Well, I have been neglecting the Ramble as I worked on getting the Pimp Your Post Thursday (PYPT) in place and dealt with the usual crazy busy of November and December in my life.

I have not abandoned it and it will be getting back into a more regular publication again. It’s fun finding and sharing quality posts on Steemit. There are some people out there working to bring value to the platform and finding it hard to rise above the chaff.

It is my hope that by finding and sharing them, I can help a bit.

As for the PYPT initiative, it is growing rapidly. I’m amazed at the turnout for the chats, the quality of the posts shared and range of conversation we engage in often sparked by those posts.

This past week, with PYPT falling on the American Thanksgiving, there was a total of 38 posts shared. Here’s the link to the reports, one for the morning and another for the evening:

Pimp Your Post Thursday Report #6A -- Morning Report From Nov. 23rd PYPT

Pimp Your Post Thursday Report #6B -- Evening Report From Nov. 23rd PYPT

Onward to today’s rambling

Steemit -- What Have We Become.., And Where Are We Heading...

@macksby is one of the writers that I have kept an eye on for sometime now. We both came onto the platform around the same time. He’s been a lot more prolific than I have and writes some very varied content.

This post is a very honest and hard-hitting post about the dynamics here on Steemit. Give it a thorough read, there is a lot of good here but there is a dark underbelly and we need to be pulling away from it not adding to it.

Witness Update and Steem Christmas Cards

In my years of volunteerism I’ve always made a habit of trying to notice and give notice to those who do great stuff and rarely draw attention to themselves.

@guiltyparties is one of those people on this platform. He helps out and supports several initiatives without worry about what he’s getting back in return. He has my vote and confidence as a witness he will continue to work for the good of the platform.

He’s been a steady albeit silent supporter of PYPT. I actually do mean silent, we’ve yet to hear his voice but he does contribute in text. He’s one of those people who comes across and shares newer members who appear to have potential. I’m always glad to see him share those links.

In this post, he’s offering Christmas cards to be sent to you at no charge. Honouring a venerable tradition on the blockchain. A cool understated act of selflessness. Nice work @guiltyparties

Bots and Manual Curation idea

@tarazkp puts forward an interesting solution to the proliferation of curation bots on the platform. He suggests the use of captcha type challenge on posts with the purpose of rewarding the humans solving the captcha with a higher curation return while bots, being able to bypass the captcha on the blockchain, would receive a lower percentage.

Have a read through the comments. Some believe the suggestion impossible, others think it has merit. What do you think?

With the support of YouAreHOPE I was able to give food to people in the street with need in Venezuela

@malos10 is one of @YouAreHOPE’s agents on the ground in Venezuela where the funds raised by this emerging blockchain charity are being used to bring simple but life sustaining food to desperately impoverished people.

In this post he reports on how he’s used the funds raised on Steemit to get the help directly to those who need it. Visit @yourarehope for more information and to take part in their newly launched Christmas fundraiser.

In memoriam Mike´l Angelo - audiovisual farewell dream

This post was nominated by @seablue

@elgeko is a very talented artist on Steemit. The video he presents here is a 30 minutes visual tribute to his late friend Mike. The visuals are stunning and shows the depth of creativity @elgeko demonstrates.

YouAreHope || We Supplied School Needs to Needy Pupils in Nigeria, All Powered by Steem

This post was nominated by @sircork

From South America to Nigeria @youarehope is making a difference for people in impoverished areas. @misterakpan reports on his efforts to help equip some Nigerian students with badly needed school supplies.

@misterakpan shares with us some of the wishes the students expressed for their educational environment. Here, in my country, their dreams are my expectations for all students. Things like feeling secure at school, having electricity, textbooks and a van to transport students.

A post for Gratitude. Steem, Steemit, Steemfest, and Beyond. ThankYou

Every time I come across @inquiringtimes, in either Discord or on Steemit, I get this image of the intrepid reporter gathering up the good, the bad and the ugly on the platform and deciding what needs to be reported on.

In this post @inquiringtimes talks about thankfulness for both actions on this platform and in regular life (do we addicted to Steemit have regular lives?). The post covers a lot of ground and is worth reading through to the end.

Updated Critiquing Basics for Writers and Readers

Content creation is a skill and like any skill, you can learn on your own. If you really want to be an effective writer, you do need to take a chance and have your work critiqued. Now, that sounds pretty scary, the idea of actually inviting someone to potentially criticize your work.

