Why I (Almost Always) Upvote Comments Of My Posts
The other day I got a strange notification: my account was listed in some curators top, on a respectable 60th position, out of 100. I didn't even think at myself as a curator until I saw that, but then I realized why I got there: because I do have a significant number of upvotes each and every day. I upvote almost all the comments on my posts.
Granted, I would love to spend more time reading other people posts, but I barely make it through my tiny feed of 223 people. If, at some point, I could become a full time Steemian, then probably 20-30% of my time here will be just reading other people stuff.
But until then, I upvote the comments of my posts.
Why I do this?
Well, there are many reasons for that, but I will list just 3 for now.
1. Distributing wealth just because you contribute
That's probably the main reason. As I accumulate Steem Power, I decide to use it directly, and distribute a few cents to commenters. Those people took the time to read the post, to articulate a few sentence, or, who knows, to even point some flaws in my own thinking or writing.
And distributing wealth by rewarding other people contribution is a cornerstone of this platform.
2. Encouraging participation
I tend do this even when there isn't much contribution, but at least I know the person commenting, there is a history of real interaction between us and I want to create a healthy relationship.
So sometimes I upvote just as a sign of "I see you".
3. Encouraging free thinking
Sometimes I don't agree with what the other person says, but I still upvote the comment. This might seem strange, but there's a small subtlety here: I don't upvote only because the other one agrees with me, but also to encourage healthy debate and discussion.
When I don't upvote
- if you copy / paste other people comments and paste them under your name
- if you have poor grammar
- if you're aggressive or overwhelmingly troll (I can tolerate a certain level of healthy trolling, but not too much)
- if you're literally asking me to upvote, or to follow you - this game is not played like this
- if you spam with your own blog links, without contributing first
- obviously, if you're promoting scams or other shady operations
Why I don't flag
There is this metaphor about two wolves living inside us: a good wolf and a bad wolf.
The good wolf is representing courage, honesty, creativity.
The bad wold is representing violence, lies, manipulation.
And the bottom line is that the winning wolf will always be the one you feed.
So, while I do see and acknowledge the presence of malicious behavior (not only on my posts, but on the entire platform), I just choose to reward good behavior, knowing that this is the only way for it to prevail.
It is my deep conviction that even the violent action of flagging is still a form of nourishment, one that will keep supporting that "wolf". So I just ignore the bad wolf and support the good one.
Which kind of wolf are you, by the way?
I'm a serial entrepreneur, blogger and ultrarunner. You can find me mainly on my blog at Dragos Roua where I write about productivity, business, relationships and running. Here on Steemit you may stay updated by following me @dragosroua.
Wanna know when you're getting paid?
|
I know the feeling. That's why I created steem.supply, an easy to use and accurate tool for calculating your Steemit rewards |
I wish more of the whales would adopt this stance. I noticed that some of the top Steemit authors don't even bother responding to or reading the comments on their posts, which is a shame.
I'm technically a dolphin, but I like how one can imply from your comment that I'm a whale, lol :)
Well, you're rep 73 and your vote is $1.23, that's a TON for our standards. Lol. For example, I've been on Steemit since January and have been the most successful out of my group of 15 friends who joined together and I'm barely hitting $0.02 votes.
Well, still a dolphin, but thanks :)
Thanks!
Many do the same or almost the same. You stated perfectly well WHY we do this.
Great post! lol
I think it's bad how some people don't upvote any comments on their blog.
That causes those people's supporters to have less SP than they would otherwise have. That, in turn, causes those people to be less powerful than they would otherwise be. Also, those people tend to lose supporters to people who upvote their commentators. Enrich your supporters and you shall enrich yourself. It is very simple and mechanical.
Without a doubt this proves your generosity...Sharing wealth will bring more wealth and happiness...
I like your analogy of good wolf, bad wolf. Flagging is a form of violence and some folks do thrive on violence and negative feed back.
I like to think I'm a good wolf @dragosroua and like you, I upvote most comments.
I also upvote posts even though my votes aren't worth much. Mainly because I like to do unto others as I'd like to be done unto myself and even small votes add something.
I'm very grateful for all the upvotes you give me, and for those from @raluca, and for the time you take to explain stuff I don't understand. Thank you very much for that! 😍
It's not about good vs. evil but smart vs. stupid. Not upvoting comments in your comment section is simply stupid if you're after rewards at all. The rewards your upvotes direct somebody else's way do not even come from you but the common reward pool. The only cost to you is a small temporary loss of your voting power. Upvoting someone will often trigger a desire to upvote you in them.
I have to say, I do appreciate the upvotes when I comment. However, I comment because I feel I have something to contribute. A lot of your posts make it easy to do that, like this one. Everyone has an opinion about what to upvote and how much.
On top of that, I could have written this post. It's not every day when I find myself lining up completely with someone else's ideas about anything, let alone upvoting comments.
From day one, I've felt that if anyone engaged with me on my post or someone else's, it was worth some kind of upvote. The better the comment, the better the upvote, within the abilities of my SP. So, I couldn't agree with you more on that point.
I have only flagged once, and that was on a phishing scam. The bulk of my time, I feel, is best spent upvoting what I feel to be good content. I understand we need curators, and so, I'm doing what I can to curate posts and comments.
This place does need more engagement, so if I get it, I'm going to upvote it, as long as it's a genuine attempt at engagement, even if I don't agree with what's said. I've had great conversations that way and I'm happy to say, that as far as I'm concerned, they ended amicably and I can still engage with said commenters to this day.
I'm not a big enough fish to afford upvote all of my comments, but I do upvote comments that I like. Sure, I could reduce the percentage of my upvote, but I prefer to get 100% of my upvote when I upvote.
Seems like sound logic all the way around- how have you been? Awesome app, of course you already have my vote- also I promote you at the bottom of my posts, did I ever tell you that? ;)
Thanks for that, I get notifications every time you post, really appreciate it :)
I'm a third type of wolf. The wolf of Wallstreet 😋
No I'm just kidding. But I wonder if you put this under a good/bad joke? Or see it as trolling?
So now and then I read your blogs. But most of the time I don't upvote and/or comment. I think that's also a great thing from Steemit. I can just be here without being noticed all the time.
Now I know this, as of now I will always write a comment to earn your upvote 😋
No I won't it's another one of my bad jokes. But I seriously think some people use such a comment strategy. Do you feel that as an issue? People that keep commenting just to get a few cents from you?
Not really. Coming here, staying for a few seconds, writing some stuff, this is interaction. It's worth a few cents, isn't it?
Most of the time it is indeed.
I was thinking if someone uses a strategy to comment a full day (8 hours) to earn an income then this is quite alright. Since they put a lot of effort in it.
Only if they start writing tactical comments based on the title, without reading then I still think it's really quickly earned money.
Anyways if you live in Africa, have free internet (for a fixed amount per month) you can easily earn a decent income with commenting. Quite a miracle that not half Africa is doing so.