If I Died Today, The Last Thing I Care About Is My Latest Steem Post...
Rule #6
Don't take yourself too seriously
Pixabay image
I'm going to start out by explaining my tone here is not snarky, but instead teasing, because sometimes tone in text gets lost.
A contributor to a large newly formed curation group recently asked...
"If you died tomorrow, would you be proud of your last post?"
First off, I really like and respect this Steemian, I will not name him, he can self identify in the comments if he wishes. I think he has the best interest of Steem at heart and I hope they keep doing what they are doing. With that being said, here is my response:
I think you might be taking this a bit too seriously.
If I picture what I am proud of at the end of my life I picture
- My children
- My relationship with my husband
- The business I've built
- My friendships
- Some contributions I've made to non-profit works
- That time I pulled a kitten off the highway.
My social media activities don't even register.
Even if I narrow my scope to only consider my Steem life:
My last post is 1 out of 17,707 posts and replies I have made on Steem.
I am proud that I show up every day and contribute. Sometimes the quality and effort are high, but mostly not. It's a casual blogging site.
I am proud that I did manual curation before it was cool. With both upvotes and downvotes.
I'm proud that I support both large and small accounts and casual users as well.
I'm proud that my posts consistently are in the top 10 for having the most engagement. Not every day, but a couple of times a week.
I'm proud that I made 96 posts that earned null and I still stuck it out, despite the content snobs who insist what others need to post about.
And I am proud that I don't earn my rewards writing posts about what I curated as if I did something special. Instead of just what the site is designed for.
I am glad your are curating, but I think that message is a bit over the top.
Upvote what you like, downvote what you think is harmful and ignore the rest..
When many are doing that it equals consensus.
Said in a friendly tone, with a grin on my face
Who would be left if we ran off those who do not consider each post a work of art? There is room for both.
@whatsup,
I think you forgot to mention your token project here ;)
Cheers~
That’s a good reflection. Though I like to hold myself to a certain level of quality in my original posts, I try and temper that with a little sprinkle of “fuck em if they can’t take a joke”
Posted using Partiko iOS
lol, I love that we have some really serious content creators and I often support them.
I have always argued for the casual posts and posters. That doesn't mean I want them to top trending or bid up a lame post, but let's not equate the quality of your posts, with the quality of your life. :)
curation posts are sometimes part of the responsibility of tribe curators. personally, if i could cease writing them i would. however drawing attention to and rewarding creators who have done an awesome job is part of why i am on this platform. i see no shame in celebrating good content.
its fine if you choose to not take steem seriously. but if others choose to its their choice, and you should respect that and realize that not everyone has your lifestyle and opinion of whats important. as you said, consensus decides.
I know that curation posts are a responsibility in some of the tribes and I accept that.
What if every single user decided to make a post of what they upvoted today and why? What if they all made a comment... I upvoted you... :)
The only thing that would happen is we would have more traffic and the original posts would be harder to find. :)
I'm not opposed to curation posts, but I draw the line at acting like you are doing something special. We have curation rewards they are now 50%... So, if you business model is you pay yourself for curating by making curation posts and encourage others to not post... I consider that a bit counter productive. It's just an opinion.
I agree consensus decides.
why would anyone encourage people not to post? is that a thing? truth is i just ignore most curation posts unless they are cc. i try to ignore most of the annoying things people do to earn curation, like talk about over-talked steem topics and run clickbait opinion polls for attention. i will never agree that low effort shitposting is ok, and i really dont care who gets pissed about that.
Encouraging people not to post is .... telling them their every post should be like their last.
I think some low effort posts are fine, but I didn't say it was fine if they are over rewarded.
I also don't mind that people disagree. It doesn't make me "pissed". :)
ok let me make a delineation here between someone who perpetually shitposts and an occasional shitpost.
i dont mind if a good writer shitposts every once in a while. I do mind when they pretend that its not a shitpost, but some incredibly beneficial post that they engineered with an inane question, and I mind when they do it in a way that puts a bad example out that others will follow as acceptable. community leaders who pretend that their shitposts are "quality" posts will bring down the standard.
anything goes, reward the shitposter as much as the guy who writes a magazine worthy photo essay. should a post like that be rewarded? should it tout itself as a reference for others when its incomplete and confusing?
some people try their best to put out quality educational material for newbs, yet a "personality" comes along and considers their shitpost as equal and might potentially get paid more for 5 minutes of work compared to their 5 hours? i'm sorry thats wrong. it smacks of disrespect for what others are trying to do for the platform..
ffs if people shitpost they should at least own it, and not pretend its something other than it is.
