Helpies: Changing The Face Of Steemit

Steemit is a wonderful platform, I think all of us here would agree on that. And why wouldn't we? It gives us a chance to meet other people who share our interests, likes, dislikes, hobbies and countless other subjects that we encounter on our path through life. Whether you're looking for a new recipe to enhance your families next dinner or a deep philosophical explanation of the grander questions in life, if you want to show the world your prowess in the latest video games or if you want to share your art, even if you just want to hang out and meet new friends, Steemit has you covered.

Or actually I should say: Steemians have you covered. It's you, the people who are reading this and all others that participate on Steemit, who shape the platform through your interactions with each other. It is us who have real power to make Steemit beautiful and valuable, but also to make it ugly and ultimately worthless. And this is why I'm so deeply grateful for being noticed by the founder of Helpies, @meno. Let me explain why I have the "A Proud Helpienaut" banner on the tail of my recent posts...

When I just started here I was somewhat overwhelmed by all of it. Let me correct that: I still am somewhat overwhelmed by all that Steemit has to offer and all the good and bad things that happen on the platform. Because as wonderful as Steemit can be, it certainly isn't the most user friendly or transparant platform to work on. And not all interactions are as good or as constructive as they could be: like in any other community of people it can be somewhat of a quest to find your "niche", to surround yourself with kindred spirits, people who you can exchange ideas with, and can even become friends over time.

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One of the greatest attractions of Steemit, next to all opportunities I already mentioned, is that it gives people like you and me the opportunity to get payed for our efforts; artists, writers, musicians (with the addition of DSound), vloggers (with DTube) and visitors who admire their content, they all have a chance to add value to their wallet by adding value to the platform. Yes even if you're just here to read my content, you can still earn money by showing your appreciation for it; it only takes a click on the upvote-button.

And let's be completely honest here: most of us are here for the money to, or else we could have stayed on Facebook or Reddit. This is where the troubles start, in two ways. First there's the rather complicated way the Steemit economy is organized, starting with the currency itself. Or is it currencies? We have Steem, Steem Power, Steem Based Dollars (SBD), Curation Rewards, Author Rewards, we can Delegate Steem Power for passive income, we can (must!) vote for witnesses, we can Power Up and Power Down... Starters are lost, I know because I'm still starting :-)

Remember how I said anyone can earn money by adding value to the platform? It seems perfectly sensible: add quality content and it will be upvoted by genuinely interested people, and you'll get meaningful constructive criticism in the comments section whether they agree or disagree with, like or dislike you content. This is, I think, the way Steemit is supposed to work. But it seems that there's conflicting opinions on what adding value means. And this is where Helpies has been an enormous blessing.

If you've been using Steemit for more than a couple of days, you will have noticed that the Trending and Hot pages are often populated by mediocre posts by steemians who produce a ton of posts each day, just collecting and repeating news from other websites, or a Meme they found somewhere and adding texts like "Look at how funny this one is! Enjoy!", or... You know what I mean: content that's certainly not original or has any meaningful addition by the "author". I'm beginning to learn how this is possible; the "clever" use of upvoting- and resteeming-bots makes it possible for the worse content to gain the highest ranking.

Now, don't get me wrong: the platform allows it and it is basically the free market at work. There is a demand for these automated services, so they have a right to exist and be used. I have used them myself and still do, be it a lot more selective now; Minnowbooster and Smartsteem are both services with a white-list and a blacklist. This is a balance we will have to find as steemians; what do we value more? The obvious answer is "money", of course. But does that automatically mean we should go for the quick profit by using these bots?

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No, we should not if you ask me. At least that shouldn't be the driving factor. This comes back to the question what do you think "adding value" means? In my mind there's only one way for Steemit to stay successful in the long term, and that is by making sure the best content gets ranked and rewarded, based on that content as valued by other people. How will we keep attracting new users when, if they do a search on Google or within Steemit for some subject they want to learn more about, and they find only the mediocrity served by mindless upvote-bots? They won't stay long, I assure you.

So Helpies is first and foremost a group of wonderful people who all agree that rewards are important, the money is important, but it is not the most important requirement in the long run. We all agree also that the technique, the underlying blockchain is important, so we also have witnesses who adhere to these principles. But most of all Helpies know that people make or break the platform. I've had enormous amounts of assistance in traversing the steemosphere because Helpies are constantly helping each other grow in all aspects needed to thrive on this platform.

Since joining I've seen a steady growth in my rewards with the help of Curie; a human upvote service that actually rate content for originality and quality. Helpies get Curied quite a lot! This is such a boost for starters like me and maybe you to; it can be disheartening sometimes to put a lot of effort in a post, only to see it sink in the ocean of posts and never get noticed. Especially when you see that other post on the same subject, containing a screenshot and a verbatim copy of the news-report it came from, get upvoted all the way up to the Trending page... Helpies has me covered there; I may not have reached the Trending page yet, but at least I'm well rewarded for the work I put into my posts. This and you, my readers and followers, is what keeps me here.

I've had tremendous assistance in understanding the economy on a technical level too: next to all the daily support I get, every Saturday there's a session where you can ask anything, and I mean anything you want to know. There are no stupid questions there, they don't exist, and you get answers from experts in the field. Also the curation by Curie is done as much as possible by people who know something about the subject at hand. Everything about Helpies is centered around the people that make the platform. And they prove that this can be profitable to boot!

There's already some of my followers who I think I know well enough to invite them to Helpies. That's the thing: to join you have to be noticed by one of our scouts or you can apply by joining our Discord channel where we can have an opportunity to get to know each other, and see if our motives and goals are in alignment. Helpies truly is a force for quality content on Steemit, but everything begins and ends with you, my fellow steemians. We the people decide what we build on this platform and if it will be sustainable.

So if you think this is a worthy cause, like I do, please don't hesitate to apply. If you want a better chance to get noticed and rewarded for your input, please join us now! I promise you the warmest of welcomes in our steadily growing family!

Thanks for stopping by and reading. If you really liked this content, if you disagree (or if you do agree), please leave a comment. Of course, upvotes, follows, resteems are all greatly appreciated, but nothing brings me and you more growth than sharing our ideas. It's what Steemit is made for!

I am a proud helpinaut! @Helpie is looking for new members! Helpie has been growing nicely and we are always on the lookout for new valuable members. We are very supportive and community oriented. If you would like to be scouted for @helpie , please drop a comment on THIS POST or contact @paintingangels on discord at paintingangels(serena)#3668.