As I sit down at the end of a long day, I begin to think about content. I have been creating content of some form for a long time, at least it seems like a long time. Mostly I create videos, and then I post them on Youtube and Dtube. I create videos, well vlogs, and I share my thoughts with the world. By world I mean anyone that is willing to listen to my thoughts. It feels like a blessing that we found the Steemit platform when we did. It changed the direction of my entire life, and added incredible depth to my experience.
Stacie D and I used to live on a homestead in Missouri. We were tucked into the hills of the Ozarks. It was a cozy little piece of land tucked into hundreds of acres of trees. Homesteading was our life, and making things happen was our lifestyle. Well, that last part is still our lifestyle! It might have seemed touch and go there for a while, and we never really knew where the next big break might come from, but it never stopped us or slowed us down. Things always continued to happen, and we were able to always get dots to connect. We were cutting firewood for a living, and I was selling crafts like hand made custom knives.
We had no idea about "creating content", we just knew about creating life! Our life was full speed ahead, and then it hit us...maybe someone would like a look at what we have going on. That is where it all started. A small thought about maybe, just maybe, we could have an impact on someone's life. Maybe we could pass on some skills, and influence someone to take control of their own life. So we started making videos on Youtube.
Coming from the woods and not really having any fancy equipment we still went for it. We made a jump into the high tech world, and started recording videos of the homestead on our cell phone. This wasn't even a fancy cell phone. It would barely qualify as smart at all. It was a brick with a thick and foggy screen. It was a little bit hard to film, but the videos always turned out ok. That's it....we were rolling!
After using our "smart" phone to record the video we would upload the pictures onto our desktop computer that was from the early 2000s. We were able to piece it all together, and even learn a few tricks for editing. We didn't have the most amazing set up, but we had heart.
This turned into something pretty regular for us. We were filming things about our homestead, and I was starting to film vlogs called "Mystic Yeti's Morning Coffee". I would sit and drink coffee while unpacking complicated ideas about the universe or religion. I started to strap my phone up to trees using a selfie stick and a bungee cord. This is what lead to the next break through of content creation, my vlogs "One Yeti's Perspective". By strapping the phone to different trees each day it was like I was able to have a different perspective each day.
This turned into Stacie D and I actually purchasing a second phone with a better quality camera. Actually, that is the one that I still use today! We have learned a few more skills over the years, and even have a laptop that we have thrown into the mix. We are far from people "professional", but we do earn crypto for our efforts.
This story is a bit about us, and where we started. We aren't too far down the road from where it all started, but our ideas have grown into something very large. Not only do we want to continue to creating content, but also creating new ways for others to share their ideas. That was the birth of 
With the birth of #newsteem I have had to adapt. Like anyone else that has been on the platform for any length of time, it looks very different. The attitudes and actions seem to be developing for the positive. With all of the millions of Steem that is beginning to participate in manual curation...it may change the landscape for the better. There is that word again...better.
To jump into my head a little bit I want to talk about the idea of better, and the idea of quality. I have been met with plenty of conversations in the past several months about the idea of improving Steemit and bringing more quality content to the platform. I have heard many ideas of what people think "quality" means.
Some think that quality means anything that will bring value to the platform. Some think that quality is something at a professional blog level. Some think that quality content is perfect grammar, perfect spelling, and perfect sentence structure. Some think that quality means professional level photos that have taken with expensive cameras and then edited on expensive editing programs.
The funny part of all of those conversations is that when I was informed about how the platform should be, and the level of quality that posts need to be....I was never asked about my opinion, or what I thought "quality" was. I was left to just listen to others ideas and go along with whatever was happening.
I have stayed in the background and kept my opinions to myself, but I think it is time to really put some text out about what I think. As part of this ecosystem I have the ability to say what I want, and it also means that no one has to listen. If you are still with me, thank you! Let's get to it....
I think that quality is a reflection of effort. I think that quality content comes from the heart. It comes from a place of creativity and depth that is unique to each individual. I think that quality content can not be measured without us being able to personally know that person creating it. We have no idea about a persons level of education. We have no idea about living situations, or the opportunity to access equipment. We have no idea if the post has been highly modified because of a language barrier.
There are many different reasons that could disqualify content of even resembling quality...at least in the eyes of someone that believes they know what quality is. This is where that clever title comes in.. Only We Can Know What Quality Content Is....
I do not think that quality content is something that could be consistently measured like a metric. I don't think that we could just make a systematic way to measure the quality of content. Perhaps we should allow content to just exist and then whether it is seen as quality of not will be sorted out by the curators.
Is it possible that we can freely support content though? Are we somehow being held to an unspoken standard by a Steem based shadow government that knows what is best of everyone, and what is best for the platform? Maybe it isn't even a shadow government..could it just be a few influential individuals? All they would have to do is convince a few people that their point of view is corrent and then BOOM you have a herd mentality.
Inside of this anarchist system I am an individual. I have always been an individual, and will always be an individual. So if I find myself supporting a video that has a shaky low quality look, and maybe some terrible sound...well then that is up for me to decide. I will never forget where I started, and I want to encourage everyone regardless of their situation.
I encourage you all to not get caught in the trap of what you think is "quality content", but enjoy what you enjoy no matter if others think it brings "value" to the blockchain or not.
Thanks for sticking with me this long. I hope you all have a wonderful day.
Be well
~The Yeti
