Who Do I Follow on Steem & Why?

I'm a middle man. I mean I was never at the top (except for the first two years of school). My classification, meaning my place was in the middle. It is both good and bad, it depends on how you look ...

In this social platform I'm still in the middle ... I have been active here for over two and a half years. I didn't get the beginnings of Steemit. I'm sorry about that, but I didn't know about it even though I had been active online for ten years. I was not interested in cryptocurrencies and so I didn't know what STEEM means.

I understand the need for promotion and how important are @theycallmedan's initiatives to promote Steemit in other social media. If someone had promoted Steemit intensely at its inception and I would have seen it, now I would probably have been above the middle ...

Now let's remember the happy moment when I found out about Steemit and I signed up (quite complicated, in my opinion). I found the association of this platform with the image of an ocean as extremely real. After signing up, you really feel like you're in an ocean, being poor plankton. You have the impression that you are, I mean the last man, the last plankton ... almost nobody!

Here I make a small bracket: I recently read that the ocean plankton releases more oxygen into the atmosphere than all the forests on earth!

So watch out for plankton, keep the world alive! In the ocean, however, almost all living things are not very friendly, waiting around the corner to eat you. Maybe the dolphins are the exception ...

... So, you wake up in an ocean and you don't know what to do. Without the help of the oldest in the platform you are lost, eaten and you think you can only escape running away.

Well, here I wanted to get (a bit hard, I hope you will forgive too long an introduction), to the role played in our life as beginners (and not only) by some experienced and very kindly colleagues.

Well, now comes the hardest part. Maybe that's why I had such a long introduction. Here comes the part where I need to go to the topic, to answer the question @theycallmedan asked us, with a good purpose.

Photo by Dineslav Roydev on Unsplash

I have always tried to avoid in my posts to refer to colleagues, to thank and praise, because I know that it's impossible not to forget someone. I know everyone has their pride, whether they recognize it or not. I, whenever I see such a post, I look forward to seeing if anyone mentions me, even if there is no reason to do so. This is human nature, we kind of believe we are the navel of the earth, although obviously we are not.

For the first name I will say here is easy, has no competition ...

Denise, @dswigle!

Denise didn't bring me to Steemit, Denise convinced me to stay in Steemit. I think this is the best reason to mention her here. Obviously, the first reason you sign up for Steemit is to make money, especially if you tried, like me, hundreds of methods that not only did not enrich me but I also lost a lot. When you first contact Steemit, when you see dozens of blogs on the trending page rewarded with hundreds of dollars, you think you've reached the American dream, even if you're not American.

Very soon the mockery and harsh reality came, as suffered by Frank Zappa's Bobby Brown. He believed in the American dream and then smells of gasoline.

Source-Click Here

After a month when my blogs were very hard to write for, I gave up and left the platform. After three months of absence the curiosity made me come back and who do you think was very happy? Denise!
I didn't write well, I didn't know how to structure a story, I don't know what she saw in me that she would enjoy that I came back. She encouraged me, supported me and so I became addicted to Steemit and stayed here. Do you know what convinced me?

In my argument that it's difficult for me to write and communicate with others because English is not my native language, I don't know it well and I have to make considerable efforts to translate, she told me this:

If many of our colleagues (having native English) were to write in a language other than their native language then many would have given up immediately ... and she admired me for the effort I make to write here"

That made me feel good and I stayed. Thank you, Denise!

That was strictly in my relationship but beyond that, Denise is the most friendly, communicative person I have ever met. She started a challenge called #marketfriday with dozens of posts and hundreds of comments, responding to everyone in an overwhelming way, with hundreds of words every comment being a very good blog. The way she writes, structures and illustrates her blogs can be a permanent model for all of us who want to do something attractive and beautiful for the eyes and soul. I try, without success, to imitate her and probably because of this I will remain here, to reach her level. So, again I say that @dswigle is the person I follow with the greatest pleasure and love.

Now comes the hard part, I have interfered with many colleagues and it is hard for me to remember some and ignore the others but if that is the requirement, I will try to remember a few. Especially those who have helped me or have been role models for me.

@tattoodjay; @melinda010100; @barbara-orenya; @c0ff33a ...

From them I received support and encouragement, I received unmerited praise but especially reasons to make me go further. There have always been models and I have learned in the field of writing, photography and how to make an attractive blog. It's very pleasant when you have someone to ask!

I'm an admirer of Greece, I'm fascinated by how much Greece has contributed to the development of humanity. I am fascinated by the beauty of this country. Fortunately, Romania, the country I live in, is quite close to Greece and so I can travel to Greece every year on an island. This is why I was close to the Greek group in Steemit. Unfortunately, most of them left Steemit.

@tikotiko

She is a beautiful Greek girl which, even though it's no longer so active, has remained with us. Her travel blogs, especially about Greece and her recipes about traditional Greek food are superb. I read them with the greatest pleasure and they make me feel again in Greece. I hope with all my heart to stay with us and from now on!

Now I see blockchain superiority. Even if someone leaves, the blogs will stay here forever. So, if @tikotiko leaves Steemit I will be pleased to read and cook her recipes, which will remain here with us.

One last example has recently happened. Evidence that this platform brings people together, even if they live on different continents, thousands of miles away.

@jerrytsuseer

An American poet and musician, when he learned that I don't read poetry, blogs about poetry because I feel I don't understand the essence, because of my weaker English knowledge. He made a very nice gesture, wrote a blog with a poem of his own which he translated into Romanian. In a minor language from a small and insignificant country, just for me to understand his poetry. Impressive! Unfortunately, poetry is not much appreciated here, perhaps because we are not very sensitive to this genre.

There is another aspect that I want to show. The saddest moment I felt in Steemit was when I wanted to review my list of people I follow. It happened last year. I checked each person and was amazed and saddened by how many left Steemit. I felt like I lost real friends. It was very sad. Some of them liked them very much, @nolasco; @alexandraioana (still active in Appics), @margaretwise ... However, I have seen some attempts to return them and I hope this will happen, especially if our action will increase the attractiveness of Steemit.

In the end, because I know that @theycallmedan could read this post (being part of the jury) I will tell him that he must be pleased that I really like the moon and I chose @bluemoon. Otherwise, even though my name is not Dan (it's Dumitru), as a kid and now everyone called me Dan. So it would be a chance to choose in Steemit the name ... @theycallmedan!

I read a few posts in #steemimpact and was impressed. I have learned about so many colleagues, very appreciated and special. Characterize by those who follow them, so objective. I will follow them, in the desire to learn something from them. Because I think the main advantage of Steemit is the opportunity to learn and apply what I have learned.

Since I used to use only my photos and now I had to take pictures from somewhere else, I will end up with a flower of mine for you all!

I once initiated a challenge called SAM. Something About Me. I thought it was good for our readers to know more about us and to understand better what we are posting. Well, SAM is dead but I still think it would be in everyone's interest to get to know each other better. This is the reason for the short presentation below!

@bluemoon

• I am Dan and I live in Bucharest, Romania.
  Born in 1954, married and retired. I worked in the banking system.
  My passions: Art (film, music, photography, painting), Travel and even Cooking.
   
• Romania is the sixth largest country in the European Union. Unfortunately, due to over fifty years of communism (1947-1989) and a reluctant transition to capitalism (1990 and up to now), Romania is among the least economically and socially developed countries. I hope this will settle quickly in the near future.
  Instead, it is one of the most beautiful countries in Europe!

Don't believe the word, please check here!

@bluemoon	Thank you!	Disclaimer
	I made this post with passion, effort, and respect for you. I hope the result proves it.	Since English is not my first language, please forgive any grammatical errors.