Um... hello?
Minnow Looking for Friends
In this food chain analogy (that works really well), I am currently a minnow. Just getting my feet wet... oh, fish don't have feet. Well, just learning to swim here. And just like everyone who has been here before (with the exception of the architects (which now makes me think of the Matrix)), there is a learning curve.
A New Environment Can Be Challenging
When learning something, I throw myself into the materials and look at all the information I can. Until, it reaches a point where you need to ask another human (or fish). It becomes like a question and answer, and ultimately that guide or mentor points you in the right direction.
I think this situation applies to many things in life that don't have a set program. School for example they set a curriculum and have teachers that guide you. Work has programs and classes you can take. But in something novel, sometimes it's a roadmap on a napkin with a pat on the back saying "good luck kid".
Guidance at Steemit
I really want to succeed here at steemit. So I am pouring myself into it. Talking to people. Submitting pictures and posts. Reading how to's. Learning about the cryptocurrency markets. All of these things have been fascinating.
I am very grateful to the few nudges in the right direction that I've gotten from others here. And I'm very grateful for the upvotes from the larger fish and dolphins and whales that made my post go from .02 to $5. This support is very encouraging. I'm sure there must be some other minnows that are going through this I asked myself - to which I found the tag minnowsunite
Minnows Unite and Minnows Support
"minnows unite"... that's a slogan I can get behind. It's a big place here and having a few friends at the same level that are motivated and trying to make an impact I think would make a difference. It feels like those that are at a higher level are too important sometimes to really help. I'm sure someone might say that there are great guides here, but I just haven't seen the sign yet. Someday, I aspire to be a guide here, someone that helps people find what they are looking for. Helping them to learn the ropes and become part of the system and rewarded by making it stronger.
The 2 questions I have for some other minnows (and I don't want to bother the dolphins and whales) but:
what is tagging a post minnowsunite for?
and
what is tagging minnowsupport/minnowsupportproject for?
I am tagging this post minnowsunite because it is all about that subject. But with the whole tagging system, as a noob, I certainly don't want to do something I'm not allowed to. Or I don't want to do something that is frowned upon.
As for minnowsupportproject - I have read about this as well. To my understanding it's a system that you sign up for that is built upon a bunch of bots that automatically upvote your posts (in hopes that the numbers of votes will give some momentum). I think it's available to anyone under 500 followers and 5000 SteemPower. I was thinking about signing up, but it seems a bit complex. Bots in the ocean? I think it's just because I don't get it. But does that mean I can only use the tag if I'm in that project? Again - I don't want to do something that is frowned upon here (and I think many people that are starting out in anything can relate)
Hopefully, these answers will help me better understand. And further, anyone else who reads this and the comments to better understand. Thanks in advance for the support and answered questions and I look forward to continuing on this journey here in the big blue expanse.
Cheers,
Joe
Follow : @joe01
I'm a minnow, too! What I'm finding the most challenging right now is 1) getting more views (when we can only use 5 tags) and 2) finding "quality" followers (i.e. people who could be genuinely interested in my stuff). I also don't have money to invest in STEEM and my account value is decreasing by the day. How shall I grow?
I gave you my upvote, and I'll resteem this. I have my problems here as well.
I am not technologically illiterate, but there are a lot of things in the markdown style that are interesting but very complicated (as you can see I got those two things figured out.) βΊ
But as a veteran of tsu, I find that much here is the same as what I disliked so much on tsu; never mind the 'like 4 like, share 4 share, follow 4 follow' crap that is so irksome.
Why is it that my posts, which I hope are quality material (or I wouldn't be posting it) are so dependent on the whims of others for my success?
Thanks for the vote and the resteem. I hope more people can see it and learn a little along the way. It's definitely complicated for sure. I think on any platform, people want to do anything just to get likes.
The funny thing, and difficult thing - is that anything we do is dependent on the whims of others for success. We live in a world with humans, and we depend on them to look at what we offer and determine a VALUE. Without value, there is no price; there is no exchange of goods - since exchange is based solely on what others value toward things.
The spam is really annoying, and that will always exist anywhere I think. But the good thing about steemit is that since higher powered users are more heavily weighted it means that their vote counts more. It's a trust factor - meaning since they are "experienced", their vote counts more. If the people that have that power are good natured, they in turn help others that have non-spammy content and hopefully the system helps get rid of the spam posts etc. I would like to assume that this is the case. :)
I guess what bothers me most (and I'm jumping in the fire here, I know), is that for me to gather status, I have to participate in the 'back scratching'.
If I don't actively go round 'upvoting' and 'resteeming', following the right people (the Whales), my account will flounder (HAH! I made a nautical reference) just like it did in tsu.
There, in 18 months of posting and sharing, I had about $80 built up, when the platform tanked.
