SteemMag – Steemit’s Weekend Digest #22: Of Tastebuds and The Community: Chats With Top Steemit Food Bloggers……Highest-Ranked Steemian………Steemians Speak… and lots more

It is with great delight I welcome you to this year's first edition of SteemMag, (the twenty-second edition), a weekend digest for Steemians .

Every week, I take a look at some of the most important topics and have a chat with top Steemians who have expert views on such topics.

In case you missed it, here are links to Issue #1 , #2 , #3 , #4 , 5 , #6, #7 , #8, #9, #10, #11, #12 , #13, #14, #15, 16,#17, #18 , #19 , 20 and 21

IN page 1, SteemMag had a chat with a couple of food bloggers on Steemit - @knozaki015 @sweetsssj and @gringalicious
I’ve had the opportunity to stumble on their posts and since then, it’s been fascinating discovering the world of food through them.

In page 2, I chatted with @thecryptofiend, the amazing guy whose comments you must have stumbled one. I also had a couple of Steemians tell us the reason behind their username.

A Chat With Steemit’s Top Bloggers

SteemMag:
1. What inspired you to start blogging on Steemit?

@sweetsssj:
I originally stumbled across Steemit when one of my friends shared a news article on WeChat about a new blogging website that was becoming very popular and had a unique monetization system giving users the ability to get some remuneration for their contribution. Although monetization of content is not a new concept in China nor in the west, the idea of attaching value through voting by the community is really quite unique.

As a 90's girl, I grew up in a world where all my peers seemed to share everything about their lives on the internet. Indeed, I also shared many of my own life tidbits through WeChat, Weibo and Instagram but I found that one of the biggest problems with those platforms, is how little information I could really share other than a few pictures and a short description.

I decided to sign up to Steemit because it seemed to tick many boxes that I was personally looking for. I wanted to share my thoughts and my life, through pictures, words and video but also not be limited by length, or format. I wanted the opportunity to be part of something from very early on, and to build a following as the platform grows, growing along side it.

SM:
2. Who are some of your favourite bloggers on steemit?

@sweetsssj:
Where to start! In no particular order..

@sirwinchester because I really admire his work ethic and how he manages to sustain contributing quality content across broad topics.

@krnel is another blogger I respect very much for his quality, diverse and informative content. I admire his tenacity and I think this is an intangible value often overlooked.

@knozaki2015 is another person I really admire for their work ethic but also because of the sheer number of interesting places he/she has travelled to which is something I think we both share a common interest in.

@gringalicious is one of my favourite food bloggers because she has such a high standard for the presentation of not just the food itself, but also the photography.

@brudgetbunchy has an amazing blog about the things she makes and sells. I particularly like her photography of the things she makes, it's always very colourful.

@englishtchrivy has a wonderful cooking blog and I also really admire her support of the food community with the Steemit Culinary Challenge. I'm very honoured to have been invited as one of her guests judges.

@bontonstory is one of my favourite lifestyle bloggers, she has a unique aesthetic to her photography that i'm really impressed with.

@dantheman Apart from being one of the founders of Steemit, I have learnt so much from his blogs about crypto-currency and economics.

@papa-pepper is a blogger with so much positive energy. I'm inspired by his unique style but also his work ethic. Most of all, he's such a genuinely nice person who engages with anybody and everybody. A real role model for steemit bloggers.

@onceuponatime hasn't blogged much, neither has his feistier alter-ego @twiceuponatime but I have had some of my best engagement with him, always providing very thought provoking replies.

@kyriacos is one of the most intelligent bloggers I have come across on Steemit. I always feel like I've become a little wiser after reading his blogs.

@merej99 is just a fantastic writer, across numerous topics, in fact pretty much anything she writes has an eclectic ring to it. Another role model Steemit blogger with so much to offer.

@heiditravels has always amazed me with her travel adventures to places I've never even dreamed of. Aside from that, I'm really impressed with her knowledge of crypto which is something that I've only started learning about since joining Steemit.

SM:
3. You also blog about locations in China. Do you think Steemit can become popular among bilingual Chinese?

@sweetsssj
Since travelling is one of my life passions, I do often travel to different lands in China and of course, my Steemit friends will be the first to know! I don't think that Steemit is limited to bilingual Chinese such as myself, if it is then that would drastically reduce the potential number of users. For example, since I joined the Steem Guild Curation team helping to reward consistent long time serving members of the CN community, we've seen quite a steady growth of new and retained users within the CN community, many of which are not bilingual and post in their native Chinese.

Of course, this would mean that their own audience is reduced to just those that can read Chinese, but should the CN community grow substantially larger, then that wouldn't be a problem. For me, I'm fortunate to have reasonable English writing skills so I think it helps with reaching a wider audience. Perhaps that is the advantage with Bilingual people on Steemit at this early stage.

