Why I Stopped Upvoting Myself On Steemit
Why would anyone want to stop upvoting their own posts? For many reasons, I made the conscient decision to stop upvoting myself on Steemit. I used to automatically upvote my posts as soon as I published them like most people do when they first start using the platform.
Usually, I would not upvote my own comments but did upvote my own posts. I reasoned that if I don't value my own posts why should anyone else find value in it. Back when my Steem Power was so small, my thinking was any vote was a good vote, even if it was my own, but as I started developing a following my thinking has changed.
This post is just sharing my thoughts on self-upvoting in my particular case and I'm not suggesting or implying you follow this advice. I'm sharing my point of view in my current situation.
Some of you may know I started the Open Mic contest on Steemit which is now in its 85th week! There are about 300 entries per week entering the contest and I upvote each one that follows the rules to enter. Simple math shows that to be about 42 votes per day, an amount that would quickly deplete my voting power if I upvoted at 100%.
Added to that figure are the people who I want to support by automatically upvoting them using Steemvoter.com, a service that votes for me so I don't miss their posts. I currently have another 30 people on that system and it upvotes every post they make.
So we are looking at a lot of votes when you tally it all up. Upvoting myself would give me less Steem Power to give to others and in my mind, giving a vote to someone else has more value in the long run than giving a vote to myself. Besides, the extra buck and change I would receive from self-voting my post is not going to change my life in any huge way and I would rather use it to help someone else.
I'm doing alright on Steemit and have found that the more I give to others the more I receive in return. It doesn't always work out that way each week, but for the most part, my following keeps growing with each passing week and although a lot of my followers are minnows, those same minnows will one day grow up to be dolphins and their voting power will grow along with them.
When I was minnow on Steemit (even less than a minnow, just pond scum really) I remember the first few people that helped me to evolve into a minnow and eventually a dolphin. Their support really meant a lot to me and as a result, I have been supporting them ever since. I am their loyal follower and I will always remember them.
Reciprocity is a curious thing. Being the first to give does not guarantee people will return the gesture, but being consistent with your support will eventually get noticed and attracts genuine support from others.
Genuine, voluntary support sticks with you as you build your account. It is slower than using bots, but it is real and builds a lasting community of mutually supportive people.
With few exceptions, most of the support I feel blessed to receive was offered voluntarily without me asking and as my following is closing in on 9,000 I think it is important to demonstrate not only gratefulness but selflessness as well.
No, I'm not a Buddhist monk, not by any means, but saving my voting power to give to others is creating value for others and by doing so, makes my contribution more valuable to others and in turn, others upvote what they find valuable on the platform. Does that make sense?
As Open Mic keeps growing a trail of people who also support those entering the contest began to grow. Every vote I make on those who submit an entry gets upvoted by all of the people who follow that trail. With that comes great responsibility, at least in my view.
People are trusting me to not abuse their voting power and I take that seriously and feel honored to be entrusted with the task. It allows me to help more people on Steemit because now I can lower my voting power and spread more votes around.
Currently, 134 people are following the Open Mic trail on SteemAuto.com. You can discover how to support those entering Open Mic automatically by reading How To Support Musicians On Steemit And Earn Curation Rewards By Following The Open Mic Trail
NOTE: Following the Open Mic trail does not upvote the posts I make for Open Mic, only the posts others make when they enter.
It's set up that way on purpose because I want to support others. Of course, if you would like to upvote my posts it would go a long way to helping me with giving out the weekly prizes to the winners each week.
We purposely set up the whole Open Mic trail to not auto vote my posts because I don't want anyone to get the idea that I'm gaming the system to benefit me personally in a direct way. I am quick to admit though that I have discovered the more I help others on Steemit the more they tend to want to upvote my posts in support of what we are doing. People naturally support things that are in their own self-interest and many have also put my personal posts on autovote.
Another reason I stopped upvoting my own posts has to do with possible future Steem Power delegations that may come my way down the line. I have seen people on Steemit receive sizable SP delegations from various whales in support of their initiatives only to see them begin to abuse their power by upvoting themselves.
