How You Play The Game Goes a Long Way With Steemians
Most who read my blogs know I am a pretty easy going guy who believes strongly in good karma and helping out Steemians as much as possible. Not a lot rubs me wrong honestly, learned a long time ago not to take the little stresses in life to heart much nor let anyone harsh my mellow as they say. Lately though there has been a few nagging issues with how people go about gaining their fellowship on Steemit and though I hate to bitch, today I think I want to enlighten those that might be missing the concepts of proper etiquette on how to grow and be a success with Steemit. Today I will try to tackle the key issues I see with improper tactics to grow your crowd of followers.
BEGGING FOR A FOLLOW FOR A FOLLOW IS LIKE SHOOTING YOURSELF IN THE FOOT SOMETIMES
I will admit this before I even begin putting anyone down for the constant "I Followed You So Please Follow Me Back" comments....early on I did this improper etiquette myself. This seems to be a common mistake made when your new to Steemit. To grow your followers by assuming a follow for a follow is enough is thinking small scale with such a huge crowd of users, and more coming in by the minute. Steemit is based on content, decentralization and its truly first about upping your game as a content creator to give people something they can't find anywhere else. I get it, we all start small here and would like a bit of help but that is why there are groups out there like mine @steemitbc so you can grow while you work. Begging for follows puts people off it appears here on Steemit so to be a success don't focus on numbers of followers, focus first on providing quality content so they will come in on autopilot which to me seems less work in the long run anyways.
SO YOU CONNED ME INTO A FOLLOW FOR A FOLLOW BUT AS SOON AS I ADD YOU, YOU DIP OFF MY LIST?? DAMN YOUR FOOT MUST BE BLEEDING BAD FROM THAT BULLET YOU FIRED OFF
This one burns me the most as a guy trying to entertain and inform my followers. I take a lot of hours a day to think of new and unique articles, and I spend even more time researching all information so everyone gets as much truth as possible when I begin to type out everything for my followers and for Steemit. Sometimes the upvotes are nice but having real comments hit my posts is even better because I am a social being here so when someone comes to me saying great article, chats about it and claims they will follow me...well when I go on my daily routine to sift through 20 pages of followers I am always honored to make that new bond and fellowship with that person by following them back.
Lately though, I am seeing more and more of this follow/dip off game. This is becoming a tactic to gain a follow with a common return of betrayal and deceit that has to be one of the worst etiquette breakages going around Steemit recently. As soon as I follow these guys back, within hours to minutes they dip off my follower list. This keeps happening more and more lately to myself and other users I have chatted with about this very subject.
It appears there is a crowd believing they can con people into following them by pulling this charade, but they don't actually want to follow you so they dip out after conning you into that add. Well my friends so you know, that game is long over for this guy. I have come to a conclusion to add content I enjoy and when I find these games I just unfollow for the simple fact its a bad way to gain my respect because you don't gain a thing by that impolite way of getting your numbers up. I take great pains to put my followers ahead of the crowd when I choose who to upvote, my list is huge so I have an every few day random look at my follower list to hook my supporters up with big 100% upvotes so dipping off my list honestly didn't end up doing much more for you than remind me who not to follow in the future. This to me is basic mutual respect, you want my follow and you ask in a nice way through conversation and engagement, you gain it...but if you are only blackmailing me into it thinking I don't figure out the tactic...you my friend have pulled the wool over your eyes not mine.
UPVOTE FOR UPVOTE IS ALSO NOT FAIR TO ASK OF OTHER USERS
I have also noticed a lot of new users running around to whales and half baked users like myself with a little SP to remind us that they upvoted our articles. While that is deeply appreciated and hopefully done always because you enjoyed the work put into our writings, its not a guarantee of a return right away.
Since HF19 a lot of us in the middle grounds of SP and voting power are with serious tied hands to spread around the upvotes. I have literally tanked in earnings per post honestly since HF19 which is bothersome to me but I blog on due to love for this platform. The situation though means that everyone has to be extra careful in how they upvote right now. I follow some guys I love reading from and even them I have to be limited when and if I can upvote them because I want to give them the best earnings I can share with them. So everyone needs some patience in this area right now, getting mad at others because of a direct upvote return back does not mean they used you or you betrayed them, it just means they can't or just didn't find content to be worthy of dipping down 5% more of their voting power at the moment.
