This is a follow up post to a previous post where I illustrated the reward development pattern (you can view the post here). In this article, I showed the development of a post’s reward over the first 48 hour window and highlighted that most of the reward was received in the first couple of hours. Since then I have analysed further post reward developments and I wanted to illustrate an example of where the pattern can deviate from the one shown in my last post on this topic.

As with my last post I will illustrate the development graphically. The post I’m using is Feature I think would enhance Steemit.

The expected “Author” payout for this post is about 70.3 SBD.

The first graph shows the development of the reward over 81 hours and reflects all 100 upvotes. You will see here that there is very little development in the first few hours. The second graph shows the development in the first 60 minutes. Less than 2.5 SBDs was earned in the first hour, a result which contrasts significantly from the post reward I previously analysed.

However, practically all of the development does indeed occur within the first 12 hours. You might be wondering where the three large jumps are coming from. These reflect votes from “Whales” with lots of Steem Power behind their vote. The table below shows the data behind these three votes.

Account	Contribution to Total Reward (%)	Contribution to Total Reward (Steem Dollars
@shaka	26.31%	18.49
@fuzzyvest	23.29%	16.37
@teamsteem	22.38%	15.73

Another interesting observation is that votes can arise 82 or more hours after the initial post release. You will see from the graph above that I received a nice bump up around the 82nd hour after release.

The graph at the bottom of this post shows the incremental payment after each hour i.e. how much the expected payoff increases after each hour.

What Influences the Reward Development Pattern?

Obviously, the key influence on the actual reward you will receive is quality of content (in addition to number of followers, value of followers, timing of post, Steem price etc.) but what factors affect the type of pattern you are likely to see. I have listed a few of the factors which I believe influence pattern:

1. You may tag someone in your post who might not see it for many hours after it’s released. This can cause an increase in momentum if they have significant steem power and/or if they decide to share your post with their followers
2. You might include a link to your post in a future post (before the payout is due) which can attract more upvotes
3. Random variation i.e. a whale my stumble upon your post at the 11th hour and upvote you because they like your post.

So, to conclude, the picture after an hour is not always a good indicator of the final outcome.

Thank you for reading.