5 factors that affect whales' decision to upvote
You know what I mean, right?
There are lots of people who are creating a very awesome content in numerous of spheres of life. They are trying so hard and spending so much time, and at the same time they are avoiding uncomfortable truth.
The truth is that you are going to be rewarded if and only if at least one of the whales is going to endorse your post. Minnows, no matter how large the number will be, are not going to affect the post enough. However there is a problem, in my opinion, which comes along together with this statement.
The problem lies in probability. What are the chances that your post, even knowing that the content is truly valuable, is going to be liked or upvoted by at least one of the whales?
I guess to figure that out we need put together all of the factors that can make an impact on the whale decision, which is to upvote or to ignore.
Factor #1 – catchy title + images + valuable content
This one is the most obvious.
By having a title that you wanna click on, amazing images and a helpful/original/entertaining/interesting/unique content you definitely increase your chances of winning on the Steemit platform.
Unfortunately, most of the Steemers stops on the first point, which is a huge mistake. I’m still learning here, and that’s what I found the most crucial lesson so far.
Factor #2 – level of expertise
This factor increases or decreases the chances of upvoting a lot. It is a lot easier for a person to approve that your information is worthwhile when he knows what you are talking about.
For instance, assume you’re writing a post about creating a stunning sales letter, and the person who is reading this have never done sales or have never heard about this. In this way a reader can only make a decision based on overall composition of the text. Because it’s not fair to judge a content if it’s not an area of your expertise.
On the other side, if you’re writing something about Blockchain technology, and the whale who is reading this is also familiar with it, he can evaluate your work not just based on the way it’s structured but also based on the actual material.
Factor #3 – interest
By simply understanding a human psychology, I can tell that not every post is going to be interesting for everybody. Even if the content is well-structured and is touching the level of expertise of a guy who is reading it, not all of the time it can be interesting for him/her.
The golden rule is this: whatever you think is interesting, may not be interesting for everybody.
Factor #4 – time
Have you ever counted the amount of posts that are generated every minute? I didn’t but I guess it is huge. Therefore, it’s just simply impossible to keep on track of all of the posts that are created.
Whales are also human beings, they are not robots that have to read everything.
The question is though – what is the most suitable time for them to read?
Evening, morning, night? Everybody has its own schedule and we have to respect it.
Factor #5 – reputation
Every time when a whale is upvoting some post, he always consider the fact that it may go viral and stick at the top of trending page for a while, which is going to boost or decline a reputation of the entire platform.
The reason make-up and marijuana posts are getting trending is because whales are trying to test a potential market on Steemit.
For instance, travel, additional tools for Steemit platform, #introduceyourself posts, inspirational stories, Steemit updates and other news related to Steemit are very hot almost all the time.
However, topics like food, art, poetry, music, motivational etc. are struggling significantly.
Probably the content may suck but what if it’s not the case? Then it’s just not interesting for the whales or they think it won’t be interesting for others.
The most interesting question is why whales are not trying to test posts from all of the spheres? There are a plenty of good content that is waiting for your help :)
Conclusion
Therefore, by combining all of the factors you can find out that indeed not every single niche is going to be endorsed unless some of the whales decide to.
I like that you brought up that art posts are struggling, They REALLY are! I posted an entire coloring book on here, and It received very little attention. I hope the Art subject will gain a bit of popularity in the future.
I Like the suggestions you made, We all can't be recognized by a whale all the time, but there are certainly things that we can do to help get noticed. I often find great articles with bad pictures and titles. It's disappointing really, An extra 10 minutes invested would probably make a really big difference!
I wrote another post if you want to check it out.
https://steemit.com/life/@kaylinart/why-do-people-choose-to-fail
I know what you mean, although you are much more in line to be rewarded for your hard work!
I posted a digital piece this morning and wasnt expecting much really, but the relative worth to other posts which get thousands is unfair right?
https://steemit.com/steemit/@benjiberigan/steemit-dreamscapes-if-you-can-dream-it-you-can-steem-it-introduction-to-my-art
See, Steemit is brand new and not that much people know about it. The more get payed, the more whales and dolphins become, which leads towards recognition of all sorts of spheres. Hope you have more endorsements with your art work.
whales are not online 24 x 7 ?
https://steemit.com/upvoting/@jl777/why-whales-are-needed-and-a-proposal-to-insure-the-massive-success-of-steemit has a proposal of mine that will maximize the desired effects
Great! Whales are very influential here :)
Of course they are :) Hopefully in a good way.
