Did you know that close to 70 percent of posts here on Steemit contain less than 100 words?
Yes, 70% have less than 100 words, or a single short paragraph. I took a few random samples of a few hundred posts, and found in most samples more than 70% had fewer than 100 words. Why is that important, you may ask.
Most posts I see on the trending or hot list have a lot more than 100 words in them. Yes, some don't, but most do. There must be some correlation between the word content of your post and the rewards they get. In general I would say a post with at least 100 words has a greater chance of better reward than one with just an image and a few words, and yet those posts take up only 30% of all posts.
How hard is it to write one hundred words?
Is it so much effort that you can't take 3 minutes just to write a little bit about something, or a story behind a photo or video you are posting here in steemit? This short paragraph is one hundred words long, believe it or not! Just a few sentences stringed together can make a world of difference to the quality of your post. A great photo without a story is a great photo. A great photo with a few sentences setting a scene, or explaining the shot could make it a great post. It really isn't that hard to do.
Adding words to your post should mean generating better rewards, right?
Well, not always. Success on Steemit is dependant on two things:
1. Putting something vote-worthy up.
No post = no votes = no rewards.
Bad post = few votes = maybe some rewards.
Great post = more votes = slightly better rewards.
Your post will also only appear on the first few pages of the "New" feed for a minute or two, and then it's gone. You literally have seconds to be noticed before your post goes far down the feed. Only your followers will see your post after that. You need to do more than just post a post to be successful. You have to add value.
Let’s start making great posts out of our content, not just throwing something up onto the blockchain for the sake of being able to say “I post every day on Steemit.” Sure posting every day may get you a bigger following, bit will that following bring with it better rewards? I somehow don't think so.
2. Engaging with the Steemit community
Combining 1 and 2 together should see you have greater success. It won't guarantee instant success, but will get you somewhere further than if you just did 1 or 2 exclusively. It will certainly get you a bigger following, and more regular upvotes from a loyal set of followers.
Success on Steemit is very much based on who you know, who knows you, and who you get to upvote your posts. If you're lucky someone with a lot of Steem may see your post and give you a good boost. If they like what you post, they may even follow you for a while. You'll even get away with posting the odd junk post like this one. But if you keep posting junk, then that big account may move on to someone else adding more value than you are. This is a miniature version of the real world, and it is getting bigger and bigger by the day.
To get your content seen and appreciated is easier now than it will ever be in the future, so start getting your content quality up, and engage with others around subjects you are interested in, before someone else comes along and does.
The road to success is paved by hard work!
Loved this. Makes so much sense. I wonder how Zappl will affect word count?
The posts I scroll right pass are the ones with a video only. The only explanation you get is sometimes the headline leading you to the post. This irritates me as I am a reader, not so much a video watcher.
I like substance in a post and when it has opportunity for conversation, I really get into it.
Yes, there are times when short posts with few words can be done; but to just post a picture, meme or video link, nah, I'm not going there.
I also prefer reading, so videos with not much description don't draw my interest either. Sometimes a lot of time and effort goes into making the videos, but then I think they sell themselves short by not adding much content or background story in the post. I believe they would get morw views and upvotes just by adding a short backstory as well.
Yes, even if it's only a paragraph or two with a summary. It could add more views, comments and interaction from others.
So I have to ask.... how many books do you own @goldendawne , and just out of curiosity what percentage is fiction compared to non-fiction.
My self, tonnes.... six bookshelves in the house six shelves high.... and an RV trailer we use for storage (mostly full of preps, tools etc, but lots of boxes with books).... read them all.
Most are actually non-fiction. Although I like end of the world type fiction books mostly when it comes to fiction as it is. Same goes for what I like to write about, and read on steemit.
Not sure of actual number but approximately 1000 on kindle (maybe 80% non-fiction) and approximately 500 in print books (about 75% non-fiction). Most are in genres of home, gardening, political, biographies, DIY, homeopathy, how-to, etc)
I also have on average six books checked out of library at any given time.
As we are in the baby-steps phase with the steemit world, I guess things have to sort themselves still. Right now it feels to me that this is just a blueprint of the crazy world outside - where the short messages get shorter and less content-carrying every day. One thing I noticed with many longer posts and content, is that "old bloggers" are joining here now and just repost all of the content they have been writing on their blogs in the past years - so whenever something looks "very professional" I do search for it (and usually find it quickly) and do honestly not feel like upvoting it, even if it is nice or good content.... And then there is the "taste" issue - maybe some people consider the "one pic one line" posts great because they do not have to invest much of their time on reading long post... and honestly, sometimes just give an upvote in the feed to a pic and a headline that catches my eye due to the limited time I can spend on steemit... Let's see, where the roads are taking us and Steemit - Cheers from the Seven Mountains in Germany
Steemit is definitely a cooy of the real world. I don't have too much problem with old bloggers posting their old material here to a new audience and getting some reward. It still is adding value, rather than putting up some junk meme. It is up to the people to vote, so there will be those who enjoy a one-liner or meme. Generally those posts only earn little rewards though. Maybe a handful will make food money.
