Moving Forward with SteemIt

Dear Steemians,

This is a topic I've been meaning to write about. Only now did I find time to lay down some truths.

In its current form, steemit.com is not ready for mass adoption.

This is about why, and steps forward.

(Obligatory picture for thumbnail.)

No private messaging functionality.

If I want to connect with someone on steemit.com, I need to be able to message them privately. This isn't currently possible.

This is basic functionality.

No ability to filter posts in the feed.

I'm not interested in:

• crypto,
• photography,
• fiction,
• life stories,
• art,
• video games,
• food,
• technology,
• nature,
• blogs,
• etc.

I need to be able to filter these tags out of my feed. It's lack dilutes the experience massively for me. It also makes using steemit.com a massive waste of time.

Strict, platform-wide post quality requirements.

I just had a scroll through the 'new' section.

None of those are of any merit.

But one caught my eye: https://steemit.com/steem/@pocketechange/i-give-up

@pocketechange then whines about his other post not getting more upvotes.

Well guess what. That post is worthless.

Let me explain:

• It's one massive paragraph.
• There's no benefit.
• The grammar and spelling are horrid.
• The Big Idea of the post is very unclear.
• The punctuation makes it hard to read.
• It doesn't deliver any value.
• "I'm seriously looking for upvotes on this one"... as if he had delivered anything worthy of upvoting.

Now, the idea behind it (I haven't figured it out in 3 read-throughs) might be good and valuable. On the other hand, the presentation and execution completely destroy any merit that post might have had.

So here's a site-wide appeal to everyone who's sharing here.

Before writing a post, fill out a simple form for yourself.

• Who are you writing to?
• What's the big idea that you want to share?
• What are the benefits of that big idea?
• How is the big idea going to impact your audience?
• How are the benefits of the big idea going to impact your audience?
• What about this idea, or the benefit, is interesting to your audience?
• How can they take action now and benefit from what you're saying?
• What do you want them to do aside from that?
• Can you summarize all of these points into one sentence? (If not, your post is too complex, and should be a series.)

Then, write your post. In HemingwayApp. This will make it much easier to read.

Don't abuse ellipses - commas, semicolons, and periods exist for a reason.
Break paragraphs into chunks of 1-3 sentences. This keeps your reader's eyes from getting tired from the huge blocks of text.

Anyway. Lots can be said about good writing.

Everyone has an idea they want to communicate. Few can write well enough to share their ideas clearly.

Here's a post of mine on writing.

And here's one on writer's block.

Introduce a post evaluating algorithm.

Well-written, long posts that deliver tons of value are few.

And they're immediately buried under people posting completely ridiculous things.

The quality of the platform is dipping severely below buzzfeed.com levels. On a regular basis.

The solution: an algorithm that evaluates posts by quality (I'm not a techie, but I do think it's possible?), and pushes posts above a certain score to the top of people's feeds.

Also higher community awareness, as there's just too many idiots spamming for a few cents.

That's not how you get in the big leagues.

You need to adopt a long term strategy to reliably build up your steemit.com income.
(I'll do a post on that if I get enough requests to warrant my time on it.)

In the meantime, here's what you can do:

Steemians, start interest groups.

What I mean is, since you're networking anyway, you might as well make it worthwhile for everyone.

• Find a few steemians who are interested in a topic. For me that'd be something like copywriting, sales, or persuasion.
• Each steemian picks an aspect of the topic that interests them.
• You all write a post on that aspect.
• Then everyone comments on everyone else's posts, sharing their thoughts for discussion.
• Everyone writes a summary of the topic from their perspective.
• You choose another topic, and repeat.

This process naturally leads to more and more sophisticated insights, education, and growth.

And improves the quality of content on steemit.com on a post-by-post basis.

All you have to do is find some like-minded people, and commit to a few hours of writing a week.

And the results... will surprise you!

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If you found this useful, and would like to see more content like this, Upvote, Comment, Resteem, Follow.

Do not follow me with the intention of getting a follow back. I value keeping my feed as minimal as possible. Helps me maintain mental hygiene.

Sincerely,
Phil
The Copytist

PS. @dawidrams - here's the post I had promised. A bit vitriolic, but it gets the point across.