Dear Hivers,
If there was a book on blogging mistakes, I would be picked as an example. That’s because — in the history of blogging — I have made every single mistake possible. It took me 8 years to fix most of them.
And when it comes to Hive? The platform is similar to blogging with a dash of social-ness. Therefore, on Hive, the rules of blogging are applied. The mistakes of blogging are applied.
This is why I have created this newbie-friendly guide to share some of the most important fatal mistakes — and why every user should avoid them.
These are 11 mistakes collected through experience, observation, and analysis. First, you can go through each one of them. Then see the mistakes you are relate with. And finally, stop repeating these mistakes.
Let’s start:
Mistake #1: Living in your own world
One of the most common mistake:
Moment you enter Hive, you don’t look around. Instead, you create a boundary — and you don’t go outside of this imaginary boundary.
As mentioned in my earlier post, you fall in love with yourself — your notifications — and your wallet. This doesn’t work because you are focused on you. And the platform doesn’t operate this way.
So get outside of your profile. Of your own world. And inside others. After all, Hive is a social community-based platform.
Mistake #2: [Mindset] What’s my personal gain?
This is a mindset mistake.
Just take a step back and think about other platforms.
Platforms where you have your friends and relatives. Like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. On these platforms, you will see people posting for no reason to be controlled by centralized companies. We are numbers to them. Products to them.
So for the first time ever, Hive is fighting this battle by offering a non-centralised, censorship-free, incentive-based platform.
Which is why Hive is filled with developers creating proposals, new projects, interfaces, and lots of quality initiatives are in the pipeline.
The moment you start seeing this, you begin to realise there is a collective effort to create something new. So convert your personal gains into collective growth.
Mistake #3: Emptying wallet before filling it up
Are you excited to receive your payout? Great. I am excited too. Rewards are a fantastic incentive.
But if you sell everything, and your Hive tokens are back to 0, then you may want to reconsider your strategy. You are creating a short-term painful situation.
Because, at the time of writing, Hive is barely 50 days old. We just got started. That is why I have personally never sold a SINGLE Hive yet. All this simply means: we are too young right now.
So accumulate as much as possible — rather than cashing out and starting small once again.
Mistake #4: Thinking short-term (and not long-term)
Watch some of the top authors here who are consistently active. Watch their articles. Observe their discipline. And you will get a clue — that long-term works better than short-term.
Whatever your motive is, with time, you will know that Hive is not a get-rich-quick platform. It is not designed that way. You can’t expect miracles in a day. In a week. Or in a month.
Staying here for a longer time will switch your thinking and make you familiar with the platform and its mission.
Mistake #5: Zero content effort
There are two kinds of publishers here. One who really puts a lot of effort. And the other who doesn’t.
And if you know anyone who simply writes rubbish, rewrites content, and does it all in a language only they understand? Then it really is a question of integrity here.
We can deal with bad punctuations and sentence structure. But we cannot deal with bad behaviour. This, coupled with meaningless content, not only drifts you away from the community but is also a waste of time.
Solution: You can avoid this mistake by writing quality content — content that ignites conversations, adds value, and leaves you fulfilled.
Mistake #6: Begging for votes (without building a honest connection)
Pushed bad content and you still want votes? Worst of all, you go around and start begging for votes from people you don't know?
You have simply committed the daddy of mistakes.
Solution: First, build a honest connection. Be around. Find like-minded people to follow. And then, if you feel like asking, share the link.
Here’s how I do it: I have personally approached people only when I know my content is good. And I don’t tell them to VOTE the post. Ever. I simply ask them to check it out — I nudge them.
Mistake #7: Not proofreading your content
There’s a misconception that buried content is never read. People read it even after months — and years. That is why it is important to proofread your content before and after publishing your content.
It not only serves the platform but also improves your attention to details — which can be instrumental in other parts of your life.
Mistake #8: Thinking engagement is for idiots
- Why bother commenting?
- What’s the use?
- I don’t know what to say?
If you have any of these questions, then switch to Facebook or any other social media platform — where people comment and engage for no reason. Here, at least, you get to meet intellectual people with a like-minded mission.
Plus, engaging upgrades your conversations skills. It simply says that you are able to hold the conversation — not just online but also in life, isn’t it?
And if you don’t know what to say? Then check out this article:
- The 9 do's and don'ts of engagement!
- Also check out the #POSH initiative - [link]
Mistake #9: Writing for the heck of it (controversial topics, too)
To give you an example: I noticed a lot of Justin Sun and Steem posts here. Some people want to continue this war — so they can get all the attention. Such attention is short-lived.
