There is a contest put together by @galenkp for the Shadow Hunters community currently running and since I am one of the sponsors, I think it is worth giving it a plug. There is 100 HIVE up for grabs and the entries will be judged by @meesterboom next week, so there is still time to enter. Rather than repeat the rules here, this is the link to the contest announcement and be sure to follow the rules if you are keen to get a share of the prize. 100 HIVE is currently riding at 43 dollars value, so it is a decent pot for a photo or two and a few words on the chain.
Contests are great for people for several reasons, as not only are there prizes, but they can give a focused topic, making post creation easier for those who struggle. Quite often, people can find it hard to find a topic for the day, week or even the month, making competitions a great motivator. In this regard, it can also help people who do find it challenging, develop a better content creation strategy for themselves.
On top of this, there is also the exposure available, as depending on the competition, there can be a lot of eyes looking at the entries and often, the good ones will attract additional vote support and more importantly, the potential to pick up new followers. Follower numbers aren't overly important on Hive, but who is following can be.
as this is a DPoS platform, stake matters in regard to the value of posts, but people and personalities matter too. While pretty much everyone wants vote value, engagement is also dependent on follower base and there are accounts with tens of thousands of "followers" who get next to zero engagement, while another with a couple of thousand gets heaps of comments rolling in on each post. This is because numbers are numbers, but personality affects behavior. Having a lot of stake doesn't mean wanting to comment on a lot of posts.
But, personality matters in many ways too and I think these kinds of competitions give the opportunity for contributors to showcase theirs. So many people seem to cut themselves out of posts and hide themselves away, thinking that it makes the content more professional or valuable, but the opposite is true. The accounts who present themselves well tend to attract a far stronger follower-base than those who offer general information. Information can be found through a Google search, personality is far harder to find and when people start interacting with other people, inevitably, relationships form.
Some complain about support being on the person instead of the content, but since it is people doing the voting, relationships matter. This is especially true on the content layers of Hive where they are driven by social interaction, something people tend to forget who think that all they need to do is drop a post and the vote support will roll in.
In general, before there is consistent vote support, consistent social interaction is developed first, which acts a bit like an oracle for stake to vote on. If an account can develop content consistently that attracts and engages a wide or growing follower base, it is more likely going to be valuable to the network they are invested into. If the content is also the kind of content the staked account is interested in, it is more likely to attract more support from the account.
People seem to think that all content is created equal and all people's behavior is acceptable, meaning that all should be supported equally. However, because people matter, preferences matter too. If I read a post from a person I do not like or on a topic I do not like, I have absolutely no obligation to vote on it. It doesn't matter what the author thinks of themselves or the their content and it doesn't matter what other people think - my stake is my stake to do with as I please.
A lot of people seem to not like this idea of doing what one pleases with their own stake, but they have fundamentally missed the understanding of what ownership means. I own my stake, I take responsibility for how it is used. I also pay the consequences of using my stake in the ways I choose to use it, just as I take responsibility for my content and the effects it may have.
I think the reason that a lot of people keep themselves out of their content is because they fear themselves being judged by the audience and found lacking. Some others keep themselves out of the content because they fear that the real them will be discovered, as there is such a gap between what they present themselves to be, and the reality of what they are and how they behave. Yet, those who are the most successful are the ones who are human and approach the interaction in ways that people are interested in building a relationship with the author. It isn't always based on agreement of views, but no friendship is.
People hide themselves in the shadows and wonder why they go unseen.
Perhaps they should reflect on that a little.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
Great insights on how and why people put themselves forward... or not. There are many people who I have known for years here, and still do not know at all. I have found that communities tend to make people feel a bit safer. I watch them post week after week and when they begin to realize that they receive positive comments and are not judged, their posts begin to improve and they interact with others within the community.
Winning a contest helps boost confidence, too!
Thanks so much for sponsoring this awesome contest and helping promote it. It's been fun for me to see some of the newer community members step up and enter!
When you care about your community, you want to give something back. Decent content is part of that :)
It is a rather amazing process to be able to observe!
I have participated in the Shadow Hunters contest several times. I'll check out the Reflections Contest as well.
Thanks for highlighting them both. Take care, and have a good weekend.
Give it a go - it is easy :)
Beautiful, I will try to participate in the contest
It is easy :)
I want to Join Shadow Hunters contest
Easy to do, just follow the link and read the rules.
Ok . Thank you
There are several contests going on in the Shadow Hunters Community. The current contests are always pinned in the community. We would love to have you join in!
Thank you
That good
Cool