I've been making some posts with all original content from myself and has won just cents.. but I'm having fun doin' it.. I hope, someday I'll be rewarded for that!, but until then, I'll just enjoy this community for what it is and not for what my greed and envy wants it to be!.

Sometimes we want something so much, that our greedy energy push it away... Envy is one of the most dangerous energies and life is very ironic when it comes to rewards.

I agree with your sentiment in general. Looking for an instant cash grab is silly and devalues what this platform is. 

However, I do believe the minnow/whale dynamic points towards general flaws in the voting system. I may be incorrect, but as it stands I can't imagine a fully fledged 'attention economy' providing the intended results of Steemit. 

I see the development of bots as a solution to many of the current issues of Steemit and I have no doubt as time progresses we'll see a drastic increase in the sophistication of bots, and the network in general.

There is a free speech issue. If you downvote people simply for expressing their opinion, you are going to get press articles saying "Steemit censors people who arn't happy clappy". 

I can't think of a quicker way of killing this site than that. I suppose it depends on your goals. Do you want this place to succeed? Or do you want this to be a safe place where only people who post "steemit is great" on every post are allowed on the site, to make you feel good. If it is the former, then you'd be better off simply ignoring what you don't agree with. If it is the latter - by all means flag anyone who refuses to say "steemit is great" in every post - and watch as the price of steem starts to tank as the wider world realises this is only a place for sycophants.

Am waiting breathlessly to see if you downvote this comment! :-)

im newbie in this, the upvote motivates believe in steemit

**Couldn't agree more.** Nobody has instant reputation. Anyone can come here and do well if they put in the work, and have a touch of class and charm. Bitching about how unfair everything is, that's just defeatist mentality.

http://s2.quickmeme.com/img/f9/f9257d822b2d394fb011ac3c79a5d99246a00ce150a6156ba93c05a08c03a057.jpg

Needs to be a sticky post area for new arrivals to get the feel for things here - well said!

YOU CAN MAKE MONEY ON STEEM?!?!? 
:P

I agree with your positive advice for new people here:
>you SOCIALIZE. You bring a token gift. You introduce yourself one on one whenever you can. You LISTEN a lot. You mingle. You compliment (upvote) and comment on OTHER'S conversations. In short, you slowly endear yourself to the community and befriend people. 

This should be required reading for new members.  This site is worth belonging to, and there is a way to get along here.  People need to listen and learn.

I wish I could Upvote this twice.

Steemit is like an other social network.  Post a lot, comment a lot, and be nice, and then surprisingly people may like your stuff.

Hard to change the world of greed. You can only do what makes you happy. So be happy and find your balance. Cheers!

Thanks for the warning,..... you carry a big stick now...don;t let it go to your head....."  Fair Warning"  nice title bully

I have 100k twitter followers...steemit has 40k users....  You whale think you are already on third....check out this link..... competition is on the way...
http://akasha.world/

I totally understand, a lot of new users need to understand how to CREATE quality posts, and comments, stop wasting time chasing whales attention whatsoever, INVESTING some of your money in Steempower and focusing on the platform is a good start, i guess they don't realise they already have all the tools to build something. 
A little bit more awareness would be welcome.

Punish those assholes

That's some pretty good advice.  This isn't a get rich quick scheme.  If you try to treat it that way, it's going to blow up in your face.

You mean I can't complain my way to retirement!? I have to go rethink my whole plan! :)

>Rather, you SOCIALIZE. You bring a token gift. You introduce yourself one on one whenever you can. You LISTEN a lot. You mingle. You compliment (upvote) and comment on OTHER'S conversations. In short, you slowly endear yourself to the community and befriend people.

Actually, from a game theory point of view, it makes no sense to upvote whales or dolphins because it gives them more power. Instead you should socialise with fellow minnows to make an alliance to break the power of the whales. We're already starting to see this happen. See the following for why this makes sense:

https://steemit.com/steemit/@teatree/steemit-is-all-about-game-theory

there's a reason your last name is king. restore order to these lands, my friend. there's too much tomfoolery as it is. bring the swift axe of downvotes

Man, I can't tell you how glad I am to see people talking like this now. I've been having similar discussions with people talking about how the whales use this place as a circle jerk and how they're going to mess up the whole thing.

These guys know what they're doing. They're not going to create something only to destroy it. I'm ready for this place to take off because those of us who are embracing what this site has done for social media in just the short time that it's been here are going to be the ones who end up making good money. 
That's how you do it - you forget that money is even involved and just be a human being to other human beings (<---I've worn this out by saying it so much).