The Curation and Engagement Leagues ๐ - STEEM prizes & steem-bounty available! ๐
Welcome to this weeks Curation and Engagement leagues, kindly sponsored by the awesome @curie!
229 Comments last week, thanks everyone!
To enter the leagues drop a comment below (for a lifetime membership - you need ask to be removed)
The league tables are reset each week and so any time is a good time to join!
On your marks, get set, curate!
Curation tips
My general views on curation rewards (to score highly in League 1) are:
Vote before the big hitters, but not too early!
Voting in the first minute will earn you a curation reward of almost 0.000
Voting between 1 and 29 minutes will earn an increasing % of the curation rewards split - This value peaking at 30 minutes and remaining the same from this point onwards
It is commonly suggested that 15-25 minutes is the best time to vote, especially on known 'power author' posts because they are likely to have more auto-votes coming in at these times - and you want to be ahead of these votes
Voting on good dtube/dlive/sndbox content, and utopian-io approved contributions (prior to the vote by @dtube / @utopian-io, etc) can earn some very good curation rewards
Voting on @ocd posts is likely to gain good curation rewards as founder @acidyo, and @anomadsoul support these posts after giving time for other accounts to vote - you will be in front of a couple of large votes here!
As you can see, a combination of many variables such as Steem Power, voting strength, voting weight, time of vote, and more, all play a part in the amount of rewards received.
My general opinion on maximizing engagement (to score highly in League 2) is to:
Spread your vote and write lots of engaging comments!
Use your vote on the comments of others to make yourself (vote) seen and provoke a reply with a well-written comment
The data for league 1
The raw data has been collected from SteemSQL - @arcange's MS SQL Server copy of the Steem Blockchain.
The formula used for 'quality of financial curation skill' is:
Curation Rewards DIVIDED BY Steem Power MULTIPLIED BY 1000
This will return the amount of Curation rewards gained per 1000 Steem Power held
The rules (which will cause auto-filtering of your account if not met so just enter anyway and see what happens!) to appear in this league:
No programmed voting! Following a trail is OK, using a script to vote for you is not (but well done if you have done that!)
Must have voted at least once on a piece of content in the past 7 days
Must not have leased or delegated Steem Power in the last 14 days
Must not have Started a Power Down (withdrawal of Steem Power) in the last 15 days
The 2nd and 3rd points above are not 'bad' actions, but are required to reduce distortion of the figures.
And, as curation rewards for the past week are actually taken from votes made up to 14 days ago, we need a two week 'window' as mentioned above.
Don't let this put you off entering though - you will be automatically be excluded/appear each week, depending on the criteria above.
League 1 - Curation / Rewards based
The end column is what I think is a genuine indicator of how well you are financially working the curation game with the tools, including vested Steem Power, that you have at your disposal.
League 2 - Engagement - Sponsored by @curie
This the newer league which is not based around financial rewards and relates to engagement.
Everyone currently on my master list has a chance here - including those powering down or dealing in delegations this past couple of weeks.
I've used some metrics (which is the fancy way of saying that made up some numbers) relating to:
- Posts (P)
- Comments - number of (C)
- Comments - replies to replies - depth > 2 (C R)
- Comments - length in characters (C L)
- Witness votes (W) (for those proxying witness votes, your total is always 30)
- Upvotes to others (V)
- Upvotes to different authors (U V)
- Self-votes - a (getting smaller each week) minus score for this one sorry! (S V)
Firstly, if you are placed in the table above then you among the top 20% of the league entrants!
Congratulations to this weeks repeat Engagement League winner, @janton! ๐
Winner last week, @janton holds first place to take home the top prize of 5 STEEM! With 20% more text than anyone else, and the most lower level replies, a deserved winner again this week.
@gillianpearce is back in the top 3 after a short break, and @themanwithnoname steps up his engagement game and takes 3rd place. Well done both!
Excellent engagement levels also from @eaglespirit, @bashadow, @lynncoyle1, @paparodin, @funbobby51, @cicisaja, and @davemccoy who will all be receiving some STEEM this week.
Also, well done to @glenalbrethsen for his engagement!
Those without a self-vote (from their main account at least! ๐ฑ) and placed in the top ranks will also receive a little STEEM. These people are: @leeart, @maverickinvictus, @anouk.nox, @mad-runner, @hashcash, @emmakkayluv, @karamyog, and @enjar.
Do you want to be a part of the leagues? Let me know below!
Prizes ๐
League 2
0 votes to self - Spot Prizes
Lucky number 25 in League 2
A @steembasicincome share, courtesy of @fullcoverbetting, goes to @rentmoney!
