An artist painting a picture will at least occasionally take a step back from the canvas and have a look at what they are doing, to see if it is in perspective, or if the colors are appropriate, or if it is conveying the message that they want it to drive. They do this because it is impossible to see the "big picture" when only looking at the details. But I wonder, do people actually read what they are writing and submitting to the blockchain?
If someone wouldn't even want to read their own work, why the fuck would they think anyone else would want to read it? And sure, it is true that not everyone is going to be able to bring the same level of skill to the writing or whatever, but much of what people submit to the blockchain is devoid of personality.
Social media.
What if people stepped back and looked at their content as if it was part of a "real life conversation" (remember those?) where they had to sit and listen to the story they have told. Would they enjoy it? Would it make for a great conversation? Would it make you think -
"Fuck, I hope to hear another story from this person!"
Of course, not every article is going to be relevant or appeal to every possible reader, nor is every article going to be made of gold. But, is that an excuse for just writing crap, expecting to be rewarded for it?
And, then there is the other excuse of "I am an introvert" as if that is a reason to not have any personality. I get that people aren't as social as others, but then it is worth remembering that, this is a community where the community are the ones who reward. If you aren't social, maybe it isn't the place for you.
Having said that, it is also a social platform where a person doesn't have to show their face in order to have a personality. It is possible to remain largely anonymous and still deliver something that is worth reading, across a whole range of topics. And, this can be done without having to interact with anyone one "as an individual". So, the excuse of being an introvert, is more an excuse of just not wanting to interact at all with people, but still get rewarded as if being social.
No one can be everything.
Wanting to be something and being it are two different things, just like wanting something and getting it are. If you want to be rewarded, then in general, it requires building up some kind of support base in some way, and while there are many ways "good and bad" to do this, if wanting to do it through content (like I do and have), that content has to be not only good enough, but consistent enough for people to keep coming back to and engaging with. In my own experience, that requires having conversations that are personal, that are ongoing, that can be picked up at other times again, like friends meeting occasionally for coffee and picking up where they left off.
There are other ways to do this also, and what you will find is that while my content is a little haphazard in the sense that it is based on whatever is going on in my life at the time, the people who are both consistent and rewarded, are those who have interesting series of content. They have themes that they have built over time, essentially creating a community (often actual Hive communities) around their content, so that people will engage. And, as they have developed themselves over time, they have also been able to start rewarding those who engage with them, so there is added incentive to take part.
Some people think that authors rewarding people for engagement on their content is "cheating" without recognizing that this is what is encouraged on the Hive. It is a relationship builder in many ways, and developing stake allows for a person to build a following, in a similar way that advertising does. Plus, that stake can be used to reward other authors, who could if they choose, build their stake and do similar.
Stake aside, it is almost always going to need to be coupled with some type of content that people want to engage with over the space of time. And this is the challenge that a lot of people are going to have, especially those who spend their time not socializing in the world, getting new experiences and instead, spending their time consuming content, not creating content. At least from what I have observed in myself and others, the people who have the hardest time building interesting content, are those who spend a lot of time consuming interesting content passively. Those who live interesting lives and engage in dynamic conversations, find content creation easy.
So, if you take a step back from your content, what do you see? Also, when you think back to the content you have created thus far, what do you remember? Do you have pieces of work that stand out, do people ever reference things you have created in the past, or conversations that you have had together? Have you built up a social network, or are you just dumping posts in hope or entitlement??
What does it tell about your personality?
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]