Towards 10,000 Minnows: The Fine Art of "Being Seen"
Now that I have passed the one-year mark as a member of this community, I am looking forward to what's in store for the year ahead.
One of the current initiatives (or multiple initiatives) I am most excited about is what broadly fits under the heading of "Building a Bigger Middle Class" here. One of the ways this is taking shape is through several efforts to "Make Minnows."
Just for Clarification...
Are you paying attention?
Just in case this all sounds like Greek to you, in the strange world of the Steem Ecosystem, people's progress is measured by how much Steem Power (SP) they manage to build, and assorted marine life names are given, accordingly.
This is perhaps a slightly odd thing when you're a cat, but let's forget about that, for a moment.
Anyway, a "Minnow" is the classification you earn when you reach 500SP; before that you are a "Redfish" going back down to... well, I'm not entirely sure where... some point where I believe you are "Plankton," which I believe is basically an account that never actually got active... maybe 1SP(?).
Personally? I think they should set that limit at 50SP which is about how much it takes to get to the point where you have to be somewhat sincere and can't just ride on having gotten "lucky" with your introductory post and then left. But that's me.
Back to "Being Seen"
Now, making your way to Minnowhood organically takes a good bit of work! That is, earning your way there, purely through posting and engagement.
For example, I'm currently 73% of the way there, and that includes having invested in 50 Steem with the garage sale money!
My goal is now to "get there" by the end of June.
Being Seen = Social media Success
But in order for that to happen, you really have to work at "Being Seen." Which basically is going to happen as a result of posting interesting and engaging content (note: I didn't say "quality") and being an active participant.
That last part is important!
It's a Two-Way Street!
This may seem patently obvious to most, but in order for people to SEE you, you have to BE SEEN!
And the best way to be "seen," is to be engaging. To visit other people's blogs, and to make relevant comments on their posts.
This is important information!
Interesting side note there: THIS IS TRUE OF ALL SOCIAL MEDIA!!
You don't get 5,000 followers on Instagram just by posting a photo of your lunch taco and "hoping" it goes viral. Same on Facebook... above and beyond your close family and friends, nobody's going to "find" you and follow you on Facebook (or twitter) unless you go out and "spread yourself around" in a way that makes you interesting enough that people want to check you out.
That, in a nutshell, is the essence of social media.
And remember this: You're trying to be INTERESTING, not IRRITATING!
You want to be "seen" in a positive light, not as a pest.
Wishing you all the best for this St. Patrick's Day, and hope you decide to be part of the ongoing efforts to build your SteemPower!
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You are right; you do need to work on it and not just sit by expecting it to grow on it's own. It's also not always easy, but I really enjoy this and I really enjoy the humans I've come to know along the way! Happy St. Patrick's day to you as well! Steem-on!
It's not always easy, to be sure @coreyb. If you just go the purely rational route with it... almost 200 blog posts, thousands of comments and a year... and I have the equivalent of about $175.00 in my "savings account."
But that's the wrong way to look at it, for me. I am having fun creating something, and being part of a great community. Getting a few rewards for cat treats is just a fringe benefit.
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Redfish and plankton are interchangeable terms, generally. There isn't really a word for the brand new, sub 50 SP type accounts besides that, but some people make commentary like "one celled organisms," or something like that. XD
great target you have set your self @curatorcat. Its amazing seeing the posivitiy and number of people trying to grow
Thanks @tenkminnows! I love the whole initiative... and overall just the generally positive vibe it sets. It's really not "about the money" in this community for maybe more than... maybe a couple of thousand people, tops?
For the rest of us, it's about the community, and creating stuff and engaging... and maybe our wallets work like small "forced savings accounts" that we can take the very long term approach to. Sure, it would be awesome if I had 5K SP by 2025, and Steem were to reach $10 by then... but this isn't about being able to buy next week's pizza. Seriously? If you're in that place, you should probably be out looking for a JOB job, not posting things on the Internet and pretending it's "working."
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It's surprising how many people fail to make this connection and just expect everybody to see and love their work straight away. Myself included, to be fair when i started. Now i know that we need better systems to push good content to the front of the shop but i think that will come in this year.
What is important is getting out there and finding the good people and the interesting accounts. If you do that and engage in a positive way you will get noticed. And from there you will grow and enjoy what the platform has to offer. It one of the places that we fall down with new users as getting started can be a bit daunting.
That's pretty much the essence of it, @niallon11. It's called Social Media for a reason... you pretty much have to be social to get anywhere with it. And that's not just here on Steemit, but pretty much anywhere you set up shop.
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Love the black cat! and this insight is so apt:
You don't get 5,000 followers on Instagram just by posting a photo of your lunch taco and "hoping" it goes viral. Same on Facebook... above and beyond your close family and friends, nobody's going to "find" you and follow you on Facebook (or twitter) unless you go out and "spread yourself around" in a way that makes you interesting enough that people want to check you out. THIS IS TRUE OF ALL SOCIAL MEDIA!!