Finally
If you have spotted any glaring errors in my post, please let me know so I can fix them
If you would like to be added or removed from my personal curation league, let me know
If you have any other comments or suggestions, please enter them into the box below
Thank you everyone, have an awesome Sunday!
Asher @abh12345
If you feel that the Curation Leagues are a worthwhile addition to the Steem Blockchain, please consider a vote for our witness - @steemcommunity - https://steemit.com/~witnesses
this seems interesting! Perhaps Iโll join.
Great! Welcome to the club @bearbear613 :)
First off congratulations to everyone, special congrats to @paparodin, with as many comments and depth of comments some of you may have run across him. 31 days on steemit, and making a big splash in engaging people. what a way to start guy. 2nd big congrats to @davemccoy, if you all just cruise by the League 1 Curation, take a look at who is in 3rd place there? Why I think it is Mr. Dave McCoy. I actually made it back onto the league 1 list also, barely but it means I am learning. I love looking at this page. Number 97 in league 1, and number 6 in league 2.
All made possible by my account protector:
Great work as always @bashadow, and thanks for your support of the Leagues :D
Thank you for providing the easy to follow tracking. I stayed pretty level with last week, a slight improvement here, a slight decrease there.
That's a pretty groovy little thing you have there @bashadow! Especially the fact that it's the first time I have even seen colored text on Steemit... which I thought was impossible to render. Nice promotion of Dusty... one of my favorite Steemit tools!
=^..^=
I can not remember who had found it, someone left a comment to my wife, or she saw a comment on someones site, so I had to find it for her. As far as I know it is the only other color, and not super usable because you need to use the
<div></div>to use it so midstream changing colors can be a bit tricky.I missed that altogether, about @davemccoy hitting third place there! Nice job Dave; now I know where you've been spending your time!! Congratulations to you too @bashadow! Nice job!
I am always thrilled to see my name in league 1, it means I am learning, not sure how, but still it is always fun, not as fun as league 2 but fun nonetheless.
haha "not sure how", that's exactly how I feel :)
Congratulations๐๐๐, how to set up that account protectors?
Hi @cicisaja, pretty simple actually just go over to @dustsweeper, they do a good job at explaining their program, in a quick nutshell: you send $1.000 SBD to @dustsweeper, and that creates a bank for you, they add ! SBD to your account, so now you have 2 SBD worth of lifting dust level votes to a payout level. A dust vote is anything less than $0.020. So that vote someone took the time to cast on your content or your comment will now be paid out, and the vote caster will get a curation reward also. Before @dustsweeper your payout level on both post and comments needed to excede $0.020 for you to be rewarded. So it is like a vote saving bank. With the price of steem being down, you really need an account with @dustsweeper.
Already have one a month ago and do the top up too, but I can't see something like this comment is protecting by @dustsweeper things, beside.. nobody update the @dustsweeper FAQ even though @danielsaori has made an announcement about giveaway dusty 2 weeks ago.
Didn't read something like your explanation here anywhere on dusty posts? Or am I missing something or being not engaged? I still see dusty votes my comments sometimes.
So sorry, I misunderstood your question. Yes @themanwithnoname is correct, it is just a line of code I use in some of my comments to to generate questions about @dustsweeper, and to let those that know about dustsweeper know that if they are tight on vote poser and want to give my comment a vote they can do so at a lessor value than they normally would. I apologize for the confusion. Here is the code line that I use.
<div class="phishy"><sub>This comment protected by @dustsweeper</sub></div>Hahaha..@bashadow๐ you're incredibly creative! I've never thought about the code too. But, it's true that dusty FAQ is not revised yet. Maybe I need to ask our Mr. Dave McCoy @davemccoy about it. Because Dusty is available as a giveaway now.
Thank you so much for the code, I think I need to use that for some reasons too๐, but I can't use that while commenting on Pay It Forward announcement post๐ what do you think?
I don't see why you would not be able to use it there. I see it as not only advertising dustsweeper, but as getting the out about dustsweeper. I don't use it on all my post and comments, but I try to remember and use it in places where people may not have seen @dustsweeper.
Everything dustsweeper does is behind the scene's, so I feel that a small advertisement every now and then is worth it. They are not flooding steemit with advertising bots or anything, or auto look at what we did for you comments, so I like to sometimes give a dust gift, and advertise/promote them on occasion.
So it's for the sake of Dusty and newbies too๐, aahh.. that's cool. If everyone on the pif has dusty account, that will be nice because she will sweep all my dust vote on them. Wheew... the true pay it forward act!
I got your point๐ and I will be glad to use it and another frequent paste to add to my dictionary๐
That's exactly where I'm going to use it as well @cicisaja. I did get them to donate to our contest and @bashadow was kind enough to do the same, so it's no problem using it.
