Just Plugging Along...For Now

• (Note: I have declined all rewards for this post.)

A couple of days ago I woke to a slew of downvotes on my post ‘10 Tips for Improving ITSM Metrics and Reports’. My initial reaction was “visceral” because like many, I can be an emotionally reactive person when invested in something. Add to that, my experience on Steemit has been sometimes frustrating, and often confusing.

This recent downvoting campaign against, what I felt was a well written and good piece. I hardly ever put less than two days into writing and organizing one of my Information Technology related posts. So, to get such a negative response was very saddening. However, when I saw a comment from one of the downvoters, I was confused. I was being targeted because I used a “bid bot” or “paid for votes”. After what started as a less than a warm exchange, especially on my side, the conversation turned into an educational process…for me. Thank you @slobberchops, @steevc and @joshman for your patience and lesson.

Now, I will be the first to tell you that I don’t know about all the “ins and outs” of Steemit and the Steem blockchain. I never really cared much about the guts of how rewards work and stuff like that. I just loved the idea of “Proof of Brain”. Being rewarded for what you create and according to the quality as determined by the community then allowing the community to reward you for it. It all makes sense to me.

Now, I originally joined Steemit back in December of 2017. I hung around for a while, but life took hold and I disappeared. Then around October 2019 things slowed down…some. So, I started working on a couple of WordPress blogs. I have a passion for helping people with computer stuff, especially older generations who were not raised with computers. Then there is my love for IT Service Management frameworks and methodologies. That is what these blogs were for. More than anything, I just love taking what I have learned and still learning and place it into words. So, what better place to bring that information to than Steemit. Get some engagement, meet new people with the same personal and professional interests, on a platform not managed by a corporation, but by the community itself. Hey, and let’s be honest, we all want to earn some rewards for our efforts too. I found the @steempress plugin and away we went.

So that leads me to where we are now. During my return, I really wanted to start getting more eyeballs on my posts and find more people with similar interests. This is harder than it seemed. The search function for Steem sites seems to lack a little to be desired and often end up with results that do not even come close to what you are looking for. My next thought was that I need to get my content seen, then those people will find me, and I can start socializing and communicating with them.

That’s when I came across a site known as @tipu and @minnowbooster. My understanding of these sites was that they have approved curators, who have proven to only curate quality content and reference blacklists to ensure they do not vote on those users listed. You can delegate SP to these projects as well, which I did at one point.

But none of this was what got me in the crosshairs of this downvoting barrage. What put me in the line of fire was that I had “purchased votes” according to those who have and continue to crush me. Anyway, I paid and received votes in return. Something that is now frowned upon greatly in the community…with a caveat.
It seems if you decline rewards, then this is ok. Otherwise, it is bad form. Very well, noted!

So, for now, I am examining my next steps. Anyway, I think for now I will keep posting. Heck, I’m already making the posts on another blog, so it’s no extra work on my part. Plus, there are characters here who I enjoy following. Looking at spending a little more time getting back to looking for people with common interests and building friendships as well as learning more about Steemit and Steem.

Just going to approach it more carefully and slowly…or not. Not sure if I am sticking around or not, but time will tell. It is just frustrating since my time on @steemit becuase I get penalized and told to do something one way, and then when I do it, I get penalized by some other group. Too much content and comments and you are a spammer, too little and you are not a productive member of the community. Voting or commenting on a post, or another comment, of someone who has a beef with someone else will get you downvoted, even though you have nothing to do with the beef. Yeah...I'm still trying to understand how all this works.