Over what feels like many, many years here, one thing has become painfully obvious, those that say they are going to power up, *don't*. I is like all the people that said, *"If Steem ever goes near 1 dollar again I am going to buy in..."* I guess they are waiting to get the real bottom. Anyway, everyone can do what they want with their lives and their stakes. 

This includes a few large accounts that I know of who are quite picky with who they consistently support. I have heard it from several now over my time here that they are looking for people who have proven their commitment in some way which generally means, powering up a decent percentage of their earnings. 

https://i.imgur.com/yNSZsKh.jpg

### Long-haul and pulling power

There are two main reasons for their view on this which is firstly, those who power up tend to have a longer term view of the platform as powering up earnings is *investing* into the platform that which could otherwise be taken out. It is the equivalent of buying Steem on the market place as essentially, it isn't *selling* it. Secondly, for those who are well-staked and interested in the growth of the platform, a powered up and active account has the chance to help carry some of the curation weight and add value to other users also as Steem Power is the torque in the system. 

This is more important than ever before as finally, some people have realized how bare the middle classes of the platform are and how bad that is for distribution and support of wider content groups. Essentially, for the platform to find a balance so many people can be supported, a great deal more needs to be padding the central ranges of the SP holders. Currently, the platform looks like an apple core with nearly all Steem at the top, nearly all accounts at the bottom and not much in the middle. A much healthier system would have literally thousands more accounts in the middle reaches of say, 5000-50000 SP. 

So now, larger accounts are seemingly becoming more aware of just who they are supporting as they are also looking to protect their own investments. When it comes to investing and business transactions, track-record is something that is looked for, word of mouth is another as they give some assurance to trust. 

### Track record

When it comes to track record, there are a few things that one could look at as indicators.

- ***Powering up*** as it shows a willingness to *lock* some liquids up into the system for at least 13 weeks. That isn't long but it is something at least.

- ***Blog feed*** and what is contains. Original content delivered consistently, not a crazy amount of resteems and of course, some kind of decent quality to go along with it.

- ***Comments*** section is also important as it shows the willingness to comment well and engage other users. If there is a lot of thanks, nice post, I like it a lot good sir in there, it doesn't indicate understanding. 

### Word of Mouth

This is something that no one seems to really talk about here but in the world of small business (which this kind of is) word of mouth is an essential component to not only getting new customers but, retaining current. If someone can't recommend your business to their peers, the relationship isn't strong enough. This can be seen through resteems but, that isn't the whole story. 

When it comes to some of the most important posts, it is through direct word of mouth shared through chats and discord groups which means there is no real way to track it. This is something that would actually help decent accounts grow a lot if influential accounts from time to time dropped a link or two of the users they believe in to their own peer group and say *"Keep an eye out on this one from time to time".* 

What this does is not only raises awareness of a potentially previously unseen account but, then if found interesting a follow can be given and perhaps a little more reward will sometimes come their way. Word of mouth is a *very* powerful tool and those with influence and a strong circle of peers could help the ones they want to support a great deal. This could even potentially extend to some of the delegated projects who aren't using all of their SP each day. 

### Proof of Staying (PoSt) 

There have been far too many words spoken about commitment and far too little action on the matter. Everyone has their path to travel of course and everyone's stake is their own to use as they see fit but, that works on many levels. It is time that more of those who are actually really thinking long and hold significant stake, start using it to develop the the accounts on the platform who are doing the same. 

Handouts aren't the answer, consistency is, just like the consistency of content or engagement that someone provides. If those who are consistent performers are consistently rewarded (and monitored to stay on track and not let entitlement consume them), they will become  rolemodels and onboarding mechanisms for the future as well as, major distribution points that can support a wide range of content and smaller accounts. 

There are many ways to increase the value of the platform here but in the long-term, it still will require some decently staked people who are *made of Steem.* What I mean by this is those who have come onto the platform and have *proven* that coming from nothing is possible across a wide range of content types. Those who can show the possible trajectories and potential methods and demonstrate that being a part of the community is not only personally rewarding but, monetarily rewarding too. 

### QoP

This isn't about free-ride tracts to success, it is about a working history that acts like a CV for investors to say, "This is a person I want to hire to represent my stake on this platform", because that is what it really is. Every upvote is an endorsement of not only the content, but also the content creator and, the creator is much more important than any one piece they create. The reason is that it is the creator who commits, the creator who supports, the creator who is going to continue to buy-in and the creator who is going to work tirelessly if needs be that will take this platform to the next level. 

There is a lot of talk about quality and it is of utmost importance now more than ever but, it is misdirected to the content on the platform. Quality is important to this community,***QUALITY of PERSON.***

A community is made of people all acting as they see fit but, those who are working together and acting in the best interest of the community at the same time should be the ones who are getting the support to continually do so. This is the chance to redirect the system and bring humans back into the value equation but, it does take active people willing to support other active people. It is an *in for the long-haul* move but in time, it will pay off for all users, those currently staked and those yet to arrive.

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]