If you were a whale thinking of delegating some SP to someone in support of what they are doing for the Steemit community and you saw that they upvoted themselves 20%, 30%, or 40% of their total votes, you would probably reconsider giving them your delegation. If they never upvoted themselves and spread their voting power around to a large slice of the community then your delegation would be well managed and provide the most benefit to the most people.
As you can see from these graphs taken from SteemReports.com, there are more incoming votes coming to my account than outgoing votes coming from my account. In my view this is perfectly normal and shows that the community is finding value from what I am posting on Steemit.
You can also see that I do not self-vote. I realize not everyone thinks like that on Steemit, but if you have a long-term view of building value on this platform it's something to consider.
How much value are you providing to the community?
Incoming Votes To My Personal Account
Outgoing Votes From My Personal Account
I keep giving my votes away and building this community so that people new to Steemit can actually start trending by entering the Open Mic contest with the results of some very happy people who stick around long enough to succeed on the platform. I give more to others without worrying about what I receive with the end result for me personally of continually growing my base.
Steadily, the number of incoming votes keep growing. Yes. it's a slow process but it sticks.
Most people focus on how much they can take from the community and in my view that is shortsighted. If you really want to succeed on this platform I suggest you shift the focus on making it all about you to making it all about others.
Why?
Simple. There are a lot more "others" on the platform than there are "you" which also means there are a lot more others votes than just your one single vote. Finding a way to help as many people as you possibly can to find their "niche" or following on Steemit will be appreciated by many more people than just you and with that comes a true, loyal following along with their upvotes. Makes sense, right?
Thanks for reading my post and I'd love to hear your thoughts, suggestions, and experiences about your journey on Steemit and what you think about self-voting in the comments below.
Related Posts
The Most Valuable Steemit Post Begins In Your Head Tips To Mazimize Your Social Currency On Steemit --- by @luzcypher
How To Lose Friends And Irritate People Two Big Mistakes You Want To Avoid Making On Steemit --- by @luzcypher
New To Steemit Steemit Tips You Need To Know To Succeed On Steemit --- by @luzcypher
SteemBirds Video Comment for @luzcypher
You guys are fucking awesome! I love this video! You guys are really nailing your harmonies down.
We need to get together again soon. Speaking of meet ups;
Do you have any idea where the next SteeFest is going to be?
I want to travel and if I knew where it was going to be (when is probably in November again, right?) then I could plan my travels to end up there.
No idea, but I assume it will be Nov again... waiting with bated breath. And yeah, can't wait to reconnect!
Ya mon! Haven't heard any Steemfest3 updates as of yet. Lookin' forward to catching up though where ever it is!
I've been off the self votes for 12 days. I decided to stop for the same reasons. This gives me a little more to hand out. Even though I only have 21000 SP and I can't vote for everyone, everyday, these folks seem to appreciate the help. There's a huge demand for manual curation so including the votes I've placed on comments under my own posts, I've been able to hand out a little something 328 times to 133 accounts in the past seven days, all manually. I don't ask for anything in return.
That's awesome! You have more SP than I do! I have earned that much but have also been living 100% on Steem. But yes, at your level of SP I would do the same thing.
I have seen you around and love your handle BTW. May Steem be with you.
I've thought about living off of this stuff. I'd guess less than 5% of what I earned here went to an exchange. When the value spiked earlier this year, I got excited. I'm glad I didn't buy that lambo though.
Keep up the good work. I know the music community here appreciates your efforts and they speak quite highly of you. Have a good day.
Great post. I was talking about this exact same thing earlier with a fellow steemian (@cyrezthelooney). You have made great points in this and I will keep it in mind!
Patience is a key, that doesn't availed by everyone. Going through a long process and be succeed is tough one.
When a new user post a quality content and noticed he did not get any attention , he start to think that quality post is not essential to make money. He/She think how to gain steem power easily by investing money from his/her pocket.
