It’s really easy for minnows to want to complain about the whales at steemit and blame them for not doing their job. After all, if they were doing their job, we’d all be noticed and rewarded for our hard work, right? We all know what it’s like to be ignored by accounts with more SP than our own and have negligible payout despite producing decent (and sometimes stellar) content. There is more to this situation than meets the eye though. I believe there are more whales and dolphins looking to help others and the ecosystem than those who are entirely selfish in their behavior.
And for those of us who have already developed a following on steemit, we know that it’s merely a question of the amount of time you put in and your methods, right? If you aren’t doing well, you need to persist and possible change your strategy, right? Once again, please don’t jump to such simplistic conclusions. We all have limited perspective and we are all biased.
Both of these viewpoints are one sided.
I will speak from the perspective of both a minnow and a “whale” because I am essentially both and neither, a minnow who has a fair amount of attention and success but still struggling to get consistent payout. I have many things going on at steemit aside from my writing and a fair amount of followers and so I’m already treated like a whale by some minnows. I see clearly into both situations.
The Whale Bubble
When we talk about “whales” we are often actually talking about anyone significantly larger than ourselves, usually including dolphins and sometimes even large minnows. As we grow, we forget what it’s like to be starting off, or what it’s like to be here a while and still struggle to surpass a dollar or two on our content without bots.
We do however, know clearly that we are doing much better than we did in the past and no longer feel the same level of frustration (some have skipped over that struggle entirely, either through buying in or through finding support early on). When we hear new users complaining we feel a bit jaded about it. Everyone is complaining. Don’t they realize there are always ways to succeed? Why should you make a high payout when you just got here? Did you think you’d be able to become one of the more successful users after just a few days or weeks on the platform?
Most “whales” and whales feel that time and effort will pay off in the end because it did for them. They don’t realize or remember how frustrating it is to comment on a larger users post and get no reply time and time again, write from their heart and get no comments or payout, look at crap posts making much more money than they do and not have any indication that there is a real correlation between quality work put in and payout other than the assurance of those who are doing well themselves.
Whales and “whales” also tend to ignore that as the user base grows, it becomes more competitive and it seems to matter more and more who you know. There’s a limited number of SP out there. The more that is held by a few accounts, the less floats around between minnows. The more minnows there are, the harder it becomes to get noticed. They seem to miss the point that even though they made it through the struggle, someone who works even harder and longer may not be able to reach the same level of success in the future
Another common argument I hear from larger accounts is “your 100 sp will be worth thousand six of dollars in fiat, one day” which may be true but it’s a bit opportunistic as it doesn’t address the issue of wealth distribution and people gaming the system at the expense of everyone. There is also the attitude I mentioned already, “you are complaining now but you will be as big as I am one day if you work hard”, this may be true and may not be. Don’t let it just be a convenient way of thinking.
As you grow, remember that not everyone isfacing the same prospects in this ecosystem and while some things are much better than they were before, other new issues have arisen that you didn’t have to deal with. You may have more power and even more experience and perspective but it doesn’t mean you always know best.
The Minnow bubble
Don’t think I’m letting you all off the hook, minnows (see what I did there). Minnows love to get stuck in a victim mentality and let their expectations run wild, then feel disappointed. Steemit may be a step up from the rat race, but it’s still a competitive place where who wins is sometimes a bit more based on who wants it the most, not always based on contribution, decency and quality. I’m not saying you should suck it up and deal with it, but don’t fool yourself into thinking that steemit is (or should immediately be) a perfect place where greed and manipulation don’t exist. It comes from the same society that has all the problems we are used to and It is also not a perfect system. It is merely an interesting experiment with a lot of potential. That is not to say it isn’t awesome, and full of new opportunities and possibilities, but you are going to need to be realistic about your expectations and more creative and resourceful if you want it to be everything it could be.
It’s also easy to assume whales don’t give a shit about you or the platform because you don’t get an upvote or reply when you comment on a whales post, or when you see large accounts receive high payout on crappy posts. The fact is, there are countless users with a large SP stake who are doing everything they can to distribute the wealth and help out users like you, but there are far too many of us minnows and too few whales and dolphins and on top of that they also want to support users who have been here for a while and who they know and trust and there isn’t much wrong with that.
I believe the real problem is that the dolphin class still isn’t large enough. Some people believe it will get better and better. I have my doubts due to the way wealth attracts wealth. I personally would prefer a system or algorithm where no one was allowed to grow so huge that they could threaten the entire ecosystem. I know my belief contrasts with the popular emphasis on a “free market” but I do believe freedom is about much more than just a free market and some things take priority to that. All I can say to those who disagree is, let’s see how bots and a system of growth that is doubly exponential in nature work in the long term. Trickle down economics didn’t work for our national economies so I don’t see how it will work here either, but I’m willing to stick around and see how it plays out as long as I still have an opportunity to get closer to my dream of full self reliance and make friends.
Here’s one thing that you should ponder despite your political beliefs though....
Have you imagined what’s it’s like to be a whale?
Sometimes I write a post that’s gets 20-50 comments. Sometimes I write one or two posts a day. I also have friends and people whose work I believe in and want to maintain my relationships which means reading their posts and keeping up with them through chat. This isn’t not only strategic, it’s what makes steemit fun for me. I’ve got Initiatives that I work on on top of all that. Do you think I have time to not only reply to comments but also read posts by every single user who replies on my posts in an entirely reciprocal fashion? Calculate how much time it take to do that’s on your posts as a new user and multiply that by 10 or 20 or 50 (or 1000 if you are 
I’m still a minnow and I have a hard time keeping track of all the people who make themselves known to me, imagine how hard it must be as a dolphin or wherever who does more than just curate content. 
Eventually, maybe I’ll be noticed. Of course you shouldn’t do this for just any dolphin or whale, minnows need your attention more and often deserve it as much. Just support who you like and believe in based on their content and on who they are, regardless of their size on the platform. Build a sense of community among your fellow minnows and as your minnow friends grow, more people will notice you and throw you an upvote.
Stereotyping users with larger accounts won’t fix anything, and the more you realize how many are on your side, the more we can work together. Will you still be fighting for minnows when you are a whale? If so, start now! If not, why should anyone want to give you a bigger upvote. Stand for something and look for ways to work on the problem, rather than waiting for others to fix it for you.
Spend your energy on the solution rather than dwelling too much on the problem. Work together with others and search for consensus so that your efforts go further!
I came up with the idea for the Be Awesome community, the Deadpost Initiative and Steemit zombies out of a desire to do whatever I could to improve the ecosystem despite being a minnow myself.
Steemit zombies is an ambitious new project to create more dolphins on the platform through our collective effort and a strong supportive community. We are still working out the details but one of our methods will be to focus on gaining readership and upvotes for undervalued posts past the 7 day limit. This is not MY Initiative, it’s a community effort that I came up with the idea for, we will need a lot of people to make it work. If you are interested,
Join the Steemit zombies and Deadpost chat
Join the "Be Awesome" discord community
The Be Awesome discord chat, was created with the intention of making deeper connections with fellow steemians. Come talk about "deep shit" and make friends.
I’m also a language learning coach. Come find me if you need help learning a language.
Confessions of the Damaged - a collection of short stories
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I welcome crypto gifts :-D
