Ups and downs and sideways

I am on a train heading home after a long day. An interesting day. But a long day. You know the type. In one of the sessions we were talking about various coping mechanisms for stress and how different people take different approaches. In another session we were talking about ultra running and then the variation in skills. For me, these things are interesting to talk about with people as it gives insight into how a range of people react and act through life and I am lucky I get to have a lot of conversations.

You know what is funny? The variation in human approach and skillset. While one person can run 166 kilometers in 18 hours, another weighs 300kg and can hardly get out of bed. Is there such variation in nature, do you ever see an elephant too fat to move while another one does cartwheels? When it comes to range of skills, humans must be the most diverse by far and this is driven by more than just having opposable thumbs.

While the spectrum of physical skills is wide, there is likely an even wider range when it comes to mental skills, especially when crossed with emotional factors and nature, nurture and historical features. This means that each of us is likely very unique at the granular level, but we also likely have a great deal more in common than we have different. Two arms, two legs, one head is pretty much a standard and it is probably that our brains mimic the pattern.

But, the differences matter as that is where we focus a lot of our energies, especially if we consider the difference a negative from our perspective. People don't argue about what they agree on, yet with so much in common, we seem to find a lot of what we don't agree on. This is a good thing.

In one of the conversations I mentioned today how I think that the things that cause the most problems in this world are likely to be the topics that are culturally taboo to talk about openly. Money, sex, religion, politics. Yes, people do talk about these things yet it is rarely in the same way people talk about the weather as they aren't considered small talk fodder. I disagree on this of course as I think we should spend more time discussing what effects us daily than what is largely useless.

You think being able to name all the Presidents makes you intelligent if you are unable to make ends meet - Know all the capitals of the world if unable to control emotions under stress?

But there is a lot of variation in what people consider important and this creates a great deal of drama. I don't like drama in my life but I am fast recognizing that Steem definitely needs a little bit more and one thing that will happen as the ecosystem grows is that there will be more competition for attention and that will mean, more attention seekers will be filling the feeds with their drama looking for support, looking to become or stay relevant.

We see this now with the hissyfits many throw, we see it with the up in the arms, giving up Steem complainers, we see it with the people who poke bears on purpose and then say how unfair it is they get downvoted. It is all behavior looking to satisfy attention seeking needs and, it is food for those who like the spectacle and enjoy the drama of it.

I used to think that people should complain less but instead, I think they should complain more. While it is unlikely to help the person complaining much, it does create a great deal of nourishment for the audience who are looking for a bit of excitement and, while one person looks ridiculous, others band together to ridicule.

As @ats-david said in a reply,

What's social media without plenty of drama? We need to be a hell of a lot more dramatic around here if we want to go "mainstream." Let's get to work!

Push the right buttons and people react. Start with one of these.

Green for good feelings. Red for bad.

I think that due to the taboo Steem has created around flags, the downvotes are going to create a lot of drama and that drama is going to draw a lot of eyes and a great deal of interaction in both the positive and negative, as the peanut gallery gets to work. This is going to be further driven by the staked players who are going to add weight to the arguments through upvotes that push topics and comments up and down feeds.

It is going to be interesting to see how people react to the change in behavior and I predict there is going to be a large range of movements, just as there are in physical and mental skills. Since everyone has a different makeup of skillset and experience, some are going to handle the changes well, some are not. some are going to take every downvote personally, some are not. Some are going to enjoy the speed and risk, some are not.

This is the internet though and as I and many others have said before, this isn't a safe zone or bubble of protection. If anything, Steem is a place where hard conversations can be had. Do they have to be toxic? No. But many will believe that any behavior that they see as negative is toxic, any harm done, no matter if the harm was self-inflicted.

In time however, the space will settle and people will adjust and things will find a new equilibrium. Hopefully, that point is one where there are many mmore people, many more applications, many more niches and many more powered up to share their drama-filled perspective so that the paying patrons can can eat their fill of drama.

Not only will the people who are successful and gaining attention earn, they will be able to travel Steem and get known for their brand, their approach and, how they make people feel.

Up, Down or Sideways.

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]