Interviewing the SteemSTEM Language Curators! - @gentleshaid
Interviewing the SteemSTEM Language Curators! - @gentleshaid
The SteemSTEM Curators
What do they do? Well, their tasks include searching for new STEM authors, evaluating and reviewing STEM articles, conducting thorough searches for plagiarism and suggesting whether or not a STEM article should be upvoted and supported by @steemstem.
A community gets bigger and stronger as its members work together, get to know each other, learn from each other.
Introducing @gentleshaid!
In this post @gentleshaid is interviewed by @kingabesh!
A fellow countryman with tremendous zeal for science. A botanist and a man with extraordinary love for the environment, Shaid is the man we all want to meet.
If you have any extra questions or thoughts, feel free to let someone from the PR team know!
Let's Go On With That!
Q - Hi gentleshaid, thank you for taking the time to reply to our questions! You are quite a character on StemSTEM! An interesting one if I must say. Would you please let us know a few things about yourself: What is your real (first) name? What do you do, where are you from ?
A - First, let me express my gratitude to the entire PR team for presenting me with this opportunity to talk about myself. My name is Shaid, I currently work as an Assistant Lecturer in one of the private Universities in Nigeria – Department of Biological Sciences to be precise. I hailed from Ile-Ife, an ancient town in South-western Nigeria that is generally believed by some Historians to be the source of human civilization. I studied Botany both at undergraduate and postgraduate level with specialization in plant ecology. I have an undiluted passion towards scientific research, especially when it relates to the environment and the ecosystem at large. I play scrabble and chess leisurely and also am social media savvy. I am used to people referring to me as a special character and I am quite sure it is due to my simple, happy-go-lucky nature and the strong stance I always take on fairness and justice.
Q - How long have you been a language curator for SteemSTEM?
A - I started curating for steemstem in December 2017. Not a fan of Mathematics but that should be about a year plus.
Q - Do you curate only posts from Nigerian authors?
A - Yes. That is what the mandate I was given says. I am a Nationality curator and I stick to my niche.
Q - How and when did it all start?
A - It all started when I joined Steemit (of course it has to be, right?) on the 14th of November, 2017. Just like almost every n00b would do, I spent the first few days posting random stuff and spamming tags. However, due to my penchant for reading and accumulating knowledge, I stumbled on the SteemSTEM tag and from one of the articles, I got the link to join the community on steemit.chat. I had very little trouble in getting my first SteemSTEM curation due to my inherent science inclination and the knowledge accrued from reading and chatting in the community. Needless to say, about 90% of the random stuff I was posting was science-related even before discovering the SteemSTEM tag. My posts were not just getting voted by SteemSTEM but also attracting attention in the comment section. Around December 2017 when steemit.chat was acting up and the community was gradually moving to discord, @justtryme90 approached, briefed me about the blueprint of SteemSTEM and asked if I would like to help out albeit on a voluntary basis. I needed no second invitation. Here I am today
Q - What do the Nigerian authors prefer to write about? Are there significant differences in the topics chosen, between articles by authors from other nationalities and articles by Nigerians?
A - This is rather an ambiguous question but I think I have an idea of what you mean. To address the first part, I cannot categorically say that this is what Nigerians like writing about. They will write just about anything and do a good job at it just as you will see them excel in numerous places around the world. I also do not think Nigerian STEM writers are different from any other stem writer on the STEEM blockchain irrespective of the country. The only thing that makes us different is perhaps the population and the frequency of posting which we seem to have more of than any other sub-group in the community. Nigerians work hard, there is no doubt.
Q - What is the first thing that you take into consideration when curating?
A - Facts, originality and relatability (permit me to use that word). Science articles should be about tested facts and not some pseudoscience mumbo jumbo. In the same vein, this is a blogging platform and an average educated reader should be able to relate to any blog article to a particular extent. A factual but relatable article would attract engagement, rank in high in search and attract more people to the platform than some hardcore science with zero engagement.
Q - Tell us something that really gives you a great first impression when you see a SteemSTEM post. (It could have to do with the chosen topic, images, structure, lay-out etc)
A - The writing style. I love it when a writer can use good communication skill and entertaining language to discuss scientific topics. Blogging is a combination of education and entertainment. If I feel like consuming hardcore science articles, I will visit research-gate or other similar platforms.
