Yes, Me!
But, before we get into any of the 'whys' and 'whats', I have to give credit where credit is due. I'm not going to lie, I'm no developer or coder. My witness bid is very different from most of the higher ranking ones on the list. My name however, wouldn't even be on the list if not for the patience and determined guidance I received from one of #thealliance's other witnesses. That young man is @jatinhota. I implore you, if you consider writing me in as a witness, to please write him in as well. Like a packaged deal! So my praises to @jatinhota, thank you very much for assisting me. Steemwork breeds the teamwork that makes the dream work!
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What Exactly Is a Witness?
Let me be as simple as I can possibly be here. Anything that uses the STEEM blockchain, like @steepshot or @zappl or @busy.org or even Steemit itself, runs efficiently because of people running witness servers and nodes. It's called delegated proof of stake (DPOS), meaning that yes, we all basically agree that this transaction or that transaction actually happened. When you send SBD to buy a bot vote from @upme (ran by #thealliance witness @suggeelson - you should write him in if you like his work) or @sneaky-ninja, we basically write it to the publicly recorded blockchain. When you win a contest and receive your winnings, when you collect rewards for a payout, we make sure it exists. We also generate a price feed and import data from exchanges to give you prices as fair as humanly possible on the internal market to trade SBD and STEEM. The importance of a witness is vital to the healthy growth and operation of this platform, and its descendants, that we hold so dear.
Why I Chose to be a Witness
I love Steemit. Plain and simple. I love what it can do and will do in many years to come. I've chosen to become a witness because I believe in this platform and see what the STEEM blockchain can be in not just five years from now, but 30 and beyond. This blockchain is probably the best kept secret in the entire cryptocurrency realm. It's lightning fast and extremely reliable. I want to be as much a part of this as I can. This is history in the making, and I want to help write it.
30 Years?
There is an initiative right now called @steemiteducation. They are barely scratching the surface with their potential. I want you all to imagine for a moment, that every one of you is in a classroom right now. Let's say it's History. Your homework for today is to write an essay on cultures that pre-date the modern calendar. Your teacher has posted the assignment, here, on Steemit. As a student, you are required to follow her and upvote her assignment posts. That is your way of saying, 'yes I got the assignment and will do it'. She earns her 'paycheck' that way, along with other teachers and various followers supporting her. The students, get rewarded by the teacher with an upvote based on the quality of the essay. In the comments, she submits to you her opinion on your essay and gives you your 'grade'. Maybe other students liked it too. They also vote on it and in turn, that 'third-world' student can afford shoes, a decent laptop, and whatever else he or she needs to continue being a productive student and become a valuable member of society.
So Why Me?
What makes me special? Why should you vote for me? It should be blatantly obvious that I'm not one of those badass devs like @jesta or @gtg or @timcliff. I fall into a different category of witnesses, what I believe has been labeled a 'social witness'. And, I am here, EVERY DAY, with YOU. Swimming in these Steemit seas, bringing massive value (in my opinion) to the platform and doing what I can to foster a great experience for others to boost the retention and participation rate. One of the ways I'm doing this is through a 'family' I have created here. That being, #thealliance.
Our Fabulous Logo created by @bearone
Teamwork
I'm sure the vast majority of Steemit 'users' have seen us around, at some point, somewhere. This is an 'organization' I created back in June of 2017. We are a family that understands you cannot go about doing anything by yourself. You say, "Sure you can!" No, you can't. Everything you do on this planet requires assistance one way or another from other people or organizations. Even if a single person, that inherited a million dollars, spent it all on STEEM, loaded up on STEEM POWER, and voted themselves all the time on total shit, 5 word, useless posts, there are still people behind his ill-gotten earnings. The witnesses. People trading SBD and STEEM to help dictate the value. Exchanges ran by companies consisting of other people that will trade his rewards for another currency, and even further, the web hosting companies allowing all of it to perpetually exist. Even the most independent of hermits have a team - regardless if they recognize it or not.
#thealliance
This is my team. My beautifully diverse Steemit family. I recently asked some of our officers to post their take on #thealliance and I compiled them in this article - Can You Feel That? Do give it a good once over and you you'll start to understand better what exactly it is that I'm doing. Lot of actual love in #thealliance, we're far from some bullshit circle jerk you see in many cases across Steemit. We have members that swim in so many different parts of this ocean, it's just phenomenal the way we all come together for a common goal.
The Goal?
