Some of the communities actually pay people to find good things, but in reality all rewards from voting are curation rewards. So to become a self curator you just need to vote on content, people's comments, or a combo of both. The more HP (Hive Power) you have the bigger your vote thus the bigger your reward.
Find stuff you like, leave valid comments, (try to be nice), and post on occasion for people to go and vote on your stuff. The more engaged you become, the more people will see your name the more likely they are to follow you or put you on a list to vote when they have extra vote power, or you get moved to their vote trail.
It takes a little bit of time, find things(post) you like on Hive comment, some people like myself will give votes on comments, power up all your Hive rewards you receive. Once you get to about 75 HP, your votes start to count, so avoid self voting as long as you can. Some people frown on the self vote, but it is an option.
For right now avoid voting on comments until you can give a vote that is at least 0.020 any vote value less than that gets burned up unless there are other votes to back it up.
Enjoy the New Year.
Thank you! I really appreciate the guidance. Hive is the nice place that I've been looking for on the internet.
Here is a link to another person like you brand new on Hive, https://peakd.com/hive-109288/@lookingforspace/seeking-engagement-will-this-be
When I first started on Hive I found a few people that had started close to the time I did, some of them I have not seen in awhile, some still around, I found it was easier to get view points from them because like me at the time they were just learning and mistakes were not to deadly.