I would like to think that, simply because I have material worthy of sharing, it would be resteemed, upvoted and I would get an increasing bank.
Not so it seems. Perhaps I'm missing something.
Thanks for your time @joe01. Didn't you say you live in Atl? If so, perhaps you could come hear me play sometime, or otherwise meet up.
Ya, I totally hear ya. But I think it's hard to get noticed anywhere in life. The only way it works even in the real world is a) know people that have a little power that like your stuff or b) pay for marketing and hope you can convert.
You could say if there was a system that allowed users to look at all new stuff then people could find the gem in all the spam. But most people want things already vetted for them. So they go to trending/popular area and peruse there. It's a difficult problem to address - and I can see both sides.
And I wish that anyone that tried to create value as an "artist" (writing/photos/art/etc) would have an easier time making a living doing it. Maybe things here will make it a bit easier.
I'm not familiar with tsu, but I'll have to check it out. That sucks that that imploded upon itself. Do you see things here that have improved on that?
Ya, I live in ATL. Where do you play out?
I make, (what passes for) my living playing music for Retirement, assisted living and nursing home facilities.
I also create midi files for my own use, and when someone wants to sing a song (for a wedding for instance) and they can't find a karaoke track for it, I'll learn the song enough to create a midi (Musical Instrument Digital Interface, but being a 'tech type' I'm sure you knew that), remove the vocal line, create an MP3, (once I've put it into a key suitable for my customer) and send it on. I work cheap doing that.
I really enjoy what I do for the Seniors, I've been playing piano for 51 yrs now.
BTW...I live in the ruins of NW Atlanta, about 1.6 mi from the Ga Dome and the Merc.
wow that's cool man! I'm sure the Seniors love it. That's unique, haven't heard of that before. And I like you create your own MIDI and build an mp3 from that. Have you ever gotten into using a DAW (ie. Ableton, Cubase, etc)? I'm just starting to play around with Ableton. Actually was thinking about making a video of me just playing around on it. It's fun.
I've toyed with the idea of using Cubase, and I have a cd for Presonus. I bought it several years ago when my music pc was win xp, and I could barely get any functionality out of it. (all my machines are now Win 10)
I got a refund, but they didn't ask for the cd back.
Now, I can't use it without purchasing a new license key, and the software is probably out of date now as well.
I am QUITE low income, and as such I'm very stingy; I don't spend money on stuff at the drop of a hat.
Anvil Studios is a free download midi editing software. They make their money by you having to purchase accessories. I have the ProMix and the Audio accessory. Promix allows you to control the parameters (volume, tempo and more) over time, and with the Audio accessory, I can record my vocals (and/or guitar...which I also play) as an analog track (s) along side the midi, or as a standalone track.
Once I have it all down, I can export the mixed track as a .WAV, then using VLC media player (also free), I can convert the .WAV to several other formats.
Using a DAW would be a whole new learning curve, I've spent about 6 yrs getting to know my way around Anvil (I simply canNOT watch tutorial videos, to glean one or two iotas of data out of a half hour video) so it has been a lot of trial and error, plus their support knows me by name, and I know them (Hi Tom).
I also have "FINALE" which a cousin purchased for me. It is a MASSIVE software, taking up loads of space, hopelessly complex to use, but it WILL create a musically accurate score (sheet music style rendering). I have the 2012 v, it has since been updated, that software cost my cousin close to $500 5 yrs ago.
It is my belief that the minnowsunite tag is for minnows to post in so that other minnows can support their work. With the increased voting power after HF19, this should be a much better place for minnows to post and support one another.
I've seen you around and finally followed you. Came over to say hi and thanks for the gift! (That was a very nice gesture by the way.) Also, I gave you one of my depleted full-power upvotes! Thanks!
It's *THE papa-pepper! Thanks for the answer to what "minowsunite" was made for. I mean, the ionlysaymeep guy had a slightly better answer with literally "meep", but this is a close second. ha. I'm just trying to figure out how it all works here at steemit and you taking the time to write something (as a steemit veteran) means alot.
And thanks for the FULL power upvote, man. I've been following you since I got here and saw those pictures of your turtle adventure. I get bored with photoshop sometimes and like to make stuff. If you have any other tips or tricks, definitely feel free to send them my way. Cheers
Cheers! Ill support follow and resteem you if you return the favour :) we should all support eachother here.
Thanks! But this begs to ask another question, just following and resteeming as minnows seems to be frowned upon here as well. I've read countless posts that say "follow for follow" is just bad practice. Do you have any thoughts on that?
I am certainly grateful you offer a follow, but the wording "if you return the favor" seems a bit conditional.
And these are the questions I hope to answer on my minnow-phase.
meep
oh ya, I've seen your comments before. Lemme guess - your reply : "meep"... Cheers
meep
I can predict the future. I should go to Vegas. "meep"
meep