Welcome to Steemit, you have finally made an account and ready to start with your awesome journey in Steemit. You may have been joined Steemit for a variety of reasons like an artist looking for a place to share their art both traditional or digital. Maybe you are a photographer wanting to put up their photos and images so that people can appreciate it, a travel blogger who wants to share their adventures and exotic locales they went to. A writer looking for a platform to share their stories, poems, and writing, a musician wanting to expose more people to their music, or maybe someone who just wants a place to write their thoughts.
Maybe you are one of those housewives or househusbands that went to google and typed home-based income and Steemit came up and then you typed "What is Steemit?" and you are now reading my blog that trended at one point and got a lot of views.
It does not matter what was your reason on why you joined Steemit but I am glad that you did. Your passion led you here and I warmly welcome you! Most likely one of the helpful @welcomewagon or @newbieresteemday or the @greetersguild has found your #introduceyourself post if you made it. If not then this is a good opportunity for you to learn a lot of useful stuff to equip you on your journey.
What is Steemit?
If you asked me 6 months ago when I first started my answer would be it is a website that you can put whatever content you want and get paid for it when people like it. This is most of the answers that you will get from people who invite people in the platform.
Some would say it is like Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, Youtube and Twitch where you upload content and get paid. Well in a way it is but is more than that because Steemit is just one of the condensers that are built on top of the Steem Blockchain. I know I lost you in condenser right. What language are these people speaking?!!! There are a lot of seemingly technical terms that you will encounter and I had the same feeling months ago when I started reading, listening and discussing with various people and learning, endless learning as there is always something new coming up.
So Condensers are applications or portals that you use to connect to the Steem Blockchain and create posts that focus on your passions.
Here are some of the condensers
- Steemit - this is your blogging platform similar to blogspot or Wordpress
- Busy.org - another blogging platform but with a more Facebook-like interface
- Utopian.io - platform for coders, designers and QAs to be able to submit open source platform bug hunting, creation and how tos. Github interface needed.
- Esteem App - A mobile version of Steem where you can download it in your IOS or Android phone
- Steepshot - An Instagram-like version of Steem for Photographers
- Zappl - A Twitter-like interface for short posts
- Dtube - Youtube-like platform where you can upload your videos
- Dlive - A Twitch or Periscope like platform for live streams and videos
- Dmania - a place where you can upload memes like 9gag
- Dbooks - You can create books here and publish and add chapters later on similar to Wattpad
- Parley.io - A Reddit-like interface where you can start conversations with links to articles
- Steemgigs.org - A Fiverr and Upwork-like interface where people can post their gigs or skills and other people to find these skills and hire them
There are a lot more being developed every day so the possibilities are endless!
I have written a great first-week guide in my 90 days in Steemit and all the things that I learned | Part 1 which has more information on how to do a killer #introduceyourself, formatting and markdown guidelines for beginners, more info on the condensers and the economics of Steem,
Steemit, Steem, and rewards
If you are a person that gets bored with lots of text, you can skip to the video of @ned, founder and CEO of Steemit Inc explain what Steemit is, what Steem is and how people are rewarded as well as a bonus on Smart Media Tokens. You can skip to the 45-minute mark.
Okay so you have some understanding of what condensers are and for now you go with Steemit as your platform. Steemit is a decentralized blogging and social media platform that runs on the Steem Blockchain. It has the first-mover advantage of being this kind of platform that is decentralized and rewards people with cryptocurrency called Steem and Steem Backed Dollars. These cryptocurrencies can be converted to fiat money which means it has value and use.
So Steem is the blockchain that has the Cryptocurrency model, Content Management System which handles the content, comments, account names and lastly the reward system.
So the process is you create content in the form of posts, stores it in the blockchain that is maintained by 21 nodes called witness nodes which makes it decentralized because no one node controls everything as they work on a consensus model of maintaining the blockchain the same. It is spread to over 127 active witnesses currently that has a copy of the whole blockchain. These witnesses are elected and need to maintain not losing blocks.
For more information on witnesses, you can read my guide This Redfish understanding of Witnesses and why they are important
What are Steem witnesses?
The Steem blockchain requires a set of people to create blocks and uses a consensus mechanism called delegated proof of stake, or DPOS. The community elects 'witnesses' to act as the network's block producers and governance body. There are 20 full-time witnesses, producing a block every 63-second round. A 21st position is shared by the backup witnesses, who are scheduled proportionally to the amount of stake-weighted community approval they have. Witnesses are compensated with Steem Power for each block they create.
