Value of relationship

I wonder what Steem will look like five years from now and whether the relationships built will endure the changes. One of the benefits of having earned most of my stake over buying in is to get to this point, it has taken a community of people and interaction which has over time developed all kinds of relationships of various kinds. This is definitely something I do not take for granted which is why I do what I can to respond to the comments I get and support in a way that I think helps the community.

Some think that the only way to benefit the community is through votes but, I tend to disagree because over the last few years, many of those who were highly voted upon, left. I know that I have supported people who were happy to take the support and then power it down and leave because they decided it was no longer worth their time to stay. That is part of the risk in supporting people, there is no guarantee they will stay or power up to support others.

However, there are also a minority of accounts I have supported that have done exactly this and have worked and earned and powered up to spread their value outward also. I would say that while the mojority of the accounts I have supported over time might not have done much, the minority that have done well have more than made up for the value "lost".

The value isn't lost of course, it is just waiting on exchanges to be bought by people who see that the value is worth more in the future than it is now. Eventually, I think that there will be a large amount of people who didn't believe in the now but will lament their decisions in the future. This is always the case. The other thing that people don't necessarily recognize is that while early adopters can make large gains, people will be benefiting from Steem no matter when they bought in because it will offer more value than just saleability.

Part of that value is going to come through the relationships that are developed as they will become active networks of people who know about blockchain and have global skills of varying perspectives. In time, new business models are forming where distributed business models are going to compete against the centralized cousins and start outperforming them. These types of business models of course face challenges but will continually work out the kinks to find processes that make them more effective and efficient.

From a more personal position though, these relationships are forming communities and as the projects develop, will become quite powerful networks themselves that are able to provide all kinds of value. A lot of people are uninspired by the payouts they are getting but they fail to recognize that a vote on Steem is a vote in Steem, no matter what the USD price is. Essentially, people are putting their staked trust in content and authors at any price and this shouldn't be scoffed at as it really does show a lack of gratitude.

As I have said, I am grateful for every Steem regardless of whether I think my work is worth more or less because it is people putting their faith in me either from a content perspective or, a platform value perspective. Instead of self voting on shitposts, they are at least taking some of their value and distributing it into the network. For me, every Steem vote not only has a value now and a potential future value, it also has an opportunity cost value now and in the future which is attached to people making decisions. No one is forced to vote on me so, I am grateful for those who do - even if it is a set autovote.

Lately I have been thinking a little more about the community aspect of Steem and have come to the conclusion that if people aren't willing to be part of the community in some way unless they get an "adequate" return, screw them. The reason is that in that future where there is a network of developers and businesses, it will be those people who are looking to maximize their own worth over the growth of their community or business and, they will also be the ones who cash out where they are comfortable, even if it is going to cost others their comfort. There is no problem to be like this of course, it is part of the free-market of decision making but, do I want to be in business with them when they are so flaky?

I don't know, just some quick thoughts but I think that no matter what happens, longevity and sustainability of any business or community can't just be tied to price alone as there will always be a competitor that can undercut or offer a higher return.

Yet, the same can't be said for friendships.

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]