Simply to succeed. Success is defined differently by different people. Some just want 20 views a day on their blog posts. Some would like 10 genuine comments. One person may want to make $1.00 SBD every post and for some $100 SBD is unsatisfactory. The support we give each other here is what matters. The engagement is becoming legendary. We do what families do, we stick together, believe in one another, and accept that YOU are YOU, and we're not going to try to change who you are. It's been growing more and more apparent that the family believes in one another too, as several have stepped forth with donations and delegations and even some people that are not members of #thealliance, have contributed to our advancement. I speak on behalf of the entire family when I say - thank you.
Thank You
Yes, thank each and every one of you. From my longest membership and partner @michaeldavid down to the newest members of the @syndicates like @cooknbake and @katrina-ariel. I would love to mention everyone, but that is an entire post in itself, and I will, I promise! It became obvious to me from the get go, that I would have to show my thanks to not only our family, but Steemit as a whole, for giving me this gift. This wonder. This treasure. Our Steemit.
Curation
One of the things we heavily participate in here @thealliance, is curation. Quality is one of our top priorities and we make sure that people are appreciated with various curation efforts. One of them is the Featured Member posts. The most recent is ๐๐Featured Member:๐๐ ๐น@leyargoz๐ท, and our @syndicates also have a mirror to expose a member each week. A couple other ways are the Memos and ๐'Notes'๐ issues that highlight members' spectacular posts out there. There are also members within #thealliance that do curative posts as well. @shadowspub runs the Steemit Ramble and a show on her discord called Pimp Your Post. @gniksivart has taken on the role of digging up Buried Treasures. We have members running support accounts like @stsl and @tyedyefirepower. Then there is @catweasel and @enchantedspirit who operate with @thesteemengine putting out great posts like The Magnificent Seven and The Inbox Runneth Over. We have members like @guyfawkes4-20 that help curate with @ocd, @princessmewmew and @velimir who work heavily with @adsactly, and I'm sure there is more I haven't listed.
Giving Back
So sure, we do what we can to encourage quality here, but we also pride ourselves on giving back to a community that so willingly has given to us. One of the ways we most recently did this was with fellow ally and witness @sircork. (you should write him in too) He has a charity he's building from the STEEM blockchain called @youarehope. In the month of December, we raised over a $1000 USD with our ๐
You Are H.O.P.E. Holiday Fundraiser Campaign and gave it ALL to further the progress of his beautiful initiative. That is only the beginning of our backing of @youarehope. We run several contests and support dozens. @killerwhale has three himself. @dmcamera, @sol25 & @leyargoz all run photography contests. @topkpop does an art contest and gives away STEEM on her friday night show on @steemstarnetwork. @detlev has the Beer Saturday Challenge, and I know there are plenty more but my point is we truly believe in giving back to the community and aren't greedy over here.
How Cool Is That???
If you made it this far reading the whole thing, I applaud your enthusiasm to hear my words. It's been quite a journey since my first few penny posts and I hope those that are following me, understand the capacity I have to honor Steemit like it should be honored. You won't find any ingenious codes written by me, but, I guarantee you, I will and do have ideas that are going to blow minds and be considered genius. You would do me a great honor by writing me in as one of your witnesses. If you feel I have been doing great things here and am headed for even greater tides, please tap or click here right now and go write in enginewitty in that pretty little box at the bottom of the page. And let me remind you, none of this would have come to fruition this week if not for the attentiveness of #thealliance witness, @jatinhota. Please consider writing him in as well, thank you!
You've made a nice case!
Well thanks!
Shit I will go back and finish reading it in a min but you know you got my vote bro ๐ฏ
I have plenty of my of reasons but you have always been supportive of me, not to mention the whole family.
Sweet, thanks Shippie!
done mate, best of luck brother
Thank you Kindly Gohba ๐
you got my vote
Thanks bro, appreciate it ๐
your welcome mate
Hmmm. Let me think about this......
Done! All Alliance witnesses now have my vote.
Awesome brosef, we all thank you for your support ๐
Done
Awesome! Thank you for the 'vote of confidence' @gmuxx :P
My pleasure.
Yes, The teamwork that makes dream work. I am the one who approved your witness first.
Yessir! And a thousand thank yous my man!
I'm also an ocd curator just fyi ;). Voting tomorrow when I get on a computer.
Supasweet. Hard listing all the things our family is involved with ๐
You should now have my vote.
You got my vote @enginewitty! I'll make a campaign sign for my front yard too ๐
Ha ha woopass brother!
Shit...I am going to make a bigger sign now ๐
You mentioned me. How can I not vote for you?
Seriously though, as a social witness you will be in good company, and deservedly so. @sircork springs immediately to mind as part of that company. I will be as happy to place one of my votes with you as I was to vote for @sircork.
I have also voted for @jacinhota. I do not know him but I'm taking your word he's good people. Trust is a two-way street.
