I use my own photography when I write, but it isn't easy to find something that goes quite with the content I provide so, I have to get a little creative in order to match up the image to the piece. It is funny sometimes, as even though to someone else the picture I use seems random, often I have thought long and hard about which to use.
I do tend to use select images a few times as I like some more than others, but I often try to collect images that I could later turn into a supportive image. While not a photographer by trade, I think it is pretty awesome that on Steem I can actually get kinda paid for the images I take. I used to put a lot of photographs on Facebook, Instagram and even twitter, where I got some pretty decent retweets once upon a time - but for what?
This is something that many people should consider on Steem as while there are talented people who might get paid on other sites, the majority of us are nowhere near as talented as we would like to believe and, most of us would not earn anything at all on our content elsewhere.
Some people might find that appraisal harsh but I know that while I am not completely useless, I do not think that I would come close to being able to play the game necessary to monetize on the social platforms because, who I would need to impress is not my audience.
Sounds strange perhaps but on most of the platforms, it is the people who manage the platforms themselves that have a great deal of power and for places like Medium - the only way to get paid is to impress the ones who produce the publications for Medium themselves. This is not what I would want to do at all.
What is great about Steem is while it isn't perfect by any means, one has a much more direct relationship with the audience and while there are all kinds of differences in stake meaning not everyone is going to impress a whale, there is plenty of support to be found if one is able to find those who like what one does. It isn't always easy of course because there are still only a few users here meaning that the tastes are relatively narrow, and the staked tastes are even narrower.
But regardless, there is something beautiful about creating content with an audience in mind, something that you look for people to enjoy or, help them in some way to improve themselves in some way. A lot of my own content is like this where I want to convey a message to the audience and often, it is not in the way that most people do it as I am not a list creator, I am not a teacher.
My approach is to get people thinking by presenting a great deal of what ifs. While many people seem to like to hear from confident authorities, nothing puts my guard up more than people who know what they are talking about with confidence as more often than not, I find they are suffering from a narrow and limited view and are under the Dunning-Kruger effect, where with a little bit of knowledge they believe they know a lot.
Often, the people who are uncertain about what they know or say are the ones who know the most because they know that there are many more variables in play meaning that their confidence level will decrease. While someone with a little bit of information might believe they know 95 out of 100 things to know, Someone who knows 1000 things about the same topic will recognize that there might be 5000 more things they don't know. I had a friend who did a psychology class at university, and then felt qualified enough to start analyzing people - you know the type.
As you can see, my posts are a little bit rambly, which is the style I aim for because well, that is just the way I am. I think much slower than I once did but in much the same way where my thoughts are highly promiscuous and one will bang several others pretty hard to conceive a few more. It is frustrating at times for people to speak with me as I move across vast distances quickly.
However, I understand that this isn't always great for the audience and will lose many however, I also think that those who work a little harder for the information will better connect, think about and maybe develop better actions for themselves. For me, it isn't about telling people what to do because I have no interest in being an authority, but I could help people discover things for themselves. As they say, make it think it is their idea, but in my opinion - it always is their idea.
People need to start taking responsibility for their thoughts and subsequent actions instead of laying the blame on those who might have inspired them to think and act in the first place. Blaming others for our own actions is pretty ridiculous.
I didn't want to hit you honey, but you made me do it.
Bullshit.
You see? This post is pretty rambling and while you might not find value in it, someone else could uncover a thread that they pull upon to unravel their mind and knit together an entirely new experience. One man's trash is another's treasure, as the saying goes. But having said that, I always try to put something out there that I believe is valuable in a "clear enough" way that at least some people will be able to find threads in the brambles to pull upon.
In my opinion, too many people are selfish with their content development and instead of thinking about how others consume, just do as they please. There is no problem with this until there is the expectation that those people who you didn't consider at all pay you for what is delivered. If you want to get paid on Steem consistently, you have to consistently deliver what people are willing to pay for - or have enough stake and the will to self-vote.
No one is forced to contribute here, this is an opt-in collective of humans who have a wide range of background experience, skill level and wants - expecting it to be an easy process is silly. And, if you have been here for a while and haven't been able to get traction on what you create, perhaps the problem isn't Steem. Everyone needs to learn to adapt to a changing world and in my opinion, there is an art in the evolution itself, as well as skills that can be developed.
Most people however believe that what they do is the best that they can do, and what they know about themselves is all that needs to be known.
As said, the Dunning-Kruger effect in action.
You think you are creative? Prove it. There are plenty of ways for someone to create on Steem, a growing number of tailored interfaces that one could write and engage with across and lots of opportunity to adapt. However, how many can? This is the thing because for me I am having fun writing across many of these spaces because I feel that I can actually offer something of value to each. The tokens are nice, but being able to use what I have experienced in this life to produce something to be consumed;
You might call yourself a contributor but, what impact have you had and what ripples have you created? If there is no movement from your contribution into the community - does it count?
I think this is something for a creator to consider, because if you don't move thought into action, the only thing that has been created is the feeling of doing something - not the doing itself. You might want to change minds - but perhaps the only one that needs to make a shift is your own.
Your experience in this world is your own. If you would like something different, learn to create opportunities for yourself to change.
There are plenty available, and more are coming.
Taraz
[ a Steem original ]
