My honest feelings about Steemit after gaining a rep of 71
For the last 7 months my family & I have been living on Steem & SBD
and the small investments I have made into mining contracts & alt coin trading.
I have been enjoying the benefits of Steemit and these new avenues for over 15 months here in Bali and there can be no question that it has completely changed the way I live my life.
16 months ago I had heard of Bitcoin but that was as far as my understanding went.
Yesterday my rep turned 71 and I would like to take this opportunity to speak honestly about where I am at now.
With reputation & followers comes rewards...right?
No. Not necessarily. I understand the value of Steem is low but even when I account for this I can see no increase in rewards as my fanbase & reputation gets higher. On the contrary I feel as if I have to push harder than ever right now to continue surviving on Steem and if I am going to be completely honest, this amazing freedom gifted to me by Steemit appears to be drawing to a close. Though I dearly wish it wasn't!
The ups & downs of Steemit
Let's start with the ups because like I said, this platform has completely changed my understanding of the word MONEY and how to earn it. And seen from this perspective I am in no place to complain.
Freedom!
I am more free from the system of control than I have ever been. I can choose who I want to work for and when I want to do it. Steemit is my main job now and I love this job very much.
New Connections
So many amazing people have enriched my life with their wisdom through Steemit and I can't wait to meet as many of you as possible on my long journey around the world.
Introduction to Crypto World
Thanks to Steemit I have learned to trade alt coins. Which to be fair isn't really all that hard once you know how. When Steem hit a high of $2.20 earlier this year I was able to invest a into various cloud mining contracts with Genesis. Unlike my trading money which gets spent in times of need, the mining money will keep dribbling in for the next two years.
I have improved my ability to write & do graphic design
A long time ago writing was very hard for me. As a dyslexic child I had a low self confidence around this most common of art forms for many years. But that is no more. I feel alive when I am writing and I have come to love it very much.
I finally have a 'bank account' again
After three years with no bank I was starting to wonder what the solution to this might be. Crypto provided the answer and never again will I feel like there is something I cannot do because I refuse to be part of the banking system. It isn't always as simple as it used to be, but it is at least possible now.
I can really help people now!
With all the knowledge (and followers) I have gained, I have seen how it is possible to give people a great boost here on Steemit. With my guidance, upvotes & a little resteem every now & then I have witnessed a great many people rise to Steemit success much faster than I did.
The Steem Blockchain
So many amazing ideas are beginning to grow from this blockchain and that gives me hope for the future of Steem as a currency. DSound, DTube & more recently SteemBay... to name but a few. And with the arrival of SMT (Smart Media Tokens) next year I am hopeful about the rise in value of Steem.
The other side of the coin
It is with a heavy heart that I write the following list.
I wanted so much for Steemit to be the answer to the question I have been asking. And it gives me no pleasure to fill anyone with anything except HOPE.
Yet my instinct tells me these things must be said.
Staring at the screen
I spend more time than ever before staring at this computer screen. It feels very unnatural to me and I know it isn't doing my body any good. Consistent body movement is essential to optimum health. And my eyes are deteriorating too. Just like the body, lots of motion helps them retain optimum health. If your focal distance stays the same most of the time this usually leads to miopia (shortsightedness/nearsightedness).
Money Pressures
I assumed when Steem rose above $2 that it would keep on rising and adjusted the way I lived my life to account for this. And for a while it worked great! Yet now I find myself in a position where the Steem/SBD/mining/trading life is just not cutting it any more and without the 'magic five' I would earn no more than $3 per post, regardless of what I write. And as much as I would like to leave Bali and continue on our journey it is simply not possible right now.
Who are the Magic Five?
There is a small group of whales who upvote me. If they were not doing this I would have been forced to return to my normal job a long time ago, making films based on how much money they earn rather than how I feel about giving them my time. One person in particular has been amazing in the way they support me here and I don't know what I would have done without them. I feel venerable being reliant now on this very small group of people. Where are my 2450 followers???
The 2450 Followers
If I look at Dead Followers I can see that 1000 of them have not posted for a month. The ones who do follow me only occasionally seem to see my posts because I rarely get more than 100 upvotes.
What to write?
I massively enjoy writing about my life and the things I learn along the way. That's what blogging is right? Well, my experience on Steemit tells me this is not the best way to maximise your time if you are living on Steem. News articles do better. Particularly if you can strike a chord with whales supporting this theme.