This is a big area everyone I think needs to remember, there is no entitlement here for earnings. I have literally gone from $100 posts to around $1-$4 post lately and my content has not changed in any form. Its just not being spread around well I think so when you ask for an upvote for an upvote at this stage its probably making people feel bad that they have no voting power to return. Bare with people, upvote when you respect the author's work but remember its not entitled as a rule to return the favor around here unless they work that way on a personal level.
GAINING FOLLOWERS IN THE RIGHT WAY
I want to end this with positive avenues you can attempt to grow your crowd of followers. First you should consider your content and ways to up it every day you sign into Steemit. What worked yesterday may not work today so you may need to consider spicing it up or changing it up so you shock and awe your readers plus attract new ones. Second option is to not run around begging for follows but instead go to other profiles and actually engage the content creators. Make friendships, bond with like minds, and do it out of genuine care to meet other Steemians. If you engage users in the right way and keep up a relationship, its bound to happen you will gain a life long follower and that is way better than any number milestone you can get.
In the end its up to you to find your place within this great community. You can either annoy the hell out of people or be a person helping and creating great unstoppable content. Every new user has potential to be a whale here, but any whale will tell you it takes proper dedication, a bit of etiquette, and care for this community to make it long term. I wish all of you the best with Steemit, now get out there...get that game face on and make this work for you, not against you!!!
~sflaherty
⇧[this is a good place to ask for follows, below your own content]⇧
If you truly want help growing your followers, join my project Steemit Blogger Central which is a community of Steemians looking out for each other. Our SLACK is where we gather for live chats and article sharing:
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All true. If someone follows you, but never engages? What's the point? Then again, I'm one of those fb users who has like 80 friends, because I don't want to collect numbers. I see some people with like 875 friends, and I think there is no way you like that many people lol! It's actually why I like steemit better. I find people are more engaging and sincere, well, the ones I follow anyway. I enjoy your posts, and it gave me a real thrill when I was new and you resteemed my horror articles! Thanks buddy!
I agree, for me its not about the numbers but those engaging and those truly reading my material and vice versa. I am happy to help you out with the horror stuff, my little SBC project has me so tied up lately but I will swing in there soon and also resteem your new stuff. Honestly we should all use this platform wisely, we derail it like most social media does things then we may as well move back into regular crypto trading lol
If you want to resteem then I appreciate it, but I want you to know I wasn't going fishing by bringing that up!
No worries I know you weren't fishing on that, I honestly need to get in there lol...plus I do genuinely like what you do, its worth spreading around
Thanks man!
Well said :) It was easy to make those rookie mistakes right at the beginning, simply because so many people did that to us on our introduction posts..
But glad we wisened up..Quite impressed that you got to churn a couple articles out what with your full power going on at SBC :)
I had to buy a little SP back for this account to write lol....forgot you have to hold 12 SP to use your account but I am back online lol. I seriously did the same thing, I said help me and follow me a lot and I will return the favor but I learned fast that it was a useless way to grow here. Thats why I started to write more and just make it about the content. Lately though even the content doesn't seem to matter, payouts just dipped out into a change machine for me but hey its life, you can't expect it to always go perfect. Best thing I can say is just keep on keeping on...one day it will be worth it
I didn't know that you need min. 12 SP to use your account! At the start we only had like 0.5 or something pre-allocated right? Let's hope things change for the better after HF20 haha
This is only what I needed due to delegation..I had to have 12 SP for some reason on my account to use this account after delegating my SP to steemitbc. I do hope HF20 does fix a lot, we need a few tweaks lol
Oooh I see..sure hope HF20 comes really soon man!
