We continue to witness tons of nail-biting over how blogging and curation awards are...well...awarded. Some are freaking out over the disproportionality. Others over are freaking out over "whales"--that they are biased, that they are stupid (and only reward "boobs"), that they have too much control, etc.. Many have speculated that, unless this issue of rewards is resolved, the entire Steem project could be jeopardized.
I'm sure that the awards algo could be refined and perfected beyond where it is today, but I honestly don't think that to be at all critical to Steem's future success. In fact, I think the reward system could be orders of magnitude worse and Steem would still succeed beyond imagination. Here's why:
Steem tokens are valuable because they give holders influence. More Steem Power = more social influence on the Steemit website. Since everyone wants to be influetial, Steem have value--people are actually willing to pay for them or work for them.
Note that Steem have value regardless of the method by which they are dispersed to users. Truth is, Steem could be awarded to authors and curators by a centralized entity purely at random (almost like a lottery) and people would still flock to the site en masse. Why? For the same reason people buy lottery tickets--a chance to get a lot for a little. People by the billions have adopted social media with zero chance of being paid, right? If "buying a lottery ticket" is as easy as cross-posting something from your "normal" social media platform to Steemit, then ...well...who wouldn't?
My point is simply this: Even if Steemit were as bad as some say--centralized, biased, arbitrary, overlooking "real value" for "boobs"--it just wouldn't matter. People would still flock to it by the millions for the simple chance, even a remote one, of getting something for essentially nothing, or for even just the opportunituy to watch others get something for nothing.
In fact, many of us would be so much a happier if we conceived of the blogging and curation awards as a random lottery rather than as "recognizing the value" of our efforts. If we viewed it as a lottery, we'd all be much more authentic about what we post. Our sense of self worth wouldn't be tied to how much money our last post made. We'd be grateful and gracious if and when we "win", and we wouldn't feel slighted when we didn't.
So Steemsters, just breath. Relax. Realize that your worth is not determined by your Steem. Put your faith in randomness. And by doing so, free yourself to reach for the sky while releasing your attachment to outcomes!
(Photo credits: Me. Subject: Cindy aka @steemed-open)
Maybe you'll grab it. Maybe you won't. Regardless, you'll have had an amazingly pleasurable and liberating stretch.
Namaste,
Sean