Today "The Steemian Series" shines a light on one of the hardest working and influential Steemians on the platform: @donkeypong.
The long-time Steemit blogger first dipped his toe in the crypto waters in 2013 and eventually migrated to Steemit as one of the earliest users in April 2016.
Since then, this place has become @donkeypong's home, and he has worked tirelessly to help Steemit reach its full potential by founding groundbreaking projects (such as @curie), spending countless hours each week manually curating content, and collaborating with other users to assist in building out the roadmap for communities.
But despite being one of the most well-known usernames on Steemit, @donkeypong is also an incredibly private person.
Thankfully, he has generously peeled back some of that confidentiality to give us a glimpse of the brain behind the @donkeypong account.
20 questions with @donkeypong
1 - How would you describe yourself in one sentence?
@donkeypong - Kind, gentle, and often trying to help others. (9 out of 10 people say I’m a good guy; the other one is all ego, so not worth my time.)
2 - How did you discover Steemit?
@donkeypong - My journey started in 2013 when the BTC I had purchased tentupled (wish I’d bought more than a small amount, but I was hooked). Soon, I realized the mining was wasteful and probably unsustainable. So I gravitated toward proof of stake projects like Peercoin and NXT. Then I found BitShares and was a loyal member of that community as the product was developed. When that group founded Steem, I followed them over here and this has been my crypto-home ever since.
3 - When you joined the platform in April 2016, would you have predicted that you'd be such an active Steemian nearly two years later?
@donkeypong - I had no idea! But it was an incredible concept and I felt fortunate to get an early start.
4 - Several of your early posts earned minimal Steem/SBD. What encouraged you to keep blogging on the platform before you saw the financial rewards rolling in?
@donkeypong - It was all an experiment at first. There were a handful of people with Steem Power then. If one of them voted for you, you got some big rewards. If not, you didn’t. The money was theoretical for the first few months I was here, since the first payout came later.
5 - One of your early posts touched on the origins of Steemit/e-steem it. That post earned nearly $2,000 USD worth of Steem/SBD at the time. Your next post on Finland's mail carriers mowing people's lawns earned $0. At that point in time, what was going through your head in terms of how content is rewarded on Steemit?
@donkeypong - Luck of the draw. And it still is to some degree. A lot of people tend to overanalyze when one or their posts gets rewarded and they make nothing on another. In truth, it might be that some of your voters took the day off or found something else to vote on that day. I recognized that I needed to keep on churning out good quality work (better than my first few experimental posts) and that does help an author gain some consistent voting on his/her posts.
6 - You were one of the driving forces behind Project Curie (@curie). Why did you think it was important to launch this project?
@donkeypong - From Day 1, there’s been an imbalance in the Steem Power distribution, which has led to a small number of accountholders having an outsized impact. Some of my fellow authors and I became concerned that a lot of good content was going unnoticed and under-rewarded, which is what happens when only a few people have the power to bestow rewards. That was the impetus behind starting Curie with the support of some of those accountholders, who could not curate meaningfully all day long themselves.
So over time, that situation has improved somewhat as Steem Power is more broadly distributed and the linear rewards have given normal people at least some ability to allocate rewards. But the same issue continues to persist. Curation (whether it’s part of a group project or done by individual curators) is badly needed. I’m very glad to see how another generation of curators has put their passion and energy into Curie, continuing to reward undervalued content.
7 - On average, how many hours per week do you put into Steemit-related efforts?
@donkeypong - I’ve never counted, but it’s a lot. My day job still hasn’t caught up with me. They think I’m “working from home.” And my work there is project-oriented, so as long as I get the job done, I still have time for Steem/it. I’ve cut back on Steemit writing, though, since the rewards are so insane and I can have a bigger impact on growth at this point by helping various communities.
8 - Communities have always been a key focus of yours. How do you envision communities evolving this year, and why is this aspect so important to develop?
@donkeypong - We all await the introduction of the sub-communities feature soon. The tags have been an imperfect way to identify content, and voting power support has been limited, so we’ve seen that it’s difficult for some communities to develop organically. I look forward to seeing what some of these community leaders can do with the proper support.
Much of my work in the last year or so has been helping to train and equip community builders and curators using whatever voting power we’ve been able to scrape together from generous and forward-thinking accountholders. I think communities will develop just fine, but the growth process will be much slower if accountholders do not invest in the development of communities. It’s hard to resist the return on investment that’s possible from voting for oneself or renting out voting power, but we’ll see much faster development as a platform if we nourish the areas that are helping us reach new people.
