I just read an interesting post by Creating a New Curation System to Incentivise Upvoting Minnows and Creating Long Lasting Content
I'm a total nube at this and new on Steemit and to be perfectly frank, most of this stuff about "Curation" and "Reputation" goes completely over my head. So I am certainly not going to flex my ignorance by commenting either for or against anything that Cryptoeater outlined in this proposal. I want to focus on the macro, instead of dissecting the micro- taking a good look at the problem itself without getting lost in the nitty gritty.
When I joined Steemit (properly, about 4 weeks ago), I was lucky to get a boost up by my friend . When I came over, I brought more than 60 #unfuckers with me. I've been trying to help them all out, to resteem and upvote them to help them get views and get their Steem legs firmly planted... and yet my own posts get very few views, so my own "power" to help others is hugely limited.
This is a major problem, and in my opinion, a major stumbling block to KEEPING good content going, and feeding into Steemit. It's very easy for the "minnows" to get downtrodden and disappointed when they cant' get more that 2 or 3 views on any of their posts- regardless of the topic/content, and they can't get enough power behind them to be able to contribute more to #Steem. My group of #unfuckers has huge content/value to add to the Steem community, yet already I'm watching some of them turn away from Steem because they see it as Mission Impossible to get anywhere themselves, or to be able to help other UnFuckers and Newbies on Steemit.
And this isn't just about my own group. I've been trying to help a lot of minnows that are climbing into Steemit from Nations like #Nigeria, and #Venezuela because these people absolutely NEED our help- not just to be seen, but to be able to live and EAT. THIS is what Steemit is about to me:
__ A community working together to help itself grow, and to help those who NEED help to get a leg up and to be able to prosper.__
Herein lays the conundrum: If the only people who keep battling away at this, are the ones solely interested in making money for themselves.... then the content will absolutely reflect that, and the upvotes and membership will dwindle away. Most of the best content to be found on ANY social media/platform is the content that is from the heart and driven by passion and will power. When the passionate ones get beaten down and disheartened because they cannot get their message across to anyone.... then they will leave. Period. They will return to Facebook, and twitter and instagram or a myriad of other social media platforms, where it's EASIER to be heard and seen.... even if that means walking away from the "money", because that is what drives people to write from the heart and to share their knowledge and passion: the ability to SHARE IT. The ability to exchange ideas and to discuss perspectives.
WE ALL NEED MONEY- yep I get that. I've been a "starving" independent journalist for years and years... and yea, it's one of the reasons I jumped onto Steemit, 'cause hell yea, I'd like to make a buck or two doing what I love!! But that's not the "driving" reason for being here.....
The bottom line is that any platform is only as strong as its weakest bit. And right now, it seems like the weakest bits are floundering.
...Just sayin'
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