It's like going to the gym, really. You CHOOSE to start, cos you understand the long term benefits. You KNOW it will feel tough and unrewarding at times. You keep the long game firmly at the far edge of your peripheral vision. And you show up. Put in the reps. Sweat. Grunt occassionally. Have daily goals. Challenge yourself.
A great Hive engagement habbit doesn't arrive - it is carefully sculpted like tight obliques.
Why engage?
Can't you just dump your stellar post, plonk a few one liners and an emoji here and there, rely almost exclusively on autovote and then join the long queue of Hive people complaining about lack of engagement?
I have to say lack of engagement is NOT an issue in my Hive world. Because I AM an engager. What does it being me besides a few Hive sheckels in curation rewards? Each and every day I have new followers onchain, and on my Hive twitter accounts. My posts are read, and upvoted, by more people. My post rewards have grown steadily over time and my content is shared more readily.
I REALLY BELIEVE that most people don't come to Hive for the money. They come for validation - for having a genuine voice and a chance to be heard in a noisy, crowded digital space. And personal engagement meets that need.
So how have I built my Hive engagement habit?
- Just as in my great gym habits, I first mentally have made a commitment with myself about its value to me long term. I have given mental assent and prioritised it;
- I have set myself goals. I try to meaninigfully comment on 12 posts a day, every day, from the people I follow;
- I REWARD every comment on my blog, answer it and (sometimes-often) go to find the last post that my commenter has published, and comment & reward THAT!
- I have associated Hive comments with pleasurable activities I LIKE to do, like drink coffee. And so several times a day I settle with a coffee in a pleasant spot and Comment.
- Like going to the gym, I have come to ENJOY it. And so I feel cut off and disconnected when I don't comment.
- I set real tangible goals - (a) answer and reward all comments on all 3 of my accounts AND reward/comment 12 posts per day;
- I don't like to reward without a comment and only follow one curation trail consequently.
- I use Hive comments & post reading as a work break - a pleasant change of pace in a demanding world. So I have mentally stopped seeing it is a chore, a "must do"
- Several times a day I open my Following Feed and upvote-commment on the first 2 or 3 most current posts. Whomever they are. And commenting more randomly grows my circle than having epic comment raves with people I know very well.
- When I first switch on my laptop, I pop in to Hive straight away and upvote/comment 2-3 posts;
- Before I switch off my laptop at night, I like to engage my "just 2 more" rule. 😊
Spacing the comment-upvoting through the day means my VP recovers quickly and also means I am able to DO MORE over the 24 hour period, which brings better curation rewards long term and an ever growing circle of new Hive friends.
I TRY to not see posts as bits of content fodder, but as personal expressions someone has invested time in. I HATE the term "shit post" and I never use it. I also sidestep people who do, ever so politely. Cos when we see Hive as an overflow of a sovereign, sentient, feeling PERSON somewhere else on this planet, we have come to grasp its true value and its power. I wouldn't be rude about your tasteless clothing if I met you in the street, and would find something nice to say about your hair, your smile or your latest accomplishment instead. And so it is with commenting & post engagement.
I passionately believe in the strength of the whole. I also KNOW as a long-time entrepreneur of a physical business here in Thailand, that we don't grow by always reinforcing only our strengths. We grow the most, and become invincible, when we support & develop the weakest 10%. And encourage, mentor, model and help them to GROW. And we can START doing that by engaging with them!
Using a simple TOOL for engagement really helps - be it the notifications in PeakD, Discord or an app like http://engage.hivechain.app
Please check your mentions everyday!!
It is SO discouraging as a curator when someone mentions you to try and engage you in a chat somewhere, and you don't respond cos you don't see it. It's also deeply discouraging to a curator wo takes TIME to feature your blog or video in a curated piece - maybe even makes you a post beneficiary - and you don't see it cos you NEVER check your mentions.
I have really started to see my Hive account grow through the commitment to these simple strategies. I also liberally dish out the ENGAGE coinn, in addition to an upvoted comment. My last three blogs are all showing 20+ comments.
I'd encourage you to treat post engagement at the light weights you work everyday at the gym, which strengthen and enable with the long term payout of feeling good, health and longevity. When you SEE people as individuals and engage with them, Hive becomes meaningful beyond clicking for monetary profit; and we learn to SEE eath other by getting to KNOW one another.
