Since about my second week using Steemit, I have seen a large number of shrill voices denouncing the low quality of some top-voted posts and demanding that the wealth be distributed more evenly. Whales are accused of elitism and dolphins are accused of sucking up to the whale titties. (Yes, Whale Titties are a thing. Here's an article about them.)
This type of complaining about this type of issue seems predictable. Almost like something we've already seen a million times.
Because we have. We see the same thing every day at work, on the news and on every other level of our society. People Bitching.
The important thing that I've learned and embraced about the Steemit community since I started writing here, is that it functions like a miniature, self-contained version of the rest of the universe.
Here's an adorable mini-horse wearing a hat to illustrate my point.
I was going to just type "microcosm" and move on, but it made my post exactly 147% more boring.
Anyway, Steemit is a microcosm of the global economy, particularly as it applies to content-creation and entertainment.
In general, the same rules apply as well as the same struggles, which I actually very much enjoy. There ARE a few peculiar advantages though. Let's talk about he Bad and the Good and the Peculiar.
The Bad
A lot of good shit will go ignored - and that will make people sad inside.
This is just like the rest of the world where amazing things go ignored every day.
Like this series of YouTube videos about robots that fart ketchup:
This should have won Best Picture when it was released in 2012. but instead we got The Artist, which was obviously just Academy Whale-bait.
The sad truth of our world is that inequality persists, sometimes for arbitrary reasons.
The unequal and unpredictable nature of the payout system affects me as much as anybody. I've been writing pretty consistently for a month now, and I have yet to cash out a dime. I have been rewarded with a few hundred Steem Dollars over the course of 20 odd posts, but I have just been powering everything up. I don't desperately need the cash for anything at the moment, and in the mean time Steem Power seems like a better investment than Bitcoin. (If somebody wants to correct me on that, please do! I am a newbie at Cryptos)
All that to say, I'm not making any money on this platform in the traditional sense, but I am using it anyway.
This is because I see opportunity. For investment, sure, but first and foremost as an exercise in personal growth and the development of my own money-making skill sets.
This brings me to …
The Good
This place is like a writer's bootcamp on crack with cash door prizes.
No fucking shit people.
I've learned more about social media marketing in the last month than the rest of my life combined.
You can't spit without hitting a well-written article about "How To Make Money on Steemit" that may as well read "How to Make Money ANYWHERE"
I've read detailed tutorials about virtually every topic related to content creation and marketing imaginable. Hundreds of pieces of great advice covering details I had never even thought of before I started Steeming.
To list a few:
How to write a headline
How to write an article
How to gauge your audience
WHEN to post your article
And if you are coming here with a certain amount of marketing acumen, the great news about creating quality content on Steemit is that you already know what to do! It works basically the same way that it works everywhere else.
The Peculiar
Finally, here's the thing that makes Steemit uniquely better than the big scary world outside.
Steemit is a risk-free playground!
You can make money here, but unless you invest heavily with outside currency, you literally can't lose any money.
It's the perfect incubator for ideas. A test environment for any ambitions you may have previously abandoned, or skills you overlooked.
Instant feedback (or silence!) from thousands of strangers. Tangible rewards for effective marketing. Endless resources and tutorials to help you improve.
God, I wish college had been half this useful!
Now if you don't mind my asking …
What the fuck are you waiting for? Keep on Steeming!
:)