Trust me, I'm a doctor.
He actually came in to Gamma shortly after we opened it up. He's been with us for several months now and worked his way into the core, he's pretty lax. Sometimes there is a bit of a language barrier, but very nominal. Really nice guy. @sircork is a riot. Was on K-Pop's show last night and we were all just rolling. He's definitely a good 'cat'. Thank you for the support!
All great choices, except maybe that SirCork dude ;)
I think I was maybe weak with the hunger and not thinking straight the day I cast that vote.
Trust me, I'm a doctor.
LMAO, maybe too much catnip?
Awesome bro, we only grow stronger, we got you bro, made sure i voted for all our witnesses. thanks bro , be well and keep on the chain.... ;-)
You know I will and thank you sir ๐
You got my vote! Good luck.
I have thought about starting up a witness a few times, just dont think I would have the following to make it worth while.
Darryl (@dadview) resides in Canada. He is an active member of The Alliance and teamcanada
Check out my Latest Blog
You would have allied support for sure ๐thank you bro!
Maybe one day in the near future.
I have a programming background as I studied computer science engineering in University.
I will follow your journey first!
DONE. Just learning my way around steemit, just joined the alliance, hardly know what a witness is other than your explanation but from what I have seen of you and your work... done without hesitation.
Thank you sweets ๐
Voting for witnesses was on my list to do tonight. And here you are with this. And I'm reading, and there's my name?! So now I'm glowing. Vote done. #gratitude #keepbeingyou
No coincidence.
Just woke up and read this, immediately stroke two witnesses off my voting list and voted for enginewitty and jatinhota instead.
I have the utmost confidence that you guys will do right by Steemit. Lots of success on your journey, we will be rooting for you! Go team Alliance!
Appreciate that my man! ๐
como siempre aqui estoy, para lo que necesites, no me he enterado de mucho, pero me gustas asi que
buen fin de semana
Many thanks @txatxy๐ค๐
Definitely a yes vote from me. Thanks for all that you do.
Thank you Steve, much appreciated ๐
Oh hell ya. Was hoping some real person that wasn't all pompous and conceited would step up to the plate. Got my vote.
Lmao, thanks buddy!
The most active and helpful man on Steemit... You are in top 50 in no time :)
Ha ha! Let's go!
You have my vote and support in this goal that you have proposed. I'm happy for you. My best wishes. : )
Aww...thank you sweets ๐ค๐
Absolutely a yes. You deserve my upvote as witness. Regards Nainaz.
#thealliance
Much Appreciated @nainaztengra๐
You have my utmost support and respect @enginewitty! I think that as you said, love of something is more than enough to be part of something.
Thank you!
You have my vote. :)
Thank you Tennessee! Woot woot!
you should be a witness for all.. you are truly humble
Wow, thats a very generous compliment, thank you๐ค
I support you ..
let me resteem your post
Thanks fam!
I'm pretty new and still have my 30 witness votes. I feel like I've been a little overwhelmed with these witness campaigns. I guess that I need to research how this all works a bit more and start making a move. Kinda feel like I'm shirking my Steamit civic responsibilities.
I wonder if it's ok to try to engage with witnesses to get a better feel who I want to vote for. Or if that would be tacky or obnoxious?
Depends on your motives. Some would think it off putting I suppose.
Yeah, that's what I was thinking. And motives are little hard to identify, especially where so much of the motivation here is to get get get upvotes. I'll just have to visit their posts and read their comments and pitches. There's really no substitute for that anyway. Thanks for reply, it really helped.
Might i suggest stopping in to see about @ura-soul. I dont talk with him much, but he is dedicated to the platform like we are.
Will do, thanks for the advice.
Upvote and Followed seems like you're in to this and I will get you a witness vote when I get back to my computer. Unless you know how to vote for witnesses via esteem. In which case please let me know so I can do that.
I hope to be a part of your alliance and to find more people who want to contribute to the new block governance!
SteemOn!
If you tap the link up there, it should take you to the witness list page. Never actually voted for one from eSteem. Have to try it myself and see!
I just tried and the coding in markdown and html arent as cooperative on eSteem as they are here ๐ค
Sure you can!
Supasweet, thanks a million Buzz!
No hesitation here, you got my vote Always ๐ค
Because of the person you are and for all you do
Good luck Boss!
