Steemit Quality vs Quantity

in #steemit6 years ago

It is quite disheartening to see the literally thousands of posts that are put out daily of a simple meme, or simple joke. And due to the nature of Steem, a lot of followers will vote on the post (most times without even reading or commenting on it) and move on.
This has created a waterfall of lackluster posts that I find I need to spend time getting through to find the posts that mean something, or are interesting in some way or another.


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I admit, that there are days where I will post a quicker post, or put something down quickly due to the lack of time I have, or just feeling lazy.....BUT.....this is NOT the norm, and also I always try to make it something of value (a great photograph relative to the tags) and will add some level of information that one can gain from.

Does this work? Am I fooling myself? There are many out there that work the numbers.

Working the numbers

I mean, posting regularly is work and effort even for a simple copy and paste meme. This also generates a following and income. Sure these posts may not get the big numbers in, but being that they are regular, the amounts add up and the user grows quite quickly.
I personally get quite fussy with who I follow, and have removed those that generally post things like that, because I want to enjoy my time here and learn / participate etc.(yes grow too).

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BUT this is not the case for all Steemians. There are a lot of people on here that are just getting through the process,so they log on, vote a few times, throw something down on their page and move on. Thus fueling those that are of the same mindset.

Quality input

Many others will take the time to put real time and effort into some of their posts, and here I get amazed at the quality of some of these Steemians. I often wish I had the writing abilities, or knowledge of some of these people.
They are a pleasure to read, consume and chat to.

Personally these are the Steemians that I prefer to follow and support, and will regularly go through the new section of the page to find someone that catches my eye and interest.

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However, this is not as easy as it sounds, because these people are by far the lesser of the Steemians in numbers.

Think about it, in order to put out regular and interesting articles, you would need to learn, experience and take in information from all around you, then dispatch that information in your own words and ways to people that may or may not read or enjoy it. It is a lot of effort and work for a maybe. Sounds like this path is not the way to go on Steem.

This is why I WILL support these people and take the time to sift through the 'number players' and find the posts that have the efforts and inputs for all to see.

So for those that post wonderful and meaningful (even contentious and honest) posts, I salute you! I thank you! I support you, and hope that others will do the same, in order to keep this platform from just becoming another Facebook wall, full of memes and meaningless copy and pastes (is that even a proper word here?).


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I also commit myself to keep trying to post things of some sort of value (most of the time anyway), so that those that decide to follow me, and take the time to comment and share, will at least not be disappointed all the time, even if my viewpoints and opinions are other than theirs or strange.

Should I fail in this, then perhaps those that feel similar to me in this regard will just nudge me in the right direction, and work with me to grow in the right direction.

Look forward to the rest of the journey my Steem friends!!

Justin

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This post was shared in the Curation Collective Discord community for curators, and upvoted and resteemed by the @c-squared community account after manual review.

Awesome! Thanks

You may be right but I have seen another factor other than quality or quantity and it's paid promotion

Thank you, but that is something I have not encountered.
I'm still reasonably new, so how does that work?

Anyone can go to www.steembottracker.com and basically pay SBDs for getting whale upvotes - regardless of post quality. The result is that many of these promoted posts automatically show up in the trending section with huge upvote values, fooling newcomers to think it's great content, when it's actually just someone having paid for his post to appear that way.

Another result is that these bidbot accounts are basically getting countless SBDs in exchange for them upvoting stuff with their constantly recharging voting power (which does not cost them anything).

As a 'counter' to the many shitposts that appear in the trending section because of this, many people in the community have started using the #nobidbot tag to show that they have not used paid promotion on their posts. It has become somewhat of an open and ongoing battle in the Steemit community ;)

Oh wow really? Man, I have not explored too deeply it seems. But lets be honest, people will find any way of making additional or easier cash if they can....theres an entire Nigerian group making millions with their 'strange work' and millionaire payouts LOL

Appreciate you taking the time to let me know what was being referred to

J Iike you I feel a little overwhelmed with all this bot stuff. Have no clue whats good and whats bad.....so I just do what I can trying to provide uplifting story, comment and lessons that will ultimately add value to the lives of my readers.

