how will they even invest when to buy one steem is 2.6 dollar?
@paulag, thank you for helping to reiterate the fact that redfish & minnows have to grow their accounts. I am Nigerian, but sad to tell you that my country people are guilty of cashing out all their rewards without even thinking of supporting anyone in future. Meanwhile, I almost always power up to grow my steem power. Enough of the pity party! If they are not going to grow their accounts, then we stop supporting them. Period! Post reblogged & upvoted 👍
@maryfavour.
thank you. thank you. thank you. Glad I am not the only one feeling this way
You are not the only one, @paulag. I've said it time without number for redfish & minnows to grow their SP, but they come up with all sorts of flimsy excuses , telling me that I am not in Nigeria to experience the hardship. Well, I am home in Nigeria ,at the moment. It's true that there is inflation and prices of goods & services have increased, but people are still surviving.
Those who got delegated SP free from the likes of @donkeypong have chosen to remain minnows . Some minnows go to lobby for upvotes from @fulltimegeek, @thejohalfiles etc. Thanks to @fulltimegeek . He has upvoted my blogs a few times. I just look at all of them (redfish & minnows) who have refused to grow and laugh.
For about a year, I have supported #redfish in diverse ways through, @redfishpillar account. Some #redfish I placed on autovote were removed after about 6 months so that new entrants can also enjoy my support. I'm so glad that you are speaking out on this issue.
@maryfavour.
the problems come when we remove them, the begging gets worse. but we need to make room for new people and you are right to remove them after giving them the time. I am proud of your efforts, wish more people were like you
This reminds me of a post I wrote a while ago: Hack Your Life in 3 Easy Steps!
I just gave you a full vote because you were so much nicer than me in how you put all that. Lol, so needed to rant. I'm staying out of discord cos of the begging.
Yes, begging is painful indeed. Especially not knowing whether the beggar REALLY neads that $0.5 upvote or he's just acting?
if the begger needs it or not does not matter. There are thousand of new accounts each week, all looking for help from bigger accounts. yet this small accounts think they should get our support forever....
"If you are a redfish or minnow and are producing good content or are an awesome curator and you are making the effort to grow your account and power up, you will be noticed. It may take time, but it will happen."
Very patiently waiting here!! ;)
I get what youre saying completely! I see people everyday begging for votes. Then you go to their posts and its terrible! I understand the frustration from both sides. When I started here on Steemit, I didnt think I would be making a living by blogging my views or giving reviews or posting photography. I came because I could do those things and actually have someone read and enjoy it. Ive always said, we did this for free for years and years, why bitch about not making "enough" on a post. I hope one day I am able to do half of what you do to help the platform but until then Im gonna keep on keepin on! Write about what I love and growing myself and the people around me.
Hey, this was a good read, thanks for sharing!
This. I love this.
Now, I'm the benefactor of the @asapers, a manual curation team that shares the rewards and so forth. We focus on minnows and newcomers. Anyhow, this is not a sales pitch so I won't go into any more details about the asapers.
That being said, I've been cashing out and I've powered down a few times since I arrived here on Steemit. I even power down right now due to some unforeseen circumstances, so I know the awesome feeling of using my earnings from Steemit in real life. It's a blessing.
However, I delegate 100% of my Steem Power to others (not during the current power down obviously), in an attempt to improve the overall experience on Steemit... And I can totally relate to what you've said here.
We've shared the rewards with ~160 Steemians and we have a Discord channel with well-more than 100 users already... But, I'm still getting bombarded with messages on both Discord and Steem.chat from upvote-beggars. People who're blaiming the "system" and people who're calling Steemit a lottery.
I give, and no matter how much I give, people always want more. They desperately need more. Such selfish behaviour is the opposite of the asapers mindset.
I wonder how many of the people I've helped, or the asapers have helped, that saves some of the rewards they've been generating since they got here...?
I might ask @abh12345 for that information in the future! ;)
I actually changed my league of excellence today to include points for powering up.
People who're blaiming the "system" and people who're calling Steemit a lottery are the same people that have nothing to give yet want to take.
I think i will do this too.
If you are active on STEEM you can power down a small percentage and withdraw some STEEM while still growing in overall STEEM power.
Think about it like pulling a salary from your own company. You don’t have to keep everything powered up or power everything down.
fully agree, I just want to see people making some attempt. I get it that people need to live, but so do you and so do I.
Yes! I agree with this 100%! I think you get out of this platform what you put in. It’s so frustrating to see accounts complain about their small vote, and how they aren’t growing on the platform when they pull every single cent out. No one owes you anything, no one... make great content, do your thing and invest in yourself.. it’s the only thing that will work long term. I appreciate the rant, you saved me from having to do it haha.
I am so happy that so many people agree with me. ranting is good for the soul. But now i gotta think about a solution :-)
Yes Paula Yes!!! I will follow your lead, yes... I've delegated in the past to people that where just cashing out and not building their SP, it angered me a bit, I won't lie...
But I've seen the light, and this is confirmaish... I'm done supporting takers.
:-) its so hard to please everyone, but we can only spread our selfs so thin, that is why we gotta invest in those worth investing in.
Very interesting post @paulag.😊
I have no empathy for Whales who flag people to death for no other reason than a difference of opinion on not flagging unwitting followers, ..none! Why on earth would any one want to be here to have all their open posts targeted? Videos that took days to record and edit no longer appear on my account, courtesy of a whale. We also finished shooting an action movie, also, none of it coming here courtesy of a whale! I will no longer post anything that took longer than a few minutes and I won't pay some bot farm to have my stuff seen. In the mean time enjoy the one liner shit posts floating to the top on $100+ selfie votes.
Want good content? Protect it. Most don't give a hoot what happens to others as long as it doesn't happen to themselves. As a result some very good content creators are leaving, or have already left. How many accounts are there? How many of those are actually active? ..15%?
I like your sense of community support and agree with the principle, but I don't find much of it here. Instead I find upvote groups that don't venture out much, I find whales that selfie vote 10 times a day, and selfie vote again with their 14 bots.
(should I say, greedings?) Greetings!
hay @onnovocks and thank you for sharing your concerns. These concerns are shared by many and that 15% really hit me hard and upset me. we are losing to many quality creators because the shit floats to the top.
But posts like this ( look at the engagement level) show that people want to interact and be part of social networking, and for that part, rewards are not the most important factor. Human touch is the key.
Its a pity you have bot found much community support, in fact I am surprised considering how well you are interacting
When a cranky whale comes after you, people run and hide. I understand, but I don't have to like that fact. Didn't mean to upset you, but felt that sharing some of the figures I got elsewhere are relevant in the discussion. We aren't the only ones noticing people leaving or going inactive. Here is a post from @snowpea lamenting the loss of some folks whose work/presence she clearly appreciated: https://steemit.com/blog/@snowpea/to-the-missing-steemians
I personally also know some who have gone inactive and I know of one who announced an exact quit date. That's a shame, her writings, knowledge of languages and literature in general are brilliant.
P.S. The engagement on this post is great indeed, lots of folks looking and thinking about this!
Thank you for your time,
Greetings!
P.S. The engagement on this post is great inded, lots of folks looking and thinking about this!
Thank you for your time,
Greetings!