Opportunity and Responsibility - Raising the Bar for Content Creators- An Artist's Perspective
An Artist's Perspective
After witnessing much infighting, system rigging, and "quickbuck" content over the last few weeks, I am more inspired than ever to contribute to raising the bar for other content creators here on the Steemit Beast. Maybe this is naive of me but at 36 years old I still want to live in a substantial future riddled with magical technologies and overflowing with unbelievable art; a future bursting at the seems with value, decency and goodness. Steemit.com provides such a unique opportunity for those of us that work our butts off everyday to push the envelope of innovation and idea generation that it would just be a terrible shame to squander our potential here and end up resembling a pig pen cock-fight the likes of which Facebook would envy. Though we can do little to persuade crony capitalists and scammers to change their ways, we can continually create the best possible content as a balancing act to provide ever greater value to this platform.
As a young initiate here on Steemit I have spent a great deal of time crafting big posts chock full of behind-the-scenes insight and in depth looks into the Visionary Art world.
See here
And here
https://steemit.com/art/@elohprojects/10-unbelievable-artists-you-ve-never-heard-of-part-3
I believe so much in the power of great ideas that I cannot stop engaging with Steemit and dedicating big chunks of time to contributing value here. In my opinion, there is no better virtual community to contribute to and really very little reason to continue investing anything in thievery corporations.
Jogging Like a Toddler
I have had a couple, reasonable financial successes in my short time here. This is Awesome! but not my primary motivation for joining the conversation on a daily basis. My primary motivation is the search for and procurement of the Highest Quality Content. The networking potential for fringe geniuses, experimental inventors, ballsy journalists and blossoming freaks eclipses the most successful mainstream brands and just like Steem Dollars, these networks are transferable to the outside world. The incredible range of people here that feel free to invest their time without fear of shadow bans and ghetto-ization of their virtual existence is definitely unparalleled.
See
@gric
@thermoplastic
@goldenpillow
@stellabelle
@kaliptus
@chrisdyer
@jkobrinart
@denniskonstantin
@chadrickm
@astralship
@adammillwardart
To name a few
We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to demonstrate that we are capable of running our own affairs here; that we are in fact mature enough to not be complete assholes and to take responsibility for who we are on and offline.
Bringing It Together
It goes without saying that the financial incentives of Steemit are incredible, as we all need to eat, but more importantly we need to show that we have matured and are indeed ready to manage our affairs. We need to not only show the power structure and Steemit investors that we are capable of conducting ourselves from a position of sovereignty but we need, above all, to show ourselves. WE have an immense opportunity, at the event horizon of apocalypse, to share our biggest dreams, our most complex ideas, our deepest concepts and our greatest propensities toward cooperation and healthy competition. We have been offered, on a silver platter, the gift of responsibility for ourselves and our future. And so, it is my reasonable estimation that we should not fuck it up. Steemit is a proof of concept and the more garbage that is dumped in to it, the more it will resemble a trashcan. Or we can groom it, feed it and care for this experiment like we may not get another chance. We can treat this experience like a garden or we can repeat our mistakes and turn it into an outhouse. I vote for the former.
https://steemit.com/art/@elohprojects/true-art-vs-institutional-ash-heap
In Conclusion
I have met people here in the last 3 weeks that I would have never known were it not for the draw of this decentralized platform; people with the most cutting edge, strangest and fascinatingly original lives. Each day is abundant with new opportunity and the living possibility to create lasting, real-world collaborations and partnerships. I could care less what side of the @haejinn (or however you spell it) argument you are on though I am willing to acknowledge that maybe I just don't get it. Like any divisive issue there is probably more than one valid way to view it and so I'll drive by with my top down and make my way closer to the future I want to live in. I am here to bring my strongest content in order to benefit as many people as possible. I want to make it to a decentralized, Person 2 Person Future without training wheels and Big Fat Brother. I believe in the power of the people, I believe in the reality of a sane future where planetary apocalypse is a fear of the distant past. I believe in this formula!!
