If you’re reading this, you’re probably wondering if there’s a way to beat the voting system on Steemit. Disclaimer: I’m far from being a tech/crypto nerd to give you any technical details. This is more like my personal observation and an open invitation for discussion and rant.
A lil bit about my Steem experience:
I’m a freelance writer and traveler who heard about Steemit from a Bitcoin friend, been on the platform for half a year, and still figuring my way around. I mostly write about traveling, sometimes short scribbles about love and relationships. Because of laziness and my general lack of interest in the Steem content, I don’t interact with other Steemers that often, and there’s no pattern to my posting frequency.
Since my real-life friends aren’t on Steem (yet), the platform has become a place where I post my personal writings. Although every action in recorded on a blockchain, I feel like I have more anonymity in this environment, ironically. Because in a community where no one knows you, you’re basically anonymous?
Here are three of my best-performing posts in the past 6 months:
The first one is about my travel experience, the second is more informative, and the last one is only two paragraphs of emotional output. No idea what these posts have in common, except I should thank the few Steemers who have high Steem Power for having graced my posts. My other posts are in similar fashion but yielded poor results. I decided to explore the platform’s system a bit more in an attempt to answer my own confusion.
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Let’s look at what Steemit’s mission statement reads and keep it in mind:
"Steemit is a social media platform where everyone gets paid for creating and curating content."
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The “Creating” Part:
When I click on the “hot” section, I see posts like these.
No offense to the author, but all he did was posting 5 unimpressive photos. I can pull up a million better photos on Instagram, so why should I bother browsing on Steem? Hats off to the other Steemers who leave thoughtful comments, though.
Let's take a look at the “trending” section:
Almost EVERY post on this screen is related to cryptocurrency or exploring Steem as a platform. The most popular or interesting type of content I can find on Steem is crypto-related. It’s great when I want to read about Bitcoin news and analysis, but I don’t come here to read anything else.
Enthusiastic Steemers always talk about how DTube is going to beat YouTube and how Steem is going to replace Facebook and Instagram. Well, it’s not gonna happen unless a high volume of quality content creators starts sharing on Steem. Right now, this platform is loaded with crypto enthusiasts and other people who just want to earn some extra bucks. Steem needs to encourage real content creation to thrive, and of course, a better design to categorize topics and customize profiles.
Do I find any enjoyable content on Steem? Yes, sometimes I read @oflyhigh when he writes about sentimental things in Chinese. Otherwise, I still consume content elsewhere. If you have any great account to share with me, please let me know in the comments.
The “Curating” Part:
Now, let’s take a look at a common voting result:
44 votes but only 20 read? What kind of “curation” is this?
Should I be proud of what I wrote if I received votes from people who didn’t bother skimming through the passages?
If the curator of an art gallery simply picks something based on what other people have said, the gallery is doomed to fail. Can Steem still work in the long run if the curation system is based on blind voting? Perhaps it could, but I wouldn’t understand the mechanics behind it as a crypto illiterate LOL
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Let’s look at Steemit’s mission statement again:
"Steemit is a social media platform where everyone gets paid for creating and curating content."
Bluntly said, I think Steemit has succeeded in the “everyone gets paid” part, but not the latter.
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The Secret Formula to Steem Success?
- Write something about Steem itself every day and make sure your title includes the keywords.
- Post anything 3 times a day. Breakfast, lunch, dinner.
Final Disclaimer: This post is obviously just how I personally feel toward the Steem content trends. No meticulous research involved, just a little sprinkle of sarcasm. Again - if you know of any Steemers who have interesting content, please share with me in the comments.
Final Final Disclaimer: Sorry if you thought I had any brilliant idea to offer, but thanks for reading :)
~ Happy Steeming ~