A post is active for 7 days and can receive value by being upvoted by people with accounts and the value is dependent on how much Steem Power they have. The bigger the SP, the higher the value which is in line with Delegated Proof of Stake model that Steem runs on.
On the 7th day, all posts for that period will be computed all together in the reward pool. So all upvotes, downvotes and the value of posts will be checked and computed by an algorithm used by the Steem Blockchain and automatically rewards individual users a piece of the entire pool according to they earned for that post.
Also on the 7th day of a post it will not be made editable so a copy of that post is saved forever in the blockchain. This makes people accountable, transparent and responsible for their content.
Speaking of content you need to make sure you don't have copyrighted or plagiarized content. That is something that is frowned on here and may get you downvoted. You can read more about that in this great post Let's talk about: Copyright
Great so I hope you have a better understanding of how Steem works and well at least you have compared to me 6 months ago and so now you are making kick-ass content and maybe have received an upvote from Curie or OCD and been featured in their author spotlight! Wow I am impressed. It took me 2 months before I got my first OCD vote as well as a Curie vote.
Exceptional Content
You might be wondering who they are. They are both major curation guilds that look for exceptional content in Steem. So they check and vote for posts that are about art, photography, literature, games, psychology, self help, motivation, dance, music and even videos or films.
They feature some of the most awesome content out there and just some of the things they found blew me away. Just like this film by @derangedvisions about PTSD.
When Lynn and I decided to make this documentary of his life, we wanted it to be a story of courage and hope for anyone suffering from Post Traumatic Stress, not only those in the military and veteran community. PTSD does not discriminate and it can affect anyone who has suffered through a traumatic experience and the symptoms can be identical. If you are a family member of someone who has PTSD, this film can help you to understand what your loved one is going through by giving you insight on what they are feeling on the inside but are too scared to tell you. Many with PTSD do not want to burden others with their problems, so we bottle it in until it has reached a point where we can no longer do that and then suicide seems like our only option. Lynn and I want to prevent it from reaching that point with this film.
My first feature film is now LIVE!! War-torn: The Story of "Dobie" Gillies
The film is 56 minutes but worth each minute!
How about photography well just take a look at some of the shots done by @derangedvision on his African Safari series.
The Safari Adventure Continues - African Stories entry #5
Interested in Travel how about @wanderingdanish "No really, you should visit some day.." My favourite spots - ch 1
@eonwarped snowy adventure in Iceland Geyser Fun (Day 2) is a great read.
How about visiting the happiest place in the world by @wanderlass Feeling Like a Kid Again at Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea
Music your thing Steemit's got you covered with these awesome artists:
Steemit Open Mic Week 77 - Silence (Waves of Life) - naTHAN Kaye (Original Song)
Friends - Original Music by @darrenclaxton- Exclusively for @Dsound & @Steemit
You might be thinking they are traveling all over the world, creating music and films that only long content is appreciated well its not the length that matters it is how you use it and when you imbibe it with passion and emotions it get supercharged and you touch other people's lives.
Just look at this post by @olaivart
"Have you eaten?"
"What do you want to eat?"
"Let's take a nap. I know you are tired."
"You can do it. I am always proud of you."
"I ate something good. You might like it, so I bought one for you."
"I trust you."
"Please stop over thinking."
"Will you please sing a song for me?"
"I miss your voice."
"I just want to see you."
As you can see Steemit is a place of myriad interested and people from all over the world that share their hopes, their dreams, their travels, their music, their art, and words. In this place, they can be the most awesome version of themselves.
You might be thinking that you are not good enough. That you are no writer, nor singer, or have interesting lives like the people I featured but that is where you are wrong. For Steemit is a place where you can be You.
In the words of @surpassinggoogle, a famous Steemian here :
With ULOGS, we took "removing barriers to entry" especially with regards to content-creation, to newer heights. Note that ULOG also applies the un(dis)talented paradigm; "flaws allowed" but in this case, more like "flaws from being humans"; moreso, than "flaws with regards to talent".
Everyone has something to offer is what he always says and this is most apparent in #ulog as we present ourselves as celebrities and fellow uloggers our fans.
Write about things that happened to you today, something that you learned, your dreams and hopes. Tell us about what you intend to do as a resolution to something. Hold contests and build communities and your advocacy. We will be here to listen and be your fans.
