In Gratitude: Events and People who Helped Convince me Steemit is Awesome and Worth Sticking With!
A blog by a cat, about cat things? You've got to be kidding!
Well, no...
And so, I set out to explore Steemit about ten weeks ago, starting with absolutely nothing. Well, three SteemPower... that's pretty much "nothing."
The lovely @malloryblythe is having a contest to celebrate recently "being seen" by one of the @curie curators, and since the prizes are in the form of shares in @steembasicincome — one of my favorite Steemit initiatives — I thought I'd share a few words about my own experiences as a newbie on Steemit.
In part, also because Mallory has a black cat that looks a lot like me!
Just me, one of my intro photos here!
It's not easy being seen...
If there is one single thing that makes me want to stay here and "keep plugging away at it," it has to be the overall sense of community I have encountered here.
A lot of places give lip service to the idea that "we're all one big happy family," but on Steemit is a very sincere and strong subtext of people helping people. And cats!
It is really hard to get noticed when you first start here, but if you take a little time and effort to explore, you'll discover there is help everywhere!
What really "launched" my tiny account was getting to know @davemccoy last month when he was hosting/coordinating an amazing "Play 4 a Newbie" challenge in cooperation with @newbiegames, which involved dozens of contests and challenges offered by many (mostly newbie) Steemians, but all tracked by Dave through a series of daily posts. I can't even imagine how much work it must have been to keep track of all that!
Anyway, through this event, I got to know the amazing @simplymike, who's one of Steemit's foremost newbie cheerleaders. Thanks to Mike, I was encouraged to be part of lots of challenges, which helped jump start my tiny account here.
A Favorite Project... or two
There are a few community initiatives I feel every newcomer to Steemit would do well to check out — at least if you have sincere intentions of trying to establish a blog here.
Looking out the window...
I already mentioned @steembasicincome, which is a lovely program striving to "spread the wealth" on Steemit. It's very simple: In exchange for each share you own, you get a tiny upvote for life on your posts! When you're new, knowing you always have that vote is a nice security blanket.
I also mentioned @newbiegames, which is a great way to "get involved," because much of the time simply "posting something" and hoping you'll get a response is not enough. The Newbie Games account doesn't really post its own stuff, but their feed is a constant stream of re-steems of all contests and challenges currently running, with newcomers in mind.
Finally, get to know @dustsweeper! DustSweeper is a new subscription service specifically for newbies with low Steem Power balances. One of the problem we newbies have is that our upvotes — however sincere — are tiny and often end up basically being "a waste" because they fall below the $0.02 minimum payout threshold. When you subscribe to DustSweeper, the bot goes around and finds all your posts and comments below the payout threshold and "tops them off" so your votes actually have VALUE! This is an initiative by community witness @danielsaori.
Getting to Know You...
I could list a whole lot of wonderful people who have been helpful, and who are definitely worth getting to know, both as examples of people "doing Steemit right" and excellent cheerleaders for newbies.
However, I shall refrain, as I don't want this to become too "name spammy."
If you're serious about the "social part" of building a presence on Steemit, and you enjoy reading other people's contributions and engaging, I highly recommend becoming a part of @abh12345's "Curation and Engagement Leagues" which is also a great way to meet others who are sincerely interested in building their presence on Steemit.
All in all, Steemit has been a wonderful experience so far... and I am planning to stay here for the long haul!
Hope you are having a beautiful day!
Very nice post and great entry @curatorcat! I'm very happy that you entered and love the things you chose! I'm happy to resteem it and now going to make sure you get a decent upvote too ;)
Thank you @davemccoy! Your generosity and support of newbies here is pretty much second to none. What you do is both encouraging and appreciated.
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:) ... coming from such a wonderful cat, I am very very flattered! :)
'tis the truth! What you pulled off with the whole newbie contest week was nothing short of amazing. I have NO idea how you kept track of all that.
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I am not sure myself, lol... It was a little more complicated than I imagined, I will admit that! But I'm very happy to have done it because just look at all the cool people (and cats) that I have come in contact with as a result of that game! ;)
Thanks for the mention Cat!
I'm glad that I'm part of the group of people that have encouraged you to stick around! :D
For those of us who actually enjoy the "social" part of social media, and enjoy creating content, your Curation Leagues are a great incentive, and a great way to find new interesting people.
It's actually a brilliant "self sorting" device because mostly people who are serious curators and content creator/interactors are likely to ask to join... and you list the top 20%, so it's really a list of the most engaging people on Steemit.
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We are glad you're here. 😺
And I am happy to be part of this community; it has been a great experience so far!
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I'm glad you joined steemit, I love reading you and seeing photos of you
That feeling is mutual @sirgatodaniel! I love seeing your posts and adventures; wish I could help more with votes, I know life is not easy in Venezuela.
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You are doing extraordinarily well after only 10 weeks! Love the idea behind your blog and look forward to seeing you grow! You are also welcome to join the MSP and PAL networks! <3
You have been featured and curated for MSP Community Curation: Top Five 'Positive PAL Posts' - Week #20
https://steemit.com/community/@creativesoul/msp-community-curation-top-five-positive-pal-posts-week-20
Thank you so much @creativesoul! I'm honored that you would include me; very appreciateive of the recognition and boost.
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You deserve the recognition and the boost. Keep writing and amazing things will happen! <3
I was wondering if you were going to mention the leagues. Of course Dave and newbieresteem needed to be included. It sounds to me like you have the foundation pretty well built. Now, it's just a matter of keeping on. Finding your niche for cat things, while making commentaries about us humans. I have to believer there are plenty of people here who have cats (or users who are cats, too), so I would imagine as you all find each other, things will only grow and get better. :)
Thanks @glenalbrethsen, appreciate the encouragement. Like most things, getting somewhere on Steemit is a matter of sticking to it and accepting that it will require some patience. My next objective is to build my SP to where my votes are automatically above the infamous "dust threshold."
Part of the reason for a "cat blog" was also to diversify content there... the weight on "crypto news" and "steem development" and "anarchism/freedom" is very thick here... for Steemit to have broader appeal, the content also needs to have broader appeal.
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Absolutely agree. There's already a pretty healthy art/writing communities here, but it could stand to be more robust, too. Food, travel, lifestyle, sports, gaming, outdoors—it's all here, just not in large enough quantities. The majority of the folks that were first in are the ones interested in those topics you described, so they are the ones established right now. As more people come in, though, it will be those of us who can work within other niches, or cross niches, that will be able to thrive. It's just going to take some more tools from Steemit Inc, and some time to bring people on board. If we could get back the real account users that have not been using Steemit for a while (as opposed to duplicate or bot accounts), that would help things out, too. The more diversity the better.
I'm hopeful that the many community initiatives that are springing up, and some of the new community-oriented witnesses will help steer Steemit in a more general appeal direction. If Steemit is to truly take off on a broader level, we also need a broader base of appealing content and communities here.
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Interesting. I didn't know about @dustsweeper. One point i have learnt from your post. I am definitely going to be a part of thecuration and engagement leagues. Thank you for the share. This post has a wealth of information.
It's a pretty new service @cheekah, but really useful for those whose SP balance is still pretty low.
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Awww we love having such a cute kitty blogging here!! Always look forward to your posts 😀
Thanks for sharing all the info for newbies!
Thank YOU! Always enjoy your posts with Wally!
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You got a 3.28% upvote from @emperorofnaps courtesy of @davemccoy!
Want to promote your posts too? Send 0.05+ SBD or STEEM to @emperorofnaps to receive a share of a full upvote every 2.4 hours...Then go relax and take a nap!
Thank you @davemccoy!
Very cute