As a content creator on the chain for the past 4 years, It still feels like I am walking on eggshells even though I have attained what a few might consider as success. There are certain tough discussions many shy away from and I want to use this opportunity to talk about one of them.
Two weeks ago I had a post with over 88 comments it grossed over around $7. The following day I made the most that received just 3 comments and that earned me about $40. I find it strange when things like this happen because it makes little sense from a creator's point of view. You would expect as a creator that your most engaged content would return the most value but that has never been the case here.
As a curator one of the major things I look out for is engagement. If a post has high engagement I can disregard every other thing (formating, content quality, etc) because I deem it to have value. Also, I feel this will encourage people to put out engaging content which in return will improve the user experience here. It always gets to me seeing a well-engaged post earn so little. This is quite discouraging to the author
So rather than focus on their craft as a creator they would rather spend time on discord or telegram pandering to people because that guarantees, to a certain degree, upvotes. This mindset has pervaded the ecosystem and it is sad. There are people who have opted out of creating quality to build relationships. This explains why it's a struggle to find a good read these days because at the end of the day, it is all about the money and people will gravitate to things that earn them more.
Occasionally, people post in my community expecting upvotes when in reality their posts are badly formatted; points are not well defined; and low engagement. They do not contribute in any way to the growth of the community, but for some reason, they think they deserve something for just showing up. I will not be a party to that.
I do not know of a platform where quality, views, etc do not count. It should matter because it is the only way people will actively put in considerable effort in creating and promoting their content. Our platform should not be left in the hands of curators and whales.
Often I will advocate for people to play on the second layer because I believe any real change from the status quo will be achieved on this level. But then there is the issue of duplicity (most second-layer communities are the same with different tokens). Also, they do not offer much in terms of earnings. For a content-based platform that prioritizes earning over user experience, there isn't much to look forward to in the long run.
Engagement should matter. We should solid metrics to evaluate a piece of content and not be left to the whips and capricious of a few. I know this is far-fetched given the current system. However, I will like to advocate those in positions of power (curators especially) to prioritize engagement in their evaluation process. We are as good as the things we reward