Strategy for Following ENGAGED People on Steemit
I'm on a quest of finding good people that I feel connected with, who are also engaged members on #Steemit.
When I initially heard of this platform and saw the money some of the posts were generating, believe you me, I had dollar signs in my eyes. They were blinding me!
All I could think about was how to get a whale's attention so they could fatten up my wallet. I rarely thought of them as people. Sounds pretty shitty, right? Well, it is.
I did some reflection and asked myself questions on the who, what, why, and how of my place in Steemit.
WHO
Who brings value to me?
Who do I have things in common with?
Who can I learn from?
Who can I mentor?
Who do I serve?
WHAT
What am I doing here?
What do I like to create?
What are my goals?
What do I bring to this platform?
WHY
Why am I here?
Why am I following these people?
Why are they following me?
Why should I keep trying?
HOW
How am I going to find good people to follow?
How will they be able to find me?
How do I engage with Steem strangers?
As I enter into my seventh week here, I've shed my newbie label and have been in the process of rebuilding my tribe. I began with shedding the dollar sign blinders from my eyes and started looking for people.
That meant unfollowing the whales, the flashy get rich quick people, and the inactive, unresponsive follows. With the exception of people I've communicated with, I was an equal opportunity unfollower. There was nothing personal about it.
I shed over 100 people.
Going back to the Who, What, Why and How
I know who I am as a writer, but I've found that my connections are helping me expand my creative wings. Without their support and encouragement, I might never have picked up a pen to draw anything! And now I crave a new project and challenge. I might have kept digital currency in the back of my consciousness, but now I crave to educate myself on it.
I need to surround myself with people who will guide me to the next level of my personal evolution!
It is also in my nature to help people. If something is within my wheelhouse then I will help, coach, teach, and be of service. What's the point of learning something if you aren't going to pass on your knowledge to the next batch of hatchlings?
I've set several milestones for myself and pleased to announce that my life and Steemit compliment each other nicely.
But I'm not forgetting the bottom line either. While everything I've mentioned previously is a bit pie in the sky, I'm here to earn money too. Speaking realistically, I've had to work hard for everything I've ever had, and building a reputation and following here is no exception. I don't want to be a comet. I want to be the sun.
My strategy for finding engaged people
I'm trying something new to find "my people" and it is an experiment in progress.
I've been visiting Steemwhales.com on a regular basis to see how my progress compares to others. It's been a thrill to see a steady climb in the ranks. And then it hit me!
I could be using that site to find quality people!
Here are the 2 things I'm looking at:
- Reputation My current rep is 55.8 so I've been scrolling through reputation scores between 50 - 65.
- Engagement My post count is nearly 700 so I'm looking for people who post regularly enough to be considered on par with my activities. Their post numbers indicate activity and consistency.
From the list, I visit their profile page to see what kind of content they're sharing. If I find the majority of their titles interesting, I hit the follow button.
The next step
Now that I have new people that I'm following, I'll keep an eye on my feed and engage them. If they check me out and find that we're cosmic twins, all the better! That's what I would consider organic growth with substantial connections.
THE GOLDEN RULE: Treat others as you would like to be treated.
Personally, I like to leave a well-thought comment to compliment my upvote and prove that I read their content. A comment means so much more to me than a simple, sterile upvote. Don't get me wrong! Those upvotes are earners and I appreciate all of them, but when someone takes a moment of their precious time to scribble out a quick note, it's like putting on my favorite sweater. I get all warm and fuzzy. With good feelings like that, I know I'm not the only one who empathizes.
Admittedly, I am guilty of following a few people who always seem to make a shit ton of money on a post so I can get in on the curation action, but the majority of my people are just doing their thing - for love and money.
Final thoughts
I would recommend that you all take stock of your who, what, why and how.
Are you creating for love, money, or both?
Are you compromising yourself in a bid for attention?
Are you following people for the wrong reasons?
Take a moment to consider what motivates and brings you joy. It's got to be deeper than your wallet to build solid relationships here because when all is said and done, Steemit is, at its core, a social media platform and community is what will make it -and you- thrive.
If you like my content, please consider upvoting and visiting my other articles. Your comments are always appreciated.
Meredith Loughran blogs at ScribblingBandits.com | Follow her on Twitter & SnapChat or LinkedIn
I'm probably following way too many people but I'm trying to be a curating ninja.
I know I was following too many people for the wrong reasons and other because I was really new and was just happy to follow anyone back.
seems like a good plan - it makes sense to connect with people that you have similar interests in ( their posts) and that you feel you could engage with and learn from or mentor. I'm not on here to make loads, if I did make a few $ its nice, I actually like connecting to people and reading what other people are doing, thinking etc - i have discovered places I've never heard of, want to go to, food I've never known how to cook, grow, juice etc , read post on politics, crypto, anarchisim and what to avoid for health reasons. For me its a great place to "meet" others and learn new things.
Yes! That's it exactly @ladypenelope1
It's always a pleasant surprise to see any of my posts make above .00 but in my bones I want to be here to create and learn and find really cool people.
You haven't been posting, young lady! What have you been up to?
love the young lady bit :) got 2 on the boil at the moment, but felt i had been posting to much recently , so gave it a break. Been on here just reading everyone elses great post - been to Bali with @mamasitta and @samstonehill twice now, quick lunch in London with @sisterholics, met a new lady from St Petersburg , sending hugs to @pseudopoise as she needed one and having a quick cuppa with @opheliafu and waiting for @heidtravels to come to Egypt! - exhausted now ! xx
I am new and have yet to start posting a lot but that will come. I too seek interesting and creative nurturing souls to befriend!
This looks like a great strategy! I follow and upvote people based on their engagement and whether I like their work or not. Sometimes I upvote a post partly because it looks like it'll go up in value, but that's more rare. Focusing on curating for rewards would take some of the fun out of Steemit.
I'm just getting settled into my chair to check out my new follows. I'm not one to make grand entrances but I'll peek in on their posts and how they interact with their people. Glad to meet you @edgeland Thanks for stopping by :)
It's nice to meet you too!
I am right here :)
I see you! :)
Does this mean that you'll no longer be my friend once I hit a rep score of 66?
You stopped at 65... or is that just for new friends???
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You're stuck with me, baby. Black foot, wild gray hairs and all. My husband says you need to run. LOL
Good, because I went up to a 66 last night!
Hi @merej99. I am a newbie in steemit and want to learn writing in English language. Actually, English is my foreign language, to be honest, I do not have enough confident to start. However, reading your writting is such a relieve for me, as it has been written clearly and it is easy to be read. Thanks for sharing.
Hey @merej99 thanks for this wonderfully informative post. Really appreciate the effort. :)
I translated this post to Chinese : ) I hope that's okay with you! https://steemit.com/cn/@mgsun/steemit-a-chinese-translation-of-strategy-for-following-engaged-people-on-steemit-by-merej99
Building communities will liberate us from our oppressors!
Hah. Great article. And really it will...