@doodlebear says it rather well in his profile description:
The shift in Power
There has been a flurry of flagging going on by those who have bought their Steem Power. If they don't like something it is very easy for them to eliminate your rewards completely whilst lowering your rep. They believe themselves to be helping the platform by doing this, retuning 'unfair' payouts to the reward pool, but the idea of free speech has been lost as a result.
I have two unvaccinated children so I like to talk about this subject, but due to the recent flagging of anyone who speaks out against vaccines, now I am in fear of losing payouts and reputation by sharing my perspective. So, as someone who simply must consider the rewards relative to the amount of time spent on the post, I choose not to write about this subject until something changes.
Those with the money are controlling the content.
And if they REALLY don't like you, I have witnessed with my own eyes what happens. They will downvote everything you do, comments included, until you have no choice but to start a new account or leave Steemit for good with a feeling of disappointment & confusion.
What is the solution to this particular problem?
If Steemit were to create a system in which reputation & SP worked together when we flagged someone, those of us who have dedicated so much of our time to this platform (but don't have wallets full of Steem Power!) would be in a better position to combat the personal opinion of someone with money. Or indeed to help those who are being forced off the platform because of them.
I understood when I joined Steemit this was a place where we could speak freely, without fear of being attacked. Ironically it was the vaccines topic which sealed the deal when I was thinking about joining Steemit 15 months ago. Speaking about this subject on Facebook was a horrible experience and I was keen to find a community who didn't ostracise me because of my beliefs. And for a while I believed myself to have found it here.
In Conclusion
I am not the kind of person to moan about my situation and always try to stay positive. There is a deep gratitude in my heart for the creators of Steemit & for the people who support me here. And to close this piece I want to focus my attention back on this.
Steemit DOES have the ability to TRANSFORM your life!
It isn't perfect, but it's still evolving.
And we must be patient whilst continuing to write quality posts which come from our heart.
Who is @samstonehill?
All content created for this account is 100% original (unless otherwise stated), produced by @samstonehill who invites you to use & share freely as you wish.
@samstonehill is the creator of:
@steemshop account where you can buy or sell anything you like using your steemit wallet SEE MORE
@steemmasters which provides FREE TUTORIALS, personal training & resteeming services. Website HERE
Contact me directly on steemit.chat if you want to know more about this
@steemholidays which encourages resort owners to offer holiday packages in Steem or SBD
@steemtv which aims to provide the best in decentralised films, exclusive to Steemit & DTube
The dailyquotes tag initiative designed to encourage steemians to share their most life changing quotes with the community on a daily basis.
The Aspiring Steemit Whales & Dolphins group on Facebook which seeks to help newcomers make the transition from Facebook to Steemit, providing them with detailed notes and personal assistance with their posts... resteeming them when he can.
I receive the equivalent of $3 a day using Genesis Mining
This was after investing around $500 (from STEEM payouts) into 2 year contracts, mining Dash, Ether & Litecoin
Use my referral code to get a 3% discount: wzrAS4
Some say it is a scam but I have found no reason to believe this.
@teamsteem @timcliff @jesta @good-karma @someguy123 @blocktrades @pfunk @klye @krnel @blueorgy @ausbitbank @thecryptodrive @ura-soul @pharesim
Without them our beloved Steemship would not fly.
Learn what this means HERE and place your vote HERE
The Bali Volcano Crisis
If you have a moment please check out the @charitysteemit account where you will find up-to-date films, photos and information on the erupting volcano & evacuee status.
Mount Agung erupted a 2nd time with force on the 25th November, sending an ash cloud 3000m into the sky and we will be watching it closely over the next few weeks.
This is what it looked like.
source
Those of us in Bali are working hard to raise money to buy the evacuees solar power & water filters LEARN MORE HERE and we deeply appreciate any help we can get.
Thank you for your support 🙏🏻
My brother, your heart is full and seen from afar. You have and still will inspire others to action, to freedom and to self empowerment.
I feel to post about you next, perhaps after a little more meditation on this topic. Not for recognition, reputation or reaction no never that. For nothing more than the simple joy of sharing, detached from rewards, the true gift is giving.