9 - What is your biggest pet peeve when it comes to Steemit?
@donkeypong - It’s probably time to eliminate the Trending page. It’s is not very representative of the best content we have to show to the rest of the Internet and to potential members and investors. The Hot page is a better algorithm that allows content to cycle more quickly. I think Hot should be our home page until we get the communities feature functioning well. And perhaps after that, we can allow people to subscribe to communities (something like Reddit does), so that it’s not all one petri dish.
10 - What is your opinion on bot upvoting?
@donkeypong - Bots are a fact of life and I spent too much time trying to fight some of the counterproductive ones early on. I’m a fan of bots when they’re done right. I simply don’t have enough hours in the day to curate everything; I tried that for many months. When I use some limited auto-voting, that allows me to support many more of the community builders and curators who are doing the daily work of operating and growing this platform. Bots can have a role when you are using them on people who produce great content consistently and have proven they can be trusted. But I still curate on most days and hire others to do the same.
11 - Who are the most underrated Steemit bloggers?
@donkeypong - There are great new members joining the platform daily, so I’m always finding more. People whose blogs I think are consistently undervalued for the quality of their work include: @creativewoman @daddykirbs @playfulfoodie @cottonlazarus and @highonthehog.
12 - What/who are your top 3 favorite Steemit accounts to follow?
@donkeypong - I enjoy seeing the re-steemed posts from some of the community builders around the world, since I never know who they are going to introduce next to Steemit or what amazing meet-ups they’ll be reporting on next. Some examples who often re-steem a few gems are: @jassennessaj @kemal13 and @ejemai.
13 - In a recent 20 questions interview, @kevinwong said your account was one of his favourite to follow, because "it captures the heart of Steem." What's your reaction to that description of your blog?
@donkeypong - Kevin knows his content. We started Curie together and he’s a major reason it’s continued to help people for so long. I’m thankful that he believes I have my finger on the pulse. Sometimes, I’m not sure I’m keeping up with all of the great stuff out there!
14 - What impact do you believe SMTs will have on the Steem blockchain?
@donkeypong - SMTs will multiply Steem’s potential. I have been working on an SMT for community curation simply because there is so little voting support for good content and growth projects; it’s always been my dream to align more voting power with those areas that make the platform and community better. And we’ll see plenty of external content sites using Steem SMTs soon also.
15 - It seems impossible to find a photo of you anywhere on your blog. Would you consider yourself a private person?
@donkeypong - Yes. I prefer privacy; although, I have been to a couple of local Steem events. My family is my life and yet I have chosen not to put pictures of my daughters on my blog. Given my early adopter status and level of participation on the site, I have received some threats and troll activity, so I’d rather be careful. If I were starting out now and did not have those, I would love to be more public. Maybe when my kids are a bit older.
16 - What do you enjoy doing when you're not in front of a screen?
@donkeypong - What? No screen? I love the outdoors. Hiking, jogging, biking, camping: anything that brings me closer to nature.
17 - Who inspires you?
@donkeypong - My dog. He’s a simple, linear thinker yet there’s more going on in his mind than I can fathom sometimes. When life gets you down and things aren’t working, go back to basics and start simply. My dog is happy with some food, walks, and companionship each day. In the end, maybe that’s all we really need.
18 - Where do you see yourself 10 years from now?
@donkeypong - I’ll be working on a project that makes the world better in my own small way. It might have a Steem/it connection and certainly will have people from around the world involved, but it also will have a positive impact on my local community. The basic framework has been in my mind for a long time and the details will fall into place when the time is right.
19 - You get to have dinner with three people, living or dead. Who are you eating with?
@donkeypong - Tough choice. I might use the opportunity to address some of history’s mysteries. Give me Jesus Christ, the Babushka Lady and the author of the Voynich Manuscript. At the same table and with a bottle of wine. We’ll see if we can sort some things out.
20 - What is one thing very few people know about you?
@donkeypong - I purchased the Steem account @eos to keep it away from trolls/squatters. I gave it to Dan Larimer at no cost and thanked him for what he helped build. Steem is the best of his projects, but EOS and BitShares can do a lot of good things also.
A big thanks to @donkeypong for taking time to answer these 20 questions.
As always, thanks to all of you for taking the time to read.
Who would you like to see me throw 20 questions at? Drop me a comment below and I'll work on setting up the interview.
If you like what you read, be sure to follow my blog!
