Almost 2 months on steemit now, and I am starting to figure a few things out. Maybe you already know this, this post may amuse you at least. Maybe you are a newbie who feels like you are swimming in circles... I hope this post helps you find a constructive direction for your energy.
I was so excited to get followed, I just followed everyone back. I did not understand the ramifications, and there still may be implications I am missing but this is what I realized: I was following some really crappy accounts. Do NOT just follow for follow! Go to each blog, look at what they are posting and see if you are genuinely interested. The people you follow fill up your feed, and if they are doing stuff that you are not into, your feed becomes this page of garbage to sort through. That takes a LOT of the fun out of steeming. Imagine if your facebook friends were just random people, and whatever they posted went on your wall... You are probably selective about your fb friends for the same reasons you need to be selective about who you follow here - to keep YOUR page interesting to YOU.
I want to go over my criteria for following and unfollowing. This is not about wanting anyone to change what they do to suit me, this is about being honest so that other newbies might see how some behavior could be losing them followers, it is so people can get an idea how to select who to follow and not follow to increase their enjoyment of this platform. I want to point out it took me 2 full days to sort, I went to EVERY blog and looked at their recent posts, their comments, and their wallet.
I unfollowed some big accounts, not because they offended me at all but because they are doing stuff I am just not interested in. I understand the "mute" button is an option but (Correct if I am wrong, please!) I think that mute button means I miss everything they post, and if they post something new, I want to be able to see that in the "new" tab. The big fish do not need my support, and I know where to find their work any time, "hot" and "trending."
I unfollowed anyone with a reputation below 25. If they got on here and started pissing people off, I probably don't want them on my feed. I can be pretty hotheaded myself, and I am better off just trying to avoid people who I am likely to fight with. I enjoy a good debate, but it seems the divide and conquer experts have carved our nation into factions so deeply that there is little room left for civil debate, just name calling escalated to violence when feasible. Who needs that?
I unfollowed anyone who had not posted anything. Seriously, there were several accounts with NOTHING. I DID leave a couple empty accounts up, there are brand new and if they get going in a week or two, OK. If they just set up an account and forgot, or are not putting any effort into it, I am not following them until they get around to it.
I unfollowed anyone who only commented "Great post! Folow me!" type stuff.
I unfollowed anyone who does not speak the same language I do. How can I know if they are posting quality stuff if I can't read it? I want my list of "followed" people to be almost a referral service. If you like my stuff, you will probably like the people I follow.
I unfollowed people who bought their way into influence. They do not need my support, obviously.
I unfollowed most accounts that are just photography. A couple artists do work that I like, but a lot of them are just pictures. There is a whole community of photographers here, they are supportive of each other, it is not why I come to steemit.
I unfollowed anyone posting soft porn. I don't care what else you post, I am not into porn no matter how cleverly you try to pretend it is just a pic. Especially irritating are the men posting pictures of scantily clad women they are pretending to be. Here is the sad, sad truth on this... I am busting my hump trying to produce quality content in a wide variety of topics and somewhere in the back of my head I know... if I posted one picture of myself in a bikini it would be my highest paying post ever. If you ever see me post a pic of me in a bikini, you will know a part of me has died... It is not that I am so prude, it is that I like real sex with my real husband so why go strutting or looking at strutters when you've already got the good thing?
It was a GREAT experience, because I did NOT unfollow about half the people. Going and looking at each blog forced me to find some posts that I would have otherwise missed. I connected with a few of the people I follow, that is much better than just having a sea of strangers filling my feed. And now my feed is SO interesting! It was an INSTANT improvement.
It may cost me SD, I am still not sure how all the algorithms work. However, here is the big decision I made about steemit: I want to help facebook and youtube go away. Steemit is WAY "not perfect" and frankly there are a few things going on that piss me off... but life ain't fair. This is NOT a level playing field. Take your ball and bat and go back to the fiat US dollar game if you like. Go to "yours" or whatever that new site is, find another platform, start one of your own, do what makes you happy but know this: There are no level playing fields on this planet. So pick your rigged game, and start playing. For me, this is as good as any, better than most. At least I get a turn at the plate.
Good luck to you newbies, hope you find your place on the team and hit yourself a homerun here! For a more "Idaho" analogy, let me say that climbing a mountain means all day long staring down at the dirt path, but once you put in the work you get to see the view from the top of the world!
View from Brundage Ski Resort in McCall, Idaho
