Two months on Steemit. What have I learned & how can it help newbies?

tremendospercy (65)in #life • 7 years ago

It's hard to believe it's only been two months since I opened a Steemit account, so much has happened in that time that it feels so much longer. I think it feels longer because many of the people I interact with regularly have become important to me and therefore have started to feel like old friends. You may be thinking "that's nice" or "so what" but to me it's a revelation.
There are only 2 or 3 people here who know the real me so only they will know what a big deal it is that I even bother interacting with relative strangers let alone 'make friends'. I was the kid who went from school to school in the 70's as we moved around never really having time to make friends, I'm also mixed race and had a massive blonde Afro (seriously) when I was a kid that my Mom used to comb to look like the dude from Boney M!!!!
Like this! For real.

So as you can imagine, new kid, strangely brown, horrendous hair... it wasn't easy to make friends. But I tried and even though I was racially abused a lot initially by my 'friends' I got a small 'following' if you like. You know how mean kids can be? Well my playground nickname was 'N*gger Gran' because my paternal grandmother who used to drop me off and pick me up from school was from British Guyana. Still hurts now even writing it, I loved her so much and I was ashamed of the way I wished I wasn't who I was. I'm welling up now.....Shit. Anyway.... I made friends by trying to be meaner or funnier and ended up attracting the kind of friends your parents don't want you hanging around with. Doesn't help when you live on an estate of broken and dysfunctional families who's kids are all damaged in some way or other. They all want to lash out at someone and those who are different stand out.
Slowly but surely it got better and I was accepted in the most part for who I was as I made real friends as people got to know me and British society in general became more tolerant. But I was always guarded and untrusting of new people in my life. The experiences of the early school days scarred me, made me cynical of people in general and it took a lot for someone to get close to me or for me to call them a friend.

Getting to the point the post.
I came to Steemit to follow the work of a number of truthers I had heard talk about it, Jeff Berwick, SGTReport etc. And was interested in viewing their videos without supporting an increasingly fascistic YouTube. When I got here I realised I could write myself as I honestly thought it was just a place to upload video content. That was a revelation for me as I like anonymity and have a number of reasons for wanting to keep it that way none of them nefarious, but felt I had something I could add to the truth movement. So I started writing, gathering followers and interacting with other Steemians.
That's when I realised that this place is unique and a lot of people here are over the other social media platforms. I never bothered with Facebook or any of the others out there as I stay in touch with all the people I care about in other more traditional ways. I try not to judge those who do use them however I sometimes despair of some of the things I hear. The reason this place is different is because it encourages good content and of course pays for it, yes there are posts that do really well that I would consider vapid or shallow but that's just my opinion and each to their own. But on the whole most people are contributing positively to the platform.
So what have I learned? And how can newbies learn from my experience?

Getting followers is easy, that's just a number. Some people arrive, follow 4000 people get 1000 follow back and make 10c a post! Making friends who follow you is the trick when working here. And the only way to do that is quid pro quo. You have to give a piece of yourself whether that be chatting in discord or revealing a bit of yourself in your posts and comments, and I don't mean "I'll get my tits out if this post reaches $1000" although sadly that seems to work.
You need to follow your friends, really follow, read their posts , comment, critique, help, advise, lend an ear and be there for them like you do your life long friends. You'll find they'll do the same for you. It pays off trust me.
Post regularly but don't knock out 5-6 poor quality posts a day and moan when you get 5c because you Upvoted yourself and no one else did. One good post every couple of days is way better than trying to flood the platform to get noticed.
Write about stuff you're passionate about. It comes out in the post and feels more real rather than trying to pander to the masses writing about something you don't really know anything about in the hope it will pay well. Take the time to spell check and format properly too. Polished posts look great and are worth more to many voters.
Spend time looking around for people who are into the same things you are, comment on their posts, add value and they often follow you back to see your take on the subject.
Get involved in one of the many groups here, there are national teams like teamgb & teamaustralia. There is Steemsilvergold for those who love collecting precious metals. Photographic groups, cooking, sports you name it. Interact with and join one or two. It helps get your work noticed.
If you are new join discord and get involved with the minnowsupportproject, there is no better way to connect with people and get help and support at the start of your journey. There are so many great Steemians there who are dedicated to helping you. I would be unheard of if not for them. Click this link to start your journey. https://discord.gg/HYj4yvw

And finally the most important lesson. Don't make the mistake I made about 20 years ago when I returned to Britain from many years of travelling the world. I decided I was too old to make new friends and actively shied away from new friendships, I thought I had enough friends and was too old to bother. I was 30 and I was set, big mistake. I'm turned 50 a few weeks ago and I've made more friends since then than did in the previous 20 years! What a waste of 20 years. Don't get me wrong life has been good but I now regret not making the friends I could have.
Youre never too old to make new friends and Steemit is a fantastic place to do it, and trust me if I can anyone can.
Thank you to all of you who have befriended me since I've been here, it's changed my life and I'll never forget it. I'm not going to list names as there are so many and you know who you are, I talk to you in discord privately all the time, mock you in my stories and comment on your posts.