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Previous "20 questions" interviews:
20 questions with @heiditravels
20 questions with @katecloud
20 questions with @manthostsakirid
20 questions with @blockchaingirl
20 questions with @piedpiper
20 questions with @stellabelle
20 questions with @budgetbucketlist
20 questions with @rogerkver
20 questions with @allasyummyfood
20 questions with @the-alien
20 questions with Janina Storace
20 questions with @mrs.steemit
20 questions with @andrarchy
20 questions with Scott Young
20 questions with Jesse Heiman
20 questions with @dragosroua
20 questions with Chelsea Dinsmore
20 questions with @sirwinchester
20 questions with Ludvig Sunström
20 questions with Kyle Eschenroeder
20 questions with @roelandp
20 questions with Tim Brownson
20 questions with Sean Ogle
20 questions with Henri Junttila
20 questions with Hal Johnson
20 questions with Farnoosh Brock
20 questions with Manny Kess
20 questions with John Goehrke
20 questions with Sunny Lenarduzzi
20 questions with The Cranky Flier - Brett Snyder
20 questions with Shawn Murphy
20 questions with Leo Babauta
20 questions with Jacob Staudenmaier
20 questions with Steve Scott
20 questions with Stefan Hyttfors
20 questions with Zachery Ty Bryan
20 questions with Ryan Lancaster
20 questions with Richard Millington
20 questions with E-mail Prankster
20 questions with Joseph Raczynski
20 questions with Elan Gale
20 questions with @surfermarly
20 questions with @kevinwong
Coach @donkeypong is the best! Thank you for this interview. You got many great insights out of him.
Thanks @geekgirl , but that's you and others doing the heavy lifting. I'm just arranging the carts.
Haha - love that image! (And you're welcome :) )
Great interview! Love the fact that you want to find and reward great and/or underappreciated content. Communitycoin sounds very promising.
Thanks! And be sure to check out @communitycoin, which is currently being support by a lot of great donated content.
Many thanks, @wadepaterson for this opportunity to learn a little more about good guy @donkeypong. As a writer who has recently joined Steemit I'm much indebted to DonkeyPong, and @kevinwong, for the excellent work of Curie. Also, inspiring to hear how DP got his start on this fine platform and his level-headed attitude to posts that hit and miss...
Around 2 months into the Steemit game, I'm finding that all I can do is to try and post consistently interesting material that I believe in: literature, culture, immigration, inspirational matters close to my heart.
Sometimes, I get lucky and these posts might win poetry contests, or bring me new readers (one of the highlights of my time here is being chosen for a literary anthology to be published by @isleofwrite). Other times, admittedly, posts of mine might just sit there...and the only satisfaction is that of having unburdened myself and gotten it off my chest - like a page from a dairy entry, that one has launched into the world :) Such is life.
My faith in Steemit (as well as Steem) and their possibilities remains undeterred, and actually increases over time, as I join more communities and meet more interesting, curious and generous souls that I can learn from. Thank you, for being 2 of those people, Wade and DP; I wish you continued success!
Warmly, Yahia
Thanks for this comment, and keep on doing what you're doing. It takes time, and the rewards are inconsistent, but I think this place has a lot of potential in the future.
I appreciate your encouragement, Wade, and try to have a long-term vision about this fine platform :)
I agree with you @wadepaterson, this platform will be the new facebook in no time :)
it's good to know a bit more about you and I wish you success on your future project to make the world a better place :-D
@wadepeterson if i can ask @donkeypong I'll ask him what i need to do to get a regular upvote from him. Just seeing him noticing my post here would really be a blast to the moon. Awesome jntervoews you're very lucky @wadepaterson
Good content like yours gets an occasional upvote - check your latest post! Make sure to capitalize those first letters and check the punctuation. You clearly write well and have some good things to convey. My regular votes are harder to get, as I reserve most of them to support community builders and curators who also produce great content. These are people I know, trust, and have been working with for many months. It's the only way I can reward them for their hard work of building Steem/it. Continue to make friends and network with more people along with making good posts; you'll do well here in time!
Can i be twice as lucky too? @donkeypong. Wow!
I’m one of those who thought @donkeypong is a “working from home” guy. I was like “What?” when I read his inspiration is a dog, but after reading the next sentence “My dog is happy with some food, walks, and companionship each day. In the end, maybe that’s all we really need.” , then I understood, it really make sense. Rich people could have many great things but they aren’t always happy. Poor people have less and some of them might even struggle for basic necessities, yet they are happier in their daily life.
I respect @donkeypong’s decision to remain anonymous as I myself prefer privacy. I believe there is always a place for anonymity in the internet.