With love brother, there are infinite possibilities and enough space for all creations. Perhaps my next sharing will help lift you and others, perhaps not. This is the freedom we all share, in joy brother.
Smell that fresh air, feel the sun on your face and the earth under your feet and keep smiling, congrats you're a whale LOL! 💚💯
Thanks brother. It turns out I have been blessed by the universe at the perfect moment. Just received a juicy royalty payment from xxx music I made years ago. Apparently more and more people are watching my films! I was getting around £200 every 6 months. This time I got £2,200. Love that :)
Let me know if you write that post with a PM. I sometimes miss comments here...
I haven't been here since the beginning, so I have less background in the "early days" but I also have much gratitude for Steemit... and some sadness.
It's funny, in my very first post I aired some skepticism over how the community would handle what I saw as the inevitable invasion of spam and automation that would surely come... and did. Experience told me what would happen here because... because Human Nature IS human nature... and here we just happen to have "Human Nature on the Blockchain," but there are still a large number of greedy self-serving people out there.
At best, those of us who truly care about this platform can still carve out a small niche... our own "web of trust"... but it's getting harder.
What distresses me, I suppose, is that it is such short sighted thinking... we all know getting rewards is lovely, but some effort must be taken to ensure that our behaviour today doesn't destroy the Steemit of tomorrow. A bit like something you perhaps experience in Bali as well... you can't cut down all the forests AND complain that "there are no forests" at the same time... choices have consequences.
But I enjoyed this heartfelt post!
Gratitude and sadness about sums it up! And greedy self-serving people is right. Though I struggle to understand their motivation. Are they being paid by someone to eliminate discussion on these topics???
We will never know for sure.
Thank you for your consistent support here 🙏🏻
I still very much believe in this platform and look forward to happier times ahead 🎉
I could not agree more with this statement. I feel the Steemit of today isn't the same as the one I joined 10 months ago. At that time, I felt like most people loved the platform and wanted it to succeed above all. There are still some people here who feel that way, but they have become the minority. I really do hope Steemit can stay afloat like this, but it's like you said, human nature will keep rearing its ugly head. Let's just hope it won't bring down the Steem price with it.
I genuinely believe in the Steem blockchain, and that's more than steemit alone. It is technology which will permit the growth of many things. So in time the value of steem will grow. As least that's what I'm hoping :)
True, it's bigger than Steemit alone! I do hope Steem will go a long way. Stil... I really enjoy Steemit, so I hope it'll stick around for a long time, even if it has some problems :-)
I just signed up today, and have little idea what is going on! This is actually my very first comment... But I am glad to have read your story, it helps me as I learn to navigate this bizarre landscape... Thanks!
Well, great that this was your first comment. Have sent you a little tip for this and please don't be discouraged by my words. This platform has changed my life and the future is bright :)
This was even worth a second read, this time around... Hey, thanks for the bump, and keep writing!
Hey man, I've been MIA. It wasn't the pro-vaccination propaganda either. The main reason I took a step back was because a witness called my intro post reply "bullying." A new user posted an obviously fake verification photo, and I called them out on it.
The witness defended them and told me I was wrong. What can I really do in that situation? Nothing. I simply walked away. My reply posts were meant to help people, and a witness told me I was being a bully. Okay, I'm done then.
There are many different ways to hide the truth. This platform doesn't use the same way the MSM does, but it has its ways. If you upset the wrong person, you can pay a very heavy price. I'm not going to waste my time on a platform where people sharing the truth will be punished either.
The older I get, the more I question even bothering to share the truth. Honestly, few care. Most people around me violently reject the truth. They don't want to know it. They hate people like us for pointing it out. Why? When we do, we reveal them for who they are.
A lot of talk about "the system" and how it is the problem gets discussed. Usually, people mean the political system however. I used to think the same thing, so I'm just as guilty. What if the system includes the entire Internet and everything to do with it though?
Can we change the system within it? I'm no longer sure. Whether we are talking about politics or social media, there will always be a means for oligarchs to control it. Therefore, perhaps we are fighting a losing battle, for changing either system from within isn't going to work.
The more I think about it, the more I think both require the same answer. That answer is of course to walk away from the system. Just walk away. People wonder why they are sick and feeling unfulfilled, but few ever realize it is because we lack connection.
