Heroes of Steemit: Witness Edition

This post is an entry to a contest hosted by @apolymask of @ifc

Who do you think are a few of the biggest heroes on Steemit in regards to trying help others and the platform in general to do better and succeed?
And why do you think they are heroes?

It is my personal belief that there are many Steemians who are helping others and building up the platform. I don't think it is possible for me to sum them up in one post. Instead, I will attempt to highlight a few individuals who have done incredible things to change the lives of people around them.

Here are my top 3, in no specific order, along with an honorable mention at the end.

1. @SirCork

He may be brash. He may be hot-headed. One thing for sure is that he cares. Along with @malos10, their @YouAreHOPE have changed thousands of people's lives around the globe. What many Steemians would consider small amounts of income mean differently to other less fortunate regions in the world.

Don't believe me? Just go visit any of their profiles and you will see the deeds they have done for their fellow human beings. @malos10, with members from his community, have already made an impact around their homes.

The man is also one of the most interactive Witnesses I have encountered. He actually converses with you. That is one of the primary reasons why I stuck around @SteemStarNetwork to listen to its programs. The drama is a plus, of course.

The other night, he told me about his tales of living in a cabin without electricity for years, with photos, over Discord. This man is a tough mofo. He knows what hardship is, and he will not be afraid to call out someone for being a wimp.

_{The @YouAreHope logo.}

2. @DanielSaori

He was originally known for promoting community engagement by hosting comment contests. Participants were encouraged to post high quality and unique comments on an author's post he's chosen. Most people probably have never heard of him as a Witness, but his latest project had huge implications for Steemians blockchain-wide.

Fast forward to @dustsweeper, the bot that helps you to claim rewards you would otherwise lose because the current algorithms do not allow you to claim rewards less than $0.02; hence, "dust". Partnering with @davemccoy, @danielsaori created a mean for you to use your own SBD, with a little matching contribution from the bot, to flush out value for your gains.

_{Tell me you can see @charisma777's signature on the work.}

3. @TheMarkyMark

This guy does a lot more than people realize. Aside from having a blacklist for his bot and running several nodes, he has done some venerable deeds on the blockchain.

Recently, he assisted in de-delegation of the Steemit Defence Doofus League by submitting a pull request after @steemitblog made a timely post about handling abusive accounts. No more daily 15+ mosquito downvotes against abuse fighters!

On a more individual level, he made sure the long-time plagiarist, @florian.art, no longer benefited off the artworks of @nosoart. The entire process could be found on the post about death of a plagiarist. Some would have only reported the plagiarist to various abuse fighting groups and flagged the contents, but @themarkymark went the extra mile to bring the original author to Steemit!

_{@anthonyadavisii had a great idea and @overkillcoin made it better!}

Honorable Mention: @Yensesa

@Yensesa is an Ghanaian exchange, as well as a Steem Witness, that uses Steem/SBD to fiat (in this case, Cedis) trading pairs. This is significant so many Africans because they would pay less exchange fees to cash out their earnings on Steemit.

The long-term goal of this Witness is to help people in that area to become financially stable enough so they can resist tyrannical governments that often rise in the region. I think it is a noble goal and will be watching the progress as it unfolds.

Who are your Steemian heroes?

Comment below and make sure to check out the @ifc community as well as the contests hosted by them. Their Discord can be found here.