Thanks @wadepaterson, this is a great series, I’m gonna check the other interviews as well.
You're welcome! And thanks for checking out the others :)
I've checked them, it is sad some of them have stop writing. Thanks again for the wonderful interview lists.
Wow I had been following @donkeypong for a while now and didn't realize until you mentioned it that he is one of the more older accounts. I had no idea giving @eos account to Dan that awesome. I never thought to much about putting up my personal pictures because I already am so used to it on facebook and instagram but hope trolls never mess with my account. Anyway I learned a lot thanks for this Q and A.
You're very welcome. Thanks for checking it out :)
@ejemai yaaaay! Duly deserved mention. @donkeypong has always been an interesting person. He visited my post once as a newbie and i totally appreciated it. It is so encouraging to know i am going through your Question 4 and 5. That's awesome to know you pull through so i can too.
I am just following you @wadepaterson for the first time. I am now a big fan of yours. When will i get my interview? Hahahahaha. Good one. Really.
Thanks for the follow and for checking out this interview!
It is with great delight. I look forward to more. Thank you for your adorable heart.
Thanks @wadepaterson, for this incredible interview with @donkeypong. I have learned a bit more of who @donkeypong is.
Now I have even bigger respect for him, because it gives me a closer feel of who he really is as a person, and I am very grateful for his amazing heart and helping this steemit community a better place.
Amazing interview.
Thank you @donkeypong for your amazing support to this amazing community. Steemit would not be the same without you.
Did he just say "Jesus Christ, the Babushka Lady and the author of the Voynich Manuscript"
What a combination. That's a dinner worth having.
This is my first of your 20 question series! Would love to read more.
Thanks.
@iamjimmy
One of the best answers to that question that I've heard. Haha.
It's really amazing and fantastic article about the most famous and a great personality on steemit @wadepaterson. I really appreciate this wonderful interview post. I really inspired by the details and great information about donkypong. He is absolutly very hard working and influential steemians on the platform @donkypong.
I'm glad you enjoyed it!
I cannot believe I found this '20 questions series' today! Getting an inisight into the early days of Steemit and reading how the community culture came up and how steem has grown to where it is now is simply fantastic. @Donkeypong, salute to your efforts, you are really passionate about Steem and Steemit. Thank you for your efforts. Keep going! We love it! Cheers!
Plenty of good posts in his series to go back and read. :)
Exactly! I read some more interesting interviews yesterday! It feels good to know the mindset of the old timers and what their thoughts were when they got onboard. It's priceless.
Thanks for checking out the series! I'm glad you're enjoying it :)
Well, thanks for making this series!! :)
Nice interview, but how do curie project identify good curators?
It's largely in the hands of a younger generation now, but there are reviewers who make sure that the curators are submitting posts of good quality.
That means to succeed I need to CONSISTENTLY post good quality contents.... I will endeavor to do that.... thanks for the reply
I thought as much. So, you've been in this game since April 2016. I must be joking to think I've arrived when I haven't even started. I'm throwing away my white collar to settle for this.
Should you need a minnow to mentor, please, let me be the number one to be considered.
Cheers!
I am @isaaceko
Thanks for the interview, Wade! I'm a big fan of the 20 Questions series and am thrilled to participate.
Please sir check my profile once
Thanks for taking part! You've got a lot of valuable insights and I'm happy to tap into some of them through these questions. Looking forward to the forthcoming "reverse roles" post ;)
Love the idea of "20 Questions". Thanks for the series @wadepaterson.
Loved reading your answers @donkeypong. Got to know a lot of things about you especially that you were one of the founders of @curie. It has helped me a lot of times and I'm very grateful. :)
The content on this platform continues to blow me away. Thank you for the post and I'm looking forward to reading more of your series @wadepaterson
Great interviewers have a special skill when it comes to asking valuable questions that draw emotion from the interviewee and the readers/listeners/watchers/etc. This post was awesome, I know nothing about @donkeypong other than what I've read here and I totally want to hang out with this guy...and Jesus. With wine.
Thanks for stopping by, @mandogbeard! I'm glad you enjoyed this... and welcome to Steemit! As I'm sure you'll see: the platform is improving all the time. It's not perfect: but there are a lot of good people doing their best to make this place awesome.
In my opinion, his is one of the best and most important interviews you've ever done Wade, and you've done some pretty impressive ones!
Amazing job once again!
The value that @donkeypong provided to this community is so great I don't know how to thank him. It's not easy to find a family man that spends so many hours helping out people and communities while having a daily job as well.