This post is in response to the Engagement Intiative created by @theycallmedan - suggested by @garybilbao and funneled though @eddiespino. Together We Can.
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Great example of gym and it's benefits with regards to engagement.
I agree with the pointers you mentioned, writing Thousands of words and not engaging will also result in something you mentioned about autovote.
I always feel your blogs leads me to write something and get noticed and thats something I always enjoy.
Happy to have explored another blog from you and enjoyed reading the content.
Good day to you and all your readers 🙂
High praise indeed! blush and thank you!!
Blogging is actually a commitment we make to being great observors of ourselves, and of life. It takes a shift of mindset and the feedback like this is simply waonderful. You have certainly encouraged me and made my Thursday morning sparkle. Apologies for the lag in repsonding - when I publish today's blog a little later, you will grasp my AWOL of the last 36 hours.
Appreciating you showing up!!
!ENGAGE 25
I use to compete a lot when Asher initially started the engagement leagues with competition for number of comments, but that somehow got reduced in later days.. Happy to spend little more time now on reading others blogs and provide some meaningful feedback whatever I could.
I will certainly check your blog later today 🙂
Good day to you my friend.
ENGAGEtokens.You have created a very discipline engaging habit for yourself which is great to have. Engaging here is vital, it is fun, for me without comments on post makes it boring. Some tips I have learn from this post, thanks for sharing
Everything we "get good at" starts out as a discipline - whether that be an invigorating 1km swim at 6am or some fabulous trail climbing in the Himalayas. All of it starts out a bit "grunty" and then becomes first a habit, then (almost) effortless and then, finally, a pleasure. One has to grasp that about anything new and give oneself the space to work through those processes without giving up.
Glad you found some useful tips!
!ENGAGE 15
Some Engage tokens my way thanks to you! ☺
ENGAGEtokens.Dearest Marike,
it is always a pleasure to read your comments written with the heart (and seeing me as an individual): your commentary action is for me a great example to replicate!
A little bit I recognize the imprinting at the times of @kenistyles and the @smg group: can we say that we had a great school, or were you already a teacher? 😉
Thanks for this great post: reblogged with joy!
!BEER 🍻 !tip and a huge hug! 🤗
This comment gave me such a mostalgic "aaawww....!" feeling!! YES!!! We do both have a lot of our good foundations from @kenistyles and the @smg group!! It was Keni who said there is no such thing as a shit post, ever, and that it was a huge indulgence of ego to assume ourselves better than another. His teachings have served me well. I miss him and hope he returns to Hiving!
And yes, I DO occassionally deliberately reply to your many automated responses, simply to recognize YOU and the effort it takes to even put someone on auto-tip. LOL. All that beer... 🍺😆
Much love to you, my dear @amico - the Maldives one day is still on my radar!
!ENGAGE 25
It seems to me that Venice is also on your radar or am I wrong? 🙄
When you'll come to Italy, let me know because I will be very pleased to meet you in person!
A huge hug! 😘
!tip & !BEER
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BEER.Hey @artemislives, here is a little bit of
BEERfrom @amico for you. Enjoy it!Learn how to earn FREE BEER each day by staking your
BEER.🎁 Hi @artemislives! You have received 0.109 HIVE tip from @amico!
@amico wrote lately about: Are Running And Yoga Practice Compatible? 🇮🇹 Correre E Praticare Yoga Sono Attività Compatibili? Feel free to follow @amico if you like it :)
Sending tips with @tipU - how to guide.
ENGAGEtokens.Fabulous post which outlines a clear strategy for 'pulling weight' on HIVE! You are a gem. I'll be checking in around tea time for a few.. and gosh yes people, CHECK YOUR MENTIONS!
Thanks for the tweet!! 😍 And I learned so much with and from you!! It IS about having a system, and doing it daily, in small chunks. Check your mentions? Let me just say it again: CHECK YOUR FREAKIN MENTIONS!!! 😆
Hope your last minute packing and prep go/went well and that you have fun & mind-heart-opening travels.
!ENGAGE 15
Oh my god, yeah I've been shitty on checking the mentions!! I dont know why, I think it's because I'm using Ecency and it just doesn't do it for me as intuitively as PEAKD> xx
Still packing, ugh, still packing. Ridiculous. What happens to 'chuck the beers in the back and go' days?
ENGAGEtokens.This is all good advice and all true. Alas, the day has only 24 hours. Engagement with social media inevitably goes at the expense of engaging with the real world. I find it difficult to strike a healthy balance.
