In response to a contest recently announced by @zord189, from #PowerHouseCreatives, I decided to write a bit of a recap of my early Steemit experience:
My last Small Time Operator post was about moving up from Plankton III to Plankton II, and yes it was HUGE for me!
We All Need Friends!
This little fishy didn’t grow without help from all my new Steemian friends! When I first landed on the Steemit platform it was very lonely and mystifying!
If you have ever traveled solo to another country, had trouble communicating and/or found it hard to figure out how things work; landing in Steemit feels very much the same!
I incorrectly tagged my very first post as “introducemyself,” and it went by mostly unnoticed. Then I poured a bit of research, lots of thought and good intentions into my second post which did get a little bit of traction, only to bare my soul while hardly anyone was looking in my third post!
This tenacious little fishy started searching a bit more:
How do things work?
Where do I find friends?
Who knows stuff?
Luckily for me, I clicked on the Minnow Support link and found some pals in PAL!
Plankton community
I also followed another Steemian over to the Plankton community and really hit the jackpot there! The Plankton community is truly committed to helping little fish grow, and every day since I first bought Plankton tokens, I receive a share of the rewards generated from Plankton posts from @mermaidvampire!
And every post I make is upvoted and supported by @mermaidvampire, @plankton.token and several members of the Plankton community!
As a matter-of-fact, it was the rewards I claimed from bragging about the Plankton community that helped me pass that last threshold and grow to Plankton II. That post was rallied and supported by @mermaidvampire and the Plankton community, resulting in a sweetened pot of SBD, SP and STEEM!
In my third week, I was very motivated by seeing the WeedCash Network make its debut.
Following their lead, my sixth, seventh and eighth posts were about some of my CBD oil experiences. It was so much fun to see all those WeedCash rewards come in. And it still is! My eighth post was a response to a challenge which resulted in my getting a lifetime supply of one daily upvote from @canna-curate! Woo hoo! Love my WeedCash buddies!
After looking around, and learning more, I realized I should probably redo my introduction post, and it was received with welcome arms. By that time, I had Partiko, and my phone was blowing up with notifications! All the upvotes, resteems, mentions, comments and support almost blew me out of the water! I felt honored, I felt accepted, and I was amazed at the embrace that post received from the Steemit community!
It was at that time that #OCD gave me a huge gift and I got a nice SP delegation and my vote slider! #Curie gave me recognition and a rewarding pat on the back! By this time, #Helpiecake had already served up several delicious pastries of support. #HeyHaveYaMet introduced me to even more folks! I was amazed and it was a feeding frenzy for me!
My following posts also wrangled a little recognition and support, but not nearly what I had experienced with my redux introduction post. I thought to myself; “Hey, where did everybody go?” A good lot of them came back to support one of my Fairy Tale posts, but most quickly swam away again!
It is a peculiar feeling to have everyone come to meet you, congratulate and quickly propel you up, and then quietly leave you on your own again. Steemit was again imitating life. You come in this world alone, and you leave it alone. Could it be that Steemit is where I had my fifteen minutes of fame, and now I was already dead in the water?
This persistent little fishy would not give up! I could not give up. As luck and research would have it, I followed @benedict08 to the Plankton community, and I found great support! It wasn’t scary now that I had other little fish to swim – side by side.
As I mentioned in a previous post, the Plankton community made me feel like I had found a home!
A bit later, I fortunately stumbled upon another great community - #PowerHouseCreatives (PHC)! I responded to a post announcing that PHC was taking applications for new members.
My application was accepted and every day I am getting to know the PHC members a little more. We vote and comment on each other’s posts, and it is great to learn we have so much in common, even if we are on opposite sides of the planet!
There is more to share and there will always be more as we all go swimming toward an unknown future. I will keep you posted with my Small Time Operator posts!
Please visit me often, reach out if you have questions about being a 2019 Steemit newb! It is easier when you have a guide or reassurance as you swim along in this vast body of Steemit! One thing for sure, Steemit is better when we all help each other!
you seem to have made it well till now..^_^
Yes! And always making great new friends like you! 😘
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That's an enjoyable side of the place isn't it ? 😊
Indeed it is! 😊
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Boy oh boy was my experience different from yours! I spent months and months getting nowhere at all. I wrote a freewrite about it recently. Here it is: https://steempeak.com/gratitudechallenge/@owasco/gratitude
When I make more the .30, I am delighted! lol.
good for you.
I went to Steempeak and read your post. Since I’m not a member there, I was not able to upvote it! So I can at least give your comment here a good upvote! I see our stories as very similar! The time frames and details might be different, but we both had the confusion of feeling ignored after we thought we found an audience, and we both have had benefactors! Good for both of us that we don’t give up easily! I look forward to seeing more of your posts!
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Finding communities really is so key! It can really take time to find the ones that suit you best, but once you do it really does make all the difference. Even then some posts hit and some miss, but at least in my experience I still get decent engagement even when I don't get big rewards. That to me is more important anyway. I'd rather have a few people really read and enjoy my posts than a bunch just vote without even looking at it. Though now my problem is that I have so many people who I enjoy visiting that it is hard to make it around to everyone as often as I'd like! Keep on swimming!
I am having the same problem now! So many great people and content and so little time! Thank you for making time to comment! I highly value comments as well. But I want it all - genuine community and crypto ! 😁
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The time I read your story, I always wanted to have more stories from you. I am also a planktons community members and I knew how awesome the people there.You did a great job here and worth for sharing your post.
Resteemed and upvoted.
Thank you Olivia! We may not talk much but I consider you a core Plankton member, and an awesome Plankton! Because there are people like you I will share more stories! 😘
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Welcome and thank you. My kind of job is so busy that is why I can't go there in discord all the time.
I love reading these stories, deep down I think we all went through the same process in the beginning, and only when we find a place as comfortable as our home do we feel good and the road becomes easier to walk.
Yes! I like reading these stories too! I see many of us are having the same kinds of experiences!
Yo are a great blogger and I love the way you detailed it.
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Thank you! 😘
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Good post and I appreciated how strong you are here.
Thank you! I really appreciate you taking the time to read my post and comment!
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Thanks for sharing your journey here, Cindy. It is difficult to gain ground for months when we first join. I was on another website (TSU) that folded and I found some of those previous connections here.
Glad you didn’t give up!
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STOPIt was certainly difficult to fit in at the beginning my friend. I think we all swam around like newborn tiny fishes and many got eaten up by the frogs.
But endurance always delivers.
A great post here!
Blessings!
Thank you! All the stories I have heard so far make me feel that we all have common “Steemit vetting” experiences! 😉
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Great recap of your Steem journey so far, @cindyhartz! I think it's interesting that even though we joined at very different times (September 2017 for me), our early experiences were very similar. It's that eureka moment when you discover communities that you click with that seems to be the thing that seems to make or break your blockchain journey. Excellent addition to your Small Time Operator series! 😊
Thank you Traci! 😘
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nice
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Thank you!
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Awesomeness!
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