This Special Edition may be one of a kind -- although I can think of other topics that could make up posts here. So ... maybe not. It's the only legitimate place I can think of right now to put this list of announcements on policy changes for participating in The STEEM Engine and having your work featured in The Daily Whistle Stops.
If you're not a member of The STEEM Engine who posts work in our post-promo channel, you don't need to read this. If you are, you might want to continue on.
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This has not been an easy document to write. It's been nearly two months in the making. I have given this a lot of thought and talked it over with the other leaders more than once. There are some problems that need to be addressed in this group -- and the solutions are not easy.
I realize Steem is down and the mood on the platform is sullen -- to say the least. But we're still here -- those of us who founded The STEEM Engine -- working to promote the quality content of our members and encourage constructive engagement on Steemit.
To that end and to sort of quote Freddie Fender, I'll be here 'til the last teardrop falls. But we've (or for sure I have) finally reached a point where we need some "new rules." They apply exclusively to those members who submit their posts for promotion in the baggage-car -- our post-promo channel.
If you are one of the many who are supporting us from the goodness of your heart (and for this we bless you many times over!!) or are just "along for the ride," you can stop reading here, because what follows really doesn't affect you at all. This is only for those submitting work in our post-promo channel.
It would be easy to turn this into a rant, but I won't. Here's "the bottom line" for those who appreciate brevity.
For your post to be included in The Daily Whistle Stops or to receive any upvote from The STEEM Engine (TSE) account, you must be upvoting that group post consistently and at a respectable amount.
To clarify: 6 or 7 times a week is great. 3 times out of the last 21 days is not. 0 times out of the last 21 days for sure is not. A $.05 vote at 50% is great. So is a $.01 vote at 100%. A $.00 vote at 10% isn't.
Our group account grows through the upvotes on our posts. If you want to benefit from the ~$.30 upvotes we've managed to maintain, even under current conditions (or the ~$.80 upvotes we handed out in much better times), you need to participate in fueling that effort.
Have a look at some of the statistics from people who are really helping us grow. Some of the dollar amounts are pretty interesting, but notice especially the number of articles the member has upvoted and the number of their articles TSE (The STEEM Engine) has upvoted.
EDS has contributed $438.62 in 200 articles to @thesteemengine
TSE has contributed $ 30.78 in 55 articles to @ethandsmith
CW has contributed $22.70 in 178 articles to @thesteemengine.
TSE has contributed $11.82 in 35 articles to @catweasel
ES has contributed $29.85 in 177 articles to @thesteemengine
TSE has contributed $15.24 in 54 articles to @enchantedspirit
APM has contributed $15.04 in 183 articles to @thesteemengine
TSE has contributed $41.54 in 113 articles to @apanamamama
ATL has contributed $10.72 in 183 articles to @thesteemengine
TSE has contributed $24.02 in 57 articles to @awakentolife
SP has contributed $48.98 in 177 articles to @thesteemengine
TSE has contributed $11.11 in 21 articles to @shadowspub
KC has contributed $30.94 in 179 articles to @thesteemengine
TSE has contributed $8.89 in 21 articles to @karencarrens
TJ has contributed $78.14 in 186 articles to @thesteemengine
TSE has contributed $42.07 in 120 articles to @tattoodjay
Now look at some statistics from members who are submitting their articles into the baggage-car for curation. Again, notice not just the reward amounts, but the number of TSE articles (or comments) members upvoted vs. the number of member articles TSE has upvoted.
XXX has contributed $0.33 in 13 articles to @thesteemengine.
TSE has contributed $9.75 in 45 articles to xxx
XXX has contributed $1.48 in 67 articles to @thesteemengine
TSE has contributed $22.52 in 96 articles to XXX
XXX has contributed $2.29 in 11 articles to @thesteemengine
TSE has contributed $22.66 in 51 articles to XXX
XXX has contributed $0.43 in 7 articles to @thesteemengine
TSE has contributed $3.34 in 34 articles to XXX
XXX has contributed $0.10 in 17 articles to @thesteemengine
TSE has contributed $6.26 in 32 articles to XXX
XXX has contributed $0.15 in 7 articles to @thesteemengine
TSE has contributed $3.70 in 29 articles to XXX
XXX has contributed $1.25 in 21 articles to @thesteemengine
TSE has contributed $18.5 in 58 articles to XXX
These folks aren't even upvoting us as often as they ask us to upvote them -- sometimes by a long shot. And these $$$ amounts don't take into account the 20 - 35c trailing votes from Ethan and our curation trail that members usually receive on their posts. When you add those in, the books become even more unbalanced. I think this needs to change.
