So I’ve been checking out trending posts in a lot of different categories lately and trying to get more acquainted with Steemit, and how it works. I decided that being a worthwhile member of the site means checking out posts in categories you may not normally be interested in. Voting and showing people support encourages members to stay active and people to keep posting! Though I do have to admit I’ve become a little addicted ;) So I’ve seen a lot of posts complaining about Steemit and the voting system, or claiming the site is a “scam” because the Steem they had accumulated on a certain post plummeted, and caused their earnings to drop. I also see people complaining about the use of inappropriate hashtagging and the use of popular tags on posts that don’t apply to that category. As far as losing a lot of money on a post goes I’ve been there myself. My introduce yourself post had earned over $3700 when I went to sleep after my first day as a member of the site. I woke up in the morning to see I had only earned $310. I was upset. Mostly because I didn’t understand what had went wrong. I wasn’t really familiar with the concept of “whales” and I was confused why people would down vote my post when so many other people were “introducing themselves” without any negative consequences.
Many people would have been angry and given up, but I was determined to figure stuff out and keep going. After all, I had been writing and hoping to start a blog long before I discovered Steemit so why would I stop doing what I enjoyed. I had just made $310 dollars for posting pictures of myself and telling the community about my interests, and what I planned to write about?!? How could I complain about something so positive? When I introduced myself I verified my identity by writing on a piece of paper. I had to sort of sit the paper on my chest and lean back to take a selfie, because I can’t ever manage it one handed. Someone commented that the paper looked like it was “floating” and might be photo-shopped (which it wasn’t) but I now understand the concern. I was brand new and I simply didn’t realize the problem with my post, or that the members of Steemit were just trying to protect the site from scammers. I think that the hashtagging issue is most likely another case of people being new and not understanding that other users have a problem with it. People are used to Instagram where the more hashtags you use the better chance your post has of being seen. You can’t blame anyone for wanting to popularize their content? On the other hand you can’t blame other users (whales or not) for down-voting your post because of the incorrect tagging. How else is the community supposed to let you know you’re out of line? Everyone is going to be new at some point, and it’s not a crime to make some mistakes and learn from them.
Don’t give up and don’t become bitter! Ignoring the negative seems to be the most important thing to remember when you’re posting on Steemit. Post because you want to share and you believe in whatever it is you’re saying. Don’t post only thinking of potential money you might make. If you give people a chance to relate to you and you don’t stop posting good things will happen. People will notice and respect what you’re sharing and you’ll get votes! I’ve been explaining the concept of the site to all of my girlfriends, and encouraging them to join in. Most of them have massive amounts of social media followers, and I know Steemit would benefit from that! The creators of the site seem to be doing all they can to fix any problems that arise, and create a better environment for everyone. When something is brand new it usually takes some time to iron out the kinks...but being a member of the Steemit community at this point is being part of that brand new unique thing. Just the sound of that is exciting in my opinion…even according to Las Vegas standards ;)
