It is Time to Give Steemit the Kind of Content it Tells me it Crave...

This is certainly not the first time that I have attempted to establish a following. In some form or other I've been trying to do so for a good decade. At various points I have paused to ask myself "what is the point?".

I never truly had an adequate answer. It was purely about self-expression.

But the thing about self-expression is that it isn't a scheduled thing.

It doesn't come in bite-sized morsels that translate well to all mediums.

And Steemit Hasn't Been Giving Me Good Vibes.

Nobody likes to hear criticism - and I'm not even going to delve into the demoralizing element of having comments, up-votes and other efforts vanish to a system that is unable to cope with the pressures that it is being subjected to.

No, rather I'm going to (again) take a poke at those who feel that engaging in self-up-votes and circular voting is in some way a valid form of 'content curation'.

Rather, I am going to take a poke at those who treat their up-vote not as a curation tool but as an investment tool.

Oh look! A really interesting post! Lets not up-vote for a bit because of the 30-minute rule. And lets pay more attention to the Reputation, Steem Power and Number of Followers that a user has than the content that this user has chosen to grace the blockchain with.

Whether such be a well-edited earth-shaking revelation... or a 60-second meme text inserted to an image (probably not taken by oneself) to make it a 'derivative work'. Or equivalent...

And we, the unfavored many, get to watch as their modest efforts (and this is putting it kindly) consistently elicit a gush of contrived generosity.

Source

And then we get to ask ourselves... "Why?"

Especially when we surpass Reputation 52 and are no longer eligible to the lightning strikes of likes of @curie. Never mind that reputation is not a reliable indicator of one who is able to get by on his or her own Steem - pun intended.

Its like finding your way down an endless dark tunnel on a raft with a spent solar powered pulse engine, with the current pulling you ever deeper and further away from the light as our hands splash ineffectively in the water.

Steemit's 7-day Payout Period Supports This

One can publish anything to Steemit - and make cents for one's effort.

Better than facebook or just about any other potential location for blogging or self-publishing... but is this all that its cracked up to be?

Here is a conundrum for all to ponder.

Source

The value of our content (or more accurately, the speculation surrounding the perceived value of our content collectively) is part of what gives the Steem blockchain value. However there exists a 7-day payout. Suggesting that the value of information is confined to a seven day period.

Right...

Something does not quite add up.

And that which doesn't add up is the effort-to-rewards ratio.

Which leads to a bit of a wake-up call.

Source

If it truly is the case that content is voted upon not on the basis of its quality but rather as part of a calculated effort in investment - then there truly isn't any point in delivering more than the Steemit platform itself is sending signals that it deserves.

Even now I wonder if I've placed too much effort upon this post.

But then again, like I said earlier, inspiration doesn't come in the shape and dose requested. Sometimes self-expression has a value all of its own.

And - in recognition of that which I have observed upon Steemit - I shall begin to 'live down' to expectations. After all - the problem isn't with those who have got it good - but with the rest of us.