Minnow #541,753—Monthly Report: March

I've Got A New Attitude

It took a while to get here, but while there was not any significant jump in rewards in April, other stats did jump. I think the increases in those stats will actually lead to better days. So far into May, that theory seems to be holding.

But first, let's talk April, and save May for another day.

Quick Summary

Curie did not come by this month, but OCD did, providing a nice boost to a post. In general, though, the rise in STEEM prices over the course of the month helped out quite a bit, as the ghost town feeling of March apparently was reversed by people coming back. Or those who stayed being willing to do a little more rewarding. Whatever the case, more posts and comments began to see more rewards.

The best thing about April, however, was something I alluded to near the end of last month's report. It will get mentioned again, probably near the end of this month's report.

And since I've already done the teasing, I'll be eliminating that section for now and moving on.

Posts (no comments)—43

The number of posts were off four from last month. I didn't always post on Saturdays, none on Sundays, but tried to post at least an average of twice a day. Counting 22 post days in April, I didn't quite make two per day.

Comments—1,235

This represents over a threefold increase in comments, by far the highest total. The most comments in a given week were 314, with 83 comments being the top for one day. On average, using 25 commenting days as the measure, there were 49.4 comments.

Upvotes given—261/1764

Again, these numbers were up significantly over last month. The number of different people receiving upvotes increased by 55, while the number of upvotes went up by 761. STEEM prices had a lot to do with that, as per upvote rewards were able to be stretched farther. However, the same contributing factor mentioned above led to the significant increase, just as it did with comments. More on that below.

Upvotes received—340/1345

For the first time in two months, the number of people voting on my posts decreased significantly, a drop of 182 under the prior month's record. However, the total upvote amount increased by nearly 350, meaning that fewer people upvoted, but did so more frequently.

Average upvotes per user were just under four. Top upvotes by single user, 106.

SP increased—59.107

After a disappointing increase of SP in March, April's amount ticked up by nearly 13 SP. The rise in STEEM prices helped for at least half of the month. But like comments and upvotes, there was another contributing factor.

All told, the total increase in SP since January 1 through posting, commenting, and curating is 240.724, or a monthly average of just over 60 SP.

Highest single payout—7.284 SBD/1.855 SP

This came from the aforementioned post curated by OCD, entitled We Should Be More Like Tulips. A trip to a tulip festival turned into a philosophical treatise comparing how tulips act around each other with the way humans do.

The original intent of the trip to see the tulips was to get away and spend some time with my wife, my daughter-in-law and our granddaughter, as well as an opportunity to report out on the tulips. However, after looking through the pictures I'd taken while there, I was struck with the idea to get a little bit deeper with the post. I'm glad I did.

Self upvotes—0

Once again, no accidental self-upvoting occurred during April, bringing the total number of accident free months to two.

Contests—4

Here's where the increases shown and the new attitude hinted at earlier derive. As mentioned last month, I became a member of @abh12345's Curation and Engagement Leagues. Since reporting a No. 3 finish late last month, I reached the No. 1 spot three weeks in a row (with a league-wide bye week accounting for the fourth full week). In order to do so, my commenting, total character length over all comments, and upvoting needed to increase dramatically. So, they did.

I am really enjoying being a part of the leagues, particularly the engagement one (since I don't have a decent handle on the curation league yet). I personally believe it's just what Steemit needs, but that's a topic for another post.

Flags Recieved—0

Didn't really put myself in harms way, nor did my rewards reach the flagging point. A good combination.

Flags given—0

No flags given in April. I didn't run across any other phishing scams that weren't already noted.

Followers—315-ish

Why I can't remember to check this stat at the end of the month is beyond me. Suffice it to say though, there was a significant increase in followers from March's end—more than 100, or over 50%. Getting out and commenting and consistently posting helped tremendously.

Reputation rating—53

For what it's ultimately worth, my reputation rating increased by two points over the course of April. Boosts were incremental as no major SP voted, and the curation trail was lighter.

Investment—$0

I made no further investments in STEEM in April. It's unlikely to happen, unless STEEM falls well below $2 USD again from its current price of well over $3.50 USD.

Miscellaneous

Outworlder #1, my 32-year-old all pencil graphic novel finished its run in April, which included a post with all 48 pages and cover together. Overall, I would call the experiment a success, given I wasn't expecting much to begin with. I have not totaled up the amounts received in rewards, but may do so for another post.

I'm not sure if I will replace it with the novel I wrote based on the comic book or not.

The Maya continues to publish every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The Grandpa Gotta Cook/Eat series also continued, with a few more outdoorsy posts than previously published appearing. I guess that's what happens when the sun comes out and the temperatures rise.

Fini

That concludes this month's report for Minnow #541,753. Until next month...