I would love to help people overcoming addiction, abuse, rape, the hate directed at the LGBT community but have no voice. I have overcome these hurdles using mindfulness training and meditation. I wish I had the power to share the success.
True that, Great post! I'll listen out for advice on that stuff more often. I just started doing guitar lessons on my blog so hoping that can attract some people. So far, so good. I'll keep what you've said in mind for the next lessons and 'serious' blogs I do. Having fun either way :) Privilege to even be here.
I just had the same cycle. I was just writing and hoping that somebody will endorse me. But never combined all of those items together. Hope they will benefit a lot of Steemers.
Good luck with guitar lessons, I believe this is going to be an awesome addition to our community.
the only relevant whale is mentioned here
https://steemit.com/fishing/@knozaki2015/huge-whale-meeting-eddy-willis-at-half-moon-bay
It is for this reason that whales need to create more whales with wider knowledge bases! Whales need to make a science whale, an art whale, a mathematics whale, poetry whale, literature whale. We need people that can recognize good content in a variety of fields, not just crypto. Unfortunately right now as things are the whales are very knowledgeable in their areas, but really don't vote enough content up outside of that!
Take my post for example: https://steemit.com/science/@justtryme90/science-lesson-dna-part-1
I did not intend for this post to be entertaining per say, but rather informative. However I don't know that the whales here have a strong basis of knowledge in this field, but I personally do, and I have a degree to back it up as well as a publication record in peer reviewed journals. I don't expect it to garner attention, but rather to exist on this site, such that if someone at some point searched for it, it would be there!
https://steemit.com/steemit/@nippel66/why-whalers-controlls-ewerything-and-you-dont
Awesome post!
Good one! I have been observing the platform for the last days and I jumped to the same conclusions. If, from one side, I understand that the online reputation is an important element to guarantee the quality of posts in the platform (trustable people voting the quality of content), on the other side this makes really difficult for new authors to emerge since, as you say between the lines, been read is super difficult. I saw amazing posts with few votes and silly ones with many. One thinks 'WTF!'.
Ethically speaking, it is not democratic (not saying it is wrong, eh!) but there is a risk to build a medieval system where who arrived early gained a strong reputation difficult to beat. Said that, it reminds me a bit the reddit system and the karma points. And it works... Of course I do not have the solution and this is only my personal fresh (I am a newbie) consideration so I would love to have an exchange of opinion with you, people.
Just joined so I am going to introduce myself soon. I joined steemit coz I like the philosophy behind it and I feel like I can write my posts and have an honest feedback, which is something really difficult to have in the other overcrowded channels.
Love and neediness! :)
Hi @lenerdie - I'm brand new here but not new to similar platforms for creative writing. I wandered in because a friend told me she was doing well on the site, so with a little trepidation and a lot of hope, I came and I'm beginning to write. For my own peace of mind, I have no expectations of a trending post, but wouldn't it be a nice surprise? So, for me, hope doesn't pay the bills and I write because I love to. The pennies are an extra bonus for stuff I already do. And maybe one day I'll look at my wallet and say "WOW!" LOL Did I mention there is always hope?
That is the attitude! :) What other social media and platform do you normally use?
@lenerdie - I'm on FB, Twitter, Snapchat, LinkedIn, Blab, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest...and getting ready to launch 2 podcasts in the next couple weeks in addition to maintaining my personal blog and business site. I'm no one and yet I'm everywhere. LOL
Ah! the internet! such an amazing place! It is true that every channel has a different user base and convey a different message. This is why I am observing #steemit and trying to create a profile (if that makes sense) out of it
@lenerdie - it makes perfect sense. Each platform serves a purpose and the beauty is that many of my followers don't cross-follow so I can repurpose bits and pieces of material to my heart's content. I'm looking forward to seeing how steemit works. I may be more excited if I ever get to pay out. LOL I'll give just about anything a go...at least once. :)