Then he start investing, buy delegation, upvote his own post- comment to make money.
Thus he/she may be not popular in community but happy with the profit he got.
End of a story.
At my end i mixed up all these matters.
Use time to write good content or try to use pocket money!!?!
i am confused.
Trying to get attention from big one's so i can get help to develop my SP (that is ridiculous).
Reading their post to develop myself.
Different minnows have different decision.
So at the present time i am gathering those information from them and getting myself ready to do something better.
Buying upvotes is waste of time. Sure, it may give you some rewards but like drugs, you will be hooked to always having to buy them.
Much better to build a real following. Slower, but longer lasting and of real value. Don't be lazy. Just do the work.
Here are some posts that will help explain better.
The Most Valuable Steemit Post Begins In Your Head Tips To Mazimize Your Social Currency On Steemit --- by @luzcypher
How To Lose Friends And Irritate People Two Big Mistakes You Want To Avoid Making On Steemit --- by @luzcypher
New To Steemit Steemit Tips You Need To Know To Succeed On Steemit --- by @luzcypher
Thanks for your nice suggestion.
i will try to follow your advices.
As steemit is a social community field so i like to build good relationship with people too as like i do in Facebook. Hope for the best.
I'm a minnow and I have been on the fence about self-voting. I see one article that says it's justified, and I see another that says it's not.
You offer an interesting perspective that is part of a trend that is slowly defining my own perspective. I'm starting to notice that self-voting and even bidbots are not enough. They're interesting concepts, but they don't really demonstrate goodwill in the community, as you seem to put it.
Your message here seems to parallel something I have going on in my day job: "I don't worry about looking good. I am mostly concerned with making everyone else look good."
So I see it here in Steemit. Your message is one that encourages being of service to others without expectations for reciprocation. Your actions advance goodwill, and goodwill goes a long, long way. Evidence of the goodwill concept can be seen in the open source development community where people share code and work together.
And so it that a few days ago, I noticed a curation opportunity after reading an article about the same. After thinking it through, I find that performing manual curation as a service is very appealing. I get out there, people see me, they see me helping others.
I know the charge I get from a Curie vote as I've had a couple. I want to give that to others. That is what is tipping me away from self-voting. I also like your perspective on voting power conservation for others. That is a noble cause, and that will make Steemit appealing to aspiring creators to post their work here.
I'm a writer. That is why I'm here. But it must be more than just about me having a place to write and earn from it. The missing piece is to help other writers on this platform. The power of reciprocation tends to compound over time.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I now have a new perspective to consider with voting, curation and helping others.
Thanks for taking the time to read my post and adding your valuable perspective to the conversation. I love writing too but would be hardpressed to come up with something every day. By curating I don't have to create the content and still provide a service that others find value in.
It is slower to build momentum but the community that surrounds whatever theme you decide to curate around really become loyal followers and it's a hell of a lot of fun to mingle with people that share my interests.
That is really the jest of this whole experiment we call Steemit. It is a lot of work to build a community on this platform and it requires consistency. People need to feel confident you will continue and remain persistent. That's why it's so important to choose a theme to curate that you'll always have an interest in, something that inspires you and keeps you going. For me that is music.
The interesting thing about watching this community grow is how slow it started, but as you know, compounding numbers tend to grow faster as time goes on and that is exactly what is happening.
The other interesting thing is as the community grows and more inspiring individuals get involved, offshoots of my original idea have spawned into new projects run and supported by the core community. It is fascinating to see all the new projects that have grown around the Open Mic community and the same is happening all over Steemit. It's hard to keep up with all of the talent coming to the platform.
To me, the whole social experiment is an endless source of inspiration that drives me to keep giving to this community and the results, as you say, over time, increasingly rewards me for the effort. That's more than I could say for any of the bosses I have had in the past.
There is no financial safety net on Steemit, no secure income, but it is enough to live and it keeps compounding. Luckily, I'm in a position to give it my full attention and so I am and will see where it leads to. Wherever that is, I'm sure I'll be posting about it in future posts.
