In my time on this site, I learned a great many things. One of the things that sticks out in my mind is how this place can be overwhelming.
When we first start on Steemit, the platform is a bit tricky. Unlike D.Tube and Zappl which are fairly familiar if one used the comparable social media sites, this contains a large learning curve. For many, it takes a while to figure out the wallet system alone. What is a SBD? Why is there STEEM and STEEM Power? How do I get either of them? These are all questions newcomers have.
Then we have navigating the site itself. This is a challenge which is hopefully being addressed. I will state that, at present, Steemit is one long feed of articles. This can make it a bit difficult to find anything. The tags helps a great deal although are mislabeled. Of course, if you are like me, you followed the world so your feed is fairly worthless. Nevertheless, it is manageable once you start to pare things down and learn some of the different aspects to the site.
It isn't only newcomers who get overwhelmed. Being here for some time created another dilemma for me: with so many great projects, where do I focus my attention. There are a lot of different things going on that it is easy to get lost in all there is to do. Everyone is looking for more help and, with this blockchain being so young, there are opportunities all around. At the same time, with tokens, we see, for the first time, the ability to finance a great many things.
Hence I head is spinning like a newcomer albeit for a different reason.
Yet there is one point that I must make to all newer people (and some older ones too).
STEEM is a blockchain that was designed to target the social media market. We see the content/reward system built into the blockchain that any app can take advantage of. So far, we have a handful of apps that align themselves well with the traditional social media sites. With each upgrade, all of them are improving and moving closer to being able to handle some serious traffic.
Of course, we know that this blockchain is at the forefront of introducing people to the tokenized world. Where else can people post, comment, and upvote while getting paid for doing it? (No I don't referring going on Facebook at work). Each time someone does something on this blockchain, it has a monetary value. Sure, when new and without much SP, it is a small number but it does grow over time.
We know that the opportunity for compensation is what brought a lot of people here. This only makes sense since many are on the traditional social media sites promoting STEEM (or the specific apps) as a place for one to do what he or she is already doing yet get paid for it. Since this is our marketing tactic, at this point, we should not shy away from it nor get upset when people arrive on here looking for money. It is what we told them was here. And it is...
However, there is another point that I need to stress. Even though this is a content/reward system, it is still a SOCIAL media blockchain. The apps that are on here are designed for people to interact. I was chatting with another member on here this morning and we discussed the fact that there are roughly 2 comments left on each post (on average). To me, that is tragic.
It is as if people forgot the "social" aspect of "social" media as soon as money entered the picture. I understand how this can happen yet it is the social aspect that entitles one to the money.
I am consistent in preaching people to comment, especially when new. There are a number of reasons for this.
A. People get to know you.
As I stated above, Steemit is a big stream of articles passing by. When one is new, especially if he or she arrived with no following, all posts are out on an island. How is anyone going to know you even exist let alone upvote your content? Yet I see this on a regular basis, some new person complaining that he or she didn't get any votes.
Here is the secret. Get commenting so people know you.
Also, in marketing it takes 7 contacts from a company before a prospect will even remember your company. The same holds true on here. If you leave one comment, do not expect the author to remember you. This is especially true if the person has a significant following. Those who get a ton of messages will get blurred together. Be consistent in your commenting along with putting up something that is applicable to the subject. I can tell you, a few words or a gif will not get you remembered by me. I would imagine the same holds true for others.
B. You Get Money
Newer people often complain about having little to no SP. That is true. If you do not have fiat to power up, this is a challenge. However, one way to move ahead is to comment a lot. I will let you in on a secret, whales and orcas upvote comments. It is amazing to watch the difference. You see a popular post with some of the heavy hitters and there will be comments that get more money than many posts. I received an upvote from a heavy hitter one day, it was worth 40 S.T.U. which, with SBD so high at the time, was worth well over $100.
I upvote most of the comments left on my posts. For that reason, I have a lot of comments typically left. I will alter the amount of upvote based upon the comment. I can tell you, depending upon my VP at that moment, many of my votes are worth .50-.60 STU which is over a dollar. Naturally, you are not going to retire off that but I write between 14-16 articles per week and I have many who comment on each one. It doesn't take a math genius to figure out how many votes they are getting.
There is money in commenting.
C. STEEM Needs It
There are many benefits to the system for having a large number of comments. To start, if my understanding of Google is correct, the bot it sends around cannot distinguish between the actual article and the comments. To the bot, it all is one piece on a webpage. This enhances the standing in the search rankings which is imperative. Online marketing is great but the only true way to grow is organic traffic from the search engines.
Also, comments create "conversations". This is the social aspect of the site. While there are other avenues to interact apart for the main site, this is a great way to help foster interaction. As I said, Steemit averages about two comments per post; if this is going to be a legitimate social media site, that number needs to grow by a factor of 10. Look at a site like Reddit and the number of comments it gets. Most posts that I see on there have 20-30 comments. There are actually conversations back and forth. The same is true on YouTube. Sure not every post has that but many do. That is what is needed her.
STEEM is a community. Just like when you move into a geographic area, you have the option of participating or isolating. If you stay in your house while never meeting anyone and complain about the fact nobody interacts with you, who's fault is that? Of course, if this goes on for a while, you could move out of that neighborhood and tell anyone who will listen how they were unwelcoming and rude there.
Isn't that what we see on here?
So get involved with the community. There are a group of people who, overall, understand how cryptocurrency and blockchain is going to change the world. We are at the early stages of this technology with mass adoption still a long way away. From an individual, carnal stand-point, this means, in my opinion, anyone on here now is going to profit handsomely over the next couple years. I hypothesize that those who are active will have their financial concerns removed.
Which brings up to the next point. From the humanistic view, we can make a radical difference. This community is different from what you encounter on the social media websites. If you come on here looking to post how crappy your life is like people do on Facebook, well all I can say is get ready to be alone. People here do not want to read about that. We all have issues; we all have down days; we all have families who are a pain in the ass.
What is being embraced here is the positive aspects of life that are natural and inherent in all of us. When one starts to realize there is success to be had here, even if it is not in hand as of yet, it motivates one to be bigger than him or herself. This is where interacting with others who are of like-mind and similar interests make a difference. Individually, it is tough to get much done. Yet, collectively, we can make tremendous headway.
And this occurs while sitting on top of one of the most powerful technologies the world has seen: blockchain.
So, in closing, if you want to be a negative nellie, moaning about the plight of your life, you can do that. If you want to isolate on here and expect everyone to come to you, that is your right. If you want to post stuff about how the future is horrible and we are all done for, there is nobody to stop you. If you want to be selfish and only concern yourself with the money you are getting out of this place, have at it.
However, all that will get you is shunned and alone. As I said, people on here see a bigger picture where the future impact that is enormous. Many people understand that resources are becoming available to not only end our own burdens financially, but also enrich the entire planet.
For those new, if you have a difficult time believing this, then I suggest you start commenting some....you will run into a few of those people very quickly.
Be social...it is a social site after all.
If you found this article to be helpful, please give it an upvote and a resteem.
To receive the free basic income tokens you are entitled to and help end world wide poverty, please click the following:
Pics by Google Images