RE: Is It Really a Question of #thediarygame or No Diaries at All?
Thanks for thinking out loud, because many of these thoughts have crossed my mind too. You're much older and more experienced than me, and yes, it has indeed become formulaic, as you mentioned. But my point here: What I'm suggesting is to write about trivial things now and then, but with a twist.
Your next suggestion, about splintering the content, is a really good one. However, there are two issues:
First, tags—especially those curated by teams—have become problematic. It's not ideal to focus too much on specific tags, but that's just how things work now. No matter how much the team tries to relax, modify, or loosen the old rules, the curators aren't ready to let go of those strict standards yet. I'm not sure what exactly happened during the time of the split or how people became so rigid about these things, but it'll take time for the newer approach to be fully accepted.
Secondly, splintering or categorizing tags and topics can make everything more defined, but as a reader, I sometimes enjoy a bit of surprise. While I don't use the title "diary game" so blatantly—my titles tend to be more self-explanatory—I find that discovering something unexpected within a diary entry makes it all the more enjoyable. (This might sound a bit absurd, but it's just me fantasizing about stumbling upon something out of the box while reading a diary. ;) )
Am I also thinking out loud, well maybe :)
Thank you so much, Denmarkguy, for your suggestions. I believe something good and productive will come from these, and hopefully, many more to come. A pool of suggestions like this can be incredibly constructive, as it offers diverse perspectives that help refine ideas and lead to more effective solutions.
At the risk of going a bit off-topic, tags are definitely an issue in the current iteration of Steemit.
When you create a post, one tag is automatically taken by the community you post to, and then people have a "country tag" and likely a "steemexclusive" tag, so now you've already used 3 of 8 tags. And then people add a "club" tag, so now we're up to 4 of 8 tags used. And there might be a "burnsteem" tag in there. Then we add a tag for Diary Game (or whatever challenge you're doing) and now 5-6 of 8 tags are spoken for.
But let's back up for a sec.
Tags are ideally supposed to help with content discovery, in terms of categorizing posts... are they about pets? Gardening? Crypto? Travel? On the bigger scale of things, I'd submit it's more important that tags represent the gist of what a post is about, and don't just serve as attempts to attract curator attention.
This was before your time with us, but the old "SteemPeak" front end — which a LOT of people used — had better usability and allowed for up to ten tags, which helped a little... and the (unspoken) convention seemed to be that the first five tags were for categorizing the post (might be "travel, italy, holiday, adventure, travelphotography") and then the remainder were more for calling communities and curators. Or you just added more ID stuff. Not suggesting it was a perfect system — by any means — but it was OK, at least.
Of course, Steemit is a constantly evolving community... but — as you said — tags have become problematic. In my opinion, mostly because they have become too "generic," and don't actually help sort content... even for the curators/challenge managers who insist on their use. We all need to do better!
And that falls to both leaders and participants. Leaders might do well to use more specific tags for each challenge, be it by week, or by sequence number so a click on the tag brings up only what they currently need. Meanwhile, participants must be encouraged to dial down the "vote fishing" with tags and instead trust the process a little more.
Truth in disclosure: I don't really participate in a lot of challenges, so I don't know the full depth of issues curators face, when it comes to tags.
But it's good to have these discussions and toss ideas around! So thank you for this!
If we remove the voting by SC from the equation, this entire discussion becomes irrelevant.
As for veering off-topic, it’s important to acknowledge that in this Steemverse, which was never meant to replace a traditional job, many consider it a side gig—for a large number of writers here, it is just that. You, I, and a few others can go weeks without writing (though I love it here, and it’s become an integral part of my life). Yet, if I find myself in challenging situations—whether due to not feeling well or any other number of reasons—I won’t be too affected by the absence of writing. However, that’s not the case for everyone, and that’s the reality...
Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by. I must admit, your writing style is both precise and concise, and your choice of words is exceptional. After reading your suggestions, it’s clear that you truly understand my point and have articulated your thoughts beautifully. I have yet to come across a writer like you.