OIC... that's going to be another "arsenal" to engaged with.. when people also wonder about the code like I did in @bashadow's post... hahaha. You've just gave me another idea now @lynncoyle1... thank you๐ and I think I love you๐๐
Such an incredibly awesome idea @bashadow!!! Do you mind if I use it as well?
i wish more people would use it. With the price of steem I am only able a $0.010 on a 30% vote, and I still like to vote before commenting, so in a big quandary, raise my vote or comment less. So pretty much just decided to push on standard wise and upr vote power from the 20% I used to use to 30%, @0% used to be a solid $0.020 vote, Such is life though. Up a bit, comment a little less, maybe try to stretch the comments out?LoL.
@bashadow I've found that I comment as much, but just without the upvoting, which doesn't make it nearly as fun ๐
I'm just guessing, but I'm assuming that's a line of code that @bashadow added so people would know that he's using dustsweeper. If you're getting upvotes from dustsweeper, then it's working. It doesn't add the line to your comments (unless they added a steemconnect option to allow posting through it).
As long as you're getting votes, you should be good. :)
Thank you @themanwithnoname (which is also the name ๐) yes, that's exactly what I mean. That's so nice of you to clear the "discord" too. I only need a 0.001 vote value to get dusty rushing in, so the generous steemians who want to vote 0.003 will set their vote lesser.
2 cents is the official dust threashold so .019 doesn't pay out and with current falling prices you shouldn't count on any .02 display votes paying out either as the price is fixed for display, but for payout it's dynamic and changes based on the price feed. 0.03 display is safe typically, but don't trust anything below this to payout IMO.
The display amount is also messed up as it rounds up, so .016 rounds up to display 0.02 making people think they have a non dust vote. Another reason to target 3 cents.
I missed that I put $0.010 up there, fixed it. Thanks, some time my eyes and fingers don't agree on what is supposed to be done.
Know how that is for sure. Even after reading a post 3 or 4 times I end up finding things to edit after hitting post. A couple ago I completely forgot the photo...how does one even do that?
I love your dustsweeper tagline.
Thank you. I was trying to find a way to let people know with out the big advertisement and also let those that do know in the falling steem price, a full vote is not needed. People need to try and maximize their votes to make any headway on steemit if they do not have money to invest.
I also like the fact it tells me that my vote won't be wasted no matter how small it is at the time.
Do you mind if I "borrow" your idea for myself?
Not at all. here is the code I use:
<div class="phishy"><sub>This comment protected by @dustsweeper</sub></div>Awesome, thanks
I'll congratulate everyone in a separate comment but firstly, Huge Congratzzz to you, @bashadow. You are at #6!!!
And Thanks for the shoutout re @paparodin. I haven't seen him in my Steemit travels yet but will certainly check him out.
Doing so well at engagement at just 31 days old???!!!! That's amazing. Huge Congratzzz to him too.
As for Dave? @davemccoy will always remain 'The Man' to me. So if he didn't do well.... except for emergencies of course... I'd have to fling a dutch pot from way over here in Jamaica. NOT good when a Jamaican woman flings dutch pots. ;)
This comment was made from https://ulogs.org
Looking forward to being checked out by you.
I took the freedom and did the same with you myself. I see that you are interested in the topic of SBI. So am I since a friend told me about it. I intend to get a couple shares over the course of time myself and I also plan to do some more contests in the future. If you are interested in that sort of thing and a whole lot of other things, you are invited to visit my blog at any time you want.
Hey @paparodin,
Great to meet you here and via @bashadow's intro above. Sorry it took so long to land.... actually went right over but voting power was low.
Made up by hitting two posts instead of one just now, upvoted and commented on both of course, but also resteemed your @DustSweeper post. Thanks for writing that. Intended to do one up but haven't.
Also, in case you see this first... as I said in one of the comments on your posts... all the best with the procedure tomorrow. Be safe and be back with us soonest.
This comment was made from https://ulogs.org
Yeah, I have seen your engagement just now. Thanks a lot for coming by!
And don't worry about me, I am invincible and will live forever after all.
31 days on steemit and a huge engager? That's a really impressive feat. Most people would whine about not getting the votes. Good job he's doing. @paparodin. Been inconsistent last week myself. Lol.
Bad steemian, bad bad bad steemian.
I am pretty down to earth and know that if you want things to happen the way you want them to, you gotta put in the necessary work.
Thanks for pointing out the bit about Dave. I'll admit that I don't even place in the first league, so I normally just give it a cursory glance, if at all. Then I skip down to the engagement league. :) It's nice to see @davemccoy doing so well in both places. He's doing something right!
