Why I am Becoming Disillusioned with Steemit (But will NOT give up).
Nobody has the right to receive up votes and I am not special. I have been on Steemit since only October and up until the last few weeks, it has been a pleasant experience.
However, I am noticing an increasing trend (or maybe I am just noticing it more) of plagiarised content which is being seen by more and which is earning MORE than my original content (that really is a kicker).
This is in part due to frustrating Facebook groups that are proving to be complete spamfests. Part of me recognises that Steemit is an opportunity for those with less opportunities to improve their lives and that people are desperate to make money, but more and more, I am Google searching blogs and finding them not only to be a copy of someone else's creative content, but one of many copies.
Is this what we want Steemit to become?
Also, people seem to be commenting on my posts simply in the hope that I will reward them with my meagre (but better than many) Steem Power level (I am probably a very small fish level). I will up vote comments, but only if they are meaningful or helpful. C'mon Steemians, you can do better.
I was also really disappointed to read a "whale" stating that she had to actually read a post today, rather than letting her voting bots do their thing.
Again, is this what Steemit is about?
I even tried to recruit some of the UK's top fitness and travel bloggers to Steemit and after a few days, most of them seem to have given up. How many people are creating accounts only to allow them to become dormant?
Steemit has opened my eyes to some great content, some amazing people and made me look at how I create my own content, so am I just being grumpy about the lack of engagement in my posts or do you share my concerns?
If so, can any helpful Steemians advise me on how I can personally keep my Steemit love alive and how we can beat the plagiarism that threatens it?
Steemit provides an opportunity to create, share and enjoy content without censure and it can become even bigger than it is. Maybe I just need to relax and do my thing (or improve my thing)??
What are your thoughts?
Don't beat yourself over it & keep your eyes on the prize. Remember, Steemit is fairly new. Just like any new concepts/platforms/projects/technologies, it's wild west and anyone that makes it through the growing pains, will succeed. Eventually the good get better & the garbage gets filtered out.
In the early .com days, anyone that had a website or email address was "Tech Savvy...", soon every 2nd person went into computer science & networking & graphic design, etc... to become the next BillGates. Before you knew it, anyone that opened Photoshop or knew html was a Programmer or Graphic/Web designer and since NO ONE understood tech-jargon, they got away with it for a little while... eventually companies/people got educated, technologies improved and most of the so-called programmers/designers disappeared and the good ones advanced and secured their piece of the pie. This platform is no different. Steemians will figure out the good publishers and the spammy ones.
It may seem frustrating & hopeless now, but look at google, facebook, twitter.. (as much as I hate using them as examples, but I give credit where credit is due)
Keep doing what you're doing and you'll see, IF you don't gain anything from here, you will gain from the experience while expanding your network of QUALITY followers... 2 birds 1 stone ;)
Best of Luck!
Sometimes when others repost things I know are not original and see that it has a lot of upvotes, it can be disheartening. Especially because it takes a lot of effort to figure out what to write next. Something new. Something I put thought into. Don't let it upset you though. I figure people who actually like what I do will take time to read my stuff. If I make a little money off of it, then great. If not, it's not going to break me.
Thanks @bosssarah. I'll keep creating, commenting and following great accounts. Maybe look at how I can better create and promote my content.
You're welcome! It is a process. I see people who do Steem giveaways/contests attract a lot of followers. I have considered doing that once I become a bigger fish, but I don't know if I want that. When I had an online business on Facebook, I hosted giveaways to draw customers. All it really drew was people who wanted free stuff. However, it may work better on Steemit, being that you make money from upvotes.
My last post was for a free Naipo Cordless Shiatsu Massage Cushion with 25% off for everyone else. Previously I offered free Spartan Race entries and free access to a Mental Health App used by hospitals and health bodies. I am quite a well respected health and fitness blogger, so could really bring more giveaways to Steemit, but the lack of engagement makes this difficult. I will not give up, but it can be demoralising. Thanks for the comments.
I just thought of something that helps me sometimes. I make my posts through busy.org. It is the same login and password as steemit. You can look it up, it is legit. When I make my posts through busy.org, where you list the category (blog, steem, writing, photography, etc.) I always list "busy." It says if you do, you will get a free upvote. Sometimes I get the busy.org upvote, and it is usually $0.30+ when they do give me the upvote. Sometimes they don't vote it at all, but it is just like calling on originalworks, sometimes they verify your post, sometimes they don't. Just an extra platform that seems to help me out from time to time.
It is frustrating. Keep doing what you are doing and you will get people who really enjoy reading your work! Someone posted that it is a place where you find friendships. I have found a few people I really connect with. Even if it's a handful, it is worth having people who authentically follow your posts because they want to.
Keep being your best self, and don't look at anything external for the purest validation which can only come from within.
Btw, here's a link of my epiphany about the up vote.
https://steemit.com/blog/@spiritualmatters/up-voting-original-posts-an-idea-worth-pondering
It's Monday. Be encouraged.
Peace.
I would hope that the powers that be on Steemit would take down those users who are super scammers ...I'm new here. Is there a way to report stolen content? I had to do that a LOT of Tsu (a former social network site that prided itself on original content) ...I'm not here for the $$ but want to share some adventures and photography with people. So I spend a half and hour writing a blog and inserting photos today ...and guess what? No one bothers looking at it. Time will tell I guess.
It's difficult at first, but best to look for good content and engage others
There will always be corruption especially when money is involved. A lot of people don't believe steemit is here to stay so they just want to get all they can before the scheme is over.
I agree. I think Steemit is an incredibly brilliant concept, but it has flaws. Good posts can be rewarded and good comments and dialogue can be rewarded, which is fantastic. The downside is that the system can be very profitably gamed.
I wonder whether tweaks will be introduced to Steemit to encourage original, quality posts and community dialogue while reducing the profitability of gaming the system, OR whether alternative paid blogging platforms will appear (maybe they already exist) that build on and improve the Steemit model.
Having said this, I'm relatively recently active on Steemit, and I've only got my brain round a small percentage of how it works so far. There are probably ways to work around the plagiarism and gaming that I just haven't discovered yet.
Absolutely. Steemit Chat, Discord etc all have groups to join for content creators. Time to investigate
You need to call them out and flag them.
I called them out and tagged the account that they copied. Neither seemed to care
There is this group called @steemcleaners , they take care of this stuff. You should contact them.