How do you spend most of your time on Steemit? Writing posts, or reading them?
Chances are it's the first one. Maybe you log in, scroll through the trending feed to see who's making the most money today (and have a quiet weep when you check your own, comparatively meager earnings), and upvote a post or two. Maybe you read something you like and even leave a comment. But if you're anything like me (so far), pretty soon you move on to the reason you logged on in the first place: starting your next masterpiece - you know, the one that's finally gonna make it to the top of the trending page and set you up for life!
Pictured - high hopes
So what's the problem?
It took me a while to realize the problem with this: everyone's doing it.
Instead of spending our time browsing through the incredible volume of great content that's constantly being produced on Steemit, and exploring the world through other people's ideas and stories, we spend most of our time hunched over a virtual writing desk, obsessing over creating the perfect post that everyone (especially the whales) will think is great.
Pictured: me, right now - ironically
But if everyone's spending all this time on the writing page, ignoring the wonderful world of content that's out there, who's going to be there to read this incredible piece you've been working on for hours?
Pictured: your readers
Like most people here, I put a lot of effort into my writing (after all, it's one of the things I do for a living outside of Steemit), and more often than not I see my posts get a good few upvotes straight off the bat before slowly dwindling as the post gets buried by newer content. If I've written a really good piece I might get a bit of traction, or if I'm really lucky some high-profile marine life will swim by and give me a boost, but this doesn't happen as often as any of us would like. Just by scrolling down the 'new' feed, you can see how many people are having similar experiences!
What this tells me is that people are creating way more content than they read. We're spending too much time locking ourselves away in the writing room, and not enough engaging with what's being written in the outside world. Doesn't that kind of fly in the face of what Steemit is all about?
How do we fix it?
This is a problem, and one we can only fix by changing our mindset. If we want Steemit to grow and thrive, we have to support content as much as we create it - and this means taking the time to read as well as write. So my challenge to all of us on Steemit (including myself) is as follows:
- For every hour you spend writing, spend another hour reading, curating, and commenting on others' work.
- As soon as you publish a post and see it appear on the 'new' feed, choose one below it to read - and I mean really read. Engage with what the writer is saying instead of just skimming through.
- For every comment you receive, go to that user's own blog, read one of their posts, and give a comment in return. Even better, if you like the kind of content they produce, follow them!
- For every upvote you receive, go and give one - preferably to a post you really enjoy. That means if you're lucky enough to nail a post that gets hundreds of votes, don't just race back to the writing page to start on your next potential cash cow - it's time to get curating!
Say hello to my little friends
If we all commit to this challenge, we'll soon see a shift in the way Steemit works, and I'd be willing to bet people will be a lot less discouraged by unread posts, a lot more entertained and informed by actually engaging with content, and a lot happier with the network overall.
So, who's with me?