You did well this week too, so congrats!
I started doing a quick scroll of it about a month ago when I first saw my name make the list, just like this time at place 97.
Smart. I have scrolled through, but I don't even remember making the list once. I tend to vote early, so I don't get much in the way of curation. It's all good though. I just focus on what I'm good at. :)
Its easy to see the top 4 or 5 and the bottom 4 or 5, all of them in the middle, not so easy to pick out.
Yeah, that's an issue too, but the main thing is that I just don't do good enough to get on the list. I think I got around .10 SP per thousand. That's not even close to getting on the list.
I am surprised every time I see myself on there, this I think is only the second time I made it. Dustsweeper made it possible, I think. All those dinky throw away votes I would get suddenly started counting.
Interesting theory. I haven't thought too much about the implications of dustsweeper on my curation. Hmmm.
First, great job on the repeat @janton, that is very cool that you win 2 weeks in a row... It is an awesome achievement! Also its good to see @gillianpearce, @themanwithnoname, @eaglespirit, and the reigning king @glenalbrethsen round out the top 5!
I'm also happy to return to 11th, so if anyone doubts the power of this contest this is it. I hated finishing so low the week before and feeling like I was goofing off in class, so I made a bigger effort and engaged much more! So thanks for that Asher!
Also I know that everyone is a bit dejected by the values of the votes dropping due to the plunge in steem, so I just want to say that 1) its a good thing for those of us that don't have much as we will get more fast now and 2) the value we get from being here is measured far more than what is in our wallets.
I hope everyone has a fantastic week, I plan on it!
ps... I'm happy to be able to donate again to @friendsofgondor with your prize, so thank you for that Asher! (and thanks for picking me up last week when I goofed off) :P
Hey, @davemccoy. Congratulations on finishing in the money in League 2, and No. 3 in League 1. That's a pretty mean feat. Since you're a sharing kind of guy, I'm wondering if you'll be telling us how you did the latter. :)
You pretty much said you would improve your showing over last week, and you did. Well done, sir!
@glenalbrethsen you did quite well yourself (which I was happy to see)... I would be happy to share how I did it if I understood it myself... I think I might've gotten lucky on a few bigger one... that our maybe with the drop in steem my votes actually have some curation value now where they didn't earlier. If I do figure it out, I will let you know... To me we are all on the same team and the goal is to help each other so we can all grow together. ๐
thank you sir @davemccoy, you are a great example for all of us here!
@janton that is a very very nice thing to say! So thank you very much :) And I know how hard it is to stay on top for 2 weeks in a row, so it really is an awesome example you are setting and carrying the mantle of king :)
thank you sir but I know that the king is still Glenalbrethsen and I don't even consider myself to be in the same category but I certainly appreciate the kind words, I've been hearing your name mentioned since I joined here, in a good way! lol.
So I know that you help a lot of people and are a great role model so I feel honored just to be in the top 10. God bless you!
@janton what a wonderful thing to say and I appreciate you saying it! I always try to do my best and its awesome to see that people have given you the impression I do. I just checked out your account to see what phase you are at and I see that you are powering up and growing quite nicely. If you ever have any questions or need anything, please don't hesitate to contact me... I would be happy to help you in any way I can! And God bless you too :)
ps... I am with you on Glen being the all time reigning King, but I love to see some new blood give him a run for his money ;)
howdy again @davemccoy it's so good to hear from you..I am not in any way trying to be patronizing but I've heard over and over again how you were helping people and while I've been wondering if I should keep at this crazy "game", for lack of a better word, hearing that we have great leaders like yourself on this platform has made me lean toward staying for awhile and see what happens!
wow that was a long sentence for a redneck like me! sorry about that, I hope it makes sense. I'm no glen! lol.
Thanks so much for the offer to answer questions that I might have because I've had tons of those, surprised Glen hasn't disappeared on me because I've asked so many.
But then again he does like writing.
thank you sir I'm sure I'll be in touch!
@janton to answer your first question, yes I definitely think you should keep at it... I'm still here, so as long as I am then you can be sure that I think it is worth it. I know sometimes it doesn't seem like you are getting anywhere, but that is not the case. The key here isn't your current earnings or even how many view your posts, it is making friends and connections.
Why friends and connections is important is that is how you will eventually grow. Today you might not have any powerful friends, but now that we connected if I get big, then you will be someone that I remember. And now you can multiply that by many many more. The good thing about @abh12345's league is that it is a handy spot to see who are the "natural engagers/leaders" of the future. These are the people that do it week in and week out, not for the money but because they just like to engage. One other thing to remember is this platform is constantly changing and evolving, so the rules today might change by next year. The key is that we (humans) get to know each other and have fun. Obviously keep balance in your life, but stay in touch too.
