What's Up with Potential Payouts Going Down?
If I'm judging my Steemit success based on my final post earnings, then HF 19 is pretty cool!
My average earnings per post is higher, and my vote is worth thousands of times more than it was before HF 19.
But as great fun as it is to earn money on Steemit, it's not all about the money, and it's not all about me.
I'm just a creature in this big sea! (Am I a dolphin yet? Who decides these things?? That's not the point of this post, but I am curious...)
After HF 19, I'm noticing some things that leave me wondering what's up, and I haven't received satisfying answers. I have long known that clear, concise communication is not Steemit, Inc's strong suit, but we're going to have to find a way to improve that if we want more users and higher user retention.
I'm a relatively established user on this platform, so if I'm confused by something then I know there must be more people with the same question, not to mention the newbies who might be totally clueless! I believe it's in everyone's best interest if players understand the rules of the game, so can someone please explain this to me??
Here's what I'm seeing:
- There are fewer upvotes on my posts & those of my associates, but upvotes are worth far more, racking up huge potential post payouts.
- However, not only top users but also new users are seeing a massive dip in their payouts over the 7 day payout period, which is causing concern in the community.
- Trending posts are getting 600+ votes, but new users are getting a tiny percentage of that.
- The fluctuation in Steem/SBD price doesn't seem to correspond with the 50-60% drops in post earnings--we've never seen the price effect post earnings to this extent.
So my question is:
While it's awesome to see record setting potential payouts, it's a big fat bummer to see a drop of 50-60% over 7 days. Newbies don't understand what's going on, and it's bad for morale! Can someone explain why this is happening?
It is my understanding that users have 10 full power (100%) upvotes in a 24 hour period. If each user has 10 votes per day, then isn't the reward pool being reset at only a 24 hour period and not over the whole week? So it seems to me that the rewards could only decrease during 24 hours while users are casting more or less than their 10 votes in that day and therefore altering the reward pool, or if someone removes their vote later, which I don't see happen too often.
Clear communication is absolutely vital to a successful community! So what's up with these things we're seeing going down on Steemit? The answers I'm getting are that no one has a clue...
💛 Sara!
Here's the answer to your question:
https://steemit.com/steemit/@penguinpablo/here-s-why-your-potential-payouts-are-going-down
Thank you, @penguinpablo! That's a helpful article on the issue of dilution and reallocation of the rewards pool, and I'm grateful that you shared it here.
I have a few more questions: Do you know how the reward pool (reward_balance) is calculated? It seems that recent_shares are calculated over 7 days...why is it not 24 hours per the period that each user gets ~10 full power upvotes?
Beware. Writing on Steemit current flaws won't get you any attention and you might lose your followers.
People are actually buying large sums of Steem then converting to SP to upvote their own posts and comments. And one guy has bought arround 20k of Steem converted it and he gets, I guess 20$ on a 100% upvote, more or less.
Considering the payouts they are determined by 7 day price of Steem. So for example if Steem is on 1 dollar and your payout is 5 hours left. In the next hour Steem jumps to 3 dollars. You won't get 2 times more. But only an updated portion of it which is slow.
Anyways, Steemit is nice.
@freedomnation I appreciate your comment and warning, however I'm not too worried about losing attention or followers. I know criticism is not always well received, but my post is not meant as a challenge and I believe people can feel that. I genuinely ask for clarification on an issue that I see many people are concerned about, but it seems at least a few users are scared to question in a post. To me, being fearful of asking about things we don't understand is not the way to build a successful community. There are a lot of comments on here, so obviously people are wondering. Speaking up is not that scary after all!
We've seen plenty of ups and downs on Steemit, and I'm still investing my time and energy here because I believe it is the revolution. However, I believe a lot of users recognize that clear communication on how Steemit works is still an issue with a lot of room for improvement! It feels like a lot of information that gets tossed around is hearsay and gossip rather than a reliable source.
I know the price of Steem is a portion of the answer, but I don't think it fully explains what we're seeing here after HF 19.
You can check your vote payout using http://www.steemnow.com 20K
Awesome, great tool! Thanks for sharing that, @firepower!
Hey nice one @firepower, good to see you out of the chatroom and into the light of Steemit again :-)
Cg
Thank you! It's great to see you stop by on my blogs. I've been writing a lot off late! It's good to get out of the confines of the chat room as well!
Good stuff; I'll be stopping by a lot more then! :-)
Cg
Thanks.
Yea I hear you.. the potential payout goes down by like 30% by the time it's due for payout.. This has been the case with all my posts and comments.
I'm not sure why this is happening but I've read somewhere that it could be affected by the rewards pool losing a lot of it's value over the past few days.
I'm not really the expert to decide and I'm sure many people would have better insights regarding the issue.. anyone care to elaborate?
Thanks for your reply, @moataz. I would like to know why is the reward pool losing its value? Why did it go up in the first place? I don't have a clear understanding of this, but I would like to know.
Me neither.. not really an expert but I would like to have a better understanding as well. Just after HF19 things were super.. but now... not so much
yup, my introduction post went from a payout of $30 to $9 on payout date. It seems like there are someone fiddling with the rules of game here. Whether it will incentivize me to continue, I'm not sure. We definitely need clarity. I've already invested quite a lot of time here on Steemit and so far.
It's all about the opportunity cost.
So like 60% down? that's too much.. it's been around 30% for me.
But honestly, I wouldn't care much. I'm here for the long run and if I make some buck here and there just for expressing my thoughts and commenting on things I'm interested in, then I have no problem.