I am praying that HF20 comes and corrects a lot lol...but in the meantime I will just keep trying and hope for the best. I don't give up ever so let the change keep coming lol....least I can buy a bluray now and then lol
lol yes, that's the spirit! Don't give up! Just think of the things you still CAN buy with the earnings, even if one day it drops to a cheeseburger LOL
Well between you and I, I had an offer to work again in PIVX on their Steemit and I believe I am taking the job...I can still run SBC but have a steady day job at the same time this way so I can pass through this bad moment in crypto. Luck...some odd reason I just keep getting by lol
I think me and my girl plan to save up for an RV and travel on crypto lol. Just to do it
I think the Social aspect of social media is what is getting strained on here as people treat it more like a wild west. I also worry about how we already know what we are doing to our brains with screens and quick dopamine hits. Adding a money incentive is like putting a slot machine feature into it as well. I think your long term strategy is sound and people will eventually realize that if you just have fun and be yourself, you get to be yourself and have fun. Who knew?
Couldn't agree more with you, that slot machine thing is one part of this I wonder will be the boost or undoing of it. Everyone should focus more on the content vs the payout in my opinion, if you do that then its bound to payout in time. Or we help each other like I did with my project SBC, be proactive and provide something to help the community. In the end this is meant to not be Facebook but already I am seeing a lot of people trying to turn this into it, lots of policing other peoples posts, lots of people running around creating drama lately, that stuff keeps up I don't care how much money they toss at me, I will be out because I am here to get away from censorship and drama lol...not build this into nothing but that.
I also did a lot of the same rookie mistakes but I genuinely felt relief when I unfollowed so many people I didn't know and wasn't too interested in their content. i think once you find your tribe it's all gravy, but if any of us honestly thought of applying the same rationale to everyday life or any other platform, we'd be pretty embarrassed to admit how manic we seemed. I am.
You are so right, especially about your above comment and the dopamine hits! I am slowly finding my people around here so it's becoming more and more fun.
I did the same stuff a lot, we all do make mistakes and I also have to admit that
Good article, not to mention if those follow for follow folks do hang around they will not vote or engage your content.Early on i did the friend train thing but quickly found out that i would rather have 5 engaing followers than 100 who never even read my post.
Engagement is pure key. I am with you on that I rather those that follow and support vs hanger ons that expect my help the day I become a whale lol. Little do a lot of people gather yet but I take serious notes down of trends, who is more active and who hits and runs around here on my profile and my Steemit Blogger Central one. See I am not up there yet but I have goals to be and I think its going to hit a time where I have to be more selective in who I view as content creators worthy of support and who as well has been a supporter of me along the way...gotta balance those you like and those that support you on the way up. Lately though its been a lot of game playing for my profile, why I am more focused on growing SBC for you guys, figure help those that deserve it, grow myself and then come back to give the kick backs to those that kept by. Its always better to have loyal constant followers than a slew of them just sitting by using you for something I say
Resteemit, you nailed it and others need to see it!
Thanks for the resteem, I just firmly believe these things are the ways to go about it and not go about it. Rather everyone be a success here but in the right way. Really appreciate you getting the word out for me on this one
A very helpful guide for new people. It would benefit the genuinity (is that a word?) of the platform if people wouldnt play by these 'follow and unfollow' tactic
I agree, I think too many are coming in here thinking this is Twitter and Facebook and forgetting the content side to posts. I caught a few recent new users posting memes lol...literally one of them did 1000 meme posts in a few days. But that is gonna get you no where fast. Its about community, content, and showing respect, those that get those three basic concepts are going to be ahead of the curve
That's crazy...hopefully those tactics don't work otherwise many more will follow that way of approach ...it might not work in the long run but if it explodes like that in the short it will turn away many people who had otherwise been very valueable to the platform
Lets just say its effected even my train of thought about posting, you will notice I am more about my @steemitbc right now due to this lately. My goal right now is to just focus on that and test run this profile till things turn back around. This is due to the way I see people upvoting and the activity lately. I get it its not always easy to upvote and can't expect people to but I can't see the point in spending hours per article right now due to the lowered activity. Hopefully this turns around but I do see less constant posting by even those I follow, so there is already a slight effect going on. I am long term though with Steemit so I figure bare with the tough moment but hopefully it doesn't drag on for long
All we can do is just keep posting to keep it all alive
I agree, I never give up on anything, might slow down and spread myself around but I have no give up in me lol
I think the asking for upvote and people actually doing it might be one downfall of the platform. We should be rewarding good content, for sure. Not just people who ask for it. Which is basically the whole premise of your post. Ha In any case, all of your points are completely valid. I try to let people know that I don't follow for follow. I know one thing I like is to see the content from people I follow because I am truly interested, and for me to go and follow people without thought... that's no good for me cause I'll never be able to keep up with my feed. Making me lose out!
