Being an early new-comer to a platform that has blown up like this has had it's perks, as the amount of actual money and cryptocurrency that I've invested has multiplied since I've upgraded my Steem Power.
Below, I'd like to list a few things that make being a (small) dolphin cool.
1. You get easier recognition for your posts
Users of the platform are much easier to notice someone who has a decent amount of Steem Power, simply because when they up-vote content it STICKS OUT. Most posts these days are overlooked, as you are well aware, no matter HOW well they are written, unless they manage to grab the attention of a dolphin or whale in the "new" "active", or "trending" categories in a timely manner. A dolphin up-voting your content within 30 seconds to 30 minutes means that MANY other users will see the monetary value attached to your post and will want to hitch on board by up-voting your content as well. This create the Steem-Rolling Avalanche effect that leads to insane amounts of likes attached to posts.
2. You become less anxious...
The content you post matters less and less about PERFECTION. You realize that no one is perfect, and you don't strive to be- but you realize that quality content actually tends to get up-voted more even if you DO have more Steem Power. You still have the urge to create, but anxiety over what others are telling you is the right thing to do no longer exists as much. You realize that you've stuck out not solely because you've got an English degree, the prose of William Faulkner, and can source better than the New York Times releasing content at the speed of twitter- people would rather read content that you found FUN to make. Anxiousness leads to a lack of creativity and FUN, which comes through being relaxed. You can't be relaxed if you're on edge and pissed that the last few posts you've taken your time on have gotten no love. You could, but you I guess you'd need the confidence and self-esteem of Rocky.
3. You don't NEED to post to make money- you enjoy helping people get recognition
Helping other users get Steem Dollars for their very well thought out and planned out content early on is a major turn-on for you. You realize that in order to build a long-term financial vehicle that you need to do it by also helping others get there with you. You need a community of people, and so you are no longer closed off like you might have been on other platforms. As other people gain Steem Power, and recognize you for helping get them where they are, you also win. Steemit is the first community where you REALLY just want to help people, and from a sincere place. Because if you're not being sincere then you're wasting voting power because one thing you'll realize is
4. You're more careful about what you up-vote
As you become more and more conscious of how easy it is to lose voting power (by constantly refreshing steemd.com/@(yourusername)
This leads you to be a TRUE curator who only up-votes content that they believe in, as wasted voting power becomes a burden on your mind. Whether they believe that this will gain mass attention leading to self-profit OR this is content that DESERVES mass attention for the welfare that it is bringing the Steemit community or any other community outside of it. Steemit is about helping humanity, you come to realize, and it's your RESPONSIBILITY to help guide the posts that permeate this platform toward a positive one that builds good character, morals, and growth.
5. You have a vested interest in helping this platform look good
By seriously marketing Steemit in a good light, and by curating quality content, as noted above. You want this platform to succeed above all others...and the fact that there are SO many dolphins and whales that grow in sizes you wouldn't believe...this means that this platform has WAY too much personal, financial, creative, and future-oriented interest to fail. Steemit has grown beyond a few influential people, and into hundreds, who wish nothing else than to see the whole world realize how amazing Steemit can be if you put just a bit of time and effort into it.
6. Community becomes a REAL thing
Your neighbors become much more apparent, as you recognize the same names who frequent your posts. Soon enough, you have a group of great and positive people who have a vested interest in helping you succeed, which leads you to have a vested interest in helping THEM succeed, since they are usually the same people up come upon your posts and up-vote. This becomes another Steem-roll effect, as you and your new friends and neighbors help bring each other up. Suddenly, these people that up-vote your content aren't different every time- you constantly recognize new names that have been up-voting your stuff over and over, and now you're up-voting them too-regardless of how far you've already spent your voting power! This is a beautiful thing.
As your Steem Power grows, EVERYONE on this platform currently has the potential to be a WHALE, as this platform draws more and more users. If you're here now and have been investing in Steem Power, then you must realize just how much more and more difficult it will be fore users in years to come anywhere near what you may have. This is the time to learn, develop and criticize this beautiful new world that we call "Steemit", as we usher in a new civilization that will look up to each and every one of us founding members for what we've built.
"With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility"
-Your Friendly, Neighborhood Crypt0
Lovely post. I abide by these principles even though I'm a minnow still. Except for #1 of course.
Do you think posts by those with higher Steem Power are more likely to be listed higher? Just wondering. I have definitely noticed that the steemers with higher Steem Power get upvoted much more, but kind of assumed this was because they had previously popular posts and people were following them / recalled their handle.
