Recently, I had an interesting comment show up for one of my posts.
Without dropping names, it read, “This post has received a 41.67 % upvote from …thanks to…..”
I thought to myself, ‘how nice’.
That is, until I read a little further and saw the words, “Send ANY amount to get an upvote.”
Say what?
SEND money now?
Are you serious?
Of course, without outright judging this as a ‘legal’ scam, I decided to do a little research into the matter. But, before I wasted precious time and energy delving down rabbit holes, I decided to stare at the reply for a few moments and weigh things out.
I pondered my reason for joining Steemit being:
An opportunity to blog in an artist’s community,
With feedback coming in the forms of comments, and upvotes,
With the added bonus of having the opportunity to earn and invest in a new form of currency in unchartered waters.
Nowhere in my reasoning did I have intentions of sending money to anything except SP, with the goal of someday yielding a far greater reward than the pennies currently added to the pot. With that said, I could only smh as I began to realize that the more this platform grows, the more weeds get-rich-quick newbies will have to plow through.
Since joining this platform almost two months ago, I have made it a personal endeavor to learn as much as I can about the ins and outs of Steemit. There have been some very generous members who have led me to links, and offered their expert knowledge and observations regarding the platform. Let’s just say I have learned a lot by trial and error, and listening to and observing the work of the success stories.
Now, back to the send money now ‘comment’. This may very well be a legitimate money-making move within the community of bloggers. From the looks of it, many are taking up the offer to send money and get the ‘high-yielding’ up-vote.
I have to say it’s like a lure to a fish in the pond. And, the lure sure looks a lot like a minnow being consumed by a bigger dolphin or whale. To confirm my theory, I did something I would not do without purpose. I looked into the Wallet of the person sending me this offer.
And if you’re guessing he’s a whale. You’re right.
If you’re guessing he probably had an overall value in the six-figures, you’d be right again.
Of course, now that I had entered the rabbit hole, I decided to observe the whale’s skills. I opened his blog…nothing new.
Whaaaaaaaaaaat? SMH…
I went to his comments. Ditto.
I looked at his replies and, omg, entry, after entry, after entry, of this generated offer to get something for giving something. It became clear his job was to get as many people possible to take him up on his offer.
Case closed. I was done. All doubt removed. This person’s authenticity was obliviated in my book of ethical behavior for this platform.
But, before I closed the page, and did the final walk away, I thought I’d see where his redeemable income was originating…a whole lot of minnows sending pennies to get that huuuuuuge payout. Of course, huge is a huge exaggeration.
In closing, those of you who have joined Steemit to get something for nothing, you’ve come to the perfect place to get scammed. And, in the same breath, if you came here to show off your artisan skills or just hang out in thought with kindred spirits, and those with opposing views as well, then you are in the one of the best places of your life.
It’s been just over a month. I show up because I like seeing what’s really going on in the minds of the people, outside of the spoon-feeding of MSM, as well as for the aforementioned perks.
That’s it. If it sounds like a rant, maybe; but, it’s not intended to be. It’s just an effort to share a thought that may prevent the next unsuspecting person from being a whale’s lure.
Some will put this money-making venture under the heading of ‘capitalism’, which I whole-heartedly support, so this might be the only look past.
Peace.