If you set up your apps etc well, you can do a remarkable amount of Hiving in the spaces - I'm a solo mom and also run a physical business with products and staff 😆 - I HEAR YOU about the challenge of striking a healthy balance!!! Nevertheless, engagement is foundational to success on Hive and one can, as I said, do a lot if you set up your apps etc well and use regular, small windows of time throughout each day. It is more of a mindset than a chore.
Thanks for engaging. 😆
!ENGAGE 15
Can't do that. The day is when life happens. This may be hard to understand for a younger person, but I use my phone for talking and the occasional navigation. I check my Hive in the morning, on my laptop over coffee, that's it. Apps? Don't have 'em, don't want 'em. That limited engagement is why I'm not all that successful on Hive even after years, but that's all I can muster.
If you can do that and have digital time left over, more power to you! However, multitasking is a myth, and doing a lot of that will burn you out faster.
I used to be in real estate way back when we used pagers and had those new "cell phones". Part of my success was, the pager and cell phone were OFF when I was with buyers, and people took notice. "My time is your time" was my slogan, and word got around. At the same time, people knew that they could reliably reach me between 8:00 and 11:00 A.M. 6 days a week, and they appreciated that, too. Also, my office used an old-fashioned busy signal, not hell-on-hold.
For minor customer service (e.g. after sale stuff like inspections and title work) I had an unlicensed assistant long before it was fashionable. People will appreciate your time, if you appreciate theirs, and you give them your undivided attention during whichever small slice they can get from you.
I'm retired now, but I would do the same again, with some modern adjustments for the digital world. I bet it would be even more efficient than it was back then.
Anyway, I'm not arguing those points with you, just trying to explain a different philosophy. Everybody must manage their life as they see fit and, of course, I understand your mileage may vary.
Have a wonderful day and take a breather once in a while.
I'm not a very "younger" person at all, and just live in a vastly different way to western, american-english. Living in Thailand, one adapts one's productivity windows to various global timezones. "Day" for work and "night" for rest are as strange a concept as "weekend". Life is very different in other places.
And yes, focus is key. I'm NOT an advocate of multi-tasking at all. But I DO suggest many short bursts of hive in "spaces" throughout the day can really boost your engagement and productivity. A cognisitve behavioural psychologist would call that "chunking behaviour." It works.
Retirement? LOL. Not an idea I engage with at all, nor anything I ever plan to do. But then I own my passion-project-business and it's a pleasure almost every day.
!ENGAGE 25
ENGAGEtokens.ENGAGEtokens.This is a good way to start the day
With some motivation to continue on the hive blockchain despite low upvotes and little visibility.
But by engaging more..., The future has rewarding benefits.
The outside world having little or no knowledge of the blockchain world or even a social one makes it hard to want to push further.
Very soon. The world will be familiar with blockchain and it's benefit
Good morning
Good morning from Thailand, Imoh!! Gosh - you must be up early!! 😆
Welcome to Hive and CONGRATS on starting out so well!! I literally went to see who you were (seeing from your rep score that you're very new) and LOVED your intro post. You have a killer and very infectious smile!!
Slowly the word blockchain is becoming understood, and people are getting TIRED of endless social media for no real value.
Please feel free to connect anytime if you need. Following you and was pleased to see someone else has already delegated the HP you need to post easily. I love that.
!ENGAGE 25
ENGAGEtokens.🎁 Hi @artemislives! You have received 0.109 HIVE tip from @amico!
@amico wrote lately about: Are Running And Yoga Practice Compatible? 🇮🇹 Correre E Praticare Yoga Sono Attività Compatibili? Feel free to follow @amico if you like it :)
Sending tips with @tipU - how to guide.
View or trade
BEER.Hey @artemislives, here is a little bit of
BEERfrom @amico for you. Enjoy it!Learn how to earn FREE BEER each day by staking your
BEER.I think a lot of people do come to Hive looking for money, but if they stay.. they stay for what you say... for a chance to be heard and to express themselves.
The proposals that you mention are very interesting, it would help me a lot to set amounts of comments... in my case set a maximum, because i spend hours and hours reading here in Hive and i forget about my personal life, it is addictive.
Thank you very much for your participation, but you missed the tags #HIVE, #HiveComments, #posh on twitter and #hivecomments on your blog.
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