The connection we lack is to nature and to the other people around us. Is any system on the Internet going to actually resolve that problem therefore? I do not believe any will. In fact, the more we use these things, the more we fool ourselves.
I've seen the same thing in my children, and I absolutely hate myself for allowing it to suck them in the way it has me. All they want to do is watch YT or play on a computer, tablet, or smart phone. It's a failure on my part. How can I scold them when I do the same thing? I can't.
I'm not going to close my account, but I'm going to go back to spending the little free time I have with my children, in nature, and reading paper books instead of staring at a computer screen for hours a day being programmed by it.
Thank you for your words here. I personally am able to justify my ongoing connection to this aspect of the system in the knowledge that it was the same system which led to my awakening. If it were not for all the wonderful people of the world making YouTube videos, I would still be trapped in the matrix.
As tools go, the internet seems to me to be the most effective at speeding up this process for lots of people. Though clearly there are always two sides to the coin. And it doesn't do much for our connection as you say. A healthy balance is the key.
I completely hear you relating to more time living the simple life with family and nature. This screen has drained me somewhat but my dream with Steemit is still to be able to create more freedom through it. It just may take longer than expected but I'm sticking with it for now.
Hope to see you checking in from time to time. All the best to you!
Thanks for this. I see why you are worried. It sucks to see something with such huge potential be threatened by fear and closed minds. I'd been thinking about Steemit's inflation / deflation model in relation to upvotes and flagging. Compared to you, my understanding of how it works is, I think, shallow. I am curious to hear what you think of the following idea:
Change the flag so it is a down-arrow sitting next to the up-arrow (upvote). Most importantly: Reduce the destructive power of a downvote and keep cost high to do it. I actually don't know what the result/cost ratio is. The result I'm seeking is more expensive downvoting while at the same time changing the perception around downvoting to be less "nuclear bomb" and more like a casual "this article was not for me."
Do you think that could help? Other ideas?
Sounds like a great idea to me! The only trouble is getting the idea implemented.
Not so easy when there are many whales in the high ranks of steemit inc currently enjoying their flagging power on the platform.
Your frankness is much appreciated. I did not realize vaccines were a taboo topic, VERY disappointed to hear that. You made the right choice... guess I best leave it at that.
From my perspective it isn't taboo at all, but there are some (who have loads of money) who disagree with me. So, they are currently doing their best to stop those speaking about it from earning anything.
I didn't specifically mention our mutual friend poor old Mr Angry. Though the way he was treated, I don't blame him for being angry!
So you don’t have to commute, pay for commuting, made $43+ in this post, and Steem is about to blow up to $10. Quit your crying beatch unfollow
haha! You're funny :)
Please don't unfollow me... i don't know what I will do without you ;)
Perhaps you are in support of the whales who get to choose which subjects we make money from?
Nice Sam, congrats for 71 reputation. I agree with you steemit, steemit give transform in my life
Thanks bro. You are one of the few who has been with me all the way 🙏🏻
It's taken me a little while to realise that all my Steemit income was coming from a tiny handful of people. Still beats YouTube$, and I think Steemit has a future, we are just very very early arrivals. Like all these things; vegan years before vegan was even called vegan, sungazing way before our time, and essentially it's not our job to force history to keep up with us pioneers. Many have lived & died before their message was fully understood, only to be loved later, by generations that followed after. Maybe they'll admit it when we're gone, let our spirits live on, in the lyrics that they hear in our song........ ; )
Sure does beat YouTube, though rather ironically a volcano film I posted a few days ago is fast approaching 50,000 views. I wonder if this will make me some wonga?
Love your lyrical words. Our song will sing on and on....
1M = $1K.... ish...
Look out for YouTube "accidentally" (de)selecting (un)monetized buttons, or not displaying any ads! Sometimes a video appears "monetized" but oooops, they forgot to display the ads, somewhere deep in yer settings, yah, "sorry" about that!
P.S. - I checked out your Volcano vid, it has no Pre-play Ads, and no Ads at the end. Only a banner around 10 seconds in.
Thanks for the info, man! Gives me a better idea of the landscape. But that doesn't really bother me at all actually. We live in a vibrational universe, right? The magic is in the vibration that we hold. ✌️
You are 100% right which is why it felt weird writing this kind of post... for the first time on steemit.
Just felt like it had to be said. And won't be saying it again.
All is well :)