New incentive to convert FB addicts to Steemit through a single FB group dedicated to education & upvoting
The behaviour of addicts
I learned a long time ago that I have an addictive personality (after a four month spell in a South African rehab clinic back in 2011) so I am familiar with the behaviour of addicts. Interestingly I also learned that I have ADHD and had been self medicating for years with marijuana, unaware of why I felt so much more focused after smoking a joint. They offered me Ritalin as a way of calming my hyperactive mind, but my instinct told me to steer away from replacing one drug with another. Especially a pharmaceutical drug. So instead I focused on using this hyperactive mind of mine in a positive way that benefits not only me but also others.
And since then I haven't looked back ...and life is great!
What I know is this:
An addict will go to any lengths to get their drug of choice and they will do this every day - without fail.
An addict does not see the insanity of their addictions and the idea of change is incomprehensible.
An addict cannot hear the words of others. For in their mind, there is a perfectly logical reason why they behave the way they do.
And most importantly of all an addict likes to take victims, meaning that the more people we can get around us doing the same thing, the better we feel.
I was a dedicated Facebook addict for around five years. Tirelessly posting for the sake of a few thumbs up and the odd interaction with someone.
My new addiction!
Since August 2016, after bumping into @xplice who kindly introduced me to this platform, instead of posting in the usual place, I have been posting here on Steemit and linking all posts to my Facebook account on which I have a total of 1,638 'friends'. I don't waste time writing any words, just a simple url copy/paste/post system. And I make sure my thumbnail image is a strong one which incorporates the Steemit branding. Consistently forcing those FB addicts to see another, more powerful blue logo, subliminally enticing them away from the old and into the new.
I believe I have converted many in this manner and am regularly asked questions along the lines of "what's this Steemit thing all about then?", which I am more than happy to answer for them.
But what I have found is that the most powerful tool of all is the Facebook group in which we can come together as a community with a common goal and help each other break free, utilising the actual platform which holds so many in its powerful grip.
The Facebook Group
There are hundreds of Steemit related Facebook groups now and for the most part they seem to reap little reward for the simple reason that people share on mass to 20+ groups each time they produce a new post and don't spend enough time looking at the other posts there. They may give you a thumbs up and they may even take the time to open your post and give it an upvote. But the number of people actually reading through the feed of their 20+ groups is small. Because to do so would take an eternity!
That is why there must be one group only. This buys us the time we need to actually click on peoples' posts.
The Solution
A month ago I started my own FB group, 'Aspiring Steemit Whales & Dolphins' where I am building something along the lines of the system @michelnilles created with his 'Steemit Upvotes' FB group in which he upvoted everything posted there and then sent a polite little message, reminding you that it was your turn to upvote him. I believe this is a great concept right? As long as everyone actually follows through.
A big thanks @michelnilles for the inspiration and I am curious to find out how effective this has been for you?
As a vegan I have found his posts to be completely awesome and I highly recommend following him for consistently healthy yet tasty recipes.
The problem is that the FB groups are for the most part full of minnows and total newbies. And with minimal voting power they are lost in the great Steemit Ocean, still learning to swim with the bigger fish.
So there is a second aspect to his group that I believe was missing:
The eduction of those taking part
This is important because if you can assure the consistent rise in overall voting power of the group, everyone benefits. I mean let's face facts: this platform is not simple at first (though in truth I can only speak for myself) but if someone had been guiding me, I could have progressed much faster than I did.
It took me five months to reach a reputation of 65.5, currently ranked #287, which still sounds great, but I see others doing it much faster than this.
So I realise now that we must help each other by sharing our knowledge & experience of our success on this platform through a single FB group where we will will be assisting & encouraging other addicts to follow in our path, ultimately increasing the value of the average group upvote.
This is my group and its recently updated promise and guidelines:
As long as my group remains receptive, communicative and faithful to the 'vote for vote' system, it won't be long before we are all dolphins... and a bunch of dolphins upvoting a bunch of dolphins is never going to be a bad thing.