And I Encourage You To Do So Also
And so, as a "Thank You" to the platform of Steemit itself and to all of those great creators and idea generators, I will give you my word that I will continue to increase the overall perceived value of Steemit through my content. I will encourage others to continuously raise the bar and as my influence grows here I will support those newbies and undiscovered talents to my greatest ability.
Take good care and feel free to right click any of these images and save them to your desktop. (Correction-the full image below is 2400 pixels tall, not 4000 as originally stated, Anyone know how I can can embed the full size image? If you leave me an email address or a way to contact you I will send you the 4000 pixel tall image.)
Much Love to All of My Fellow Creators!!!
Khemet Manifest
Please Follow @elohprojects, Resteem and Upvote. And again Thank You for your interest and support.
Kindest Regards,
Sean
Too bad this post already made payout. Its really great that you decided to make content as your priority in steemit as opposed to the rewards. The monetization of our work is great but the actual satisfaction of using our talents to make good content is also great.
I am following you because of your vision. I want to be loyal to steemit as well and be able to truly reward those that deserve my votes no matger how small. Good luck on your journey
Hey @josejirafa. Much appreciation. Thanks for reaching out and sharing your thoughts. I think the real draw of Steemit is the fact that because people are incentivized in some way that they are really willing to spend the time to dig down deep and dredge up some fascinating material. Likes on facebook may provide a dopamine hit but they steal everything from and about everyone and then use it to grow their juggernaut. I am opposed to this inherently and so having the opportunity to stuff it to them by investing here feels really good. I figure that because the Steemit platform has enough intrinsic value and its loaded full of amazing stuff then it has a good chance of standing up to the giants.
That is true. I am now against the idea of social media without incentives after dscovering steemit. This platform is really great and i am putting all my hopes here. I will be here for the long run.
Even ao, I can noye several issues in the platform such as autovoting, votebuying and bot votes. The whales are getting more powerful and i hope that doesnt affect the entire system.
I personally hold my hopes up for the platform as content curation and creation and I am lookng for people who are like that. Good luck on your journey here
@josejirafa Yes I tend to agree. I am not sure what will happen but I don't think the platform is sustainable in its current form. There needs to be some type of consequence for abuse. Unfortunately that begins to resemble centralization but scamming and gaming is what most assholes resort to when they have nothing of value to offer. They get the bucks cause they got no soul. Science.
Impresionante buen Trabajo
Me gustaría que me sigas y votes por mi como testigo.
Thank you for your passion, commitment, and sharing your ridiculous talent here. I find you to be an inspiration and look forward to meeting more like you.
Truly... Thanks for the all that went into creating this post. Upvoted, followed, and re-Steemed you.
I appreciate that very much @lucidlight. Perhaps someday we will cross paths in real virtual space:)
I'm glad you feel that way as I am accelerating that. I tracked you down through your web page and other media. I look forward to connecting with you in the near future.
WOW I am a Follower, OTHERS KNOW about you and wish to give to your amazing art. BLESS YOU.
@pitterpatter Thank you so much!!! Checking out your blog now:)
Thank you for this post! As a newbie it's encouraging to read stuff like this. It's so easy to become disillusioned straight away when many, many peoples focus on here seems to be the money alone, or having to fathom all these bots while wondering where the real people are and how to connect with them (for this I'm realising some of the Discord channels can help). One thing I'm grappling with is wanting to write some pretty deep reflections on life and share them with the world, but as a newbie knowing that only a small handful of people might see them. Kind of an incentive to wait a while, build up a following, and save my 'best' content til later on. I wonder if that holds other newbies back when they're just arriving here?
Thank you again for bringing a passionate voice and some beautiful art :-)
Hi @alice-is. Yes definitely, Discord is an amazing place to connect with people behind the scenes. Check out the #slothicorn feed also. There are definitely some likeminded folks there, especially if @basilmarples is your bud:) Thank you for the nice comment. Stay in touch.
Yes, yes, yes, my friend. Not only do I love the art you produce I agree with what you are saying here. Like anything that gets created, how people use it will determine what it is. That is why I don't encourage the b.s. that I sometimes come across here.