Q - Do you have a favorite scientific topic that you have fun reading and reviewing over any others? Do you get a chance to read often about it?
A - I love anything about the environment and climate change. Unfortunately, not many of those are on here.
Q - Tell us something that really makes you disappointed or angry when you see a SteemSTEM post. (It could have to do with the chosen topic, images, structure etc)
A - Blatant plagiarism. I use the word ‘blatant’ because some supposed plagiarisms are debatable and it seems plagiarism means different things to different people depending on their training.
Q - What would be your advice to both the old and new authors who wish to join SteemSTEM but do not know where to start? Do you have a channel for nigerian STEM authors?
A - My advice would be for them to join the SteemSTEM community on discord, learn about what it takes to craft acceptable SteemSTEM article, request for mentorship as the honour members are always ready to help and above all, do not be in a hurry to turn out STEM posts and avoid plagiarism at all cost. There is a STEMng discord server for Nigerian STEM authors and the door is opened to anyone that wishes to relate with us.
Q - What is the meaning of your username and are you as gentle as your name implies ?
A - It is a combination of ‘gentleness’ and my first name. Gentility might be relative but most people I have been across generally agree that I am gentle.
Q - **You have shown, countlessly, your love towards the environment and our ecosystem at large. Can you let us know why you feel this way towards our environment and possibly suggest simple ways we can, perhaps, save our environment? Highlight ways we may be ignorantly destroying our environmnet too, if that so pleases you? :)
A - Humans are a microcosm of the environment and a lot of our activities are destroying what we are part of. Hence, it’s like we are destroying ourselves. All hands must be on deck to save the environment in order to save the future generation and preserve the planet. A lot of our activities directly or indirectly lead to the emission of greenhouse gases, destruction of the forest cover, plastic and other forms of pollution. Everyone should have the consciousness of the environment in their minds and live an eco-friendly lifestyle. Barring the uneducated folks, almost everyone know the anthropogenic activities that are injurious to the environment. For every paper you use, know that a tree was removed in the forest for it. Such a tree could have fixed tons of carbon dioxide annually and help in the mitigation of climate change. If you are keen about saving the environment, you can start by using as little paper as possible. It's the least of all the things you can do.
Q - If you could interview anyone from SteemSTEM, who would it be and ask him/her one question now?
A - That would be @zest. Where within the galaxy are you?
Q - If you had more time to spare, how would you spend it?
A - Doing real-life research, spending time on the STEEM blockchain and with my family.
Q - What does Science and SteemSTEM mean to you?
A -Science means the world and everything it contains. SteemSTEM is a platform that leverages on the incentives opportunity on the steem blockchain to promote scientific facts (in an easily digestible way) as opposed to junks of pseudoscience that seem to fill a large space on the internet.
Q - Is there a great scientist that you really admire? Why?
A - I’ve never really thought of this but now that you are asking, I think I like Darwin. His keen sense of observation is enviable as shown by the report of his expedition.
Q - If you could have any job in the world, what would you choose?
A - A researcher with an unlimited resources.
Q - Besides SteemSTEM, do you have any other Steem-related activities you would like to share?
A - I am deeply involved with @promo-mentor where I mentor newbies that are interested in producing STEM contents on the steem blockchain. I am one of the Nigerian ambassadors to @fundition, a peer-to-peer crowdfunding platform on STEEM. In the last few months, my interest in technological and innovative products has been piqued, thanks to @steemhunt.
Q - What is your greatest wish for SteemSTEM?
A - To be at the forefront of promoting STEEM to the world among all the STEEM dapps.
Q - Where do you see SteemSTEM in 5 years?
A - As one of the topmost tokenized platforms to disseminate/consume factually informative, interesting as well as entertaining scientific contents
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Tell the government, who are incredibly still shunning digital.
Well, the government is a special case. What we do at the individual level automatically transcribe to governance
I am missing zest too :(
We all do! I wish I have his contact.
I have it :D
Quite an interesting interview.
Thanks bro.
@gentleshaid, thanks for taking the time to let people know a bit more about you.
Thanks bro. It was a pleasure