This post is meant for those of you that are here on steemit.com for the long run. And that must be you, since you're (still) here during a serious downturn in the markets :-)
The markets is not what I want to talk about though: no one really knows where prices will go next. That's also why this post is aimed at those who believe in the underlying technology of the Steem blockchain and the block-chain's ability (in general) to aid humanity in finding it's way toward a more just and free society. This implies however that the possibility to be rewarded for our efforts is also expected by us, the users. We add value to the ecosystem by creating somewhat original content and we expect some kind of reward for the efforts it cost us to make that content.
At least, that's how I see this working out. It's a type of meritocracy, which can all by itself have its positive and negative aspects, but that's what it essentially is in my mind. We release content on a marketplace of thousands of other content-creators and hope that ours is good enough, unique enough, thought-provoking enough, beautiful enough, funny enough, educational enough to attract enough people who after consuming that content are willing to leave a comment, an upvote, a resteem, any sign of support.
Setting aside all the further complications posed by bots, fake accounts, circle upvoting and what have you, this is a daunting task. If you actually see it as a task. Because you really shouldn't. It's likely to take time. Creating valuable content is going to take some effort. And it'll certainly take some more time for that valuable content to be "discovered" and to slowly see some rewards for your work coming in. And yes, it can be frustrating sometimes to see yet another "shitpost" with a picture and two lines of text make the trending page, and yes it can be disheartening sometimes to see the many "new" accounts come in solely to grab a quick buck by gaming the ecosystem through self-voting and bot-abuse.
But it's really no use to get too upset by this; one of the best pieces of advice I've ever had is to not compare myself too much with others and their success on steemit, and just stay focused on my own work. Because despite all the negative things you can legitimately say about steemit, still there are a lot of content-creators out there that do succeed according to the basic rules of the meritocracy. They gather a broad base of followers and consumers of their content in a natural way. And although each of them have their own specific way of climbing the steemit evolutionary ladder, I believe they have one thing in common: they basically see steemit as a party :-)
We often blind our self to the truth by looking at the money. When I said at the beginning that we expect some kind of reward for our efforts, I'm sure most of us first thought of money. That's how life works, doesn't it? We work and we get paid. It's that simple. Well, yes... but what is it that we exchange here, on steemit? We exchange content, art, ideas, opinions, photos, memes, recipes, beauty-tips, we exchange all of that and more, for a response. That response can be an upvote, a downvote, a resteem, a comment, a recommendation to a friend... It's the release of an idea into the marketplace of ideas, and its worth is measured by the number and nature of responses it generates.
We communicate whatever we want to communicate in hopes of a response. We do so without censorship and let the fate of our message be decided in a marketplace of ideas. "Proof of brain", remember? We know this marketplace isn't pure. We know there's scammers, plagiarizers, spammers and the likes, but still we see genuine success-stories.
And that's why steemit is a party. Still not clear? Let me explain.
Steemit is the kind of party you've been invited to, with a lot of music, dancers, drinks, laughter, discussion and so on: the place is boiling over with humans having a good time with each other. Only you don't know any of them. Now what do you do? You want to mingle, that's what you want to do! This starts with listening. You don't just step in the middle of a group of people that are in conversation with each other and start giving your opinion in a loud voice. No. You listen what these people you know nothing about are talking about, and after a short while of showing interest in the conversation, you politely insert your say in a brief moment of silence.
From there on, acceptance kicks in and you can participate in the conversation, if you're lucky you'll be introduced to some other guests and maybe even get asked to a dance. And then you are the first to offer to get a drink at the bar. You show your appreciation for getting the chance to communicate and gain acceptance and you're paid for your patience and effort by the response you get from that. And there's no use to be jealous of that one guy that also came to the party without knowing anyone, but was somehow able, by being so damn charming and knowledgeable and good looking, to gather a crowd around him in no time. These "natural talents" do exist.
There's also no use in getting jealous at others that might have a wide social network at the party because of less "natural" reasons. No use in getting jealous at the guy who gathers a crowd around himself because he has so much money that he keeps giving free drinks to anyone who wants to listen to his bullshit. No use in getting jealous at the DJ because all guests seem so darn interested in him. No use getting jealous at the bartender because everyone seems to want to talk to him and value his opinion sooo much.
So.... mingle. Don't expect your content to speak for itself; chances are you're not that mega-charming and good looking guy at the party, just like me ;-) Go visit the blogs of like-minded steemians and leave a genuine response, give them an upvote however small your voting power may be. Communication and the exchange of ideas through communication in its various forms is what brings value to the platform and its users. Not only content creators, but also the ones who respond to that content have an opportunity here to get rewarded for the data they add to the blockchain.
And when you make a post of your own and someone responds, always try to show your appreciation of that response. This is how you slowly start to build a network and increase your exposure on the marketplace of ideas. And depending on how much time you have to invest in this social network, you'll gradually expand that network over a longer or shorter time. And of course the quality of your content will relate to its valuation on the marketplace also, if you choose to play by the rules of a meritocracy.
And the only thing we need to do is to keep the party alive ;-) The party isn't made a succes by that one charmer, that particular bartender, that rich bastard or that rocking DJ. It's a success because of all of us. All of us who understand that succeeding isn't a given nor is it quickly attained. And also, let me not forget this, there's a lot of whales, orka's and other "big fish" active on steemit that recognize all of this and support a lot of bonafide curation- and other projects that act in the spirit of the meritocracy I just described. We owe them thanks too for not abandoning the platform in these economically hard times.
The fact that this is understood in generally the same way by a lot of steemians, can be seen in the existence of many communities that promote the message of adding value to the platform and the blockchain, by promoting quality content and starters that are nor yet recognized but provide an added value. To name a few: 
Image by Natalia Wilson - source: Flickr
This is not supposed to be seen as me being against bots or self-voting in general. Both can be used or abused. And that's another thing to remember: in the end it's not blockchain technology or any other technology or algorithm that's going to safe us from people trying to game or otherwise abuse the system for quick gains. That's going to take longer and a change in mentality where we stop measuring worth in material gains and start measuring it in social and human gains. Like at that party.
Thanks again, dear reader, for visiting my blog :-) This all is just my opinion of course and not an attempt to lecture anyone on how to behave on the steemit platform. I just know I'm having fun here and have met a load of interesting, charming, creative and wise people here and have had fun on my journey so far. And a lot of that fun I owe to you, my slowly but steadily growing audience. And that even when I'm not the best party-beast, so to speak, but even very shy and hesitant to introduce myself. So I'm grateful to all of you and I hope you'll be back at the party tomorrow; I know I will ;-) Until then, keep exchanging ideas and keep steeming!
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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!
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Just for Full Disclosure, I'm invested in these crypto-currencies:
Bitcoin | Litecoin | EOS | OmiseGo | FunFair | KIN | Pillar | DENT | Polymath | XDCE | 0x | Decred | Ethereum | Carmel | XYO
Just for Full Disclosure, I'm invested in these crypto-currencies:
Bitcoin | Litecoin | EOS | OmiseGo | FunFair | KIN | Pillar | DENT | Polymath | XDCE | 0x | Decred | Ethereum | Carmel | XYO