Do not merely design controversies to attract attention. The community can see through it (that is why most of these topics are not trending anymore).
If you still want to continue, write an original piece backed up with logic and evidence.
Mistake #10: [Mindset] Comparing yourself to others
Another mindset mistake. If you are here to compare yourself with others or even get jealous of someone’s success? Then it is time to recalibrate your thinking.
Kim chase, an actress, once said:
“Life is not really a competition. It is about helping and inspiring others so we can reach our full potential.”
Meaning: You have to drop your comparison. Not work alone. But together. (It, again, comes back to "collective" growth).
Mistake #11: [Mindset] “I don’t know these people”
Someone recently told me: These people on Hive are not my brothers and sisters.
It’s true — they are not.
But you have to open up your boundaries and watch it from the other side. Because, you see, behind every display pic is a real person. This post you are reading? I am writing. My name is Sid. I am real.
Think of the entire Hive experience as walking into a seminar. You have the opportunity to meet as many people as possible. And the entry here is literally free.
So even if you don’t know people, you now have the opportunity to connect with hundreds of them — and explore this exciting journey together. How cool is that?
One more mistake: You are not true to yourself
“Authenticity over everything else” — that’s a popular quote telling you to be true to yourself. Be genuine. And be really you without destroying your values.
On Hive, this also means removing any ulterior motive — and operating with a positive attitude that not only drives you but also the people around you closer to their goals.
What fun when we climb up the ladder together, isn’t it?
Woohoo!
Wasn’t this a refreshing list?
We started with the basics — that Hive is a social platform — and then moved onto 11 fatal mistakes that raises eyebrows and destroys your reputation.
In fact, these mistakes just doesn’t impact the platform. It truly impacts your personal life. Therefore the goal is to minimise these mistakes as much as possible.
Moment you do that, you are making adjustments to your life — you are saying YES to success. To happiness. And to a fulfilling life.
Now that you have glanced through these mistakes, I would love to hear from you.
Can you drop a comment below to share your thoughts? Maybe share a common mistake you recently saw? Something that new users can avoid? Or something that new users should know? Whatever it is, please share. I would love to know!
Cheers,
Sid
Liked this article? Feel free to comment and upvote and reblog.
Boom!
Engagement is where it's at!
I like all your points though; A clear and well thought-out piece and very handy for those coming on board I should say.
Post with passion, personality and effort, and engage on other people's posts with relevance and interest and not just once, continue the engagement. Get onto the Engagement League run by @abh12345.
This is all I would add.
Spot on @sidwrites
Hi Galenkp, glad to see you here.
You have mastered it. And I love that.
Thank you!
Great point on engagement. In fact, I personally discovered the Engagement League two weeks ago – and requested to participate. For me, in two words, the League is: Subconsciously motivating.
Glad to see you take #1 spot. We gotta talk soon! :)
Hey there!
Yes, the EL is a great. I have always found that tracking a metric keeps me more on-track. I do that in my professional life as an executive and in my hobbies and life in general too. KPI's I guess.
I joined the EL in around October, I have no idea why I wasn't in it as I've known Asher for a while, and since then I haven't been out of the top 3 I think. I engage. It's not about winning the EL, it's about building my brand...The winning of the EL means nothing and if it didn't exist I would engage anyway. It's a mind-set.
Yes, let's keep in contact huh? I'll throw you a follow. Have a great weekend.
A bit late here.
I read this several times. And I love this fact. Habits flowing from one channel to another... is terrific. You are #1 for a reason!
You know it. Mindset first.
Goes without saying that I am following you. Absolutely glad. :)
Hey, no stress, we're all busy...And have to sleep at some stage. I'm grateful for the follow and am enjoying the connection so far. :)
Great advice here for newcomers and even folks who have been around for a while. There are some great initiatives going on at the moment where people are being encouraged to interact with other blogs. It can be hard sometimes for content creators to be content consumers but I think that as long as people stay authentic and genuine then in the long run, everything will work out for them.
As an example, took me over 2 years and nearly 600 posts and thousands of comments but I made it to my first target of rep 70. It creates a good habit of just being around.
I think another thing you could touch upon is posting in relevant communities of similar interest to what you post about. I am primarily a music producer so I post my music blogs in the Music community and interacted with like minded people there where the connections feel a lot deeper. This is also important for content discovery as more people come on board and join niche specific communities.
Anyway, great post and shared it to my blog so others can learn too - keep up the great work! 😃
Congrats on the 70 rep. Definitely a fantastic achievement.
You made a great example I failed to share. Thank you!
Wise words that I hope more people would pay attention to.
Thank you! Means a lot to hear from you!
Been planning to write this from day 1. Glad I waited.