Keep doing what you're doing - you'll play a big part into turning us minnows into dolphins. :)
Dude. the fact that I (and surely MANY others) am noticing your name and involvement in the community through well thought out and articulated comments means that you are well on your way past minnow, my friend! Keep it up.
It's definitely true that posts with higher Steem Power are going to be listed higher- they pretty much automatically upvote their content and give themselves money instantly- which draws others to the post earlier on. This create that Steem-Roll-Avalance effect I'm talking about. This is why a priority should be to upgrade Steem Power ASAP, if you plan to use this platform long term. It'll get you a much better foothold in the community- especially if you write as well as you do, liberosist!
Cheers, brother, and see you jumping among Dolphins soon!
Thanks crypt0, your encouragement always keeps me going. :) I'll keep doing what I'm doing.
Of course, I'm investing everything into Steem Power. I don't know if Steemit will succeed, but as a frustrated Redditor, I'm doing my best to make it happen, however miniscule my contribution may be.
A shameless plug, do check out my post from yesterday - https://steemit.com/steemit/@liberosist/from-minnow-to-usd1-000-in-one-comment-a-personal-story . It's already lost into the void, but I was happy to see so many minnows upvoting it and taking something from it. I'd be glad if you read it if you missed it. :)
Whilst I'm one of the people who is against what @masteryoda was doing I don't want anyone to rage quit. What he was doing was wrong in my opinion but it is better to get people to change their behaviour rather than chasing them away. I have read a few of your posts and they always seem to be helpful and balanced. I have given a like to the post you list above - don't think it will make any difference now but I think it deserves it. All the best!
It probably will be helpful, if only to have read this comment and know that I have your support. You are a smart and intelligent fellow, and you have a knack for drawing me into your comments and posts. You have an excellent vernacular, and I appreciate any interaction from you. Thanks, and cheers, Mr. Fiend of cryptos!
That was an epic story. It was really worth the read, and I love how you did your best to encourage someone to not ragequit. You helped a brother who was down, and you got rewarded for it- that is literally the BEST of what makes Steemit Steemit. Wow. That post alone deserved all of those 117 vote merits and much more.
Keep doing what you're doing- you have a good soul and life will bring you great things. I don't really need to encourage you, as you are the one who does the encouraging =D
Happy to have you around...you're an example and a leader, liberosist.
Wow, crypt0, thanks so much. I'll keep at it!
So many great posts coming out right now, I wish I could comment on them all, but "You don't NEED to post to make money" is so true. The draw for new people is obviously money, but you realize quickly that people are a lot different here and truly seem to care about others. So come for the money and stay for the community is completely relevant to this platform. And I hope you find your mar jane friendly neighborhood @crypt0 :)
Yes, exactly. I love how easy it is to get the latest news on ANYTHING going on in the world- currently mainly on the cryptocurrency-verse anyway :) All you do is hit the "New" tab and you get a stream of what is going on right now. I'm not sure of any other platform that has this ability, besides twitter (which no one uses anymore- just check their latest stock earnings report :)
Thanks for the comment and upvote!
Yes right now there is an abundance of cryptocurrency fans right now. It will be interesting to see it evolve as new members contribute other types of content as well, but I love cryptocurrency as well so I say keep those posts coming. And when the follow button is out of beta and you can see all your favorite posters in one feed. Life will be so good! And people are always looking at new content because they want to vote on quality things because it gives exposure and rewards them as well. This is such a well thought out platform especially to those who have read the white paper. It's about ten times longer than most alt coins released on Bitcoin talk or a simple pump and dump since when you power up you are committing for the long run with the belief value will constantly increase along with users and overall experience. How has this only been around for 4 months and made more impact on my life than Facebook Twitter and Instagram combined. Some brilliant creative minds behind the scene with checks and balances instead of a dictatorship like Zuckerberg.
Yeah, man! Exactly what you say is true- We've all barely known about this system, as it's brand new, yet it's been bigger than all of those things combined for us. It integrates financial benefit AND social benefit in ONE. This is radical, different, new, innovative and INSPIRING. People can't help but be interested.
I like this post. I kinda roll this way already, trying to upvote things i enjoy and just enjoy the conversations.
I've invested into the platform because it brought me out of social network seclusion and keeps me interested. lately I've gotten into crypto currency and Steemit has become one of my go to places to chat about it and other things.
