Krill is smaller than a minnow

As far as steemit is concerned I am a minnow. In real life I'm more like a great white shark I guess, but alas, just a lowly minnow in steemit. Interesting. I've heard about the rating system, or pecking order, on steemit and have heard, and read, about the abuse of power from some who sit at the top of the food chain...On the blockchain. I am not one of those steemit users who can spend hours a day working away at building my brand in the chat rooms and in private chats. I simply write some blogs and rely on the largesse of other users to up-vote my work and am grateful for every vote I get. At times I spend a long time writing and researching and at other times I simple relate my day, week or an event I have been to; A place I have travelled. It's not overly creative writing I guess; It's just words and thoughts strung together by an average Aussie bloke who never finished high school. But alas, I am labelled a minnow. (Image is of krill, actually smaller than a minnow, could I be krill or plankton?)

I looked up what a minnow actually is. I know it's a fish but this is what I found:

• A small freshwater Eurasian fish of the carp family, which typically forms large shoals.
• A small or insignificant person or organisation. (WTF?!)

So it seems I was right, a minnow is a fish...But it's also a small or insignificant person or organisation? So, I know I am not an organisation so it must mean...Could I be...INSIGNIFICANT?

I spent some time looking around on the platform targeting users who received large payouts over the last week or so. When I mean large I refer to payouts significantly larger than my own, so payouts from $50SBD and over. I was surprised what I found. There were some interesting blogs I have to say, informative, reasonably well written if lacking in punctuation but overall good content. There was also a lot of shit! And when I mean shit, I mean the smelly type that sticks to everything and is impossible to remove. Just gooey, sticky and ofttimes runny dollops of shit. Consistently too. Consistent, repetitive gooey shit.

So, I came to the conclusion that the actual content one posts is less important than building the right relationships with the people up the food chain. Or so it seems. The upper levels on the steemit food chain (read blockchain) reside well above most and deep down below are the minnows, those insignificant, small people, who lay in wait, for just a small trickle of recognition to hopefully make it their way.

I am eternally grateful to a few steemit users for noticing my work since I joined in June 2017 and who have voted to a greater or lesser degree on my work. I can only imagine how hard a slog it would have been without the voting generosity or information from these people. You know who you are. Thank you. I attempt to repay their generosity and support through decent posts and by assisting others just starting out themselves.

That brings me to new people to the platform. I see them grinding it out over a $0.01 reward and on occasions if the content is good and they engage back with me I vote strongly or offer a resteem here and there to find them some support. Whilst they are new to the platform, those poor souls without vote sliders, I don't believe they should be thought of as insignificant, as the word minnows suggests. They are people: Doctors, lawyers, SWAT officers, builders, labourers, artists, teachers, cancer survivors, single parents, students...They are the person walking past you in the street, your colleagues and relatives. They are not an insignificant minnow. Not insignificant at all.

I'm not sure who came up with the naming system and why it exists in its current format. It reminds me of Government, of institution; You know the have's and have not's, them and us. The kings and the serfs of the feudal system...Just so you know, the kings had everything and the serfs were lucky to have a pig, a cup and stool and some shrivelled turnips to eat. Still, labelling others can be empowering for some people and how else are the small insignificant people kept that way?

Anyway, I wanted to have a bit of a rant this morning. I had a bad day at work yesterday and have been a bit grumpy since. It'll pass and I'll get back to blogging minnow stuff on my minnow blog but in the meantime I urge anyone reading this to go and have a look at my follow list and go read some of their work. I follow some interesting people who have a lot of interesting things to say and share. You may be surprised at what gold you dig up. Give them a vote or follow and see where their blog leads you.

To those working towards creating a foothold on the platform, my fellow minnows, keep pushing. Tough it out and make your mark. Though you may be labelled a minnow, small and insignificant, big things come from lots of small things combined.

[- Design and create your ideal life, don’t live it by default - @galenkp -]

krill image source