Steem - Get to Know the Witnesses (Part 4)

Witnesses secure the Steem Blockchain. It's an important role and each and every account holder gets 30 Witness Votes. These votes elect the Witnesses that get trusted with the job.

Image pixabay.com

I began a short series a few days ago, Steem - Get to Know the Witnesses. In this series I an analysing the digital footprint of the witnesses to get to know them a bit better and help inform my witness vote. I welcome discussion during this series and I hope it raises awareness of who we are electing to manage the Steem Blockchain.

There may be different philosophical reasons in the community for choosing witnesses and this analysis (and my choices) are not intended to judge right or wrong but I wish to inform the community what the different witnesses have written about, what they stand for and how active they are in the community.

Furthermore this discussion is not intended to be technical in nature but will instead look at some Graphics and Stats to help us get to know our witnesses, especially the top 20.

Types of Witness

My research of the Witnesses on Steemit has led me to think long and hard about which accounts I am casting my vote for.

Would a good mix of talents, charting the course forward for the Steem Blockchain, make Steem more robust and adaptable?

Contemplating my witness vote for the last few days the following broad categories have come to mind covering a mix of skills and motivations that I see Witness Roles filling at the moment.

Application Developers

It's no surprise many of the early adopters to Steem have technical backgrounds and part of the attraction to Steem is that it's possible to build applications on top of it. These pioneers are invested in making this technology work and are close to the coalface in terms of knowing what is needed.

IT Professionals

Several witnesses are IT professionals and their experience and resources help to ensure that the Steem Blockchain runs smoothly and that the standards for production are up to or exceeding Industry Standards.

Blockchain Developers

Of course Steemit is built on top of a Blockchain, probably the most technically advanced blockchain out there at the moment. This is a testament to the work done by the developers at Steemit Inc as well as the many volunteer contributors and Witnesses who have approved many improvements and tweaks to the Blockchain since April 2016.

Community Witnesses

Some witnesses are not just one person, some are a groups where decisions and operations are the culmination of community engagement.

Community Builders

Some witnesses are proponents of the platform, the vision and want to get share and bring Steem and Steemit to the masses. These promoters are important for maintaining and broadcasting the message and perspective of the platform.

Investors

This morning I came across a new witness which made me consider this category for Witnesses. Investors are the people that facilitate generating the Dollar Value for Steem.

Thought Leaders

Witnesses may be developers, marketing experts, economists, but the ones in this category provide a special role. They think ahead to potential issues and plan for the future. They debate the decisions and help other members reason out the logic and implications for action and inaction.

Communicators

Many of the issues facing witnesses and users of the platform are complex. It was very evident at Steemfest2 there are many different perspectives and motives for people on Steem and if we are to grow and flourish people need to be heard and understood.

Get to know the Witnesses

I am a believer that competition and diversity is healthy and will help make Steem stronger. Wtih respect to witnesses I would suggest we will be stronger if we have a good mix of witnesses, not only in the top 20 but across the board vying for positions. In the next post I will look in more detail at the witnesses outside the top 20 to get to know their motivations and talents a little better.

There is no substitute for reading what Witnesses have to say about themselves. The following two lists will help you study the witnesses and maybe narrow down your search.

Intro Posts

This link on Steemian shows the top witnesses ranked but also provides some useful information such as a link to their intro post. Browsing this and reading about who your voting for will give a great insight into the Witnesses.
https://steemian.info/witnesses

Witness Profiles

I have pulled together the following list with many of the top witnesses. It shows their profile tagline. It may help to narrow down your reading list.
Some witnesses mentioned may no longer be active witnesses, you can tell if they are still active if you look at the Steemian link.

