10 Things I've Learned After Exactly 2 Years On Steem For Better Or Worse (No Filter Freewrite)

I've finally made it to 730 days and dolphin status with 100% manual work. All of my SP and "reputation" was earned by blogging and engaging with others on the Steem blockchain. In other words, NO voting circles or bid-bots. I also haven't self-voted my account all year.

I went to SteemFest in Poland and the Global Blockbuilders Conference in Austin. I haven't bought my Steem yet, but I've invested funds that way, as well as an inordinate amount time trying to build relationships. I've cashed out some liquid rewards over time, but have never hit the power down button once.

It sucks to be lapped a few times by those who can't get by without shortcuts or gaming the system, but self-respect is worth much more to me than extra tokens. Greed and I don't get along well.

"You did it, Matt!! We're all so proud of you."

Hooray.

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Facts.

I've made 1,120 original posts and 8,316 comments.

^{What do you call it when you cringe and wince at the same time?}

No bid-bots except a few tiny Minnow Boosters as a new guppy around 9/2017 when I was clueless. I'm proud of this.

I think 4:31 PM EST was the official time if steemitboard is right below. I'll forget this until next year's alert.

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So... what have I learned from my experience that I can share with you?

1. Steem can be a wonderful outlet and way to work through difficult challenges in life. I joined Steem 4 days after my Dad disowned me in a rage his damaged brain allowed just before his death. He never apologized or said anything endearing from that point, but I forgave him on his death bed. Steem helped me immensely as his cancer took control for the final time. Heck, I even did my own Steem fitness challenge push-ups just after he died to make sure I continued to lead by example, which helped me look forward. Trust me it wasn’t for the $0.80. Steem also helped me while my Mom was in the hospital for almost 5 months (the ICU for over a month), where I was her primary caretaker through intense situations. I wrote a lot of jokes from hospital chairs to cope with it and find something to laugh about. Steem also helped me cope with seeing my Dad's and other relatives’ spirits in a picture from her accident scene. For this, I'm forever indebted to this sounding board and to Steemians who helped me through those dark times. I'd also like to shout out @idikuci for donating nearly $100 worth of SBD to boost a deep emotional post I wrote back then for self-therapy. It's a moving read if you want to see where I come from, and how I handled a personal nightmare.

2. People who truly care about others without it coming across as lip service or pulling teeth are the only reason I've stuck with Steem. I'm clearly not here for the money; I'm here for the human element. That might seem like a broken record to some, but I think more people and leadership should truly respect that. I could easily be a whale if I felt like I'd be happy among my peers at the top of the leaderboard, but I have never felt like that'd be the case when I see how many behave or treat others. The list of the Steemians amazing thoughtful people I've kept is very short these days since most have flaked or aren't interested in making the effort. @soyrosa is at the top whether she likes it or not. She's not like the others. She just gets it. She's a class-act. Go meet and support her if you don't know her yet.

3. There's a significant difference between thoughtfully proactive and conveniently reactive. Few seem to enjoy maintaining meaningful connections, being courteous, or the old-fashioned gesture of checking in to encourage or stay in touch. It's really not that hard, but I've found a lot of people prefer to keep their walls up despite years of trust-building interaction. It boggles my mind that people prefer this, as well as immature snark and negativity. I try to be as selfless as possible and constructive every day. Heck, I even feel guilty accepting birthday and Christmas gifts, so I request that I get none every year.

4. Many have gotten a big head and spoiled to lose sight of the big picture around here, or how they treat others. The ego is way too inflated for no good reason. Others have also let Steem's declining price change them from being abundant in mindset/actions, to insulating in nature and distant. I've seen it happen with many people I've met over the years, if they've hung around, and it sucks. To those who have always been in a consistently humble giving/value-add/engaging mindset, like @abh12345 for example, THANK YOU for having outstanding character and leadership.