Thank you for visiting @tremendospercy

Gif courtesy of @justcallmemyth
teamgb banner by @bearone & blinged by @nickdavison
All images courtesy of Google Images https://images.google.co.uk/

#teamaustralia #teamgb #minnowsupportproject #whalepower

7 years ago in #life by tremendospercy (65)

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theokritos (44) 7 years ago

I am making quite a slow progress but that's the way I want to advance in steemit. The exact way you described. Following some intresting people and being followed by people that really care about what I have to say. Otherwise it would not be intresting. I don't really see me making friends through discord actually but I can write honest posts and comments.

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tremendospercy (65) 7 years ago

And I'm sure you'll do great, discord isn't for everyone and there are other networks that can help. Steemchat is great too. Thanks for reading and commenting.

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booster (68) 7 years ago

This comment has received a 0.07 % upvote from @booster thanks to: @theokritos.

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happymoneyman (70) 7 years ago

Great advice, plus heartfelt and honest. Thank you.
My favorite thing about steem it is a platform for people to be real and it is troll free. This makes it so people can actually get to know friends and connect. Its rad. It makes me happy. I think you're doing something special here.
I will follow. Cheers. Keep it up

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tremendospercy (65) 7 years ago

The troll free aspect is fantastic.
Thanks for reading, commenting and following.

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happymoneyman (70) 7 years ago

Awesome. Cheers!

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gmuxx (67) 7 years ago

Wow man, what a passionate start to your post. I can picture you with an afro now :D

All good advice. I hope you consider me a friend. Have a mega muxxy

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isaac.rodebush (54) 7 years ago

@gmuxx Thanks for helping out in the Minnow support channel in Discord!

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gmuxx (67) 7 years ago

My pleasure

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tremendospercy (65) 7 years ago

We chat, you help , I mock, what do you think?
You're a top bloke.

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stackin (78) 7 years ago

Great post my mannn, lot of minnows are currently doing is all wrong, hope they read this and apply it :)

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1 vote

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tremendospercy (65) 7 years ago

Thanks mate.

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minnowbooster (73) 7 years ago

Want a boost? Click here to read more!

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1 vote

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the-fillosopher (51) 7 years ago

Before I keep reading, I'l pay 5 SBD to see a pic of your blond afro, can be private on discord, but I gotta see that!!!

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tremendospercy (65) 7 years ago

Ooh maybe one day, you'll need to be patient.

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the-fillosopher (51) 7 years ago

you could start a bidding war ;)

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simondocherty (52) 7 years ago

Great post, really well written and informative. Will follow this post through.

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tremendospercy (65) 7 years ago

Thanks buddy.
Cheers for reading and commenting.

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wandrnrose7 (65) 7 years ago

Fantastic post and so hearfelt. Thank you for sharing your truth. You have a fascinating story and I'll watching for more. Happy Belated Birthday (I turned 55 in mid June. Upvoted and resteeming for other minnows!

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tremendospercy (65) 7 years ago

Thank you for reading and the resteem.
Much appreciated.
Happy Belated birthday to you too 😃

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isaac.rodebush (54) 7 years ago

You are a good example @tremendospercy of what someone can do when they put in the time to learn the culture and the platform. keep crushing it!
Best,
Isaac

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tremendospercy (65) 7 years ago

Hey thanks buddy that kind of you to say.
Steem on bro

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isaac.rodebush (54) 7 years ago

Cheers!

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the-fillosopher (51) 7 years ago

Thanks for the advise, glad to meet you here.
Even though we have much different interests, I find I enjoy seeing yourself and others show their true passions here on steemit, because thats what we should all be paid for doing. If I can help by clicking a button, AWESOME!!!

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tremendospercy (65) 7 years ago

Thx buddy. Great chat earlier.
I'll catch you in discord later.
Cheers for the support dude.

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1 vote

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Two months on Steemit. What have I learned & how can it help newbies?

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