I was going to write this post on Sunday and things got a bit busy for me. Then again yesterday. Sunday evening @snook messaged me. She asked me if we could go on @dlive for 30 minutes to talk about my 2 year Steemiversary. I agreed and we arranged when.

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Seems I was assuming @snook wanted to do an interview of some sort. Silly me. She had in mind a party on the Steemit Ramble discord which was streamed onto @dlive. The 30 minutes was @snook time and for the rest of us, it was about two hours recorded and several others with the recording off.

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Snook edited the recording to get some cool outtakes of the fun:

Thank you to everyone who took part. It was unexpected and great fun.

So, now, I’ll write what I had planned.

It was two years ago on August 5th when I fell into a rabbit hole some where on the web and landed on the Steemit website. I remember looking around rather sceptically at the posts and the amounts displayed on them. I had heard of bitcoin, hadn’t heard of other cryptocurrencies at the time. I was about to enter a whole new world.

The timing was interesting for me. I’d recently decided that I was going to spend more time writing and working toward developing myself as a writer. It was something I had wanted to do for a long time. Now, here was this new site that I could write what I wanted on it and earn. I wasn’t actually sure the ‘money’ was real but what the hell, I could write and see if people liked what I wrote.

The Early Posts

I wrote an introduction post. That was likely the worst idea I ever had, even though it is the usual way to come onto the platform. I don’t usually want to talk about myself. So, writing an introduction post is really tough to do. Says the woman who is currently writing about herself two years later.

The post earned about 50 cents. In what was then a sea of $5 and up posts, that was not a very strong start. Next I wrote a post about a local man who was a WW1 recipient of the three highest military decorations. I put the post up and for the first few hours there was nothing. Then I rewrote the first paragraph. I led off with the fact that I had known this man.

Within minutes of hitting post again, the votes started coming in. Among them was a very healthy vote from @berniesanders. In those days the voting weight was different and the payout period was 24 hours with a secondary period after 30 days. The bulk of earnings took place in those 24 hours. That post earned $112.

The Early Rise and Fall of Steem

Now, the platform really had my attention. The value of STEEM was up over $4 and the talk in posts seemed to be it would keep rising. Sound familiar? About late August that initial rise hit its peak and the gradual decline began. It would eventually hit a low of seven cents per share.

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By then I’d learned more about cryptocurrency. I was willing to continue producing content and treat the platform like an investment. Small income then for larger returns later on. It was a great place for me to work toward developing as a writer.

The Birth of the Steemit Ramble Curation Project

I spent a lot of time reading posts, commenting and voting. At that time you could use fourty 100% votes a day and your vote power would be back to 100% the next day. Like today, finding quality posts sometimes took time to do. I spent a lot of time reading.

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In order to be a writer that readers engage with I needed to bring some of myself to the table. That was really moving out of my comfort zone. I found that by being willing to put some of my own ideas and opinions into the commentary I did for the posts, I was gradually nudging myself out into the open.

Finding Community

Steemit was being promoted as a social media. It tended to lack the social outlets. You could chat in comments on posts but there wasn’t a way to shoot he breeze with people to get to know them either publicly or privately.

I found steemit.chat where there were some rooms where chat took place. A lot of rooms were more about post promotion, which was okay but didn’t really provide any connection to each other. Not really sure how, but I eventually found a server on Teamspeak where @frystikken had a voice chat for Steemians. Now, there I started to get to know members of the community.

I really can’t remember when someone suggested we try Discord. @sychochika along with @giftgaia and @winstonwolf were doing a podcast on Discord called the Steem Talk Podcast. Was invited into their audience and not long after someone opened the Steemspeak discord. Teamspeak was quickly abandoned.

The ability to have multiple channels, both voice and text, opened up so much potential for building communities. For a long time I was only in Steemspeak. Then I started finding other discord servers springing up and started visiting them.

Steemit Ramble Discord

In September 2017 I ventured into opening my own discord. Initially it was to tinker around and learn how to configure a server. Having seen the potential I decided first to use the discord for people to nominate posts for me to review for the Ramble.
In early October I decided to try something different. I’d invite people to join me in a voice chat where they could put their posts links into the text chat and tell us about their post on voice. Pimp your Post Thursday was born.

