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Steemit is Neither FAIR nor EQUITABLE — and Why This Post Will Never Make it to Trending

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Steemit is Neither FAIR nor EQUITABLE — and Why This Post Will Never Make it to Trending
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<p>After some days (or has it been weeks?) of general busy-ness, I finally had a little more time to "<em>explore</em>" random posts, this morning.&nbsp;</p>
<p>I like "<em>wandering randomly,</em>" as it gets me a sense of the "<em>pulse</em>" of Steemit.</p>
<h2><em>The Frustration Fandango</em></h2>
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<p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/WNZSDah.jpg" alt="Dameselfly" /><br />
<em>Damselfly</em></p>
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<p>Seems like a lot of people are pretty frustrated with the way things are, here on Steemit. Now, I'm pretty willing to be the frustration level would be a lot lower if Steem were still at $7.00... but it's not.</p>
<p>To some degree, I can understand the frustrations of some of the posters I came across today, as well as the frustrations of many who have commented here on my pages.</p>
<p>But the whole entitlement attitude has to go!</p>
<p>I'm tired of reading about how it's "not fair" that you're not making all this money after God knows how many minutes or hours since you joined Steemit.</p>
<p>Nobody owes you anything.</p>
<p>Nothing. Zip. Zilch. Nada.</p>
<p>Permit me to add a perspective we tend to forget.</p>
<h2><em>Social Media is NOT EASY!</em></h2>
<p>When you start an account on twitter, how long does it take before anyone notices you? Before you get 500 followers; 1000 followers? How long does it take before the first person retweets you? Or adds one of your tweets as a "favorite?"&nbsp;</p>
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<p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/6dtCe5A.jpg" alt="Sunset" /><br />
<em>Sunset silhouettes</em></p>
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<p>I don't expect an answer, just think about it.</p>
<p>It took me <em>several years</em> to build a significant <em>organic</em> following, both on twitter and a couple of business Facebook pages.&nbsp;</p>
<p>In fact, I have a Facebook page with near 17,000 likes. Guess what? That took <em>SEVEN YEARS </em>to build.</p>
<p>Now ask yourself this: Why would Steemit be ANY different?&nbsp;</p>
<p><em><strong>"Well, because.... the REWARDS...!"</strong></em></p>
<p>The Rewards? What the hell does <em>that</em> mean, when it's at home? And what does that have to <em>do</em> with anything? Cat whiskers, cookies, thumbs up, SBD, SteemPower, attaboys, eprops, handclaps... why would <em>ANY</em> one be any different from any other?</p>
<p>Why on planet Pluto <em>(not a planet!)</em> are we suddenly owed special attention and "<em>fairness</em>" just because there are a few cents involved?</p>
<p>If you know <em>anything</em> at all about social media you also know that "<em>quality content</em>" by itself doesn't guarantee anything. What you need is to "<em>be good at social media.</em>"&nbsp;</p>
<h2><em>The Twistedness of Upvote Bots</em></h2>
<p>The one thing I agree is a little twisted around here is the <em>WAY</em> in which upvote bots are used, not so much that they <em>ARE</em> used.</p>
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<p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/dPg955I.jpg" alt="Marigold" /><br />
<em>Marigold</em></p>
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<p>One of the reasons I stated that "<em>this post will never make it to Trending</em>" is that I neither have "<em>friends in high places,</em>" nor am I going to use upvote bots to promote it. And the chances of <em>organically</em> getting any post on the trending page are pretty close to zero. And I am not "<em>some unknown,</em>" I am probably in the top 200 most active Steemit community members. That's not bragging, that's <em>adding perspective</em>.</p>
<p>Anyway, to get back tot he point — anywhere else, if you pay to get your content highlighted, it is clearly marked "<em>PROMOTED CONTENT.</em>" It's pretty damned obvious who has <em>paid</em> to put their content in front of you, and who hasn't.&nbsp;</p>
<p>I feel it should be the same here: If you <em>PAY</em> to have your content upvoted, it's basically promoted. And it should be marked as such. Let's call a spade a spade here.&nbsp;</p>
<h2><em>How Much Do People Pay for Upvotes?</em></h2>
<p>Earlier today I played a little game of "<em>how far can you go?</em>"&nbsp;I wanted to see just how crazy people go, in search of upvotes.</p>
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<p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/XWg9815.jpg" alt="Grass" /><br />
<em>Grass in the sun</em></p>
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<p>It was amazing just how many "<em>well rewarded</em>" posts-- some good, some mediocre, some outright useless-- were well-rewarded because they were <em>PAID</em> content.</p>
<p>The record? I actually managed to find a post that had over $100.00 in rewards and 33 comments... <em>EVERY SINGLE ONE OF WHICH</em> was from an upvote bot. Stated differently, the post had a total of <em>three organic upvotes </em>(all below 1 cent) and <em>ZERO</em> organic comments.</p>
<p>I simply shook my head.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The only point of serious annoyance with me is that <em>BECAUSE </em>that post <em>(some totally generic analysis of crypto coin trends)</em> exists in the format it does, with the "<em>purchased rewards</em>" it has... I am slowly watching my own rewards per post <em>(hand written by a human, created specifically to encourage engagement)</em> decline, month over month.</p>
<p>It's not going to make me stop writing here — because I do enjoy the company and interaction of our community — &nbsp;but it does make a total mockery of the idea that Steemit is a "<em>social content site</em>" with any degree of integrity. Just sayin'. It's increasingly just a giant "advertorial."</p>
<h2><em>A Survey of Upvote Bots</em></h2>
<p>Just for grins, I decided to check out <strong>@yababmatt</strong>'s <a href="https://steembottracker.com/"><strong>Upvote Bot Tracker</strong></a>, which is a nifty little tool, in and of itself.</p>
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<p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/Zo0ZBu2.jpg" alt="Poppies" /><br />
<em>Red Poppies in the sun</em></p>
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<p>The most noteworthy thing for me-- since it had been a while since I last looked at it-- wasn't any new features, but the <em>sheer number</em> of bots now listed. There are more than ever, it seems.</p>
<p>That doesn't mean good content isn't out there. There's LOTS of it, and there are still some dedicated souls who spend much effort highlighting quality interesting content.</p>
<p>But on the whole?&nbsp;</p>
<p>The nature of Steemit has changed quite a lot.</p>
<p>I'm not crying for anything <em>"lost,"</em> and I still plan to hang around. But it does seem a bit like greed is killing the goose that's been laying golden eggs. I just hope someone wakes up before we're back to 7-cent Steem!</em>
<p><em><strong>How about YOU?</strong></em> Have you ever used upvote bots? What do you think of them? Does it seem like there's a lot of complaining about "<em>the state of Steemit</em>" these days? What do you think the future of our community look like? Do you think quality and unique content matters? Or is this basically just a "<em>game of upvotes?</em>" <strong>Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation</strong>!</p>
<p><center><img src="https://steemitimages.com/0x0/https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/382917260022382592/388985975487070218/STEEMIT-BLOGGERS-GIF.gif" />  Animated banner created by <a href="/@zord189">@zord189</a></center></p>
<p><center><img src="https://steemitimages.com/DQmQ599LwdiqJJw5oko4MK4PHcPJCZkvk8ScrW9ojcJfGX9/APP.png"></center></p>
<p><em>(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for Steemit)<br>
Created at 180316 01:30 PDT</em></p>
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