I've said it before and I'm saying it again.. I've spent 10 years on Facebook commenting and posting and I never received a dime for it. So seriously, anything I earn here is just extra money which I'm going to be investing for long term because the more time I spend on this place.. the more I believe in it.
well, I've been blogging since last year. The reason I switched to Steemit and abandon my previous projects is because of the learning curve of setting up a blog and getting revenue flowing. Steemit is definitely way easier since I don't have to bother about searching for ads and responding to emails on guest posting.
While Steemit is just another revenue source for me at the moment. I'm looking to stick at this for the long term minimum a year and see how things are going.
Well the learning curve shouldn't be that hard to setup a blog and get some ads. But Steemit is a whole different thing than other blogging platforms. But yeah you could do both I believe and still make money.
yup, it's not that hard to setup a blog, but the difficult lies in attracting visitors and retaining them. Steemit is easier in the sense that you know that the community already exist out there. There's no need to do SEO, purchase links and what not. Moreover, all you need from steemit for a payout is just upvotes at no cost to your readers.
Very true. And that's why Steemit is a whole different thing :)
I'm a bit concerned about this as well. I just joined Steemit, intend to write a lot of quality posts. But I totally see my posts get drowned in an ocean of new posts that are being spit out every second, it seems. Combine that with an overall lower payout per post, and I'm wondering if it's all worth my while. I want it to, and I'm willing to have a long-term focus. But if even long-time Steemians are confused and worried about the platform, well, that gets me worried too.
Thanks for your reply, @livenowandwow.
While I am confused, I'm in no way worried about Steemit and will continue to invest my time here. I thoroughly believe that this is the revolution, and we're still in beta! These kinks are working themselves out.
I believe that Steemit is worth the effort it takes, and even these ups and downs are part of the overall fun. This is an honorable platform that doesn't steal your content for corporate gain, it's stored forever in the blockchain, the community is stellar, it's redefining everything, it's paying in crypto that bypasses central banks...there are so many reasons Steemit is worth my time! I would, however, like to know more about what causes these changes.
I mentioned in another reply that there are initiatives to help minnows like @robinhoodwhale, and getting involved in Steemit.chat is another opportunity to network and make valuable connections. It may take a little time, but I think dedication pays off.
Thanks @saramiller, that's a consolation.
I looked at @robinhoodwhale, but the last posts/replies on that account were posted 5 months ago. But I know of other projects, like the @minnowsupportproject.
I'm on steemit.chat, but unless I'm missing something, it seems that most channels are just about link sharing (it feels a bit spammy tbh).
My plan is to approach Steemit as a fun hobby project. Keep posting quality content, about topics that I'm personally interested in (travel, productivity, mindfulness). And build up a following that way. A good number of Steemians that are doing well seem to have done that too. So my intention is to just have a lot of fun creating content and engaging with others. And if that pays off at some point, even better!
Nice article, it a concern to many people in the platform, sometimes should come up with that explains what is going on. Weldon.
I am new
That means I came after hf19
Before you had 40 votings now you have 10 votings
That slows the hole platform down to 25% from befor
The new guys will need 4 times longer to improve than befor
Okay,
Clarity is beneficial!
Yes, your right.
More users = less reward pool ?
That's what someone else suggested, but I don't understand how more users a few days after I make a post will affect the potential payouts I accrued before they were on Steemit...
And this is a big problem. There are so many quality content from "newbies" out there but because of the high amount of posts every minute, they are getting lost...
Dunno how to solve this...
Thanks for your reply, @ridi20. There are many initiatives to help minnows, such as @robinhoodwhales and @curie, but they too are seeing their support decrease as potential post payouts decline.
I don't know how to solve it either. As much as I love this platform, it's not as easy to use as other social media. This confusion and lack of clear communication doesn't make the transition to Steemit any easier for new users!
This is a really big issue I have with Steemit... They're algorithms need to be better. The trending page is always the same people and we're making them rich for pointless posts just so we can get a bit of the share of their rewards...
I completely agree. Don't get me wrong, I still like steemit and I hope that we will get better and better every day, but right now there is still this big issue which should be solved first. The consequences of this problem could be, that newcomer leave this platform again.
I don't see it being solved unless we fix how whales vote. They can all just vote for each other and drain the rewards pool. Crypto is meant to be an open system but Steemit makes it so its exactly the same as capitalism (the more money you have, the more money you earn).
yep its the "gap between rich and poor" issue. Sounds maybe exaggerated but sadly to say it's existing on this platform. And that was not the goal of crypto.
sara, i can't wait to meet you. i can imagine you're aura to be immense. the level of compassion, sense and clarity you bring to the table is awesome. i love that, if for nothing else aside from all the talk of financials just you being a mouthpiece for that conversation is immense. btw, that graphic with y tho on it had me dead. i was super smiling at it. hope to get to steemfest2 and meet you there so i can give you a good old human hug.
Hell yeah, I love hugs!! Thanks very much for the kind words. Looking forward to meeting you too, @teamhumble!
The community is growing by 2000+ people a day, its causing the network to flatten itself out
while everyone was just working in a sphere before, and the money circulated this way
THOUSANDS of people are coming in each day, taking what money used to be for the people who were already here, so the more people, the more posts, the more posts the thinner the money is spread, once we hit around 1 million users, people think this utopic paradise will come about, but itll just cause everyone to get around a few cents for each post , only the whales will benefit
Thanks, @moderninvestor, but I don't understand. How can new users on Tuesday affect the post I made on Monday?