Couldn't agree more. I been getting this slew of con men at my profile for some reason the last week, but its a strange one where they follow silently, I add them and then they dip off or they will ask for a follow but dip off. its getting absurd to be honest and just not playing those games anymore with people. My view is this, just put together some great articles and hope for the best, its kind of a big waste of everyone's time if you are just seeking upvotes and follows for just asking around, so I am on the lookout for content providers vs building a following.
This is why I have my own rule of only following if I am truly interested in what they're putting out. Otherwise it's a waste of effort and a clog of my feed.
Sad thing, those I do enjoy reading haven't been posting like they used to. So even following content lately seems slow, everyone I guess is figuring out the new ways of doing this in Steemit or something.
Totally agree man! There are these 45 rep people bragging about 500 followers... and then averaging $0.50 per post with little follower participation. Annoys the Hell out of me to be honest. Took me quite a few months to build up my following and I was really happy when I hit 100. Now people do that in a week or two.
I agree, I even seen a few hit 1000 in the matter of a few weeks, its that game of follow for follow. Honestly it appears its not even working for those of us with a lot of followers, the engagement is lowering bad so I fear that this mass adoption to look for follower numbers is side tracking looking for real content. Hopefully this stops because it could seriously derail us.
Hi @sflaherty Great Advice. It sounds like what people do on instagram. They just drop like flies when you follow them back. So, I am coming to you with an issue that I have right now. You are one of the main steemit partners that I follow, I follow ned too cause hes the CEO. However, I'm coming to you with my issue and need your advice on how to do with this. I put countless hours of work in my videos that I create and post, I'm new here, so I don't have a large following nor upvotes, however, I'm getting progress. Just a couple days ago I get this @steemcleaners that comes and down votes my post telling me that it is SPAM?! I don't post spam. So what can I do about this? This is the link to my VLOG. https://steemit.com/bitcoin/@assetminds/bitconnect-scam-watch-me-test-it-daily-day-4-6 Thank you for reading...
Before I say anything I wanted to let you know I am not officially affiliated with the Steemit core team, i am with a project for Steemit users called Steemit Blogger Central but that is a side project within the community but not actually affiliated with the Steemit development itself.
With that said, I looked at your post and agree that is not really spam at all, I am not sure why they flagged you but there is an appeals process with @steemcleaners ....maybe its a mistake or maybe they felt something is wrong with the post, unsure how they go about deeming spam or not. I do know you can appeal with them about these kind of issues here: https://steemit.chat/channel/steemitabuse-appeals
I am kind of 50/50 on the way some of these Steemit policing systems work. In some ways its important because it flags abuse but on other ways I am concerned they will turn this into a huge drama fest like other social media is getting with censorship. I was just informed steemcleaners is now giving out tips for people running around reporting abuse and I kind of looked over the reports they are getting and it looks like people have gone nuts pointing fingers all over the place for money, that could cause issues but hopefully steemcleaners is doing their job on a fair level. I say appeal it and find out why they flagged you on that one.
@sflaherty Ok, thank you for the clarification. You are obviously very knowledgeable and helpful within the community. So, thank you very much for your help. I will go ahead and take a look at that appeals channel. Aside from that, and I will go look through FAQ and guide or what not to try and seek an answer, but perhaps you may be able to help me out with this too...
I had some steem dollars. I was looking for the quickest and easiest way to convert my steem dollars to steem so then I can Power Up. I went ahead and selected the Option "Convert to Steem" so my conversions that were pending appeared in the order that I converted them. (I saw the notice saying that the process will take 3.5 days) so for like a day or maybe two my steem dollars appeared pending, however they are not there anymore, nor do I see the increase of my Steem balance. Did I just lose my steem dollars, or does it just take a few days for it to appear in steem balance. The reason i'm kinda afraid now that I lost my steem dollars is because, the little notice also said that I am risking and there is not guarantee on that amount of steem that will result from the conversion. Thanks again!