I will be thinking about "reciprocation" for awhile now. :)
I think a self-vote is a payment to one self with little expectation for future reward.
Voting for someone else has forward reward expectations like a bigger or healthier community.
I think they both have their place.
They do both have their place and I upvoted my posts, but not my comments when I first started on Steemit. But now, at least in my case, it just makes more sense to upvote others. Helping them find their footing by curating their content has created value for others and because of that value, they upvote me.
I've never self voted, it just seems wrong to me. Reputation should come from others, not oneself. I don't use bidbots either. It's 100% organic for me. I'm also less inclined to vote for someone who has already given themselves a large vote. If I think that way, I assume so do others. So for the sake of my own upvote I may lose more votes from others who think like I do.
I tried this for a while last week and found that it was significantly reducing my ability to keep a self-sustaining rewards cycle going. Since right now everything coming into my account goes to growing my SP (or a curation initiative) I figure that if one self-vote per day makes me more money than it's worth by going onto my post immediately, it's essentially worth more than one vote I can give out to someone else later.
My voting power has been rapidly growing as I get back delegations I made when I first bought in, and I'm not entirely comfortable with it, so I'm also not yet as effective at giving out my votes as I would like to be. It may be that as I get more used to that I will want more of my voting power for that purpose. There's a new minnow-encouraging curation initiative run by @elsiekjay that I want to support, so that will help in getting the votes out.
I think you should upvote your posts for now until you grow more Steem Power. Self-upvoting posts is perfectly acceptable on Steemit, although self-upvoting your own comments is kind of frowned upon. There are a lot of people who leave meaningless comments all over other peoples blogs just so they can upvote themselves and that is not really cool, but upvoting your own posts is perfectly fine.
As you grow and perhaps create your own community that could change in the future.
Here's a really cool site about Steemit Ettiquette you may find helpful.
To listen to the audio version of this article click on the play image.
Brought to you by @tts. If you find it useful please consider upvote this reply.
I'm starting to see you posting this audio version of my articles on everything I post and it is getting to be annoying. I don't see how this adds any value to the conversation.
Will you please stop doing that or at least provide an option to opt out of your bot that is posting this? If you keep spamming my posts with this thing without an option to opt out you will leave me no choice but to flag you.
You ask me to consider upvoting this comment even though it adds no value but you provide no option to opt out of getting these spam comments.
Judging by the number of flags your posts are receiving I'm not the only one who feels this way. You should take all of those flags as a clue that your bot is annoying people.
Consider this a notice. If I see it on another one of my posts I will flag your comment every time you continue spamming me.
That’s a very noble and admirable post @luzcypher. It puts you in a very selfless light which we have all come to realise is what you are. I might even try and follow in your footsteps as your totally right. I love when I vote on other people’s works that I have a genuine interest in. And when I leave a long comment for them on how much the post touched me, the response is always most pleasing as it has clearly left an impact on them. That’s more rewarding than the few pennies I collect from myself on my own work!
Thank you for filling us with more inspiration!! Keep doing you!
Thanks, @lucybanks! What a kind thing to say.
I used to upvote everything immediately with my own vote. Now I give it a few days, sometimes I forget and it's whatever.
Yet I've always been one to upvote everyone I support, no questions asked (assuming the content isn't crap).
Never really stopped to think about my one vote, that I give myself, benefiting others. Maybe because my power was so low and my vote is only worth a few cents.
Now I've delegated power to help a cause, so my vote is really worth pennies. Still, being the cool guy I am, I upvote my steemit friends with a bot upvote to show support.
But to each their own, I dont think theres nothing wrong with patting yourself on the back. Regardless if it's for a good comment (key word: good) or a good post (key word: good).
There's nothing wrong with it.
But the people who add 100 comments to 100 posts a day that saying, "Great post" only so they can upvote themselves on that comment that adds nothing to the conversation is frowned upon on Steemit
That will eventually get one flagged once people catch on to what they are doing.
Yea, i’ll flag abuse like that too