We become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams.

- Jimmy Carter -

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We’re all different thankfully; imagine a world full of the same type of people. It’d be somewhat uninspiring I’d say, rather bland: Same personalities, same likes and dislikes, same thoughts, same faults and frailties, same emotion, fears, prejudices, tolerance, intolerance and passions...Boring.

It’s our differences that keep things interesting on both a personal level and collectively as a community.

Here on Hive it’s the same. What one likes another may not, where one sees value another sees a lack of it, or is simply indifferent. Again, that’s what makes the community ebb and flow, just like in the real world, and whilst we may not always click with a particular Hive user or their content there'll be others which whom we do click; just like real life.

With Hive being monetised there’s a different dynamic when compared against real life though. Imagine if everything you said in real life was rated, weighed and measured, and you were paid commensurate with someone else’s reaction to it. Imagine being judged favourably, unfavourably or simply ignored based on everything you said - Well, that’s what happens on the blockchain.

I’ve been thinking about this over the last few days; how a user presents themselves on the blockchain through their posts and commenting and what they gain, or fail to gain.

Clearly the better one presents their work the better the reaction is going to be; on Hive that means curation rewards. Sure, there’s several very large accounts and curation initiatives out there simply voting just about anything for the curation rewards they gain from it but, in my mind, it’s the curation one gets from real people that means the most. Those curation projects and large accounts can move on and cease to vote on a person at the drop of a hat so it’s not a reliable, or solid, relationship - Just a little bit of reward now, with no real guarantee of more in the future.

No, it’s the relationships one builds on the blockchain that means the most in my humble opinion. Not only does it bring a greater enjoyment when one engages back and forth with someone they like and value, or a complete stranger for that matter, but the curation-rewards tend to be more consistent and will usually continue well into the future, reliably.

Would you rather one single big vote and then nothing, or would you rather build and nurture lasting relationships, have some fun and engagement and get ongoing votes for a long time? That’s a rhetorical question folks, one you must answer for yourselves. For me, it’s the latter.

In June 2017 when I joined and began to post and interact with others and I put a lot of focus into engagement on their posts, valid and relevant engagement. It was reciprocated, unsurprisingly, and the votes began to flow on my posts. To this day I still have those valued relationships, still engage and still get votes from them. That’s pretty cool right? It's like I've invested and the returns continue to come back to me.

So back to my thoughts about how one is perceived on the blockchain.

One’s post is often the first thing other users see when they scroll the feeds. The title, the image and maybe a line or two of text. People think in images, not words, so that image is vitally important to give a person pause, to make them cease scrolling and linger on your post. If you’ve got the other elements right then you may even entice them to click-through to your post, take a skim or read, and hopefully engage and vote. The key element I’m trying to focus on is that first impression; there’s really only one opportunity to make it.

I’m not sure when it started happening but I’ve noticed the rise of the long title. I wrote a post on it the other day, you can see it here. What happened to the short, punchy or catchy title that the media and writers have found so successful since the beginning of time? I find, and this is just my opinion, that long post-titles turn me off - I don’t find them creative, interesting or engaging, just annoying. I wish people would stop it because I simply overlook their posts and curate elsewhere so they miss out on potential rewards.

Furthermore, I see so many posts that include blurry images, images loaded sideways, too many images, images that don’t relate to the words or have much relevance or simply don’t seem very interesting or impactful at all.

Again, humans think in pictures and the best way to capture someone’s attention on a blogging platform is with an interesting, impactful image. I would have thought that’s pretty obvious. I mean, imagine yourself in a bar trying to find a friend for the night but everyone was totally covered by a brown paper bag from head to toe...It wouldn’t be a very interesting bar to be in right? Now imagine the same bar where everyone has taken the effort to dress well, do their hair and make up and they’re smiling...Much better right? It’s the same on the blockchain. It’s about presentation.

I curate for @curangel, within my own communities and others and also generally around the blockchain so I see a lot of posts. There’s some really tremendous operators out there, and I love finding a new one now and then which happened recently. However there’s the opposite as well. I get the impression the low-quality posters are simply pushing out garbage content in the hope of a vote from a whale or large account who will never read the content, never engage and possibly never vote again. Maybe they’re content with that - Again, it comes back to us all being different and having different thoughts on how things should be. I’d not be content with it though, and I don’t think those accounts should be - It will not generate longevity.

It’s interesting you know, I’ve been approached directly on Discord so many times, it happens weekly, by complete strangers asking me to look at their posts, help them succeed (which means vote them) and generally just passively begging for a vote. I’m not even a big account! They don’t get the votes of course.

I wonder, do they ever think for a moment that they could build a relationships with me by commenting relevantly on my posts over time and then probably receive a vote from me on every post they do? Nope, they don’t think that, and so they don’t get it; the votes. Ever. I guess the lure of a vote leads them into that sort of low-effort behaviour and it's often evident on their posts.

All of us are different people as established above. We have different talents and skills and very different requirements from life. We all need or want something different from the blockchain as well I suppose. The thing that troubles me is that whilst people want the best from it they are loath to give their best to get it. I’m not sure if it’s because they don’t know how, are too lazy or have been spoiled by a whale vote that one time way back when so are conditioned to push posts out there and hope for another big vote that may never come. Rewarding low-effort on the blockchain will set low effort as the benchmark and that's not a good look for those looking at the blockchain externally. (Neither is those long-ass post-titles!)

I thought I’d dot-point a few key elements that have helped me build my account sine June 2017. I’m not a writer, and actually didn’t even finish high school, so I’m not sure if it’s the right method; it’s just my method and has seemed to work for me so I assume it might for others also. I approached Hive with the understanding that I’d have to promote myself to the community, draw the right sort of attention and build, then nurture, lasting relationships that I figured would return an enjoyment factor, (which it has), and some financial reward, (which it has).

Keep in mind that the list below may not relate to every single type of post or appeal to everyone - It’s just what worked for me. So here’s the dot-points.

• Short, catchy titles that draw people in (I’d say about two to six words is ample)
• An interesting or engaging main photo for visual impact (in focus follks)
• Well-laid out text: Correct spelling, punctuation and use of paragraphs
• Not too many images - (Create collages if there’s multiple images)
• Don’t tag people in the post needlessly (including whales) - It's not a good look
• Respond in a timely and relevant fashion to comments left on the post
• Have fun, it’s your post after all - Show passion and personality
• Proof read and take the time to review it before clicking post
• Comment on other peoples posts with relevance and interest

Those are the main elements I applied when I first started and I still do so today. It’s certainly not the only way to build an account but it has worked for me, been enjoyable and sustainable and I’d say that’s a pretty good mix. I tend to like to do things as best I can, represent myself as well as possible, and I certainly like to have fun so applying these key elements ticks those boxes as well.

When I curate I look for these elements as I’m not inclined to curate work I don’t feel engaged with in some way and neither do I want to put my name to low-effort work just for a little curation reward; I'd rather not reward low effort at all. It's not difficult to take some care with posting or to remember that you're actually on show when you put a post on the blockchain - If the right steps are taken one can build lasting and very enjoyable relationships with others and that's where the real value will come from.

Y'all can do whatever you like, it generally won't affect others on the blockchain too much at all. Put in low effort and get low value in return. Inject some passion and personality, some ownership, responsibility and effort and it's likely you'll be rewarded for it Sure, it can take some time but it'll be a more lasting and sustainable reward.

Be different. Be yourself. But also be responsible for your own destiny here on the blockchain because what you do, or don't do, will dictate what returns you gain.