If you've been on Steemit for at least a week, you've probably noticed something that something is a little off. I mean, this is supposed to be a platform where great, original content is created, found, shared and rewarded, right? Theoretically, the good content should bubble up given the way Steemit is set up, no?
The Problem
Simply put, there is too much poor content that gets featured and it honestly turns people off or away from the platform. Minnows have to put in too much effort to search and find the good content creators before they can really benefit from learning, enjoying or interacting with posts they see on Steemit. At the moment, in addition to good content, Steemit rewards:
- Early adopters
- People who used to post good content but don't need to now
- People who use bots
Maybe I should think about using bots, but it doesn't feel right to me at this current point in time. In any case, the ones that are currently ahead of the pack don't have to do much to get rewarded handsomely for posting. It's like the top 0.1% get the vast majority of the rewards while the rest of us really have to fight to get the remaining amount. There is a lot of pandering to powerful whales, which makes be believe the balance of power is too skewed. There are a lot of whales or veterans that continue to post good content and I commend them for making Steemit really awesome, but there are a lot of people with power that simply post things that really muddy the waters. There are also a lot of users out there that put in a lot of effort to write fantastic posts but they don't get the reward that they deserve.
The Solution
My proposed solution is simple - Only Upvote Good Content. This will really encourage users, beginner or veteran, to put in effort to create great posts. If we do this, the following things should hopefully start to occur:
- Those who deserve it will get rewarded. High effort will equal high reward.
- Steemit’s overall content will improve
- Steemit will attract even more great content creators
- We won’t have to wade through tons of bad content to get to the good stuff
Websites such as Reddit, Imgur and YouTube have better content because upvotes are not influenced by money. They are upvoted because people genuinely like the content and are willing to donate a simple mouse click on a little thumbs up icon (nothing more). If we're all a little more careful about where we upvote, we should get better collectively as a platform! If we don't, we run the risk of being a platform that tried to be great but could never figure out a way to get there.
The Takeaway
In the past, I've equally been guilty of upvoting for my own financial interests. Now, I'm making a personal commitment to no longer do this. I am making a personal pledge to only upvote posts that I believe make Steemit more awesome than it already is.
