Delegate check-up and Witness advice

Hello all

Time to check on my delegates and see if they are being a good bunch, or not. Also, a look at some potential Witness options and considering Bid-bots when making a choice.

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Background

Steem Power isn't so easy to collect at present, especially for a young account, unless you have the funds to buy or can contribute to a d-app / utopian-io.

It's also pretty impossible to get around all the good people and their content yourself, so why not get a bunch of like minded people to help you out?

My delegates have mostly been involved in the Engagement League that I compile each Sunday. Drop your name in a comment on the latest Post for a chance to win some STEEM add/or delegated Steem Power. You'll also get to see your 7 day statistics if you are in the top 50 or so - which is hopefully a good thing!

The best 'engagers' could be delegated a little Steem Power to continue their good work in the community. I try to take into account the current Steem Power owned and focus on the 500 SP mark as being a good goal to boost an account towards.

There are no instructions or advice really, It's just a case of 'carry on what you are doing!'

I can of course check in the League how they are doing, but with 303 members (and a good opportunity for a Post!), I've singled them out for inspection below.

Delegates

The list excludes 'community' accounts like @utopian-io, @spaminator, @minnowsupport, etc, and my alt. :P I have left in 2 'family' accounts though.

What to look at?

Firstly, none of the accounts are delegating to Bid-bots (at least that was the case when I checked the other day). Delegations to accounts doing this are unlikely - I might as well do that myself if that's the case!

The number of self-votes per post - nothing out of the ordinary here. Although, with a young account, you are unlikely to have much of a financial impact doing this, and a well-placed vote elsewhere could perhaps benefit you more longer term.

Comments and comment length - Irrelevant of SP owned, this type of engagement is something everyone can provide. Time is probably the only restriction, and not everyone will have lots of that each week, so a low week or two isn't an issue.

Generally, I'm happy and somewhat proud of my delegates :)

One thing I did spot though was a fairly low amount of Witness accounts being voted for...

Witness votes

It's not easy, at least for me, to decide on 30 names from 100's. It's even harder when the selection list only shows the top 50.

That list is here: https://steemit.com/~witnesses

A full list of Witnesses can be found here: https://steemian.info/witnesses

This image shows the top 50 Witnesses, and the coloured bars represent the SP size of the vote. The dark blue bar is @freedom, and it looks like if you have a vote from him as Witness, you almost certainly going to be in the top 50.

There is also an option available with allows you to choose a community member as a proxy for your 30 votes. This account doesn't have to be a current Witness.

The reality is that individually, a minnow is not going to have much impact on the standings - but that isn't the point, right!?

My Witness votes

Are probably available in full somewhere, but it's a bit like voting at the elections - you aren't sure if you really want your friends to know who've you've chosen in case you've picked a duffer, or haven't picked a most deserved community member.

My votes change quite often, and my current thinking is to want to cut Bid-bot delegates / owners. Many of the top 50 Witnesses fall into this category, but many of these also do excellent work for the community. Tough, isn't it?

Recently, I took the time to go through the top 50 and check on their Bid-bot delegation / ownership status. And I think that the following, as well as offering positive community work, don't have any connections to the above. At least on their main/Witness accounts.

@jesta, @gtg, @good-karma, @timcliff, @curie, @lukestokes.mhth, @clayop, @pharesim, @anyx, @cervantes, @utopian-io, @teamsteem, @blockbrothers, @patrice, @ocd-witness, @busy.witness, @klye, @ausbitbank

However, I could be wrong, and I'm open to changing this list if that's the case.

Also, this isn't a call for the people I have delegated to / reading this, to go and vote for these Witnesses, at least without a bit of personal research.

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Alright then, anyone going to tell me who they vote for and why?

Do you think the delegates are doing alright? Go enter my league and see if you can do better :)

Cheers

Asher @abh12345

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Edit: I added the witness-category tag - please let me know if this is reserved for Witnesses only. Thanks.