Adventures in Steemit #1: ☺ Playing Around with Curating ☺
I've started a new daily habit on Steemit - Curation. I think it's something healthy for all us Steemians to do.
I don't have a bot, and I do like to read everyone's blog. I am quick about it though - depending on the blog.
At this point my Steem Power isn't really that much, so I'm trying to build it up, and with every upvote I give I get some Steem Power. I also upvote 100% because of this. When I have more power I will gage that more on the value of the content. But for now everyone gets 100%.
A few people have sent me Steem Power, so that's awesome as I plan to use it - and with the little change I've been getting from blogs I write lately I've been buying Steem Power. I have a milestone to get to 1000 - and it's going quick since I'm curating more and more.
I don't have a day job right now, so I'm spending a lot of time working on Steemit. There's a lot of creative things to do and I found once that spending some time curating is a fun way to start the day.
Get my coffee - turn on thinking music, and spend a few hours reading blogs, upvoting, and seeing what's trending or not.
What gets a lot of upvotes is still interesting, and it's funny to see what people are trying to do to get the most upvotes. I tell you, latte art seems to be one of the trendiest thing and you know what? It works! haha! Too bad I hate lattes and don't have a machine or I'd be doing it too. ☺
Another interesting trend is origami's. People sure love origami's. I used to make a lot of them as a child, but man I see one guy on here who will make a few a day and make a killing. It's fascinating to see this.
Another trend are cats, but who doesn't like cats - you know?!?
Something that I noticed is that a lot of new people aren't voting. I've also noticed people who are on track to becoming popular bloggers is that they aren't voting, and all the while steem power just sits. I feel that people need to include curation into their Steem adventures. It's a lot of fun, and it makes you know that you're helping.
I've been thinking about getting a curator bot, but I don't know how. I looked into it, but it just made my brain hurt. Still, it would be interesting to experiment with. However, being a human and doing everything manually is relaxing so I'm not sure I want one, really.
Typically, I will read everyone's blog - whether they are connected with me or not. It's such an honor to be able to do so with the ease that Steemit has provided us and it helps me remember that all people are good - even the grump y disgruntled Steemians upset, because they're not racking in the $$$ they wish they would.
I'm a human being too, and I do feel bad when I've spent a long time on something that doesn't get squat, but then I spend time curating and it makes me get over those silly feelings. So, curating might be a "cure" to that and help you move along to think of more creative ways to blog and grab the attention of those who have the Steem Power to make your day. I'm even one who is jobless and penniless saying this - so having a more zen approach to life is better than ruining your reputation because of negative reactionary feelings.
So, curating on Steemit is something people should look into and actively participate in more, I feel. It also provides me with new creative ideas on what I want to write about next. Just before writing this I was feeling a sense of writers block and then it dawned onto me that having a series of blogs called "Adventures in Steemit" might be a fun thing to try out and this came to me from my curation process. I see it as a way people can learn how to use Steemit as I am just learning as well. Also, it brings a human approach to all of this, and it makes people realize that on the other side of these blogs are a real life breathing human making these things and not some robot.
Thanks for reading this first Adventures in Steemit. Feel free to comment and clarify anything I might be wrong about.
...
Good Post. UV&RS
Back in the day I used to go to BookStores and PAY to get stuff to read.
On Steemit I get PAID to read.
Why would I want to get a bot?
Doesnt' make $ense.
...actually is seems a bit dishonest..
....dirty.
(insert rant here: we're still in beta)
Thanks @everittdmickey. Yeah, at this point having bots would be to pull up the steem power for others, but I agree it's a bit sleazy otherwise. So, I'm not going to. But you're right, this place is great for reading and getting paid. Thanks!
I like your attitude! Curating is important, and fun, and broadens your horizons with lots of interesting stuff to read. I try to curate as much as I can with my limited time, even though my Steem Power isn't really high enough to get much of a financial reward from it. Helping the community and putting myself out there is reward enough.
In addition to manual curation, I do use a simple voting bot. I simply don't have time to read more than a few posts per day, but I still want to help my fellow writers out as much as possible. So I don't really have any ethical qualms about using a bot. I have it set to only vote on a subset of people in my feed that I normally vote for anyway after reading their stuff (a.k.a. my favorite authors). And I'm constantly tweaking the settings to avoid having my voting power drained too much. Like you I always vote at 100% for maximum effect.
The bot I use is https://steemvoter.com programmed by @marcgodard . It's free to sign up & pretty simple to configure. No coding or tech skills needed. Here's a link to the latest Steem Voter blog post:
https://steemit.com/steemit/@marcgodard/steemvoter-com-update-oct-12th
Thanks for bringing this up about bot, @cryptomancer. They serve a bunch of reasons.
Also, thanks on the direction of having bots. I will look into it. Peace!
i have no option to upvote except when posting my own.ive checked some people's accounts here who are new yet can upvote.
If you can show a screen shot, and show us. Please do. That is very strange. Are you on a phone or computer?
phone
Thank you for posting. All the best to you.
In a certain sense, reading the different posts is akin to listening and in listening to what others are posting or dialoguing, there is an opportunity for response in the way of ones own post. Very reciprocal.
Principle....No one is going anywhere in life without being a good listener.
Thank you for the opportunity to express thought. Cheers
Very well said, @bleujay!
One thing I've noticed is that the current platform is not (yet?) very supportive of intense and engaging discussions, e.g. compared to reddit and traditional forums. Upvoting solo artists is not as engaging as upvoting discussion/debate contributions about a topic you care about.
Yeah, since this is still in beta things are still being rolled out. But we do have this comment area for such engagement, and even through the comments those can also be curated and such. However, I do see what you're saying - like having a way that content can "steem" up to the top more based on the numbers of engagement. I guess that would be what the "hot" section is intended for. I think things will continue to focus on user experience and ideas like yours will be implemented. Good thoughts!