Less than 100 words is not much of an effort. I have many posts here where some posts a video taken from another site and use about 25 words to describe it. To me that's not a good post and yet some are getting many votes. To me it makes sense to put in the effort first and think about rewards later.
It really is easy to put 100 words together. Some posts do get upvotes which possibly don't deserve it, but that's just the way it is. Those are by far in the minority, but probably have other factors drawing in the votes, like voting circles or a lot of sheep just trying to get some curation rewards on a high paying post.
The advice here is great and something that will really help those just starting out or that have been here floundering around for a long time going nowhere. But the first thing that caught my eye when I opened up your page was "PERTH AUSTRALIA!"
I visited Perth when serving on a Fast Attack Submarine back in the early 80's, and of all of the ports that we ever went to Perth was by far my favorite. I met some fantastic people and had a fabulous time during our short stay. I was so impressed that I checked into how expensive it would be to live there, what job opportunities existed, and I even checked out the local school system to see what kind of education my future children might get.
When I got home and told my wife about Perth and that I wanted us to immigrate to Australia and live there as soon as my enlistment was complete, she was all for it. But then my mother-in-law found out about my plan, and she threatened to kill me if I tried to take her daughter and future grandchildren out of the Country. That in itself wouldn't have stopped me, but it gave me pause and caused me to rethink the plan. My wife and I both have large families, and most of them were too poor at that time to ever be able to visit us in Australia. So we decided in the end that it would be better for our future and for any children to remain near our family support, but I've never forgotten about the place and its charm.
From reading and looking at photos it appears that the city has grown from what it was in that more humble time into a huge metropolis. I hope that this growth has not changed the atmosphere and the spirit of that city too much. When I was there I stayed with an elderly couple that didn't even have a lock on their door, they told me that the only crimes around there was when a fight broke out at one of the pubs. I can't remember their names or even their faces, but I fell in love with that couple and enjoyed so much their hospitality and conversation that didn't end until about 2 AM and after most of a bottle of rum had been consumed. The stories that they told about WW II were both harrowing and amazing!
So whenever I'm asked that if there was anywhere in the world that I could visit where would I go, I say without the slightest hesitation Perth!
Thanks for sharing your story @deaconlee. Perth is a great place. We have been here almost 9 years now, moving from South Africa. It is a pretty laid back (some would say behind the times) city, but does have its problems with crime and drugs, as most big cities do.
We certainly feel safe here, and have never regretted our move. We do miss our families a lot though, which is probably the only negative. Some people did try to convince us not to move, so I'm glad we managed to stick with our plans.
Good post! As someone who probably talks/writes too much, the 100 words will probably never be a problem for me. However, I always thought that was a hindrance, so maybe it isn't... that's good news for me. Regardless I love writing, I really enjoy reading and meeting new people. The community here is something that drew me in right away. I'm still new and I'm definitely still learning, but I love it here.
Thanks for stopping by @byn😁 I'm glad you're enjoying your experience here. I am too. Steem on!
They certainly need to do something about all this crap. Maybe there can be a word limit before payout is achieved. 0-100 words 0% payout. 100-200 25% payout, 200-300 50% payout etc. This would encourage thoughtful posts with quality content. Even an artistic photograph can have some words attached on where it was taken, equipment used etc
That's not a bad udea except people will just chuck in huge footers filled with text. It's really up to the voters to wisen up and not follow the herd after the rubbish posts.
It's even hard for most -
to comment more than two words.
I ignore the lot of them,
looking like little turds.
I almost ignored you, but you had more than 2 words :) I also ignore short comments, unless I know who it is commenting (from community engagement). Thanks for your input :)
Wow really? I would not have guessed it was that high of a percentage, although I do see it a lot. I have no clue why people find it that hard to write more than 100 words on an average post. I don't find it personally that hard. Although I do also write at a fast rate. I think it may depend on some of the types of posts where people may think that words are not as needed, but I think it can only help your post. Unless you ramble incoherent nonsense or something like that. That's my two cents. Thanks for the post though and the tips you provide to others who may think it may not be worth it to add more text. <--- 126 words in just a comment. See people? It's not that hard.
Not that hard at all :) It just comes down to laziness, possibly because the post rewards are very low, so people can't be bothered to put in the effort first... they expect reward first. Thanks for your 126 word
ramblecomment... ;)I knew it would be some stupidly high percentage, the amount of people who put in 0 work and expect some sort of reward for it is ludicrously high. I started posting shitty memes etc and realized within like 3 posts that wont get me anywhere. Since i started writing decent posts my standard payout has jumped dramatically, anywhere from being $0.05 to $2-20. makes a huge difference when you pit in the effort.
There you have it: Put in the effort and the reward will come. I bet you you're getting more followers consistently with every good post too. The worst I have done is ZERO upvotes on a post... learnt that lesson quickly lol!!
yea i had a couple 0's haha