As Steemit grows we are seeing more people commenting. That's great, but we want it to be good for them and not annoying for the recipients. I was prompted to write this post after reading [this](https://steemit.com/stats/@eroche/steem-comment-data-and-automated-accounts) by @eroche about detecting bots by how often they comment. I probably comment more than some bots have. I've averaged nearly 1000 posts and comments each month since I started here over a year ago. I realise that may look excessive, but I've been having so much fun here.

![Comments](https://steemitimages.com/DQmPVanUMqdADsLVCV8yZUjnPbFe6AwLKjreWd5qfBQ7Qg6/image.png)

My commenting rate may have dropped in recent months as I've been trying (semi-successfully) to limit my time on Steemit so I can do other things, like play guitar. As you can see in the picture comments can be profitable, but that generally only happens if you follow a few simple guidelines (there are no fixed rules on Steemit):

* Show you read the post. A generic comment such as "Great post, I like this" adds nothing to the conversation. Just upvote it if you have nothing to say.
* Don't beg for follows or votes. If your comments are good then people may check you out and then they can decide if you deserve votes. They have to be earned.
* Definitely do not just copy the same comment everywhere. That is likely to get you flagged and harm your reputation.

I will vote up good comments on my posts, but the less interesting ones are likely to get nothing and spam will be flagged, if only to move it down the screen. I also vote on comments for other peoples' posts if I think they deserve prominence. I don't like to see spammy comments high on the page, so I will give a small vote to better ones. I'm not so sure about flagging in those cases as it's not my post.

Remember that Steemit is a social site, so do socialise. I've plugged away on here, but it's been a lot of fun and I've made many friends. I never asked them to follow me. The only votes I asked for were on competition posts and then it only needs to be 1%. If you make Steemit fun then it doesn't feel like work, but it can still pay. I'd just hate to see it descend into vote for vote and bots. It should be about people. Otherwise it will not grow as most people will not find it attractive.

I want to see this graph keep improving. The are estimating almost one millions views per day now. I really think Steemit is on the brink of going viral. There are articles almost every day now that reference it, but it's not quite broken through to the mainstream. When it does and the developers are ready for it then the nature of Steemit could change radically. I have concerns that the spam levels could rocket and maybe we need more tools to deal with it, e.g. filter out all comments with those below a reputation threshold.

[![Hypestat](https://steemitimages.com/DQmNkyLKB8S27zdnkB2JWFUz8hyJwQqjwB8jwxrCvf6d7yw/image.png)](http://steemit.com.hypestat.com/)

I'm still excited to see Steemit reach its potential, but I've seen other services (e.g. Tsu) suffer from spam. I can understand that earning a few cents is a big deal to many people around the world, but we'd prefer them to do it as valued members of the community and not through spam.

Steem on!

<p><b><div class="pull-left"><img src="https://steevc.keybase.pub/steemit/steevc.png"></div>
I'm Steve, the geeky guitarist. </b></p><p>I'll buy <a href="https://steemit.com/guitar/@steevc/steem-for-picks">guitar picks for Steem Dollars</a></p>
<p>If this post is over seven days old you can vote up one of my newer posts to reward me.</p>
<p><b>Spam comments may be flagged</b></p>