I hope that in the end he knows how much we appreciate him.
Wade, I appreciate your posts as well. I love this series since last year, and I wonder how it will look like next year :)
I'm sure we'll read awesome interviews with more amazing people.
Thanks for doing this!
P.S: Sorry for the long text!
Great interview, guys!
We haven't met in person yet, but I'd say Tom's one of the most grounded people I've ever come to know. I love your focus and straightforwardness, combined with your endless generousity. For many reasons you're one of the most successful but especially most admirable people on this platform.
Steem on! :-)
I like the way you both interviewed each other over 20 questions...
I think this interview series has to be my favourite thing I've seen on Steemit. The first one I discovered was Sunny Lenarduzzi who I was following on YouTube. Keep them coming!
I've somehow missed these, really nice series, will check out some of the others.
Cg
Thanks, @cryptogee! I really appreciate the positive feedback :)
Great interview @wadepaterson. Wish I would have seen it sooner. Thank you for sharing with us @donkeypong . Dinner with the Babushka Lady?? I like how you think :D
I love this 20 questions concept! I found you through @donkeypong 's account actually.
I think it would be great if you could interview @daddykirbs ! He is such a warm and helpful person, a great contributor of the community. He is creating a wonderful family around him.
I'm not at all in to homesteading (everything seems to die in my hands), but I still enjoy his posts. It feels like he makes everyone a part of his life.
Looking forward to reading more of your interviews!
That sounds like a great idea, perhaps just swap the two. I have the same reservations as he does about posting pictures of myself and my family but more power to those who do. On the other hand I don't mind exploiting my dog for steemit glory.
Lol. Thanks for taking the time to read this!
the most beautiful eyes of the world are donkeys 🐎
nice
Fantastic article. I really enjoyed learning about the elusive @donkeypong.
You have found yourself a new follower.
Honoured that you've chosen to follow me! I'll do my best to deliver quality stuff :)
@wadepaterson, thanks for this interview, it's cool to know a tiny bit more about this Boddhisattva :-) !
You're welcome!
I love the life you live @donkeypong. Thanks for sharing your experience on steemit. Really learned a lot from you answering those questions. Thanks for taking the time to lecture us. Really appreciate
Nice interview ...thanks for putting under appreciated content into consideration
Pertanyaan serta jawabannya sangat berdampak baik bagi keberlangsungan stemians. Saya juga harus lebih banyak membaca terkait dengan apa yang telah diberikan steemit kepada penggunanya. Sangat bermanfaat @wadepaterson
Woww,this is so great,i enjoyed reading every bit of this,nice 2O questions series,pls come have dinner with me
That was fantastic.... Nice one
Saya yakin masa depan ada di tangan anda demi mewujudkan inspirasi para pengguna akun steem ng lain, terus lah mendidik kami
I really love this "20 Questions" interview idea that is going around Steemit - it encourages collaboration, which is similar to what YouTubers often do in their collab videos, and IMHO I think this is really important to create a self-supportive and inclusive community on Steemit. Keep this going guys! #20QuestionsWith
I'm glad you enjoyed it! You can definitely expect more from this series in the future :)
Definitely! Can't wait to read more of these!
Im new to steam and I just found your posts and I love the concept. Really gets us engaged with the community! Thank you for your hard work.
훌룡 한 인터뷰에 찬사를 보냅니다.
I was hoping those questions would be answered. thank you donkey. You can live with Shrek now.
It is good to have people like @wadepaterson who is willing to help fellow steemians.
it is good to know that this platform is used to lend a helping hands to those in need.
@donkeypong has always been my source of inspiration. He has been amazing and helpful. It has been from him that I understood what selfless really meant... and through him I have learnt selflessness in my immediate environment as well.
I think apart from earning as a full time blogger now, I am learning from people like you and that to me is important. Family is important and if privacy is what it takes, you are all good.
Thank you @wadepaterson for conducting this interview.
Nice post.Thanks for sharing.
WONDERFUL POST. I have alot of things that I can learn from this post. Thank you very much
@aulaandika
That was a fantastic interview type post. Thank you for the kind mention 😊 Mr. @donkeypong
Thank you so much for leaving no stone unturned to to fill our curiosity about towering characters of steemit @wadepaterson.
@donkeypong is really a great Personality with kind and sensitive heart eager to do good for humanity. He has done some great things in the past and would burn his midnight oil to make lives of people more comfortable and easy.
I would be grateful to you if you drop 20 questions to @michelle.gent. Thank you.