Very true, when I first started posting, telling my actual life stories, one comment I received was , what utter rubbish, I was truly annoyed. However I see they don't post anymore?

You're kidding me? Well I suppose there will be trolls here as on any other platform right?

Sure, and emailing effectively ruined letter bombs!

Thank you for help and guidance Al.

Love your outlook Justin. I think you may be downplaying your own skill though ;) If you continue writing you will get better quite naturally and you do make some good points here. Points often echoed in parts of the community and points often ignored by other parts.

I feel the more I am building my own tribe and network of quality-oriented people on Steem, the less I find myself worrying about the staggering amount of "shitposts", as they are lovingly referred to by many.

It used to bug me to no end, especially seeing trash gathering huge upvotes and bidbot action. But ever since stopping to browse the trending page and deciding to grow my tribe naturally (like you have done with your comment on the recent article of mine) I find worrying about low quality posts has stopped completely. It's like a mental cleanliness habit now to just go by direct contact or promising hubs like groups.

The ego screams at the perceived unfairness of shit getting applause and diamonds getting forgotten. But if you consider seeing the low attention phase as a trial period for your own persistence you will be a winner in the long run - this place digs quality!

Just keep going man, I can tell you from experience quality will be rewarded here and if you don't give up like so many of the shitposters, you will play an important role on Steemit to show those who sign up after us how profound this place can be, if one dares to make their own network of connections in a natural kind of way.

Looking forward to reading more from ya man.
Followed <3

Wow thank you for that comment. I must be honest that this is prob the most motivational comment (even post) that I have received on Steemit. Frankly it makes me want to keep going and rather try to enrich the whole platform than just use it.

It makes sense that the skills that come from researching, writing, trying etc will increase over time, and soon enough all those that you follow and that follow you will add to the experience rather than just be something you do.

I have been trying to go through the new area and connect with new starters, and find posts that catch my eye. But like you said, there are so many of those crappy posts to wade through that it can get really frustrating.

I will keep going! Thanks once again mate!

Thanks to @paradigmprospect, this post was resteemed and highlighted in today's edition of The Daily Sneak.

Thank you for your efforts to create quality content!

Well thank you to @paradigmprospect and @thedailysneak for that!

I will keep trying :)

I think when someone chooses quality over quantity, it's a decision they've made in line with their values and integrity. And they've made a decision to put quality out into the world, whether it's Steemit posts or any other aspect of their lives. It's because they care.

I support your thinking. I do care and I am not interested in junk, it goes against my grain to be exposed to it. Its good to hear from those who encourage quality.. I am also trying to make a contribution to the world at large.

Yes I suppose that is true. And often I know i will post something that I may have value on, but that others will not agree with.
However, the objective is not just to send out a lot of regurgitated nonsense that we can get on Facebook

I agree 100% @towjam....will be following you more closely and hope i can enjoy your support. I am still getting the hang of this but enjoying the writing. I too would hope a nudge in the right direction should I go off track.

Hey Al, you're a natural at these things and also you love sharing your thoughts. Cant see you battling at all on here!!
Will do!

Although I see you already have Gavin helping there....much better at that than I am LOL

I would suggest you research how to get free images and properly credit them. By the fact that one is clearly taken from Reuters, I can only guess that they're not public domain...which is the only license that would allow for your lack of crediting the image creators. If not for this, I would have upvoted the post. I should actually flag it instead.

I suggest you read the Steemit Welcome page.

https://steemit.com/welcome

It includes a lot of useful information, including a link to a post on how to get free and legal images to use.

https://steemit.com/steem-help/@mindover/don-t-plagiarize-images-here-are-13-free-and-legal-ways-to-find-high-quality-photos-you-can-use-on-steemit

Thanks for the advice on the pics. I thought with the image linking directly to the page this was where the credit was going.
I will need to change that then.

Cheers

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