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Do you ever write a post that you think, 'Whoa! They are going to love this!', only to have it fail miserably to gain any interest or upvotes?

I don't know what to tell you if you came for answers because I don't have any. I am just wondering how it makes you feel.

For me, this is quite a common occurrence and I am learning to deal with it a little at a time. Honestly, I get quite disappointed at times when things that I have put many hours into to produce and many more into the thinking behind it falls onto deaf ears or doesn't get seen at all perhaps. And yes, it is frustrating to see 'worse' content get upvoted beyond my wildest dreams. 

But is this true? Is my content good or is it just my attached opinion as the creator, like a mother saying, 'Well, I think you are very handsome'?

I am under the assumption that many of us are struggling to gain traction at Steemit and some may even be successful in what they do in the walking world too. Sometimes it is difficult to take real experiences and turn them into interesting and practical articles.

I for one am not a professional writer, I am however a professional. People seem to forget at times that when they read something posted here by authors, what they are reading is not necessarily some randomly created piece to fill time and space, they are reading experiences of all kinds at varying depths of skill.

One problem online though is that we do not really know the source of the writing so good presentation goes a long way to getting buy-in on content. The issue here is though, what if the well presented content is actually convincing rubbish? If it checks all the boxes of sounding plausible, looking legit and is presented as tested, one may be inclined to buy. What if you then found out it was a 16 year old typing from his parents den?

Does the information quality change in your opinion, is it more or less valuable or do you omit the source of the content completely as an evaluating factor?

It is interesting to think about. If I was walking on the street and a well presented 16 year old approached and offered business or investment advice for a dollar, would I pay? Unlikely I think.

I would, perhaps incorrectly, assume that a 16 year old would not have advice relevant to me. I would generalise that their background is very unlikely to contain the experience necessary to carry valuable information. If that same 16 year old types it though and I do not see their age in it, would I pay?

At Steemit, there are all manner of professionals, experts and many that google search and consume and spit information well too. Those that present well have the best chance of gaining attention but just like in the real world, good looks does not guarantee intelligence. 

(I am fortunate to have both good looks and intelligence but only when my wife is in my company)

It takes quite a lot of time for me to trust an author here, to test and accept that they are a reputable source before I will invest a great deal of time on their content. Some I have found at surface level interesting but the depth is soon reached and my interest wanes. Like meeting a pretty girl at a bar and listening as she speaks about and demonstrates how to take the perfect selfie.

There are lots of pretty girls in this world, if I am going to go on a date, there better be more than skin deep beauty. I treat content in the same way, not just here, everywhere.

I am so tired of seeing spectacular looking movies with no story line, a multitude of series all following the same format and all manner of cookie cutter content that is delivered with different titles.

Perhaps that is why I don't get the results I am working for, maybe my content is too cookie cutter, or maybe not enough.

When I was a kid, we had a family friend that would go on holiday to some very ordinary places and then come around and show us the slides. Yes slides. It doesn't actually matter where the holiday is, watching someone else's holiday pictures must be one of the most tiresome things to do. Paying to watch someone else's holiday is crazy in my eyes.

Many do though. Instagram and Facebook is filled with pretty people on tropical beaches with 4 million followers. Why? Perhaps I am too old to understand the attraction. It happens here too of course. Not a bad life though I assume, getting a paid continual vacation.

A few years ago, I started being much more selective with the content I consumed as I really started to understand what had value to me. What had value became what added value, not just financially but all kinds of value. Very quickly nearly all entertainment consumption dropped away and surprisingly, life got more entertaining.

My engagement with life increased, my attention and observation developed and my skill set adjusted accordingly. It is from this experience that I write, my life experience. I write what I know, what I would like to know, my struggles, my insights, the lessons I have learned, the failures I have endured and the many times I have been wrong, as well as the many times I have been right.

If you have read one of my posts, it has never been a rehash of someone else's article, or some random story I saw online. Yes, I put photos here too and occasionally try to have some fun but regardless of presentation, it is from depth of experience and the heart, not engineered to look like it.

There is too much personal image curation going on, too much false perspective, too many designed personas making claims on authenticity while regurgitating other's content in different words. Will society ever tire of it? Probably not, but I don't have to add to it either.

At the end of the day, which it is now, regardless of content topic or source, some people will find treasure, some will find trash though both might be looking in the same place. Popularity however is up to the group and that is the beauty of being an individual, we each have the choice to choose what everyone else chose :)

Sleep well or good morning .

Taraz
[ a Steemit original ]


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