#busy

Engage on Steem, and twitter and discord and....

I was just chatting with some fellow Steemians on Twitter when it occurred to me that it is odd, we were talking there instead of here. Another funny thing is I don't even know if any of us follow each other here.

I spend a lot of time working on Steem, Talking about Steem, planing about Steem, listening to shows about Steem... And I hang out with a lot of others who are pretty dedicated too.

Why is it we communicate on Twitter, Discord, steem.chat and elsewhere more often and more freely than on Steem? Another interesting thing, I don't engage that much on the blockchain with the same people who I spend the most time with on discord. I think it is because I post more than most of the people who I talk to on Discord. I realize that instant chat is nice but why Twitter.

Two things come to mind when I consider my own reasons for saying things in other places than on Steem.

Knowing I'm putting something on the blockchain feels more important like I shouldn't waste space for no reason. (sometimes very little reason, but not total fluff.)
We get mad at people who are reward farming.

We've created a strange dynamic, where we tell people to engage and make friends... However, we limit their RCs and discourage them from testing out different types of posts for fear of disapproval or flags.

I know why we do it and I am not even saying it's bad. I just thought it seemed a little interesting.

Stop by SteemChat and say hi! lol https://discord.gg/8VAwPH

@whatsup

Comments · 24

@eaglespirit(66)· 2699d
I like this line of thought! Check this out @Nathanmars. Wu has been one of my mentors and is a brilliant lady. Definitely NOT a scammer.
@robertandrew(70)· 2700d
YEah, I limit my time on Discord. I know people will say you build relationships, connections etc..etc.. But it is a big time suck, imho
@arcange(79)· 2700d
Congratulations @whatsup! Your post was mentioned in the Steem Hit Parade in the following category:
- Comments - Ranked 9 with 64 comments
@southernwolf(54)· 2701d
I 100% agree!I think part of the issue is the cost for posting even small/short comments on Steem makes it unattractive for long conversations to be carried on for those that aren’t whales or dolphins with large RC pools to draw from. I’ve wondered before it a Twitter style system could be created on the Steem blockchain. A network where you are character limited, like Twitter or Gab, where conversations are short, sweet, and straight to the point. The issue is that the RC cost to make even a small post like that would be very prohibitive for even someone like me. At full charge with my 21SP, I could maybe post 10 “Sweets” in one day, and fewer if I plan on commenting on other’s posts, then I’d have to wait at least another day for my RC to recharge to post or comment again.

I wish that RC cost was based on the size of the post you make, as that way a functional chat service could really become possible on the Steem blockchain. Now granted, I understand it’d have to be made in a way that prevents post/reward farming, I get that. But it would also really open the Steem blockchain to be used for more for messaging and “Sweeting” than is currently possible. It might also break that stigma many have about feeling that anything posted on the Steem blockchain needs to be “special” or “important” to justify posting.
@steem-plus(74)· 2701d
Hi, @whatsup!

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@fionasfavourites(77)· 2701d
This is something I've been thinking about for a while and I think that some of what you have said is spot on, @whatsup. Specifically:

We get mad at people who are reward farming

A rage that is not misplaced I think. However, engaging here - which is not instant - is also garnering rewards. So, perhaps it's a balance between instant gratification (and my erudite friend @quillfire will wax lyrical about this) and reward.

we limit their RCs and discourage them from testing out different types of posts for fear of disapproval or flags

BOOM!

I do find, though, that in addition to the realtime chats on Discord - more so than on Twitter - one does say/have discussions that one wouldn't necessarily have on the more "public" blockchain.

My 2c worth... Fiona
@lordbutterfly(80)· 2701d

Why is it we communicate on Twitter, Discord, steem.chat and elsewhere more often and more freely than on Steem?

Lol. I think i probably covered this phenomena at least in 1/5 of my posts. Why do people express themselves more freely anywhere else then on STEEM? When i first came here i was amazed how unnaturally friendly almost everyone was. lol The answer to that question is:

Because STEEM incentivizes and rewards fake behavior, fake social interactions, political prowess. Your success (in most cases) depends on how good at brown nosing you are, who you know, so adjusting your behavior towards the expectations of the few whales, the few large accounts you are "flirting" with is encouraged.

Some call it: "Social intelligence." I call it: "Being a soulless conformist."

Drama token please. hahaha
@shadowspub(77)· 2701d
one of the features that Medium has on their interface is the ability to not only highlight parts of a post but to comment on that highlighted text.

Two things I like about that is that I find I'll comment more as I highlight items that 'speak' to me and as a writer, I get to see what resonates with people.

Having said that, the level of engagement on posts is stronger here than over there from what I've seen
@bluefinstudios(72)· 2701d
it is odd. I spend a few minutes each day with a post. Spend some time replying, to other comments, and commenting on posts.

Then, head to discord... I should make a habit out of more time on here.
@newageinv(74)· 2701d
I think that the Hivemind and communities deployment for front ends could bring the opportunity for more engagements on chain as long as it is developed. I have always wondered the same as engaging actively on chain will only raise awareness to the ecosystem.

Posted using Partiko iOS
@itstime(61)· 2701d

testing out different types of posts for fear of disapproval or flags.

In my experience posts only get flagged (mostly) when they are bid botted to trending with no unique content in post.