Speaking of Community and Fans that is an excellent next thing to talk about
Communities
No other platform I have been in has been able to be on par with the community spirit that I have seen in Steemit. In here I have truly become a global citizen where I am able to connect and build relationships with different people all over the world.
A place where I talk to Portuguese, Venezuelans, Americans, Spanish, Nigerians, Chinese, Malaysians, Mexicans, French, and other races that I would never have the capacity to talk in other platforms.
So choosing a community is not just a way for you to connect to people all over the world but also a great way to understand and build relationships with them.
Most people start with local communities and groups. Then move to bigger international communities run by witnesses and other community-minded people.
I have listed some communities in a guide that I did 3 months ago where I gave my thoughts in joining communities. You can read my post The Importance of Communities | Part of the 90 Day Learnings in Steemit
I want to stress a couple of communities that I am active with and which you can directly contact me for any help that you need.
Promo-mentors
This is my home. I function as a Team Communicator here which means I welcome people, answer people's questions, look over profiles and provide whatever is needed to be done.
We are a community that aims to get Steem to the masses by mentoring new Steemians, support projects, and initiatives that add value to the platform. Our discord server is a place where enthusiastic Steemians can connect with each other and collaborate on projects. Essentially, we are individual dreamers who come together to create something awesome using the Steem blockchain!
What sets us apart are mentors from OCD and Curie that provides one on one mentoring per post during the times that they open their workshop. They will provide you with the necessary feedback to level up your post and support projects. They can also submit your post to Curie and OCD!
If you want to know more about the @promo-mentors and what we do click on this link Introducing Promo-Mentors
There are other awesome communities like @thesteemengine, @thewritersblock, @theisleofwrite, @newbieresteemday, @greetersguild, @asapers, @helpie, @thealliance, @steemgigs, and @youarehope.
Steemit is part of a social network and being social means that you would want to be a part of like-minded people in communities so look for one that fits you.
Speaking of You Are H.O.P.E., this thing is just amazing and this is why I like being in Steemit. Here you are with Steem Power that you have 100% each day and that you can upvote a post and make a difference in someone's life half a world away.
I immediately love the idea of You Are H.O.P.E as it stands for Help, Opportunity, Purpose, Empowerment.
Look at its latest project I collected 50 pair of shoes to be given to people in need who was made by @malos10 who is part of You Are H.O.P.E.
The people who brought me shoes were rewarded with 200 thousand bsf for each pair (1 $ at that time). At that time the minimum monthly salary was 800 thousand bsf. So this really was a very good monetary help for them; this has bailed out more than one person. Some people brought me up to 5 and 8 pairs. (WIN WIN SCENARIO)
Doing this, I managed to collect 50 pairs of shoes! and I'm waiting for 10 more to be given!
With the rewards from the post and donations from You Are H.O.P.E. it was possible to provide 50 shoes and give money to those that sold their shoes. Like Malos10 said it is Win-Win!
You might say that this because it is an organization so its easy for them to make a difference well let me give you another example of a life- changing thing that can be done in Steemit.
Want To Help? Donate To Free A Man From His Pain, Help Love Story End Without Pain by @davemccoy
I don't want him to wait
So here is what I plan on doing. And if any of you want to help, then I'm sure Brian and Lynn would also appreciate it.
I am going to write this post and see how much we can raise from steemit in either upvotes or outright donations of steem/sbds. Whatever I receive from the post and donations will be converted by me into usd's (up to the US$150) and be sent to him via paypal tonight. Anything over the $150 will be send directly to Brian in the form it is received.
I want him to have the medicines he needs now. To me every day is important!
This was one person, who sent a help post and because he is someone that is trusted by the platform people responded to it.
That is the power of Steemit. When passion, technical skills, and talent, plus being able to engage and network all come together then something awesome can happen.
Before I get you so excited and start thinking of Lambos and mooning let me tell you it is not easy. There will be times that you will feel that you are not getting anywhere or that you don't have an audience and it happens but you just have to be persistent and keep Steeming.
Most importantly you have to be you. Unlock the talents that you have long hidden away, learn new ones as you get better at your craft, connect with like-minded people and be the most awesome version of you. It can happen, just look at me and I am untalented, I just engage really well with people.
Build your dreams and help the people around you. We are better together.
Once again welcome to Steemit.
Click here for your Mannabase Income
Click here for your Kryptonia access for Superior Coins
Thank you for being one of the hardworking moderator at https://SteemChat.com community.
Cheers for now.