Since starting this group I have noticed that every day more and more people want to join. The rise in awareness around Steem as a cryptocurrency and Steemit as a platform is absolutely clear from where I am standing and now is the time to optimise your posts and improve your ranking. Before they flock on mass from Facebook and the value of Steem rises like a phenix from the ashes of the old.
If you still use Facebook, I encourage you to join the group and enjoy the promise of my upvote and more importantly take advantage of the educational aspect of the page and resulting rise in voting power of the group as a whole... but please note that someone will be checking up on you to make sure you are sticking to the vote for vote system. I have no desire to evict people from the group, but if we do not behave as a team, out you will go. You will be given two warnings before it comes to this.
But I want to emphasise that ultimately I am here to help with your ability to succeed on Steemit.
Because if you succeed, so too do I.
Link to Aspiring Steemit Whales & Dolphins: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1281526168558106/
This is a picture of me sitting on the bank of the Zambezi River in Zambia five years ago, dreaming of a life in which I could fund a consistent journey around the world. Thanks to Steemit, I do believe I have found what I was looking for.
In Conclusion
The more FB addicts we can convert, the higher the value of Steem will rise and we all know what happens then.
That lovely little number at the bottom of our wallet page goes up and up and up.... without us having to do anything at all.
Hope you have enjoyed this post & I welcome any suggestions as to how I might be able to improve on this system.
Please follow for more 'outside the box' posts from the ADHD mind of a self-confessed addict, and don't forget to join my FB group if you want to take advantage of my current upgraded system.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1281526168558106/
Tegenunan Waterfall, a few miles from my current home in Bali. Even here in the jungle there is a thriving Bitcoin community and an ever growing awareness around Steemit.
GREAT POST! Upvoted!!! I'll go check out your FB site too, thanks a bunch for the article and all your work toward promoting and educating our masses. Namaste :)
My pleasure. Thanks for your enthusiasm. I do believe this will work, if we all stick together and learn from each other's mistakes and successes. Namaste :)
I hear ya! All for one and one for all!!! Namaste :)
"The Behaviour of Addicts" This is classiC Sam!
A subject I know a thing or two about ;)
More proof we'll be able to STEEM-on about all subjects, endlessly, forever.... We're never stuck for something to say!!!
Our lives are PERFECT for this platform. Everything has been leading us to this :)
"Everything has been leading us to this"
SAM STONEHILL THE STEEMIT MOVIE, COMING SOON......
Great post! Great initiative! Upvoted + following you. Looking forward to reading more from ya in the future!
Thank you. I am looking forward to sharing more here. Hope to see you in the FB group :)
Sounds like a good plan, steemit will slowly get bigger and better thanks to efforts like yours here!
Thanks. I agree. Hope to see you in the group :)
I must say that Stewmit can look pretty intimidating and a daunting task to grasp what you need to know to move up the ladder. Any form of education will be highly appreciated. Will join the Facebook group right away.
Indeed, it is daunting to say the least upon first glance. I will do my best to create an informative 'how to' film, taking you through my tips, step by step. Thanks for joining the FB group. See you there!
Patiently waiting with a big smile on my face.
I am not on Facebook but followed and upvoted so I can get your steemit tips on how to become a dolphin.
Hi I hope I do not mind too much because I just saw
Your profile on and I see you being the right person for me and deserving this offer. My name is LOPEZ Endrea I am of French origin but I live in Italy for 20 years because of my husband who is of Italian origin. I suffer from an illness which will lead me to death and I have a sum of 60 000 euros which I would like to make a donation to a person of trust and honesty so that it makes good use of it. I am the owner of a car accessories import company. To give a 10% share to the orphan children of his region just for the blessing of the lord after my death. I lost my husband 7 years ago, we have no children what my heart really touched and I could not remarry to this day because I love my husband too. I would make this sum a gift before my death so that my days may be counted for want of this disease to which I can not have a remedy for my illness. I would like to know later if you really want to benefit from this gift. Here is my email address: lopezendrea1@gmail.com
Please answer me.