I have been called a redneck myself by my northeastern college buddies as my parents were both from the mountains of WV and I grew up in Florida. So I like the term redneck ;) ... As far as asking me questions, ask away... And I also know that @glenalbrethsen doesn't mind answering anything either. I can already tell that you will also be the same one day to others, so welcome to the club ;)
Good to talk to you and definitely stay in touch! And I look forward to growing with you and I hope to continue to see you in the ranks of the engagers in Asher's league! :)
howdy @davemmccoy..a fellow redneck! yes sir if your parents grew up in the mountains of WV then you are definitely a Redneck! and that's great to know.lol. Thank you sir for your kind words and encouragement.
I think I'll try to stay with this platform a little longer.
I do have a question about voting for witnesses because I can't seem to figure out the system. Do we have 30 votes each week and can start over each week? When I go to the witness page to vote, some votes placed takes the number of votes that I have left down, I have a decreasing number of votes left.
But then sometimes when I vote, that number increases so apparently we can only vote for the same people a set number of times correct?
and if so, what is that number?
Thank you for all your help and all you do, you are in BOTH of Asher's leagues! I don't even know what the curation league is and by now I should know but I'm not precisely sure what curation even means! lol.
thank you sir!
Thank you @davemccoy. I was particularly impressed to see you so high in League 1, although I forgot to mention it and congratulate in my acceptance speech. ๐
I have no idea how anyone can score highly in both leagues but you've obviously got the knack. It always looked a bit like one or the other to me. ๐
lol... I just wrote a reply but I don't know where it went... It was so fast it disappeared :P
I am glad that I did that well, but I am confident that was an aberration.. Its not something I really focus on so i might've just got lucky on a few :) ...
Well we will see next week then won't we @davemccoy? May your aberrations continue. ๐
@gillianpearce haha... yes we will see... I hope that the aberration sticks that would be cool for sure (accidental success is great) lol
congrats Dave, how do you do it?? :)
an amazing man !! happy sunday and steemit is lucky to have you. see you in discord ...
@eaglespirit thank you and I believe you "did it" far better than me... So I should be asking you how you do it... In fact, considering the awesome job you are doing leading the white team and all the work that entails, you should get a 5x multiplier attached to everything you do. I will put in a word to Asher and see if you can make a special adjustment for your special project and you never know, you could be way way on top!
@davemccoy whaa? no wayyzzz hehe no one can do it betta than Dave!! that just made me want Wendy's okay i have a sick sense of humor. :)
wow that is so nice even with you just saying that! that really made my day and you are so very kind. much love to you dave, eagle spirit
@eaglespirit hahaha... I like Wendys and now you have made me want it too! ๐ I'm glad I made your day, because your day is always needed to be made! :D
You are doing great @eaglespirit! Love watching you work ๐
@davemccoy awww you are too kind, okay now i really have to go get a burger. hehe
i am so thankful to have you around and giving us encouragement. we need it! i will be
getting into gear tomorrow and sunday. i just got a new job and moved this week. tough one. eeekkkk
BIG hugs to you!! xx
@eaglespirit wow... that is awesome that you got a new job! And while I hate moving, I am hoping that your move was for a positive reason! I am even more impressed now that you have taken on the challenge and done it so well, omgosh I can barely do one thing at a time much less a dozen like you are doing ๐ญ
@davemccoy thank you so much! I haven't been on it like i should. eeekkk and i saw you are holding a newbie contest too. you have a lot going on and wow!
it was a bit too much i have to admit. thank you for becoming my "friend", you are a joy and i now see why so many ppl love you. it's a blessing knowing you. hugs.
Congratulations Dave! I know it bothered you to drop down in the leagues....I know it because I feel the exact same way!! There is "power" in this contest, isn't there?!!
Nice job in the curation department too. You've managed to figure out something I'd say :)
@lynncoyle1 you are right on that one Lynn... And its also what pulled me on "fast reply" tonight to get caught up with my replies :P ... I don't ever want to fall that low again, so I will try to keep my numbers much higher and keep chit chatting with cool peeps like you :)
Its actually much more fun anyways than doing boring old posts! ;)
I hope you're doing well and thanks for the congrats on curation (even though I think it was a one week aberration)
hahaha @davemccoy, I'm right there with you!! :)
Really?? Your spot in League#1 wasn't purposeful?! Have a look at all the comments to you...I think we were all expecting the magic potion lol
@lynncoyle1 lol... no it wasn't... I saw the comments but honestly I was as surprised as everyone else! I wish I had that potion, believe me I would share it with my cool peeps like the Queen of Gondor ;)
Still grateful for your early inspiration and encouragement @davemccoy! And I think it's amazing that you're keeping it near the top in BOTH leagues! You do an amazing amount of work for the active part of this community-- thanks for that!