Avatar	Handle	Description
	@jesta
	@gtg	IT Wizard, Steem Witness
	@roelandp	kitesurfer, (mobile app) developer, dad, witness, organises @steemfest
	@good-karma	Witness - Developer of eSteem, SteemMonitor, SteemFest, SteemIAPI, Pick apps
	@curie	Discovering exceptional content.
	@someguy123	I'm a well-known third-party developer for STEEM, and Litecoin
	@ausbitbank	🗳 Witness 💓 Father ⌨ Developer ☯️ Psychonaut 📈 Trader 👁 Researcher 🔼 Curator ✴️ Chaotic-Good
	@blocktrades
	@aggroed	Passionate Witness for Peace, Abundance, and Liberty. Minnow Support Project Founder. Provides Steemit help with humor. Disfavors government and fiat.
	@anyx
	@lukestokes.mhth	This is the More Human Than Human witness account for @lukestokes
	@smooth.witness
	@pharesim	Anarchist without adjectives
	@clayop
	@furion	Developer and advocate @ Viewly. Viewly is building a decentralized, creator focused video platform.
	@timcliff	I ❤ Steemit! :)
	@thecryptodrive	Blockchain Entrepreneur, Steem Witness and all-round Good Guy!
	@pfunk
	@riverhead	Witness to the revolution of social media
	@netuoso	STEEM Witness, SteemDevs Founder, Owner of https://rpc.steemliberator.com
	@followbtcnews	Vote for our Witness Followbtcnews
	@liondani	Steem witness - Inch by Inch, Play by Play
	@jerrybanfield	Witness
	@busy.witness
	@cervantes	Working for the spanish speaking community
	@bhuz
	@wackou
	@utopian-io	Rewarding Open Source Contributors.
	@drakos	🗳️‍Steem Witness 🔬Scientist 🤓Geek 🎻Musician 🎨Artist 🤔Thinker 🤑Cryptoenthusiast
	@teamsteem	Steem Witness, Crypto Enthusiast, Observant of the non-aggression principle towards all sentient beings
	@xeldal
	@klye	Witness⚡Developer⚡Entrepreneur⚡Coder⚡Designer⚡Artist Pay-4-Vote OFFLINE
	@abit	I'm a developer.
	@yabapmatt@	Steem Witness / Developer / Creator of SteemBotTracker.com and the Post Promoter content promotion software.
	@blockbrothers	Witness - Developer - Blockchain Thinktank
	@ihashfury
	@aizensou
	@charlieshrem	CTO @ Jaxx.io
	@reggaemuffin	The one and tasty, the Muffin Man!
	@prc	Witness, Blockchain Developer, Cryptocurrency Evangelist, Voluntaryist & Music addict
	@joseph
	@xeldal
	@steempty
	@fyrst-witness	Thank you for voting for @fyrstikkens witness. A Witness is a dedicated computer that run 24/7 all year in order to make the backend work so you can blog!
	@rival	Steem Witness - Started Steemit to achieve goal to go to the US in 2019 on a once in a lifetime family holiday
	@patrice	Member of @steemcleaners & @spaminator
	@therealwolf	Witness - Blockchain Developer - Founder @smartsteem & @smartmarket
	@delegate.lafona
	@nextgencrypto
	@steemed
	@ocd-witness
	@ats-witness
	@liberosist
	@themarkymark	I'm a leaf on the wind
	@neoxian	https://steemit.com/delegation/@neoxian/delegation-rental-faq
	@steemgigs	Steemit Witness! "Everyone Has Something To Offer!" Let's See What 5,000 SteemGigs Will Do For Steemit's Beauty!
	@krnel
	@arcange	Witness - Developer of SteemSQL, SteemitBoard, Steem.NET and SteemToolbar
	@adsactly-witness	Autonomous Decentralized Society Acting Cooperatively to Leverage You! Providing the infrastructure for decentralized cooperation to build Open Value Networks.
	@chitty	Business Developer,Crypto Aficionado and Tech-Geek. Chief Strategist at Waba.co.in & Steemit-Witness
	@steemychicken1	Photographer - Videographer
	@dragosroua	Story teller, geek, light seeker and runner. Not necessarily in that order. Maker of the steem.supply app.
	@boatymcboatface
	@privex	We're a server host that cares. We take most cryptocurrency, and offer servers with your privacy in mind.
	@au1nethyb1
	@sircork	Founder of the YouAreHOPE Foundation for Global Humanitarian Aid, SteemStar Network, the stream at the center of the steemiverse and a Steem Witness
	@chainsquad.com	Witness account of ChainSquad GmbH
	@blueorgy	designer + developer + witness + entrepreneur
	@blockchained	Graphene Ambassador
	@asbear	slow and lazy software engineer
	@b0y2k
	@felixxx
	@kushed
	@bue
	@sc-steemit	Gridcoin and Graphene Enthusiast💢 Anime Watcher 💢 Webpage Builder 💢 Free Thinker
	@gmuxx	Writer, 3D artist and keeper of the @Muxxybot curation account. Admin at The Writers' Block
	@jatinhota	A witness from India.
	@masteryoda
	@demotruk	Steem Maximalist
	@suggeelson	Witness
	@yehey@	YEHEY a Shout for Joy. Let's discover the world of wonder - Whoever pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor. Proverbs 21:21
	@libertyranger	Steem Blockchain Witness - Censor Censorship - I'm Anti-Twitter Anti-Facebook Anti-Google Anti-Youtube & Pro-Christian <><
	@firepower	Steem Witness, Steemit.Chat Admin, SteemFest Crew, Project Curie, SteemCleaners & RHW! Helping build a Stronger Steemit Community everyday!
	@block-buster
	@steem-id

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Thanks for reading, I feel like I am getting to know the Witnesses a bit better with this series. Join me again next week as I continue my analysis ...

Previous posts in this series:

• https://steemd.com/stats/@eroche/steem-get-to-know-the-witnesses-part-1
• https://steemit.com/stats/@eroche/steem-get-to-know-the-witnesses-part-2
• https://steemit.com/stats/@eroche/steem-get-to-know-the-witnesses-part-3

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Thank you for reading this. I write on Steemit about Blockchain, Cryptocurrency and Travel.