It's all about our noble steemains. Episode 4

Over the course of time, I will be introducing you to many of the noble steemains here in our community and trying to get to know each of them little better. I have taken this upon myself to shed more light on who this noble steemains are and what they are capable of doing.

Today I would like to introduce you to one of the noble steemains who has been actively involved in promoting a steemit service called steemshelves. steemshelves.com is a place where you can arrange and categorize your steemit post into various series, groups or themes. He is a man of mission who loves sharing the truth though his standard posts. He joined steem platform on November 26th at 09:09:52 and he has been promoting steem since then through his fun, creative and rewarding contest. It been a honor knowing you and I hope to know you long after this interview.

Join me as I welcome @v4vapid to the show....!

@dhavey~Welcome to another great episode of it's all about our noble steemains with @dhavey and thanks for taking your time to converse with me @v4vapid

@v4vapid~Thank you

@dhavey~Can you tell our readers reading this how you first hear about steemit and what motivated you to join?

@v4vapid~I think I first heard about Steemit from James Corbett / The Corbett Report / @corbettreport. He was doing an episode talking about social media alternatives and he briefly mentioned Steemit. At the time, I was a regular user of Reddit - posting content there and linking articles from time-to-time but mostly reading. I didn't check out Steemit right away, but I thought it was interesting because it was built on a blockchain. I had been interested in crypto-currencies such as BTC and LTC and had bought a tiny amount of crypto. But what intrigued me the most about crypto was the potential uses of blockchain technology and I could see that Steem/Steemit was revolutionizing the space by integrating a social media aspect.

@dhavey~As a steemain what is the biggest challenge you have ever faced since you joined steemit?

@v4vapid~Definitely my biggest challenge on Steemit was gaining any kind of traction and building an audience. It was hard to get noticed, get votes or earn more than a few cents in the first couple of months. There are more resources for minnows today, such as the Minnow Support Project headed by @aggroed and @ausbitbank, but it is still quite a challenge to build up a base on the platform.

@dhavey~What is your take on using Bot to support once post?

@v4vapid~Personally, I don't use bidbots. I think that their impact on Steemit has been significant and not for the better. Certainly, there were/are other issues on Steemit that need urgent attention as well but for the average user, I don't see how using bidbots benefits their growth in the ecosystem beyond a few extra dollars on their posts.

• I think that bidbots consolidate wealth in the hands of a few (bot owners). I have nothing against bot owners personally. I just think that if current trends continue the gap between the 1% and the rest of the users will only deepen.

@dhavey~As a steemian do you think finding a niche is important rather than posting some random stuff?

@v4vapid~ Finding a niche is important in my opinion, although some people are able to write on any subject, but i think focusing on a few of your interests is probably going to get you more attention over the long run. However, i think it's good to post out of your comfort zone from time to time and challenge yourself.

@dhavey~The name @v4vapid sounds pretty cool, can you tell the community where you coined out the name from.?

@v4vapid~The name v4vapid is just a play on the V for Vendetta Guy Fawkes title
Vapid - is in regards to the vapidness we see all around us in popular culture

@dhavey~If you ask some steemains they will tell you that they are not steeming for rewards and all that they need is just relationship with other steemains, now if rewards are removed from steem, would you still blog on steem?

@v4vapid~If all rewards were removed from Steemit I would still post here. I believe in the immutability of the blockchain. This is one of the main reasons I came to Steemit as I observed more and censorship on other platforms - FB, YT, Twitter, Reddit, etc.

@dhavey~If there was one thing you could do or suggest to make steem more interesting and attractive to users, what would that be?

@v4vapid~How would I improve Steemit and make it more attractive? Well I think it would be to create more dolphins on the platform through delegations from Steem inc and larger stakeholders. In a way, creating a middle class. There's too much inequality on the platform atm and while it is improving slowly I think it needs to happen more quickly if mass adoption is to ever happen.

@dhavey~If there was a worldwide internet and cellular blackout for a week, what would you do for those 7 days?

@v4vapid~If there was a 7 day blackout of the internet the first thing I would do is head for the coast and go surfing (provided there's swell, of course). Mmm... read more books and get more sleep!

@dhavey~Do you really think anyone will still visit your blog if they don't have any other thing to benefit from or steem allies apart from the messages you pass across?

@v4vapid~Not sure I understand your question completely but I was a regular user and contributor to reddit discussions (still lurk), dropped links to articles there and sometimes posted some of my research. I came to Steemit to get away from censorship and to be free to post the kind of content that interests me and engage with others who do the same. It's nice to earn crypto on Steemit, but it's not the only reason I'm still here...there are incredible communities growing on the platform and some very talented writers and content producers.

@dhavey~Can you tell the community one thing that people will remember you for even if you quit steem today?

@v4vapid~I don't know what people will remember me for. I hope that people remember some of the fun contests that I like to host: The Conspiracy Writing Contest and Tin Foil Raps. Also, if the community gets behind the new project I'm involved with, Deep Dives Research, I think it has the potential to be a solid contribution to the platform.

@dhavey~If you could give advice to newbies on how to be successful on this platform, what would it be?

@v4vapid~The platform has changed a lot over the year and a half I 've been here. I think it's getting tougher to get any visibility and to create an organic following. I think the best advice would be to get involved as much as possible with different groups on Discord and to regularly engage with people who share similar interests.

@dhavey~If you have the privilege to talk to someone yet to join steemit, what can you tell the person that will motivate such person to join?

@v4vapid~I don't personally like to pitch things to people, or try to sell them anything. I think I would mention in conversation that instead of being the product that other platforms use to make advertising dollars from selling your personal data, that they look into alternatives that pay you for your content, like Steemit..
if you are yet to follow @v4vapid do so now, am sure you won't be disappointed because you are going to learn a lot from him

Thanks for reading. Till next time

You can check out my previous interview here:@pollux.one @uwelang @prettyjules158

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