SM:
4. Your best food? And favorite eatery?

@sweetsssj:
My favourite food has got to be Hong Kong style Dim Sum. Since I like a lot of variety in meals, Dim Sum is perfect because each dish is served in bite-size quantities. My favourite Dim Sum eatery would have to be Tim Ho Wan in Hong Kong. It's very affordable and has all of the traditional Dim Sum dishes you would find at Chinese Restaurants in China Towns all over the world. My favourite dish is probably the Fish maw with prawn paste. Definitely check that out if you plan on a visit.
If you happen to visit London, then the best Dim Sum I've had there is at Yuatcha Soho. It's slightly more expensive but the Dim Sum's are equally good. Both are Michelin starred establishments!

SM:
5. What has been your favorite moment on Steemit?

@sweetsssj:
My favourite moment on Steemit thus far is my chance meeting with @ned during our visits to Hong Kong. It's the first time that I've met anybody from a social network, let alone it's founder. In the short time we spent together, I found that he was really charismatic and had bright plans ahead for Steemit. I learned a lot of things and was even introduced to my first Bitcoin meet. I think this was a really defining moment for me because I had spent most of the latter half of 2016 being completely obsessed with Steemit.

Of course, Steemit wouldn't be what it is to me today if it wasn't for all of the support from my all my friends and followers on Steemit, culminating in the best 6 months I've ever had on any social network.

Closing thoughts

I just want to say a big thank you to @infovore for giving me the opportunity to answer some questions that people might be interested to know about me and also for spotlighting me in his very popular Steem Magazine.

I want to take this opportunity to thank everybody who has supported me on my Steemit journey and for making it simply the best experience I've ever had on a social network.

I also want to thank @donkeypong for recruiting me into the Steem Guild where he has mentored me on various aspects of Steemit as well as working together on making the CN community thrive. Also, I cannot forget to mention @the-alien , @hanshotfirst , @jrcornel and @coinbitgold who I've worked along side with in Steem Guild for the last few months, without which, the CN community wouldn't be as active as it is today.

Wow! What can I say! I really enjoyed @sweetsssj replies and I hope you did too. Looking forward to even more amazing content from you

Next is @gringalicious. I’ve really had a nice time interacting with her. Seeing a new post from her on my feeds light up my mood as her meal pics looks so colorful and yummy. :)

SteemMag:
1. What are some of your favorite delicacies you’ve shared on steemit?

@gringalicious
I don't know that I have any one favorite. My food, my creations are for the enjoyment of others. I am much more concerned about the favorites of the reader or of those that are eating my dishes. If I was forced to pick one at gunpoint, I'd go with the post that received the most votes and that would be - https://steemit.com/food/@gringalicious/christmas-cookies-snowy-butterballs-food-photo-shoot

SM:
2. You are also active as a food blogger on other social networks. What do you like about Steemit?

@gringalicious:
I actually receive a lot more feedback on steemit than I do on the other networks

SM:
3. What's your favorite moment on Steemit?

@gringalicious
Still, my favorite moment was my very first post. I was hooked immediately and when there are days where I ask myself what I am doing here on steemit, I reach back to that moment and it gives me the motivation to carry on.

SM:
4. How can we attract more food bloggers on Steemit?

@gringalicious:
Those having success currently as food bloggers aren't looking for alternatives, in my opinion. From what I can see, there are more and more people producing great food content here on steemit weekly. I think if we continue to build it, they will come (to play off of the line from "Field of Dreams").

SM:
5. Where do you see Steemit this year?

@gringalicious
I predict that anything I would predict would be way off. Just in the short time I have been on here, significant changes had occurred. I feel confident what we see in 6 months will be different than what we have now. I do think that more and more users will come on board as crypto in general becomes much more in the spotlight this year.

The view out my kitchen / studio window gives me great inspiration every day.

Thanks so much for having a chat with SteemMag @gringalicous. The view from you kitchen is beautiful.

To round this exciting feature is a quick chat with the most successful food blogger on Steemit. For months now, he has consistently dazzle us with tales of his travels and meals :)

SteemMag:
1. What brought you to Steemit and inspired you to start a food blogging series?

@knozaki2015
Initially greed brought me to STEEM, 1000%+ after trading a while I read the whitepaper and loved the idea of blogging and getting rewarded for it

SM:
2. What has been the nicest thing (meal) you've bought with your steemit earnings during your travels?

@knozaki2015:
https://steemit.com/food/@knozaki2015/i-travel-the-world-part-46-facil-2-star-michelin-restaurant
This meal was the best meal I paid for so far with my steem earnings.

Thanks so much for this. It was nice getting to talk to you, bud.

Page 2 Check out page 2 for more interesting chats. Thanks y'all.