@Yehey
Thank you as well for a great community that you build for minnows and redfishes like me!
Whoa
You've definitely put a lot of time into this man. I'm surely gonna use this post as a reference for any newbie who needs help starting up.
You deserve the win by the way.
hahaha I was too late when I submitted my entry!
But it is okay at least this will be of some use with communities. It could be a welcome kit used for new Steemians.
This is really helpful especially to those newbies out there including me. I'll resteem this post. Thanks for this @maverickinvictus
Thanks! It is intended for newbies! A way to condense and share all the things that I have learned so far and to provide people a better chance.
I'll also sare this to my steemian friends. Thanks.
WOW – this is a wonderfully thorough introduction to Steemit, covering so much of its multi-layered rabbit-hole nature. We really do need more posts like this.
I haven't written a an education, Steemit-centered post since the end of my very first week. You've inspired me to start thinking about creating one for my 6 month anniversary – comin' up soon!
I tried to be as thorough and provide so many layers of Steemit and I think is a good way of covering the many aspects that people need to learn. And I used a lot of my past guides hahaha.
Congratulations and indeed write one!! We all need to add to the knowledgebase of Steemit!
I loved this post! It explains Steemit very well, it has a ton of informatiom and it is motivational. Steemit is tough but very worth it :)
Thank you so much and I wanted to include some of the things that I hope is important and should be known by people so that it gives them a better chance.
I also believe it that Steemit is very tough but together we can do it and it will be so amazing!!!!
What a massively fantastic post! You put a lot of effort into this. I hope newbies see it, as there is so much to learn and you've made a wonderful resource! Thank you for all you do. 💖
Yes it is! It was a labour of huge live for the platform that changed my life.
If I can share some of the knowledge that I have been able to get from the 6 months that I have been here then I am all for it.
Pay it forward and have more successful Steemians.
This is a great starter post for people that are just trying to learn about Steemit. You did a really good job of compiling everything together in a quick easy to read format. I just discovered Musing.io today from another writer on Steemit and it has the potential to be another cool condenser.
Ooohh I have never heard about musing.io I'll check that out later!
Thanks it was quite a long post but I wanted it to have everything that I think is important to know.
No problem! You did a great job!
I didn't know steemit does have a lot of other condensers. I only knew about busy, esteem and dtube. I am glad to have read about all these in your post. Thanks for sharing, it does makes steeming more interesting. Thank you sir Mav!
yeah there are so many things that can be done in Steem! That is why we are able to unlock and be the best versions of ourselves.
Yeah, it just keeps on evolving. I especially like steemgigs as there are just so much to explore. And with the untalented, the hesitation to showcase what i could write about is no longer an issue. I can just be me.
This is an epic post covering just about everything a newbie needs to know about Steemit!
Amazing! Well done!
I’ll be directing newbies that I introduce Steemit to right here to save me hours of explanations.
Thanks mate!
I had to put two of my favorite artists in Steemit and make people see how awesome music in Steemit is! The guide was just an excuse to put awesome content hahaha
Much obliged mate if you can use my guide hahaha.
Aaaaaw. You’re a wonderful being!
Thanks so much for your belief in my music and mission and the support you give.
Blessings and smiles
in joyNathanNK
We just met and you truly are pro-good. Thanks for this excellent info. Happy to have found you in Discord too, @maverickinvictus. Great work indeed!
If you need crowdfunding for your projects, join Fundition and FunditionPH.
Thank you so much Tim and I think it was a great timing bumping into each other in Steemgigs.
No prob. DM me anytime you need anything.
I'm guessing this is an entry to Ashers competition? You did a really great job.....extensive. Plus, I found it on the trending page :) Congrats mate :)
Thank you kindly! Yes it was for Asher's but I was late in the submission but still it was great writing this and hopefully of some use to newbies.
Indeed it is. Always great to meet good folks. Cheers
Congratulations! This post has been chosen as one of the daily Whistle Stops for The STEEM Engine!
You can see your post's place along the track here: The Daily Whistle Stops, Issue #138 (5/18/18)
The STEEM Engine is an initiative dedicated to promoting meaningful engagement across Steemit. Find out more about us and join us today.
Thanks as always TheSteemEngine for featuring my post as it is a wonderful way to welcome new people.
thank you. i needed this post to learn about what steemit really is. i just opened my email and got a confirmation, finally. yey! I am here!
Yey congratulations and good to see you finally here in Steemit!!!!