=^..^=
@curatorcat awww thank you for the nice words... You and your human are pretty cool too! It is always nice to hear from someone who said I helped them when they were early on... That makes the effort worth it :D And thank you for sticking around too, I have a feeling we are going to have a marvelous 2nd half (just a hunch) ;)
@abh12345 I I need to know if you or anyone you voted for on my behalf supports this new raping of the curation that is being brought forth in HF20?
@abh12345 has set 5.000 SBD bounty on this post!
What is a bounty exactly?
A bounty is money sent to a post to be distributed to the users commenting on it. It provides a way to reward users directly and works in addition to the steem/sbd they receive from the blockchain. It works independently of SteemPower.
You create a bounty by sending any amount of sbd/steem to @steem-bounty together with a post-url in the memo.
How can I earn a bounty Users are then competing for the bounty by writing their answers to the post in comments that will achieve upvotes from the community and especially the bounty creator. The money of the bounty gets distributed to all top level comments of the post at the same time when the post is paid out (7 Days after it was written). How much everyone gets depends on the votes the comments received. The sender of the bounties votes are weighted higher so that she decideds where 80% of the bounty money goes and all other votes determine the rest.@steem-bounty does all of this for you automatically. You can use this service to automatically pay out a challenge, ask a hard question or simply to reward the people that interact with you.
Read more about how it works, even in different languages here.
I was three spots out of the top 10!!! I was sure that this was the week that I came back because I have been out of sorts for the past two weeks because of my depression so I told myself okay you got to get back and be out there commenting again and being an engager in the community.
I failed and kinda bums me out but I will use it to push myself harder this week.
The bear market is not helping though as a lot of awesome people that I know are just not posting as much :(
Hopefully things get better.
Three spots is a stones throw away...next week I'm sure I'll see you there buddy!! :)
I found the same thing about the lack of posts to comment on, although I was one of those who posted less just because of "life" and nothing to do with the market. I have been venturing in @c-squared's discord room to find quality posts to curate if you're interested :)
Myself included on the lack of posts. There are still plenty of engagers knocking around though, and hopefully you have sneaked into the 10 tomorrow :)
Well, @abh12345, another week has come and gone and here we are on your results post.
I'd like to say I took time off intentionally, that I went and did something fun, or anything that might better justify my showing, but I can't because I didn't.
I think I hit the proverbial wall last Tuesday, which basically worsened until Friday, when I finally had a decent day. Saturday, when I could have picked up some more saw me basically fizzllng out again.
I really don't have any rhyme or reason to it. It's not the price of STEEM (although an inability to buy some more is very frustrating), and I'm okay with fewer people participatingโthere's really nothing I can do about itโbut for some reason, I'm in a funk. I'm not intentionally giving up, taking a break, etc. It's just kind of happening on its own. The desire to accomplish something is there, but with a total lack of will to see it through.
Even so, my numbers were good enough for No. 5. I'm not sure if I should be happy about that or not. I look at the numbers from the first week I joined and I would have been in 11th place instead of fifth with last week's showing.
So far today hasn't been all that productive either, which is the reason why I'm finally getting to this so late in the day. I can feel another week of the doldrums coming on. I need to figure out a way to jumpstart my desire to be on Steemit and participate.
I do wish everyone well this week, and congratulations to all the winners. And thanks once again to @curie for sponsoring the leagues.
Some might say you're getting burnt out, but you and I talked this week, so that would mean I am too...which is entirely possible :) I almost asked Asher to take me out of the equation this week because I felt my placement would be dreadful; I'm pleased with 7th all things considered, but I'm not pleased with 7th in terms of what I know to be capable of. I believe you will understand exactly what I'm talking about.
The great thing about all of this is that this is the beginning of another week, the slate is wiped clean and our opportunity is there for the taking. You in? :)
Well, I'm here. The spirit is willing, in fact, probably demanding, but the flesh is getting pretty obstinate. I think it's a combination of things with me, which I guess ultimately means burnout. It's just that there's always more to it than that, right?
I think my main issue is I'm living in a house divided when it comes to STEEM and I'm losing the battle because things aren't going fast enough. I don't know how they could go any faster, I don't think they're really supposed to, but that doesn't quite cut it as an explanation.