Like any other platform,without proper curation it will become a place of fart jokes and using other's intellectual property as a means to get attention.
So with that said we have a responsibility to this amazing platform and community to not only produce great content, but also to mindfully curate the content of others. With every up-vote we give we are saying, "Yes, this is what our community needs more of."
This is why I don't upvote people when it is unclear whether the content is their own. I see a lot of posts where people just surf the web and find someone else's work to post here and get paid for it. That drives me nuts. It is one thing to show the work of someone else if you are writing an article about their work or promoting their work with links in your article. It's nice to get a shoutout and have people find you because of someone else. However just posting their work to get upvotes is not okay. I wish everyone would agree to not upovote that type of thing.
We need to make a way to easily separate the gold from the trash.
Thank you for your input in this amazing journey @elohprojects. I hope we will all sculpt this community into something that we can be proud of. I know we have the potential. Keep dreaming big.
That is definitely the intention @art-mess. I came to this place like "whoa, what an amazing opportunity" and there is still that fire but after seeing literal pieces of clipart being passed off as legit I became aggravated. Instead of feeding it by giving it attention I have chosen the path that you suggest here. I don't think we can do away with the stuff in general but we certainly can off set it by putting out insightful, well written and highly organized content. So long as there is enough of that to satisfy the "believers" then the community will remain healthy. If great content producers can climb high enough together then there is the opportunity to start actively resisting poor behavior. But until then tribalism seems to be the most legitimate and effective way of being seen. Obviously, without the use of bots and scam dynamics.
Well said.
Thank you, once again a beautiful artpiece and a positive outlook. Let's hope that quality and originality will reign supreme, but I must say in my first weeks here, I see a lot shit floating on top. I do declare that you are one of the best I've
Come across till now, I look forward to seeing you climb to the top ✊🏽
Thanks a lot for your vote of confidence @artzanolino You have some really strong work mate.
Hi. This might sound spammy, but I think you should check out my blog someday. You might not agree with the copyright, but I'm sure we're on the same page when it comes to a lot of other things. I agreed with much of what you said here. I've been working my ass off here since September 2016. Combination of outsider digital art, fiction, humor, entertainment and this list keeps growing. I've met a few of those folks you mentioned on the list. Looking forward to meeting more. Enjoy that vote I gave you. Have a nice day!
Hey @nonameslefttouse I will definitely check out your blog. I don't mind requests or suggestions so long as they are a part of something bigger. I get frustrated with "...nothing, nothing, follow me, nothing" Thanks for not doing that:) see you around.
Basically, I just wanted to prove that we're not all shit posters(though I do a few as comedy) looking for a quick buck. The hard work and setting a good example stuff pays off, especially in the long run. Though I've had a few flops where I worked way too hard for what I got out... that doesn't matter. 99.5% of the images on my blog were produced by me. That's not bragging, that's dedication.
I've seen a lot of artists drop their creativity in favor of posting about what might appeal to more people. Then they fail at that or want to switch back to something creative but have a list of followers who want to read essays about bitcoin. It's best to just stick to your guns, allow your following to get used to how you are as you, climb the ladder.
I'm always on the lookout for new, fresh, highly motivated talent here. On my post you said follow follow follow! I already am. I won't be able to vote for everything and all of time because I follow a lot of people and do this manually, but I'm sure you'll see my name pop up from time to time in that list.
I love your vision. Im in for it too. I don't necessarily have the time to give this place all of my love at the moment. but I see great things happening. The garbage is just a bi-product. Familys are growing here. Powerful thoughts, powerful emotions, powerful creation is being shared. And we are rewarding each other. Its proving something to me that I thought I had left behind. Something too special to speak about. We know what we have here in our hands, that is all. I love what you are saying, I love what you are posting. Keep it up my friend. The future is very juicy :D
Thanks for engaging and providing very worthwhile feedback @basilmarples :) Another key to the success of the organism. Juicy Future indeed. That's actually going to be a title for an upcoming piece whenever I get around to making it LOL. But seriously, Juicy Future it is.
haha! That would be sweet! I am honoured :) x
Great Pictures....Love it.