5. Significant content creation rewards are heavily based on popularity in the inner circles, off-chain politics/exclusive access, and one's ability to dupe lazy curators with the right pro-Steem buzz words, mentions, and catchy snaps. I'm not talking about toxic voting rings. I'm talking about the larger stakeholders putting people on pedestals whether they add true value, have brainwashed them that consistently spinning wheels without results means value, or there are no better choices on the top of their stale feeds. I refuse to play that game. This does not apply to @tarazkp, one of the best organic and determined writers Steem has ever seen. I'm glad that he's been able to earn rewards from his tireless and intelligent effort. While I usually get pittance, he gives me motivation that drive ultimately wins out. Now if he’s only let me return the favor by joining my revived fitness challenge...

6. There are too few good actors around here to go around. Compound that with so few good significant stakeholders and hope runs thin. I feel that too many give these "relative" whales (not in crypto or $, but on Steem) too much respect and power when many often tend to take care of their own kind. Stake means nothing to me except voting weight at this time and the firepower to inspire. It doesn't make anyone smarter or better whatsoever. The real barometer of how much respect someone should get should be how one helps, treats, and talks about others. Period.

7. Hope for higher prices is not a strategy. It's foolish to think that price indicates success or will attract quality growth. If that was the case we should've "made it" when Steem hit $8. I'm encouraged by the doers around here, but this is often outweighed by all of the self-voting and bid-bot delegation I see everywhere I turn. Price should mean nothing unless you plan on powering down to sell... ahem...

8. Steemit Inc. is constantly selling off Steem and this is tragic. After all of those huge cost cuts, why are they still selling off the same ~800K Steem per month afterwards and dodging questions about it? No one knows... I wish that they'd stop dangling carrots in front of the community to try inflate both Steem's perceived and market value for their sell-offs. Any significant investor would and should be frozen by this. Lastly, please underpromise and overdeliver for once. It's Business 101. You also should have the funds to hire contacts devs to accelerate progress with 800K Steem sold every month... I couldn't imagine why not... Why do people bash ETH and BTC with thousands of hardcore devs when our ecosystem has much much less and they’re seemingly running at 110%? It can’t all be because they haven’t found Steem yet.

9. Trying to build communities for recycling and thrifting, fitness, and drumming has been way harder that I'd ever thought it'd be. Who knew that trying to save our environment, help others generate independent income, and promote physical fitness would be so insignificant to the majority of users. I just want to make this place and a world a better for everyone. What a terrible idea! As genuine as I try to be to share and help others, the interest at large is very small. I pour my heart and passion into my posts and usually get 1/15th or 1/20th of what a popular figure gets for posting a single picture and a paragraph. Ouch. Thankfully there have been some faithful people who have been supportive of these niches over time to have something to post for, but the goal of having these be much more appealing to larger audiences has been a complete flop. I’m so glad that people are trying to grow their own communities. I don't think all of the token hype for them is necessary, but tribes and homes for people with common interests to feel welcome and respected are vital. My advice to newer Steemians is to make sure you're building communities you truly care about so you can fall back on that passion when times are tough, or your genuine effort goes largely overlooked.

10. I've talked about this a bit, but if I ever bite the bullet to whale up, I will NEVER change my allegiance to the few who were consistently and proactively there for me along the way (unless they change their ways). I will make it abundantly clear that I was observing all along, seeing who had character, seeing who didn't, and who pretended to have it on their blogs... but not behind the scenes. I would enjoy using my stake to make people happy, reward those who do things the old-fashioned way, and put a lot of voting power towards charity. Period.

Bonus Tip - meet Steemians in person. SF3 was a wonderfully unique and eye-opening experience. I’m on the fence about SF4 this year, but consider the investment if you want to expand your horizons.

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We're still a young ecosystem, but we have infinite potential if we work together every day and take care of each other, not only when it's convenient, you're in the spotlight, or for political gain. Divided we will fall.

When you put others first, good things tend to come your way. That may not pan out for me on Steem, but it works in real life. At least I made a few good friends.

Avatars, online alt personas, and SP aside, we're all humans here... and more people should remember that. Steem is nothing without the people who make it a desirable and healthy place to spend our time. We should take care of them.

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After 2 years, just wanted to get some thoughts out that I've had bottled up.

Catch ya on the flip side.

Thanks to everyone who has TRULY been supportive over the years. It's been the only reason I've stuck around.

You know who you are.

@steemmatt