Is there a post somewhere that details the steempower difference between plankton, minnows, Dolphins, and whales? I keep hearing these terms but it's hard to know what it means on the lower end.
Yeah, I actually made a post about a week back about it. Feel free to give it a read: https://steemit.com/steemit/@crypt0/steemit-whales-dolphins-and-minnows-the-importance-of-steem-power-on-steemit
Sweet! Thanks for the link. Now I understand how much of a soldier/headshot/peon/minnow I am haha
Great article and thank you for shedding light on some topics that I did not grasp.
My pleasure! Welcome to the community =D
Great post. I'm not even an infant dolphin yet but I'm hoping some of my posts catch on.
Great article. I was wondering what you mean by this clause: "As you become more and more conscious of how easy it is to lose voting power (by constantly refreshing steemd.com/@(yourusername)..." Do you actually lose voting power by refreshing your own page??? Or do I misunderstand?
As you vote more and more, especially within certain time restraints, you lose your voting power. Each over after loses effectiveness by a certain percentage.
(Pardon me if you realize all of this already!)
However, if you open up that steemd page of yours you become much more conscious of how each vote affects your Steem Power directly after.
This is what I meant.
Please feel free to share any further confusion if this didn't help, Wiser! :)
So I think my first question is answered. You don't lose voting power just by performing the operation of refreshing your own page. However when you do that, you become aware of the phenomenon of losing voting power because you are more aware of your own stats. Do I understand this correctly?
Now onto the part I'm still confused about. You're describing dilution, which I've read about in other posts. I totally don't understand it. How is it that more votes can hurt you? Is there an article here where that is explained? Or can you explain it here for me? Thanks!
EDIT: Rereading your reply I realize you are talking strictly about one's own voting power, and how it goes down when you vote too much. I think I understand that part. Do you know anything about the part where too many votes on a post hurt it? I've actually voted on posts and watched their "value" decrease following my vote. That's the part I don't understand, and I think it's what others have referred to as dilution. Can you please speak to that?
I always have steemd open when on steemit. It helps remind me to calm down on the voting!
That's a smart thing to do if you can get overboard like myself =D
It's easy to get carried away. Just one more vote!
Yes steemit is addictive, but at the same time you are learning and thinking in a way that being addicted to Facebook or Twitter can't really compare with. I've learned a lot especially about what the value of money vs. a true change of heart to help others is. So many interesting perspectives here. And nobody stops from talking to another because they less value or can't reward them financially. It's a beautiful thing to say the least.
Agreed :) It's hard to describe a new paradigm just as we undergo such a shift- but there's definitely something new and indescribable, based on what we've experienced before, happening here.
I feelz you literally right now...I just upvoted you -_____________0
thanks friend! Happy dolphining.
Agreed :) It's hard to describe a new paradigm just as we undergo such a shift- but there's definitely something new and indescribable, based on what we've experienced before, happening here.
What is steemd?
You can change any post to steemd instead of steemit and if you look at your name you can see voting power and if you look at other posts you can see an in depth analysis.
That's useful!
www.steemd.com/@jonblack
Yes extremely useful. Every post you ever made is visible here. On steemit you can see the last 25 comments you made, but you can't see earlier posts, so if you make 50 comments and 50 people respond before you have viewed them all looking here can help you find older comments
visit steemtools.com much will be revealed about steemland resources, see you out and in the steemuniverse ; )
Another great post:)
I'm with you on the community part man... I'm going to be honest here and say that with a few exceptions it's probably not in most people's interest to try and game the system for a payday, they do happen but not as often as that front page might make some newbies think.
Instead, I think it's wise for those who wish to gain from their efforts should stick around, be a vital part of the community, interact, create content that other's would like to see, and simply wait. I think after some time has passed the reward for your effort will come around all on it's own. I'm here simply because I think steemit is an interesting idea and I want to see where it goes in the future; I'm basically just along for the ride.
Very good article, I think steemit has started to shake out a lot of the folks just hoping to cash in with spammy posts, that and I heard they implemented a 4 post per day limit before you get penalized. So maybe now some of the more useful post will get a chance to rise to the top.
Just my two cents.
great work BTW!
Good luck!
It's true. I am a dolphin and can relate.
Thank you, excellent post; it is nice to be on the forefront of this extraordinary platform!!
The very best of luck to everyone and hopefully we can all fulfill our aspirations?!?