Most people can accept praise a lot easier than criticism, but, criticism when done in a constructive manner can help us grow. Terrifying but true. @thewritersblock’s post about the process should help to remove some of the fear about what is involved.

The Writers Block on discord is an incredible group of people dedicated to creating quality content and helping creators grow.

State of Steemit Report.

@goldenarms is one of the writers on Steemit who I can always count on to bring a smile to my face, even when he’s writing serious. In this post, he uses eggplants to rate the various aspects of Steemit. Why eggplants? Well they are funny of course and he likely had the support of his team, err, cat Ginger.

Long Time User, First Time Witness!

This post was nominated by @battleaxe

@ats-david was one of the early arrivals at Steemit and has been active on the platform ever since. As the pastor at my grandmother’s funeral expressed, “she had opinions and the will to express them”. This applies in spades to @ats-david. I don’t often agree with many of his opinions and I can and do respect his willingness to express them.

So, when he posted this week that he’s putting himself forward as a witness using the account @ats-witness I didn’t hesitate to place my vote on his name.

Win at ALL Costs or Be Left in the Dust (Daily Motivation for Greed)

@battleaxe muses about the dichotomy between our ideals and what can happen when we let the almighty dollar aka bitcoin cloud our view in favour of profit.

#thealliance Witnesses (We Now Endorse 4)

@enginewitty expresses his views on the now four witnesses who are part of #thealliance. If you are not familiar with #thealliance, it is a group of Steemizens banded together to support each other on the platform. It’s not about circle-jerk upvoting, although who doesn’t like upvotes? It’s about creating and producing regular, quality material and supporting through reading, commenting and promoting each others work.

I am a member. Several members attend PYPT on a regular basis contributing quality material. Their participation is always appreciated along with the members of other groups who take part.

20 steem communities to consider. Communities are super important to your success at getting stuff done around here.

If you are not on discord, you likely should be if you are serious about developing as a content creator on Steemit. Discord has become the platform for communities to develop that strengthen and enrich the STEEM experience.

On the discord servers you will find some great people working to not only strengthen their own position on the platform but to help and support others. @sircork has shared about the twenty or so servers he is part of. He hasn’t included the invite links to the discords but I rather expect if you ask in the comments for the ones you’re interested in, they will be supplied.

In addition to my Steemit Ramble discord, I’m active in several others and visit even more. I think I currently have about 30 discords open and cycle through them as I get time.

How one voting bot can increase the value of STEEM

There has been a lot of discussion lately about getting readers onto the platform. Currently most of the readers are people who are also members and are able to upvote posts. They are also looking for curation rewards for the most part.

@techslut presents an interesting idea which would encourage any visitor to be able to ‘tip’ authors of posts they read thus eliminating the need for active readers who are not content creators being required to join the site to vote.

The idea would require an effective solution to moving fiat funds directly into STEEM or SBD but I understand that is being worked on.

Wrap-up on Day 130

Some great posts here today. There certainly is a diversity of posting on Steemit. Even having to hunt through the chaff to find them is not enough to put me off. You dear readers who nominate posts you find do make it much easier. I’ve also been using the Ginabot to let me know when content is produced in certain tags and I can check them out quickly.

This time of year is very busy for me offline as I’m in charge of a local aid program to help low income families at Christmas time. For me, Christmas is done when the last hamper goes out the door a day or two before the official day.

So, my posting may not be as regular as I like until then as the Ramble does take a lot of time but I will do as many as I can. I want 2018 to be my most prolific writing year yet.

Supporting and Upvoting

Let’s not forget folks. I’m sharing these posts not only because I like them. I’d really like to see them get support and upvoting.

Nominate Your Favourite Post

With all the chaff that I end up trying to sift through each time I sit down to do the Steemit Ramble, I think it is time to give you dear reader an opportunity to nominate your favourite reads.

Just visit the Steemit Ramble Discord and post the link in the Nominate-A-Post Channel.

As much as you may love your own post, I am really looking for someone else to say, “Hey, I like this post, have a look”. When I post a Steemit Ramble, that is what I’m telling my readers.

Once you’ve shared someone else’s post, you’ll be given access to a channel where you can share your own posts for me to consider them. It’s only fair for you to have the chance.

Please Join the Curation Trail

If you’d like to support the posts I find and upvote while searching for the Ramble shares, please join my Curation Trail on Streemian

Until Tomorrow — Just Steem on

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If you like this, please follow me and upvote the post.

If you’d like to see the other days I’ve posted, just visit my profile

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