Many thanks sweetheart! Make me blush :)
Just being honest ๐
I don't know how I missed such an important post...I voted you for witness just by looking at the title of the post...you really deserve to be the witness especially because of the efforts you have put in to support the fellow steemit members. I hope you get a lot more support from the big a** whales of steemit ;)
Lmao thanks VJ, and I sure hope so too! Thanks for being in my corner. All of you been so awesome๐
Welcome to the game my friend. I'll have a hard time giving someone up to make a vote open for you, but I am looking into it. Look alive, witnesses I vote for, or you may not make the cut! :D
Very much appreciated Corky, we love having you with us!
Done @enginewitty - Sorry @blocktrades but you won't miss me, and despite our pleasant email exchanges and your awesome support when I've needed you over at blocktrades.us I guess you'll survive without me, and I had to drop someone who doesn't vote me back, sorry. I asked you too, but I guess your votes are full, or you don't like radio or humanitarian aid :)
You got my vote @enginewitty for being involved, engaged, contributing, and being charitable, while always maintaining an awesomely cheerful and upbeat attitude. Leading communities isn't easy and you do a lot of great work. Thanks!
Very kind words from a man with a huge heart. I thank you, sincerely. Looking forward to many great things this year and beyond, happy we're doing some of them together ๐
I am Happy to give you my vote
Sweet thanks man๐
This one was easy witness vote, I didn't think for a second :)
Good luck mate!
Lol right on bud ๐
You definitely have my vote!
Much appreciated Trula!๐ค
You got my vote for sure!!
Thank you madam๐ค
No. Thank you!!! For all you do!!
I once had a real cat whose Life Philosophy was "Ask for what you want all the time ... and play whenever you can." I see you live by the same creed ... so, ok ... I just voted for you. (There. Happy now?)
Also, it looks like the power failure we had the other day caught me right in the middle of doing these comments. I've found pages with half finished comments and the composition window still open. So evidently by the time my computer came back online, I'd completely lost the thread. (I've tried to think of how to make this @catweasel's fault, but I may have to fudge on that one. Don't tell him, in case I come up with a way.)
Anyway, that's part of why this is late. (It's a bloomin' miracle it was discovered at all, honestly.) The other part is ... I'm really busy and @catweasel is never any help. He is "having a little nap" at this very minute while I'm here typing my little fingers to a nub. (Hear that snoring? I rest my case.)
So, maybe because I owe you a little bit for this lapse in punctuality, I voted for @jatinhota, too. (Now you should be really happy!! Me? I'll be happy when @catweasel wakes up, shapes up and does a little work around here. In other words, never.)
Hmmmm, I see I've voted also for that @sircork person. WTF? How did this happen, I wonder!! It must have transpired behind my back. I can't face front everywhere you know. Stuff like this constantly happens to me. This has @catweasel's sticky fingerprints all over it. Now, I really will have to make him pay. That ... and change the keys to my account.
Meanwhile -- better late than never, this excellent post was included in our new curation effort The Magnificent Seven -- a collaborative work by @enchantedspirit and @catweasel. You have received a 100% upvote from each of us to show our appreciation for your post. To see your creation showcased here ... and the fine company you keep ... please visit this link.
We appreciate your support both for our work on this project and for the other creators of exceptional content who make it all possible. (Follow @catweasel to catch our future Magnificent Seven posts. He's really not as annoying as you might think. <--- He always makes me say that.)
P.S. Yep, confirmed that's my upvote up there. 100%. Just like I said. You should be ecstatic now. I bet you've already spent it.
This was just a pleasure to read. Gotta be in the top 5 best comments of all time. Absolutely love having you with us sweets and I definitely appreciate the 'vote of confidence'. Now, if we can get that weasel of a cat in line...
I'll take all the help I can get on that one. Srsly!!
No I haven't yet but I will. This bloody internet is still not connected. @jatinhota is just lovely isn't he? I'm glad he helped you out.
Jatin, I haven't forgotten about you! Thank you so much for being so kind.
Welcome mate @bearone. Glad you remember. Thanks for your kind words.
Yes, of course you can.
Done!
Excellent, thanks brotha!
Just voted you for the witness, all the best for your initiatives. Maintaining node/witness server is not so easy, I hope you will be active in maintaining it also also updating/sharing price feed etc. This shows your passion towards Steemit and #thealliance community.
Will do my best! Thanks โ
I only from your post even knows what a witness means, so thank you, and for educating me I will write you in :) @lonestarpoet
Absolutely ๐
on my way!
Sneaky Ninja Attack! You have been defended with a 13.71% vote... I was summoned by @thealliance! I have done their bidding and now I will vanish...Whoosh
It's witty! I wish I had that kind of branding @sneaky-ninja! Hahaha
@originalworks
Do stop in and
show your family some love :)
oh nice one voted
You have my vote, you just deserve it!
how did i miss voting! anyhow done, and i know you'll do great... :)