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By then I’d met @sircork who attended the first PYPT on October 12th. He was planning on building a radio station and suggested that PYPT could become a show on that station. I wasn’t sure about it, but figured what the heck — new experiences. It wasn’t long after the one evening show became an evening and morning show to help accommodate those in different time zones.

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From discussions about Witnesses on PYPT sprang the now monthly Witness Chats to which any witness and community members are invited to attend to get to know who the witnesses are and to talk about the state of the platform. The next chat is August 18th at 11am EDT in the Ramble.

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PYPT is popular. Many people look forward to Thursdays and attending the shows. Since then @ramblingradio has formed and is gradually building a schedule of shows from the Steemit Ramble discord.

My Thoughts on the Platform

This platform has a way of transforming us. The communities we connect with, the people we meet and the possibilities the blockchain opens up is limited only by our ability to dream and willingness to try.

Had anyone told me two years ago I’d be meeting people from all over the world, be doing content curation, be dabbling in crypto, running radio shows or writing fiction people actually found worth reading — I’d have told them they were having a pipe dream. Yet, here I am, two years later, doing all those things and having a ball.

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There is more I want to and will do as both this platform and I develop. It will develop. @ned has spoken of the ecosystem that the Steem blockchain will become and it is happening. Apps and frontends are springing up, each with their own purpose as the platform moves toward the day when less adventurous people than we early adopters will be able to use the blockchain with the ease we use Twitter or Facebook.

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Many will laugh at that statement. I believe as I watch these various parts of the ecosystem develop and then compare that to where things were two years ago — the time is coming. We’re at the early stages of development. It isn’t Steemit Inc that is going to drive the full development of the ecosystem, it is and will be people like us.

The People You Meet

At the end of the day, this platform is about people. There are some really great people on the platform, ones I’ve met and those I haven’t met yet.
I’m going to name a few, and will apologize in advance for those I will inevitably miss.
There is my sister @artemisnorth who is way more awesome than she knows. Refer to your birthday post sis. @snook who is always up to something. Inevitably good things like arranging a Steemiversy party or editing outtakes in the wee hours of the morning or crazy fun stuff like gnomes, zombies, podcasts like Pants are Optional. Or teaming up with @artemisnorth to bring the platform late night comedy.

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@bluefinstudios who brings fun, order and friendship in equal measure to myself and others around the platform. @thekittygirl who brought @bluefinstudios to the platform and is an invaluable help in so many places including PYPT along with @sgt-dan who also loves to help and is the keeper of the list of links to posts shared during PYPT each week.

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@rhondak and @gmuxx who pilot @thewritersblock where I’ve been learning and developing more as a writer. Speaking of which I had better not forget @buddyup and the group there where I have found my comfort zone challenged regularly when I write posts for the Drop In the Ocean show on Mondays. Then Tuesdays I do what I don’t do at PYPT, I pimp my post at Talk of the Line in @thesteemengine with @ethandsmith and @awakentolife.

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There is my weekly ‘meetup’ with @thebugiq as we meet for brunch and gossip mostly about the platform.

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Wednesdays when all is well I hear @crazybgadventure doing his Steem Adventure on @ramblingradio and then @ma1neevent and @poeticsnake doing their show on @mspwaves.

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Friday there is @enginewitty and his Words With Witty and of course without him we wouldn’t have @thealliance and all the great people who belong there.

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Saturday and Sunday there is @isaria and @swelker101 do their shows which helps minnows and others on the platform and also shed light on the creatives on the platform. I consider both of them friends and really great people, even when we blame you Shane.

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Finally, I’m not going to close this out without a shoutout to @surpassinggoogle and the great work he is doing encouraging people to write original content on the platform with his Ulogs concept. You are tireless in what you do Terry. Stay strong.

Thanks for being you everyone because it is all about community.

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Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://idesofmay.com/2018/08/07/ulog-4-two-years-on-steem-we-had-a-party-on-discord/

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