Okay all your points are valid. Now, let me ask you this...
How many people do you think want to sign up to compete in basically an Author Competition?
How many people might want to join a global site where they consider themselves partial owners and the more they own and contribute the more they get back out?
Which model encourages people to sign up and power up?
I hear you point, making a shit post and botting it up or having your whale friends upvote can be discouraging. It is also discouraging and limiting to pretend that many people have hours of free time to make posts and hope they get judged as one of the best.
If the platform were to grow... what would be the motive for those Non-Authors to stay or buy?
Again your points are valid, but also consider the value of the platform and not just Author's feelings.
truthfully i dont know. ive got bigger problems to worry about right now and i am so tired i cant think anymore.
Totally agree!
Have read that post you're talking about too.
'Posting the highest quality you can manage' it says somewhere.
quality /ˈkwɒlɪti/ = (according to google) ...
'the standard of something as measured against other things of a similar kind; the degree of excellence of something'.
The thing I very often see, is that Steemian A, (with low SP) for a similar kind of post (and sometimes even better) gets way less and lower upvotes than Steemian B with lots of that SP.
This is not a complaint, but nevertheless a fact.
It's true that the rewards and casual posting tend to go to those with SteemPower, and it is part of the DPOS system. This is a challenge as are autovoters.
I personally think casual posting is a better market, I don't want to read a 10000 word essay and I don't care about the lighting in your recent photo.
:)
Others do though, and that is cool!
Exactly! Live and let live.
Btw. don't worry about ever bumping into a 10000 word post from me.
With 500, at most, I'm already getting bored with myself. hahaha
haha, that is a real challenge and I'll leave it to the PROs.
Content popularity on Steem comes and goes. It is such a small community we get on these little kicks about what does and doesn't add value, usually the arguments are made without any evidence at all, and presented as a fact.
Look at the price is a popular line right now. I would respond by saying... Look at the price of any altcoin. It's a rough thing.
Half our problems relate direct to the fact that everyone knows everyone and also has strong opinions on what we should do.
I love Steem and I love our hardcore steemers, but that doesn't mean I agree with everything we say. Some days I barely agree with myself.
Ditto.
Although as mentioned in another comment, I take pride in my work and like it to reflect something.
I’m not here to earn a living — I have a well-paying gig and writing and Steem is a hobby that I love.
There are plenty of folk — especially in poorer, developing countries — that seem to be depending on their posts to provide an income they don’t have access to. So they probably do take it more seriously than I / we do.
Posted using Partiko iOS
Well done @whatsup lol I read that article too and had a little smile but as it was from said nice guy I left alone.
Excellent tact and diplomacy :-)
Posted using Partiko Android
What bothered me more than the post were the poor little accounts in the comments...
"I only post when I have something important to say"... etc.
That's not what we want to create.
I used to be too uptight. Worried too much about what I post and what people thought about my cheap writing skills. I can't do any of that right now. I simply choose to talk about my demons and thanks to manual curation, I am finally getting something. And with something I mean creating networking opportunities via comments. It's everything... :)
My blog is a casual blog too and I really like it that way.
And I love supporting people who express their selves that way. It's authenticity in my eyes...
As for the proud part...just like you said. I am proud for a ton of other stuff but I wouldn't use the term proud. Not even for the best post I've published on the chain...I am just glad that some people might enjoyed it. Period
Agreed.
I don't know why we would discourage people from putting their work or play out there.
It's that...quality obsession
Yep I agree. My posts are somewhat important to me but in the grand scheme not really.
I love the casualness of Steemit and blogging. I switch back and forth of which I like better..vlogging or blogging.
All I know is both will have room in my space.
As always a well written piece from you, @whatsup
If i died today, no one would even look at my last post lol jk jk