I am not an expert of blockchain technology, but since I have recently started Steemit, I have noticed some positive and negative sides of Steemit. It is such a great opportunity to be able to connect with people from all over the world and be able to share ideas and thoughts of any sort. But there is this injustice happening, where often great contents go unnoticed, and shallow or simple contents earn a lot.
Sometimes simple and fun content can be entertaining and it deserves to be seen, when it feels genuine. But the problem is that this whole thing sometimes feels like a race for money. Some people buy their way up, and there are those people (‘whales’), who - as it appears to me - don’t even need to produce quality content anymore to earn 100s of $. People will upvote and comment regardless, to get the whale's attention, so that they can climb up on the ladder too. This feels like such a robotic race for money. Where is the soul in this? Where is the genuineness and the value in this?
I have noticed the same thing on other social media too. For example I follow Poetry stuff on Instagram, and there are a lot of mundane writers / poets with such shallow content, followed by 100s of thousands, while they only follow a few. Their content seems interchangeable, and they all sound like they have been written by the same poet. It’s so obvious that they are in only for the money. And they are still followed and loved by the masses. They are obviously financially privileged people, who were able to use their money, targeted marketing, good audience research, campaign experts, professional instagram editors, designers etc for their account, so they have a professional presence, which easily fools people. It is not a new thing that even the shitty stuff can sell to the masses, if it is advertised well. How many celebs do we know who don’t deserve to be put on a pedestal and add no value with their presence? Let’s be honest, most people are gullible and don’t like to think for themselves, so they just accept what’s in front of their faces. And since it’s in their faces as ‘the picture of success’, people believe that that’s what it is, and that it got there on merit, therefore it must be loved. Media tells us who to love. And that’s similar to what is starting to happen on Steemit too.
I don’t deny that there are some genuinely great whale-content here on Steemit (not just good writings, but informative videos too). Which is amazing! But that’s not always the case, judging from what I’ve seen so far. I sometimes find the most amazing stuff written by obscure, hidden people, with a few followers, who obviously are no pro in commercialising themselves, or have not been able to buy their way up.
The blockchain technology is such a great opportunity with it’s transparency and lack of censorship. And it will become what we make it to be. It is a limitless free platform for all creatives and content creators. So I would like to encourage everybody to be genuine, and vote for the real, true, and valuable content, regardless of their 'position or ranking'. Look for the hidden and the alternative, and follow your own decision making, not what's been put in front of your face. Don’t just be a robot in the system! Be genuine and passionate about what you do, and don’t just make this a race for money!
Written by Nightcreature
Photo source: https://pixabay.com/