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Infusion day, and it looks like I am going to have to go back to getting treatment more regularly, which sucks. Just as I got the IV put in, I got a call from my wife and our daughter has fallen over at daycare and put her teeth through her lip. From the sounds of it, it looks like she will have to go to the hospital and have some stitches. Another hospital, not the one I am currently at - life is inconvenient.  

![IMG_20200228_110551.jpg](https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/tarazkp/PlAnTrL4-IMG_20200228_110551.jpg)

Unfortunately, there is nothing I can currently do myself, so I have to wait for information to come in through messaging apps. I sometimes think about how connected we are and how much information we didn't have access to earlier - yet survived.

![IMG_20200228_110408.jpg](https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/tarazkp/Jgb4ttKr-IMG_20200228_110408.jpg)

Well, I'd rather talk about something else instead of hospital things, so let's go. 

I was in a comment chain with someone today who was complaining about not being rewarded for being themselves and as a result, are powering down and leaving.

>I can be a dick if I want! Some people like be jerks and trolls online. I'm not a nice guy, nice people get walked all over and taken advantage of, especially in crypto.
@coininstant

Yes, the internet is full of dicks, jerks and trolls - but expecting to earn on that kind of behavior is ridiculous. While I can grant that it is possible to be an arsehole and still earn, the market for that kind o behavior is relatively narrow, and people who throw tantrums like toddlers on bath salts, might be entertaining to watch implode, but that is about it. 

>U all should have been happy to have people like me around, that's what made steemit unique before themarkymark had to ban and flag and blacklist us all out of here!!!
@coininstant

The attention they draw to themselves might even be valuable in some way, but it isn't going to get rewarded. As I said to him, in a social marketplace, building social capital is important, and there are plenty of people who expect they can be dicks and still earn - this is not the way it works - unless you are *very good* at what you do. This person isn't - in my opinion and as I said, I haven't found them amusing in the slightest. Perhaps others do - I just find people who swing from one emotional extreme to the next constantly tiresome. 

>I could not be myself here and earn, so I will take myself somewhere else!! I had posts but I delete everything that gets flagged to zero! I'm not giving u all my writing and ideas for nothing!
@coininstant

Deleting posts doesn't take them off the blockchain, but I don't think it would have mattered anyway, as I don't think that at any point in the future, anyone is going to care about looking back at these kinds of accounts. 

But, he is right about the writing and ideas for nothing, that shouldn't happen. However, if one wants to see themselves as a professional writer of some kind that can earn on the writing, they have to be able to offer something to the market that people consider worth paying for. 

No author goes to an editor and gets a contract and advance without having proven themselves capable of delivering something of value. Most authors get rejected time and time again by publishing houses as they cannot convince that there is value in what they have written. On top of this, 

I am very wary these days of anyone who claims to be a published author, as I have found that many are actually *self-published* authors. There is nothing wrong with this, it is part of the new business model, but self-publishing doesn't mean there is demand, in the same way that buying votes through bid bots makes a post quality. 

What I do like about the new economy though is that it is increasingly possible to take matters into ones own hands and self-publish, promote and distribute without having to employ a host of middleman services. This means that the barriers to entry are much lower for those who have the skill and gumption to create, promote and build the relationships needed to get support. In many ways, it harks back to the times of artists socializing in order to attract patrons for their work.

I wonder what it would look like if people such as @coininstant had a publicist and public relations team. Would they be able to engineer their content and public approach to actually be able to earn on they "way they are"? Probably. The thing is that in order to do so, they would still have to maintain some kind of consistency and therefore, *professionalism*, which will mean still playing a character of some sort - and since they might not see that character as the way they are, they will leak and the market will reject them again. 

When is comes to building social capital, there has to be some level of consistency as it is that which builds trust, much like a risk modeling scenario. If people act to uniformly, there is very little interest, if they act to wildly, there is too much volatility and too little focus. Either way, attention will be lost sooner, rather than later. 

Personally, I think it is highly immature to think that one can be themselves and earn on it if what they are is not what the market wants. While people don't mind watching the trolling going on, not as many people want to get involved and support it.

Some people can earn on just the way they are though, at least while what they are and what they provide is what is in demand. Some people are lovely people, charming, pretty, clever, witty and have skills that people enjoy and are willing to consistently consume. What is interesting is that those who complain about being unable to earn on the way they are as trolls, think it is unfair that others earn on the way they are. 

>There is nothing wrong with flagging! I flag you cause I think you make too much rewards, I only started flagging you and others again after I quit because I had no choice from the lack of rewards here.
@coininstant

He thinks I earn too much, fair enough, downvote it away. I am okay with that. However the second part directs to the real reason, and it doesn't make any sense. He started flagging because he quit because of the lack of rewards? Hang on,firstly, if you quit - *quit.* Secondly, flagging others because he didn't get enough rewards on his content is ridiculous. However, this hints at the type of personality. *Fragile.* 

Fragile personalities aren't well suited to being internet trolls perhaps - although many of them are. They probably aren't well suited to investing either, as every shift will raise their emotions and they will jump from one to another. It doesn't mean they won't make money, but I do think that it might be emotionally draining to continuously be looking for another platform to try and build upon and without the patience, skill or will to actually build that space, there will never be the sense of home. 

I think for a lot of the people who have built a home here, they are generally happy with the experience. This doesn't mean that they don't recognize the risks and the many shortcomings of the platform, just that they are able to accept it is what it is at this time and they can patiently work towards a time where it has improved. 

I am lucky, I don't have to play some character in life or online, nor do I have to try and make others feel bad in order to make myself feel better. I can accept life as it is and I know that I opt-in to what I do each day, especially on Steem. This makes my experience here, my responsibility and something that I own, regardless of my account, the rewards or the Steem in my wallet. 

But who knows, perhaps luck has nothing to do with it. 

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]

> *Update: @smallsteps doesn't need stitches, but she is in quite a bit of pain.* 

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