Great. I will be dedicating a single post to that subject soon. Have picked up many tricks along the way and looking forward to sharing them here...
Great initiative. I would shy away from using the term "addict" perhaps because of the negative connotations. I will join the group now.
I understand your reservations with this word. However, when I see that the average FB user cannot go more than one day without checking their wall, there are no other words to describe their condition. As an addict myself (which I will be for the rest of my life) I know that there is actually nothing negative about the word at all. We are ALL addicts in one way or another. We just don't class eating sugar or obsessing over money or thinking negative thoughts (for example) as addictions worth worrying about. All one can do is be aware of one's addictions and always work toward the ideal situation of 'everything in moderation'.
Thanks for joining the group. It's really great to have someone of your reputation with us. I hope you are able to find the time to interact with those looking for advice. Myself included :)
Yes perhaps we get overfussed over words I have posted about this myself! Will definitely try to get over to the group - time is a real problem these days as I am preparing for going back to work so have to study and go to various meetings too.
Words are in my humble opinion a completely ineffective means of communication because we all have our own feelings attached to each word, based on our personal life experiences. So, it's a tough one at times! At least it will be till we finally learn to communicate telepathically :)
Yes, time is the master of us all. I have a full time job, a 19month old baby and pregnant partner, next baby due in 3 weeks. And I work from home! So, getting my Steemit time in isn't easy. I tend to get up at 3am and do it at night. But the lack of sleep is starting to get to me now.
All the best to you and thanks again for joining the group. The hardest part is going to the monitoring of everyone following the vote for vote system. I can already see that people aren't sticking to the very simple rules. Let's see... Perhaps when I start evicting people, the rest will take it more seriously!
Wow you have your hands full. Best of luck with the baby (both of them)!
OK I didn't read about the vote for vote thing as I was in a hurry. I generally don't go in for that kind of thing - there is no way I could vote for everyone that voted for me:)
Well, the one guarantee is that they have my upvote if they post there & I will always be available to advise them on how to optimise.
Not too sure how the vote for vote system will work. At the moment there are 121 members and only around 10 of them seem to post in the group regularly, so to upvote those 10 wound't be much of a chore. But I think we could make exceptions on that rule for people over 70 rep! So, pick and choose. Whenever you have a moment. Your advice would probably be more valuable in the long run than your upvote, particularly if the whole group read your words. Whatever works for you my friend.
All the best :)
Why doesn't someone just make a site like facebook that uses the steem currency?
There is a site called busy which is like facebook. The site will be available for everyone on february https://steemit.com/busy/@busy.org/busy-december-news-2-alpha-release-updates-road-to-the-beta-what-s-next I'm actually posting this via the site ( some of us have access to alpha)
Many thanks @snowflake for your information here. Hope this has helped @the-reginald Looking forward to having a play on Busy. I am signed up to the beta. Didn't know the alpha was available yet?
There is about 150 steemians who already have access to the site right now. You can try to contact @ekitcho on steemit.chat to get access to alpha. I can't guarantee you will get an invite but it's worth trying.
I will give it a try. Many thanks :)
I actually got into the alpha a day ago and I think its pretty meh and so far its nothing like fb at all but just a different version of steemit. It is similar I guess just not what I was hoping for.
I do belive someone is working on that right now. That and a Steem powered version of Twitter & Youtube too. Things are going to change very quickly over the next few years, with the new blockchain technology. And who knows, perhaps the alpha version of Steemit will be more like Facebook?
Have you heard when these fb etc clones will be released?
This is the only one I have a direct link to: https://steemit.com/steemq/@furion/steemq-a-decentralized-video-platform-for-steem But if you keep looking, you will find plenty more platforms in development which will use the Steem blockchain.
The group looks interesting. I will have to take a look. :)
Thanks. Please do. I have high hopes for it :)
...and that's one more for you, both here & fb!
Thanks Alex. Great to have you with us :)