A few days ago, @chriddi wrote a post about #club5050 in relation to the Deutsch Unplugged Community and the difficulties that her community has experienced since the initiative launched - the unexpected divisiveness of an initiative that was designed to benefit the Steemit platform.
The replies to @chriddi's post are worth a read too and with me being the social butterfly that I am, have been asked for my opinion so here it is...
Instead of keeping these opinions private / semi-public, I've decided to share them with you in the hope of sparking some debate and new perspectives - starting with mine.
The Big Question
In response to @chriddi's post, steemcurator01 replied with the following...
It is interesting to read all the comments and get feedback on what we are doing.
We welcome suggestions for things that @steemcurator01 and @steemcurator02 can do to improve the platform, within the boundaries and constraints that we can operate.
In order to answer this question, we need to know what "the boundaries and constraints" are so I'm going to work with the following assumptions:
- steemcurator01 (sc01) and steemcurator02 (sc02) are not allowed to downvote
- Technical enhancements to the platform are not an option (i.e. sc01 and sc02 are not IT developers).
In other words, how do we want sc01 and sc02 to upvote content?
Now before I dive in, @chriddi's stolen my thunder somewhat in her reply to sc01's question - so if I repeat some of her suggestions then I hope that I've done so in my own unique "tone of voice".
Danke Verp.... -beeeeep- 🛑 (👈 I crammed 2 private jokes in there 🤣)
1. Stop (most of) the Big Upvotes
It's easy to say this given that I don't get them any more but even since I started fighting plagiarism, I had people telling me that "the steemcurator upvotes are your problem" - "people plagiarise so that they get a steemcurator upvote" - "people scam the Newcomers' Community / Crypto Academy to get a steemcurator upvote" - repeat ad nauseum.
There's some truth in this - an unintentional consequence of a powerful user being too busy and too trusting to check absolutely everything before they upvote.
Aside - If you're interested in watching a Newcomers' Community / Crypto Academy scam Live as it happens - @endingplagiarism has started following "The Professor" here
The big upvotes from the Newcomers' Community haven't all gone yet - you just need to persevere with a few more achievements before getting them. But I wonder if the level of abuse seen within this community has reduced since the "easy" rewards were reduced.
2. Trust Some Community Leaders
So with the big upvotes gone, what happens next?
This is a difficult one because too many users, a handful of which are held in high regard, are scammers (abusing their multiple accounts). Whether they joined with this intention or saw the bright dollars flashing before their eyes, I don't know. Despite this, there are also a number of users well known across Steemit for their unwavering integrity and desire to improve the platform, one of which being my inspiration to write this post.
So these users should be trusted by following their "curation trail" (if they have one) or with a "follow-on" vote.
I'm not saying that these users should have all conquering power over sc01 and sc02 upvotes, but sc01 could be used for those with absolute trust, and sc02 for the "fledgling newcomers" who don't get caught being scummy scammers. This needs to be hard to earn, and easy to lose.
My suggestion is like most curation trails - a percentage upvote with a maximum of 3% - that's still a $6 payout - plenty enough to go around and help so many more users.
3. Stop Upvoting Crap Content
Sorry @chriddi - I prefer my version
If you upvote a shitty "I powered up 30 Steem today" because it was #club5050, then you'll get 50 more shitty "I powered up 30 Steem today" posts.
People see crap content get upvoted, they write crap content.
#club5050 has seen a proliferation of crap content. It was probably better when every fucker tagged steemcurator01 and every other whale at the end of their posts.
I'm sure the intention of the initiative was to help stem the flow of Steem from the platform but information from this post and this post suggest that it's having little to no impact and the reaction I've seen (and felt myself) has seen a decrease in power-ups and continued the alienation of long-serving users (and gobby newbies like me).
4. Get Back to What You Loved Doing
By doing 1-3 above, number 2 in particular will save you (sc01 and sc02) from having to visit designated communities. No longer forced to visit posts with specific tags. You're a free bird again, to fly into and out of whichever communities you love. Reading the authors you love, the content you love whilst listening to the music you love. Save those big upvotes for the charitable causes that deserve support (like @bettervision or @elkezaksek's Ugandan project) or users who actually need it, not those who beg for it via a hashtag or chasing you around with comments.
Things changed. I've changed. You've changed (💔). But we'll always have @everythingelse. @yesir.
Please Share Your Thoughts
As always, I'm interested in hearing your thoughts so please comment below.