Enjoy the platform, learn new things and be the most awesome version of you here!!
Everybody already said what I was thinking so I can't add much, well done amigo.
Thank you Engine! I appreciate all the comments and love received
This is such a "feel good" post @maverickinvictus!! And it's exactly what I would expect from you! I helped read through Asher's post today and how I wish this one had been there then !
Thank you also for including Dave's post about Brian and I; that will forever be ingrained in my memory of such a beautiful moment that really shows what this platform is capable of!
I've also opened on another tab (the reason I never get off my laptop haha) the information on @promo-mentors. It is something that sounds right up my alley.
As always, thanks for a great post Mav! Enjoy your day ;)
Oh Lynn I openly wept when I saw Dave do that. He is just an amazing man and is one of the most amazing things that I have seen in the platform! How could I not include it????!!
Speaking of the promo-mentors I was hoping to get a collaboration between promo-mentors, asapers and newbieresteemday.
The way we are made we want to be a community for communities that help mentor people, support projects and have project shows they can present and we can send SBDs. I hope we can talk about it soon!
I too openly wept...on and off for the entire day I think, and a bit the next as well. And I'm not kidding :)
I think it's something worth talking about for sure, and you might want to include greetersguild in that one too. I think @terminallyill would be interested also.
I still have the damn tab open and have skimmed it but haven't had a chance to give it a good go-over yet! The never-ending story here :)
Inspiring...., reading this warmed my heart. You just got a special spot in my heart @maverickinvictus after reading this post of yours, I felt every word. This truly came from your heart, well done.
Thank you so much Joshua! Your kind words really warmed my heart and indeed this is something of a labor of love and community.
We need to make the platform better for new Steemians, they are the lifeblood of the system.
Absolutely, I couldn't agree more
So true. There are really time you feel as if you don't have any audience at all and might be thinking of giving up. But yes, we should just be persistent. :) I hope I would also get that curie or OCD votes one day. HAHA :D
Yes persistence is the key! Join the promo mentors and we will help you level up your posts because our mentors are from OCD and Curie :)
https://discord.gg/PKM6q8
You are one of the 3 winners of the #teamgood Competition to get to know your neighbors.... <3
Thank you BA! you are a wonderful neighbor indeed!
You know, this is one of the better posts on Steemit I have seen. In fact it may be the best. I'm impressed. I'm going to bring it to the attention of some newbies and am going to resteem. There are some things I'm going to delve into more deeply too from this post. Blessings and thanks.
Awww you are too kind! There were a lot more better posts but this was mine and I am proud of it.
Thank you for thinking of having it resteemed and hope it will be of some use to some newbies :)
What an incredible blog post man! Absolutely fantastic! You must of spent some hours creating it. I guess I take hours creating my music to share too, then make a post with a short story along with the lyrics. It doesn't seem like a quantitive post, but the hours and soul I put into that song is extraordinary!
Thanks again for inserting me into your post!
It's brilliant mate!
Cheers
Darren
Thank you Darren! Yeah it took a couple of hours and was a labor of love :)
It is my pleasure because you are one of my favorite artist on the platform and we always love it when you share your music.
Thank you for this
your post has really answered some of my questions and I am glad to be here, once again.
Hey no problem at all and this is why I wrote it so that I can help new people and make them feel that Steemit is an awesome place.
I can't miss out on the opportunity to complete your article with more insight and tips to gain a basic income for those total newbies. Get them out of the dreaded 0.x$ post rewards.
Check it out
This article was a monster post, had something for every reader!
I am a new Steemit Ambassador so it's probable that I will send newbies your way :D
Thanks for documenting!
Ohhh congratulations for being a Steem Ambassador! Definitely send them our way in the promo-mentors and we would be more than to help them and hopefully retain them!
We need more retention.
Thank you Mav
I expected a good one and wasn't disappointed. So sorry I'd closed the entries - I had to wait for a lull, write a post, tell people, and get something out ready for a push.
This is a great reference for beginners and experienced Steemians, sorry again, and thank you for taking part!
Just as I posted It I saw a notification of the winners and
It is okay Asher it was my fault for not getting there at the proper time at least I published one and hopefully will be of help :)
awwww Mav!!!
You got a 1.53% upvote from @postpromoter courtesy of @maverickinvictus!
Want to promote your posts too? Check out the Steem Bot Tracker website for more info. If you would like to support the development of @postpromoter and the bot tracker please vote for @yabapmatt for witness!