I realize some people's upvotes are still very small. That's not the point. I'm perfectly willing to honor requests from people who play fair with us. If you expect to win the lottery, you need to buy a ticket -- and if you want a nice little chunk of change from The STEEM Engine, you need to throw your penny on the pile -- regularly. As you can see, the payoff is still pretty great when you do. Again, look at these accounts who are helping us grow with their consistent support.
S&P has contributed $15.10 in 238 articles to @thesteemengine
TSE has contributed $66.63 in 201 articles to @sultnpapper
Z-A has contributed $2.06 in 144 articles to @thesteemengine
TSE has contributed $45.04 in 115 articles to @zen-art
BT- has contributed $1.99 in 63 articles to @thesteemengine
TSE has contributed $8.03 in 23 articles to @bigtom13
M19 has contributed $0.95 in 44 articles to @thesteemengine
TSE has contributed $2.58 in 34 articles to @movement19
EGS has contributed $6.54 in 130 articles to @thesteemengine
TSE has contributed $39.02 in 105 articles to @eaglespirit
These figures show a picture of who's on-board with this effort and who isn't, of who's supporting our group and who's not. You are perfectly free to do what you want with your upvote, but I am now taking this into account.
Along these same lines, there has been some concern from the leadership and from members as well about the value of upvotes left on member's posts along with comments to qualify for putting your own post in baggage-car -- post-promo. Frankly, some of those have been pretty stingy.
That 4% vote for $.00 may not be as thrilling to the author as you'd hoped. If the post, in your opinion, isn't worth more consideration, maybe you need to look further until you find one that is. Our group has some wonderful authors. I promise you, your search won't take long.
On the other hand, if your heart really isn't into this effort more than making a minimal gesture to "abide by the rules" ... maybe you need to rethink your participation here. Period. Again, your upvote ... your choice. But be aware ... attitude counts.
Next point: There have been some extremely low effort / low quality posts showing up in baggage-car -- post-promo lately. Even MinnowBooster refuses to upvote single uninteresting photographs with less than 150 words designed to make them somehow more interesting. Extremely short posts -- less than 300 words -- or posts that contain one photo and a few sentences with no other redeeming value beyond the level of "here's what I had for dinner tonight" will not receive upvotes from the TSE account.
Of course there are exceptions to this word-length rule -- poetry, professional photography, drawings, etc. If it's art -- that's one thing. If it's a post you basically phoned in, that's another. I know it when I see it. So do you.
Bots are part of the Steemit culture. I understand this and I'm not here to debate the pros-and-cons of that question. You are free to use them or not, but posts that have more than $25 worth of bot-boost on them by the time I see them will not receive upvotes from the TSE account. By my accounting, you've arranged your reward on that post -- and that's fine. I'll use our assets to help someone else. There are plenty who need it.
By the same token, if your post has a value greater than $50 showing on it from whatever source by the time I see it, it will not receive an upvote from the TSE account.
If these posts are worthy of promotion in The Daily Whistle Stops, I'm happy to put them there -- minus the TSE group upvote. But if your post has $147 showing on it, our 30 - 80c vote will matter far less to you than to another member whose also excellent post has received $.38 worth of respect.
I hope you can appreciate the reasoning behind this decision. We rejoice along with you for your recognition and success, but part of our mission is to help support those who are still waiting to see Fortune's smile.
Thank you for your attention to this admittedly long document. And thank you especially for your help in making The STEEM Engine a better experience for everyone.
Original images used under this Creative Commons license or this Creative Commons license and modified by added text.