Have we started to flag usual blah blah posts as well ?
@abidemiademok21(58)· 2701d
Most people believe that steemit is just to post but to me no it is a place to relate with positive minded people but the RC has created a lot of hindrance to many steemians. It has occur to me also but am gradually getting out of it. There is a Dapp that allow direct messages. Yes, the new version of @partiko.android gives room for direct messages but it is mainly for those that are using the app. But come to think of it steemit is fun and am glad to be part of this great family. Just getting to know about stemchat but I will like to know more about it. A²¹

Posted using Partiko Android
@surfermarly(75)· 2702d
Nice one, @whatsup! That's a thought-provoking topic. I can only say that my behavior is exactly like yours: I spend much time talking about Steem, but not on Steem.

According to @penguinpablo the level of engagement has been pretty stagnant, being the average around 2.5 comments per post for over half a year now. If you think about our level of interaction on Discord that's basically nothing.

I think there's three things that have an influence on it:
1. The very simple and basic UI of steemit.com (still mosted used app on the chain) doesn't encourage you to interact. There are no gimmicks, features, fun tools.
2. On Twitter an discord you can combine public and private chatting, using chatrooms for topics that concern the wide public, but being able to switch over to private mode if you want to reach out to somone directly.
3. Interaction on Steem is limited by Resource Credits which means that the large majority of users simply can't post the hell out of the channel (as they can and do in the Steem Chat on discord for instance :-)).
These are just three that have driven people away from the blockchain. It's a shame!

IMO only by fixing point no. 1 you'd be able to change things. It's as you've said very often in our conversations:

Incentivize the action you wanna see.

Damn, this has become a super long comment. Sorry, haha! As I said: thought-provoking topic!! :-D

Loved & resteemed.

Have a good one @whatsup :-)
@chesatochi(73)· 2702d
It is only tools around steem blockchain nothing more or less!

Posted using Partiko Android
@markkujantunen(77)· 2702d
Discord sucks. It's centralized and very invasive. It takes forever to start.
@grintsch(54)· 2702d
You're right. It somehow feels more meaningful to put stuff on the blockchain as resources there are limited (Twitter in a way has limited resources, too, but we don't care).

I think it circles back to the discussion about downvotes. Downvoting someone on Steem is punishment, whereas downvoting stuff on YouTube or Reddit is just expressing your opinion and curation. Most users (as seen on Twitter) don't actually need monetary rewards to use a thing - why else would everyone use Twitter? Therefore, we should focus on creating value within our ecosystem that's independent from the rewards. The rewards will come as soon as there's enough value for participants. This would mean that people can get downvotes without feeling too bad about them - they impact them in a similar way like they do on the platforms they. (On a different note, Facebook and Twitter don't even have downvotes, so maybe we could also just get rid of the entirely?)

Would it make sense to run a decentralized Twitter on top of Steem? Would you use that instead of old-school Twitter?

Posted using Partiko Android
@theguruasia(69)· 2702d
@whatsup, With Sinhala and Tamil new year time I am really busy with my working stuffs! Hope to meet you and others at your discord!

Cheers~
@meesterboom(81)· 2702d
I think there should be easy more idle chatter oh Steemit. It is that money thing though, people get antsy.
@princessmewmew(67)· 2702d
I agree completely. Most people who have been on steem for two years plus like us have built up a fair amount of followers and auto votes. I feel super guilty if I don’t post this polished and perfect post. I want to have fun on Steemit - sometimes just share a meme or a little quote, but nary the day I do so on steem, to be called a SHIT POSTER, REWARD POOL RAPIST! Lol it’s probably all in my head but I’m glad I have Twitter and discord to share these things with my Steem homies! 💪💓

Posted using Partiko iOS
@midlet(74)· 2702d
I literally JUST wrote about this(sort of/mostly) and I do think it's bad. Busy modified their UX to feel more like a social network(the whole short post thing) and I think that's great, but there's still a negative stigma around the equivalent of a status update or tweet which I think is a net negative. I hope we can just get over that.
@erikah(83)· 2702d
RC can be an impediment indeed. I have a new account for my actifit activity, started with 3 SP, I'm at 15 SP now which is enough for posting once a day and one comment. On the other hand there are people here using Steemit to chat about their daily routine and family life. I stick to the topic and use other platforms for chit-chatting.
@steevc(80)· 2702d
Maybe it's partly that feel everything here needs to have 'value'. I do votes on a lot of comments, but if a thread goes too deep I may stop voting on it. There have been attempts at chat rooms on Steem. Not sure if they are still going
@bengy(79)· 2702d
For me, the other channels are more 'chatty' in nature as well. It is mostly due to their apps (instead of webpages) which are much better suited to a quick exchange. I know there are apps like esteem, but I'm not keen to install low install base apps on my phone!
@metametheus(66)· 2702d
I've wondered that also... however I've always felt that one of the good things about the Steem platform is that ancillary conversations happen elsewhere, like on Discord (or Twitter), while the feed is restricted to posts, but then the comments on post allow for contextual conversations to happen there.

Do we really need a 'chat' to be on the blockchain? I'd say no, given the nature of what blockchain is.

Strange how we never had an in-house chat app though... I know Steem-chat, but never used it TBH. Discord seems easier to use, unless it's my imagination.