Some great tips here! Thanks for sharing 👊🏻
Least I could do. Hope you enjoyed them.
I would sum that up as simply be yourself and let it flow. As a piece of advice for future new users is great, but when lining it up against the cruel reality that there is still quite a notable share of crap getting curated daily, quality won't guarantee anything. Quality is also highly subjective and what I though it could be of high quality proved to be below average and what I was labeling as average proved to be very good curated. BUT that doesn't mean that a post's quality is given by upvotes and nothing more. From an economical point of view, and for someone that tries to make something out of his/her blog, upvotes are like oxygen. What defines a post as a good one, in my opinion, is also the level of engagement but, the sad part is that quite often great posts don't get too much engagement due to a lack of visibility, and I would make a sort of a side trading page where there should be featured the most engaging posts and for sure many of those will get to the official trending page collecting some nice upvotes as well. Your post is great though and definitely a great users guide for a new user.
Perfect. Couldn't have said it any better.
True. Content discovery is an issue. Hence the use of tags - the right community - and even timing plays a vital role from my experience.
I really like the idea of engaging posts (like HOT posts in the sidebar).
Thanks for stopping by! :)
This is a very good content for any new author who enters the platform, as well as very useful to reinforce the values and strengthen those who are already older, thanks for sharing such good material
I am glad you enjoyed it reading... as much as I enjoyed writing it. :)
Fantastic! Its always nice to leran of our possible mistakes, thanks it's really useful for the new people of the platform 😆, we all are new because it has 50 days, but the philosophy is similar than steemit. Thankyou ♥️
YES! Also, you see the mistake here? :D
Following you now. Love how you are bored, running, and doing so many activities. :D
Indeed. Thanks for dropping by. ♥️
It takes time to learn and apply this all. Your posts are going to be the ultimate guides for beginners in the days to come.
Haha! Thank you, Sathya. Means a lot to hear that.
Good summary of HIVE receipt for success.
@tipu curate
Upvoted 👌 (Mana: 24/30)
Absolutely glad, you know. Thanks for your support!
Twitter
A part of me fights good advise because I suppose I don't like success; too scary! On the point of mindlessly dumping content for the sake of up-votes...I think it's a two way street. People posting a chart with two-three sentences getting massive votes does not equate to promoting value imo. I think, ideally, we should be looking for more quality than chasing quantity for the sake of activity.
Interesting you mention that. There's also a quote that says people are afraid of successes -- and it is a mindset shift we all need. Brock Lesnar, WWE wrestler, was once asked why does he want to wrestle... and he said? "Why? Because I simply want to."
And that has to be our mantra too. Do anything and everything because you simply want to.
True. It is a challenge we live with it. For now.
Hey there thanks for the valuable list, I love lists, and Hive, like Steem, is a place that brings out the best in me creatively. I aim to post articles in numerous of the communities every week, thereby spreading my blog around over time and over varying topics of personal interest. Some may like to specialize in one community but I do the opposite and post in several to reach varying audiences.
Almost feels like you shared a GOAL here. Go get it. <3
Fully. Am on it, many thanks.
I made lot of mistakes here, Still continuing.
But now I can see some improvemnts.I think it's after coming to hive I gave more importance to writing.
We all make mistakes, you know? They are the foundation of growth.
Great post. Like i said in your last post I just started and all this is very useful. Thank you. Following you
It’s a huge learning curve moving from Facebook and urbex forums to the hive platform. These posts of yours do help us noobs cheers.
Thank you again for the great, clear and concise insight! Some of these mistakes I've made myself, others I've seen in others enough as to learn to avoid them.
The issue about writing rubbish is very clearly a problem in many communities. I've seen posts that are scarcely 200 words long and filled with images that have very little in common. One thing I've also noticed is how many people use content from other sources without proper credit. To me, that's a fatal flaw as well. Can't go around sharing stuff from other people without crediting them, and worse, using things made by big companies or celebrities. Feels like clickbait.
Cheers to you, Sid! Wonderful work!
This is an old post, but, I can say that I wish I had something like this as a newbie. It would have saved me a lot of trouble.
I think this should be stuck in the newcomer's bag upon arrival.
!tip
🎁 Hi @sidwrites! You have received 0.1 HBD tip from @dswigle!
@dswigle wrote lately about: Let'S Monochrome On Monday Feel free to follow @dswigle if you like it :)
Sending tips with @tipU - how to guide.
Thanks for the insight, I'm a newbie here and this is exactly what I need from the get-go.
If we stop to think it, those are the rules for real life too. On line social made us a little distant. It's time to get back that. Appreciate the info.