Community: What I Love About Steem

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I don't exactly remember when I first heard of @thealliance. I know it was fairly early on in my days on Steem, back in 2017.

People think the blockchain is like the wild west now? Well, nowadays this place is civilised compared to what it was like back then. I don't even think people were using Discord back then.

It was certainly on my radar though. I was too shy to think about joining a community. There's a backstory there... an origin story, if you will.

Anyway. I went away for a while, and then came back and decided to start a new account (this one). I knew that there was something special happening on Steem that I definitely wanted to be part of, even though crypto market had collapsed, and the long, dark crypto-winter had begun.

This "Alliance" mob kept showing up on my feed; probably because I happened to be following folk who were part of it. I think I remember clicking on a link to the Discord server, to find myself in some kind of 'welcome room' where I was given the guidelines for being a member. I don't even remember what they were, but I kinda let it slide, thinking.... "naaahhhh, this place isn't for me."

But as I went on I realised that the community aspect of Steem was really, really important. Not just for me personally, but what sets this entire eco-system apart from other social media platforms.

I think I then saw another post inviting folk to come be part of the Alliance, and I thought, "what the heck" and clicked on the link. This time, I stuck it through. I delegated some SP, and found myself in a Discord server that I describe to others like 'being in someone's living room'.

When I was in there, I realised I 'recognised' a whole heap of folk from their posts, and from participating in other Discord servers such as the Steemit Ramble, FreedomTribe, and PAL. This was an incredibly friendly and inviting space (like all the others), but a bit more intimate. And it was fun.

I got to know @enginewitty around the time of HF20 when I put the call out for witnesses to come to the Natural Medicine server and answer questions to a bunch of scared, tech-illiterate, herb-growing hippies who had no idea what the heck was going on. He came in as a witness and was keeping us all up-to-date on what was happening. It was very re-assuring.

But also, I found people like @snook, whose infectious laughter always makes me smile. The forthright witness and fellow Aussie @jackmiller and his dry ANZ humour, which always makes me feel at home amongst all the northerners. The poetess/goddess @katrina-ariel who would sometimes start playing guitar on voice chat. Then there is @saffisara and her cheery Scandinavian banter, @thehive and his British wit, and @sgt-dan who is like a wise old uncle. I could go one, but then I might get castigated for dropping links in the post....

The structure of the community seems to have changed over the last few months, which is cool. It is still the same warm, inviting living room where folk hang out and talk about nothing in particular. Just folk gathered together and enjoying each other's company. Unfortunately, I'm usually awake when they're not, and vice versa. But it's still a great place to hang out with a great bunch of people.

I think the thing I like about is (as previously mentioned) is the intimacy of the community. And there isn't the vibe of farming for upvotes, like in other spaces I have been in.

Anyway, that's my story of how I'm part of @thealliance. It's human. And genuine. And awesome.

It's a community.

I feel honoured to be part of it. Hope y'all come and hang out too.

😊🙏🏽☯️

_{@thealliance is set as 50% Benficiary for the rewards of this post.}

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