If we were really in a bad financial situation (which we're not), me getting back to work and not doing as much of this would make perfect sense. But we're not in dire straits, far from it. It's not like we're without some stress and needing to watch the finances during certain periods of a month, but we're not on the street, we're more than a paycheck away from any major issues (more like two or three months, at least), and we have so many options and resources available to exhaust, with my working being primary, before it could come to any of that, barring accidents and illnesses and so forth, which can always happen and are hard to fully prepare for.
I guess what I'm saying is, the worry about the situation is doing more damage than the actual situation. And I think the inevitability of not being able to convince my wife of that started to weigh on me a lot more last week.
And when that happens, it's hard to concentrate because I start losing sight of the purpose, even though I know full well the purpose and believe completely in the purpose and feel like I am meant to be here. That's where the problem is. Having the certainty of what I'm supposed to do, but without much real support (tolerance is not support), but then still needing to put in a major amount of work without any guarantees, even though I believe this is what I'm supposed to be doing. It's a step into the dark before you get to the light kind of deal.
I understand everything you are saying, and thankfully, Brian has been here and knows what it's all about, which of course makes it much easier to explain the "why are you on their so much?" question.
"Worry" is always worse than the actuality I find. I hope you figure it all out and continue. I too believe in "all of this", but for someone looking for something more immediate, this really isn't the place I'm afraid.
Hi Glen
Sorry to hear about this midsummer lull that you feel you are in. I suspect it is in the minds of more than just you, and I don't think you should be hard on yourself at all.
Steeming should be fun and not a chore, posts and comments don't always need to be epic - just enough to keep your eye in while priorities change is fine I think.
Maybe Dave could help with the STEEM buy. If I had any real amount of fiat I'd take a PayPal and help.
I agree it feels much like a case of stepping into the dark to get to the light - my candle is still burning and the budgie hasn't keeled over yet ๐
I agree. I don't need to be hard on myself. I just need to get over it. :)
I appreciate the listening ear, or is it the reading eye? Anyway, having somewhere semi-somewhat-appropriate to comment about what happened last week is helpful. So thank you.
Steem should be enjoyable, but I'm afraid for me at this stage there is always going to be a level of work to it. Complacency and accomplishment don't seem to go together so well when I'm involved, anyway.
If I ever reach epic on either my posts or my comments that will be EPIC in and of itself. :)
I have some fiat set aside. The issue has become being allowed to use it. Coinbase has decided not to use any card, including debit ones (although they say they still do) that has the ability to act as a Visa or Mastercard. So everytime I try to put in a debit card, it's getting rejected.
If using accounts it takes five business daysโto load it up in a USD wallet, or to make a straight crypto purchase. Lately, that might not be such a big deal because the value of things have been going sideways or down, but I had this happen to me a while back and it took a month or so before things got back to favorable circumstances.
So, anyway. I'll figure that out, too. It's just dumb that when prices are better, all of sudden the ability to get it goes away. It should be the other way around. Open up when prices are low and then limit as the prices get exorbitant.
No worries :)
I agree with your last point, it's back-to-front for sure.
Hopefully you've got another route in, @davemccoy wrote a post last week some time that the commentators provided some other, potentially cheaper options over Coinbase.
Good luck for tomorrow :)
Wow, another great week in the League!
@janton, congratulations on topping the Engagement League once again. If it happens again, I think it might be enough to call it a streak. Congratulations, man. I enjoyed our conversations throughout the week. Good luck this coming week.
@gillianpearce, it doesn't surprise me at all that you're up there again. You placed in the top 10 even when you were on vacation and taking a break from computers. How does that even work? Ha ha. Good job.
I'm not sure where my 1 self-vote came from. That was a surprise. I accidentally gave one to myself, but apparently removing the vote doesn't remove the stain from my record. That's how things go sometimes. I was happy with my performance and pleased to place in the top three! It's been a while and it feels good to be back. Time to power up those winnings.
@davemccoy, I don't know how you find the time to do it all, but you're a force to be reckoned with. Placing in the top groups in both leagues, plus running the steem monsters market, plus all the other projects you work on... man, you're killing it. Great work!
To everyone else who placed, it's been a pleasure engaging with you this past week. Good luck this coming week!
Last, but definitely not least, Thank you @abh12345 for again putting on this wonderful contest (that's not really a contest, but it has prizes) and for encouraging us to make steemit a better place. Thanks for giving me more ammo to power up. :)
Thanks @themanwithnoname
Being away was a brilliant balance for me.
When we had breaks I just popped back to my cottage and responded to a couple of comments. I had a few very late nights but all in all it worked very well.
Without the structure of something else (i.e. the retreat) I fanny about a lot more and am way less efficient which equates to a lot more time in front of the computer screen.
