RE: An Open Letter To @elipowell
I cannot more emphatically support this proposal, in totality. I am testament to the power of Steemit Inc's stake keeping people in the "euphoric" state of MAKING CONTENT --> MAKING CRYPTO --> BUILDING A COMMUNITY that Steemit circa early 2018 was breathing fire with. @DSound had a healthy delegation from Sreemit that @prc assembled a legitimately motivated team to curate 24/7. An entire community of people sprung up around this single large, curated upvote, and becoming a regular recipient of it felt like a rite of passage ... first and foremost socially and (admittedly) economically. The removal of the delegation with zero warning was such a PR fail. 1m SP costs next to nothing to delegate and was, without question, some of the best money Steemit Inc -didn't- have to spend.
Interestingly enough, in the months since losing the delegation, many if not most of the regulars stayed onboard and continue to post content. Many of us delegated to the master account to continue to communal spirit. If anything like @taskmaster4450 's excellent proposal goes through, I can't stress enough that in the "real world" of actually using this platform ... generous and aggressively / passionately curated large upvotes from the major DAPPs, powered by judicious use of Steemit INC's stake is a really, REALLY good way to get a whole bunch of content creators motivated to check out this whole Steem thing.
In an overwhelming environment, these big upvotes from the platforms themselves is a dot on the map to aim for.
That's a problem with these delegations. The first content producers in are basically handed an airdrop in the form of a vote. They're then responsible to be the curators of the second generation, but many refuse to power up. They cash out and shoot themselves along with the platform in the foot. Took the delegation for granted instead of preparing for the day it's gone. Were those responsibilities of the first generation producers ever explained to anyone? To me, it's no shock to see the delegation removed. It's supposed to be a stepping stone, not a free handout. When it's treated as a free handout, everyone tends to view what comes their way as a free handout. Gotta plant those seeds instead of eating them. How much SP was handed out, total, to those who received the upvotes? Was it equal to or more than the delegation? If it was, then I think it's fair to have it removed because technically that SP should still be there locked within that community, in the hands of many, instead of one.
Are you talking about @dsound and @dtube specifically? These are the only working examples I’m talking about, the only two platforms on here that function as intended and short of maybe two people off the top of my head, @dsound at the very least has been some of the best curated, most actively engaged communities I’ve seen, -especially- considering the vast majority of people I’ve become friends with there have stuck around as their average vote went from $60 to $1. If that’s not worthy of support from Steemit Inc’s massive stake, I don’t see what is.
Thinking it’s a free handout, or was seen that way ... to be honest that sorta tells me you haven’t spent appreciable time on the discord or met the people there. When the @dsound vote was 1.3m Steem, I promise nobody saw it as a handout. It was absolutely a carrot (and absolutely a source of mild drama as regular contributors struggled to be recognized and seen by curators...but good lord if that’s too much for you, this is empirically the wrong platform).... that generous upvote, applied intelligently was something simple and understandable to aspire to as a new steemian ... especially considering it was actively being curated by a small handful of motivated people .... and receiving it was a HUGE morale boost as I figured out how to MAKE MONEY ON STEEM which is WHY PEOPLE WILL SHOW UP.
Note: still very much trying to figure out how to make money on Steem so uhhh monster dose of salt here.
I remember when I started. Struggled to gain traction. That curie group picked me up, but not every post, so that helped. I powered that up. I reached a certain point where I didn't qualify for curie votes. There was a short time where another group would vote, but those were much smaller. Then that group was abolished due to delegation mismanagement and community uproar. I was on my own after that. Been on my own ever since. I can't ask for a handout. Nobody to turn to, so I just post.
I know it feels good to make money. I see money beside your posts.
I respect your commitment and am happy for your deserved success on here. For that matter I sent a random writer friend of mine your way when he wanted to see what Steemit has to offer as a writing vehicle.
I just fundamentally disagree with the idea that the top DApps on the platform putting Steemit’s stake to work via curation teams is a “handout”. In my opinion that’s the best the Steem experience has to offer to new users who need communities to help the considerable learning curve on here. Your experience as a lone wolf entity on here is commendable, but for mass adoption I genuinely believe the path is well executed DApp/community centric curation and Steemit Inc could do themselves a pile of favors using the stake for good.
It does have plenty to offer, it's just not easy. I promise you, some days... Not fun. The good days and good times help balance it out.
We can disagree and still be cool. Maybe my wording is wrong. Handout doesn't sound good. I think I'm against it because I feel it's unsustainable. I'd really prefer to see more money coming in the door than what could potentially go out the door. That's how we make money here, when you look at the entire picture and not just your own blog. Did you catch this post? I explained a few things there I feel are important. We don't need to talk about that post here though.
I agree with you, what you're saying would help. I just don't feel it's sustainable. If we can't extend the lifespan of this project, there is no mass adoption.
I actually went and reread it and you make a lot of strong arguments, none stronger than: “In order for my shop to survive, the mall must survive.” I also concede reliance on steemit’s delegation is pretty unsustainable long term though I can’t deny that before I understood anything about how anything worked on here, I was mostly looking for a way to post music and make some crypto. I stayed entirely based on the community I found and still have yet to power down or take a payout, a year and a half later.
I think you and your blogging definitely help people think more big picture on here without reading like a corporate motivational memo. Our conversation has left me considering the big picture more and what I can do to help onboard people vs. looking at it as a crypto printing press. After all, as you noted, nobody spread the gospel of YouTube by telling people about this exciting new video hosting platform and all of its advanced features. They saw stuff people made and a way to get it. Creatives saw a way to get monetized stuff out there cheaper and faster. The end. 🥴
https://steemit.com/steemleo/@coininstant/my-letter-to-themarkymark-in-response-to-his-continual-flagging-of-my-account-and-not-hearing-about-my-steemleo-block-from