People of Utopian #3 - imwatsi

Meet @imwatsi: A creative writer from Zimbabwe in Southern Africa, who is passionate about content, Open Source, and the monetization of attention through cryptocurrencies.

Who are you, @imwatsi?

I’m a 27 year old creative writer, and I mostly write poetry, but I am passionate about blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies. Steem introduced me to the “attention economy” side of the cryptocurrency space. I only knew Bitcoin, Ethereum and the like, prior to Steem and just the idea that people’s attention can be monetized through cryptocurrency blew my mind. It also opened up my mind to thinking outside the box, as I have met and read the content of critical thinkers here on Steemit as well.

Discovering Utopian.io gave me a new passion: Writing content that helps people understand how to use products based on Open Source technologies.

On Github: https://github.com/imwatsi

What is your relationship with Open Source and what made you a Utopian?

The term Open Source was for a long time unfamiliar to me and I only got to hear of it when I discovered Bitcoin and all the other cryptocurrencies. That was in 2014.

Still then it was more of a mystery. When I discovered Steemit in 2016 though, I began learning more about Open Source and other related things because a lot of people on the site spoke about it. It was on Steemit that I discovered Utopian.io and that was when I started understanding Open Source so much more. I've been involved in Utopian.io since the first few days of its inception.

It exposed me to a lot of behind-the-scenes work that takes place in many of the projects and how they came into being.

How do you think Utopian.io affects your relationships with the Open Source community and ecosystem? How does it help you express your passion for Open Source?

Firstly, Utopian.io helps me understand more about Open Source in general. I am always discovering new projects and innovations that I otherwise wouldn’t have, and in that sense it aids in project discovery. Then there is the opportunity to be a part of the ecosystem as a whole and to aid in its development, and that connects with a lot of values I love and respect.

Currently, in addition to being the Community Manager for the Copywriting category, you do a lot of behind the scenes work on Utopian.io content. What made you decide to take on additional roles in the organization itself?

I started out doing copywriting for Utopian.io's first landing page when it was released. Afterwards, I decided to start writing help content for the platform during its first few weeks of existence because I saw a need for that content. I really liked the idea behind everything and I wanted to help out as much as I could, within the scope of my abilities, so the best way I found was to write content that helped even more people to get acquainted with and start using the platform efficiently.

So after pitching the idea to @elear, I started working on the Help Center for Utopian.io (https://github.com/imwatsi/utopian.io-help_center), which included Quick Start Guides, FAQs, Tutorials and a Knowledge Base.

I recently decided to take on additional roles in the organization because I love what it stands for and believe in its vision. Playing my part to fulfil that vision with my skills is fulfilling.

What is your favorite thing about Utopian.io?

My favorite thing about Utopian.io is how welcoming the community is, and was when I first joined. My skills were valued and I quickly found my place. I really want to see it become a fully released product. I honestly can’t wait.

How do you see the future of Utopian.io? What would you want it to be, and where would you like to see yourself in it?

I really hope Utopian.io continues to evolve until it creates the Open Source economy it envisages. My role in it might change over the course of time, but I would still like to be involved, be it with day to day activities or every now and then.

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