Being on full time retreat would be an excellent option for me! ๐
Have a great week! ๐
I'm glad you were able to still spend some time on Steemit. I don't know who you went on the trip with, but I imagine they will make sure that you leave your laptop at home the next you go on a trip with them. Heh heh.
Not at all @themanwithnoname. I was only on the computer when I would normally have been reading a book or faffing about or last thing at night. So it made no difference to my partner at all. We were still able to do all the stuff we usually do on vacation - hang out, explore, eat out etc. ๐
Ha ha ha, that's good that you were present on vacation. :D
I've never heard "faffing" before. What does that mean?
Faffing about - "to spend your time doing a lot of things that are not important instead of the thing that you should be doing".
Sadly I have a tendency to spend a lot of time faffing about. ๐
Nice, I learned something today.
Ha ha! I think most of us do. ;)
Congratulations @themanwithnoname! I too had one self-vote and traced it to the fact that I was on a curation trail where I also received the upvote from. The only way I've figured out to stop it is just before you post (your own post that is), cancel the curation trail (I use steemauto), and then re-follow after they've upvoted your post. It's a pain, but there doesn't seem to be a way around it. I'm normally on top of it, but this week I obviously missed it.
That's too bad about the self-vote. As long as you place in the top 10, you still get a prize, but it's the ability to say that your score was 0 for self-votes. It's a matter of pride. At least you know how to get around getting self-voted.
Exactly! "It's a matter of pride" and drives me crazy to see that "1" sitting there for all to see :) Oh, the shame!
Right?! I really just want to wash that 1 off, but I can't. We'll just hold our heads up and carry on as if nothing happened.
hahaha we're probably the only ones who notice :)
You're probably right. I didn't even notice that you had a self-vote, so don't worry. :)
thank you sir it's been a blast this week! like you I had a mistake self vote and removed it but I guess the record stayed, gotta always check for those I found out. good luck be talking soon!
It's been fun. I've made a few mistakes this week. I accidentally commented on my own post (instead of someone's reply). I actually did that twice. I think I'm losing my mind. Ha ha.
howdy again @themanwithnoname! I call that Steemit Brain Fog!
happens to me all the time.
Ha ha, "Steemit Brain Fog." I like it.
Thank you, and apologies for the tardy reply.
A 'content' a 'competition', a 'league' or two, i'm never sure what to call it but the #content tag seems to be used a fair amount for posts issuing prizes.
Good luck this week - tomorrow already!
Oh, my, I won something! That's awesome. I like the idea of rewarding engagement a lot so seeing my own efforts paying off is highly pleasing as well!
I intend to keep going like this and maybe one day, I will also make it to the other list.
Thanks a lot for having this contest in place.
Congratulations! This is really cool, right๐
It is super cool. The feeling of having your efforts being noticed and rewarded is one of the best you can get.
Thank you @paparodin, and well done for earning a prize this week :D
Much obliged!
Look at you 31 days, level 50 and in the top 10 of Ashers League, you are doing great. You are the kind of an account that more redfish need to look to and examine, to see that yeah, it's hard getting started on steemit, but making it can be done even in today's sometimes toxic environment.
I wouldn't go as far and describe steemit as toxic. You should see some subreddits in comparison.
That being said, toxicity isn't necessarily a bad thing. Having some opposition, odds to overcome, a struggle to fight through is what makes an engaging story engaging. That is where real satisfaction can be found.
Oh yes, but to much of the reddit, facebook, style of drama is not good for steemit. Fortunately it only sometimes that things reach the toxic level.
Everyday I'm constantly amazed by the things going on on steemit. I totally have no idea on there is something like this bounty program- @steem-bounty.
@bashadow you've been consistently getting in on the green side of the curation league top 10. Congratulations to you and every other person's that makes engagement and upvoting something awesome to partake in.
Thank you all โ๏ธ
I still like to comment, and find new peoples, and new things. I need to really take a few days, and go back and visit old friends, and look at their post. I completely missed suesa's 1 year anniversary, you look like your still real busy with steemstem and adsactly. Me I still plow along through the redfish streams, and now into the minnow current every now and then. I am still having fun, growing slow, but steady, thanks for stopping by.
Yes, I curate for the steemstem and contribute to adsactly. You are doing an excellent job with the redfish project. I like the gradual, organic growth. I think it's more wholesome than the other means of growth people now tend to prefer. It's hard to keep up with information on steemit, so it happens every once in a while you miss some posts from friends, colleagues, or people you follow.
I do like @steem-bounty, and think it's a great time to activate it for this post. Cheers!
I saw it...activated and it works. Thanks.