Tale of a Small Fish [My Curie Story]

Have you heard of the @curie initiative? You should. Whether you’re a minnow or a whale, Curie is something you want to get behind. Or in front of, depending on your position. Curie is an initiative that rewards and curates. Well, they—the team that keeps the Curie initiative running—have asked for stories on the Curie experience. So here’s mine, as I’m all too willing to share it and help spread the word about Curie.

My First

This story goes back to my first couple of weeks on Steem. I just started getting followers and upping my interaction on the blockchain by curating and commenting (for what little it was worth back then). I posted once a day, for the first month, growing and establishing my niches. In the second week after joining, I was pleased to discover that one of my posts had an upvote total of over $140!

What a surprise. A pleasant one to wake up to that morning.

With so many upvotes, I was curious how this came to be so I checked out the list of names. That’s when I came across the username “Curie.” I thought it was a pretty good initiative when I went through their blog. It is there that I found the post listing my name as part of their curation initiative. At that point, I thought the username “Curie” was a shortened version of “Curation.” Curie was actually named in honour of Marie and Pierre Curie.

I wanted to know what their curation initiative did, how they did it, and—to be honest—how to get it again. That’s when I checked out their guidelines post and whitepaper. I was still very new to blockchain technology, never mind Steem, so most of what was in there went over my head. I decided instead to work on the points I did understand.

And hope for the best.

My Second and Onward

• Quality content,
• Improving continuously,
• Regular posting,
• Good interaction,
• Hopes and wishes.

That was my recipe. And lo, did another event as before occur! Before this, I joined @thewritersblock and finally found the means to achieve the points in the recipe. Most of them, at least. Hopes and wishes can’t be edited… as far as I know. And why would I need them? Back when I first started on Steem, not fully understanding how Curie operated, I thought it was per chance I received their upvote. I later learned they have a system for nominating and rewarding posts. More about this can be read in their whitepaper.

Over time, I understood more about Steem and Curie, and adjusted my quality and methods accordingly.

Then I got a third Curie upvote!

Needless to say, I was ecstatic. Who wouldn’t be? The total upvote was just the cream on the top of a delicious cake that helped me power up my account. My reputation increased with each upvote and I was gaining more followers, quicker than before. The community opened up and I stepped inside.

What Does Curie Do?

Curie rewards quality content of any subject posted on the Steem blockchain. Their reward comes with an upvote of a percentage and a voting trail of a couple hundred users along with it.

It suffices to say that seeing so many posts receiving Curie upvotes is enough to warm the cockles of the heart. Getting a Curie upvote is only as good as knowing others share in that same getting, and benefit.

What Qualifies as Quality Content?

That is debatable and has been discussed at length on Steem, and I don’t speak for Curie so I can’t say exactly what they consider quality content to be. What I have noticed is that original work of good length in an interesting perspective tends to get Curie nomination and reward. Again, this is only my observation.

Curie does have a Discord server where you can gauge more information about this from.

In The End

I’ve been Curied (as we call it over on The Writers’ Block Discord server) a couple more times since then, and I’m deeply grateful for each. The rewards are definitely a motivator, but the need to improve with each Curie upvote pressed me and held me accountable for the consistency of interaction as well as the quality of the content I place on the Steem blockchain.

This progress is something I’m greatly proud of.

Being a minnow, there isn’t much I can do to show my gratitude. So when Curie announced their witness, I was all too eager to place my vote for an initiative that directly benefits both the blockchain and the users on it.

Since my first Curie upvote, my recipe remains the same to this day. Minus the “hopes and wishes” aspect. There’s no need for that—all content made should be such as worthy of a Curie upvote, not just the ones posted when the odds of receiving a Curie upvote are open to you.

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