My Steem Super Stars: Interview with @poeticsnake

Who Let the @poeticsnake out? I did, because she is awesome.

For my Steem superstars, I’ve been contacting my favorite Steemians and asking if I could pick their brains about Steem and Steemit. Today I’m really happy that PoeticSnake, who has agreed to an interview with me.

You can find @poeticsnake here and I have picked out some of her awesome to share throughout the post too.

HopeHuggs: Can you tell me a little bit about yourself and what you did before Steemit?

Poeticsnake: Hey, yes, thank you for having me on your interview. My name is Poeticsnake, and I have been on Steemit since July 2016. Before that, I was actually doing the same but on other social platforms.

I live in the Netherlands. I am 39 years old. I live together with my partner. We are not married. We don’t have any kids. I am a creative person and that is what I’m also sharing on Steemit. My creativity, painting, drawing, you name it, writings.

I also like to write. Not saying that I’m a good author, but I try my best. That’s me.

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Hopehuggs: How long have you been in Steemit? How did you find out about Steemit, first of all?

Poeticsnake: A friend told me that he found this website and he knew that I liked to write short fiction stories. He said, “You know what, I found this great website you might like. It’s called steemit.com, and you can earn some money if you share your writings there.”

I tried to look it up, and obviously, I did the same thing I always do. I searched the wrong word. I was looking for steam, and I got these irons. The steam iron your clothes. I said, no I don’t think you found anything. Then he said, no it’s steemit.com. He sent it to me and I saw it.

Straight away, I fell in love with the website. He told me about it. He left by the way. Well, he’s still there but he’s not active anymore. He might be in the future again. I stayed. He told me about it and I found out.

I had never heard about crypto-based platforms before. I knew Facebook and that's like a Blockchain as well. Before I found out about Steemit, I had no clue what a Blockchain was. I never looked into Facebook as deep as I did into Steemit.

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HopeHuggs: Have you or will you invest into Steem with a monetary investment or are you purely creating content to generate Steem and SBDs?

Poeticsnake: I have thought about it to put in some of my own fiat, but I never did it. I was lucky enough to get a whole lot of support when I just joined the platform, which allowed me to gather up and earn my way into the platform without investing. I did take out a lot of SBD at times. I bought Bitcoin with that and a little bit of that I have put back into Steem, but I don’t think that is putting in your own money.

No, I just write to grow. I hope that I could keep it that way. Every day that passes I think, maybe I should because it’s a really good opportunity. I always say no, never put in more than you are ready to lose or you can afford to lose.

When I put back the Bitcoin, I thought about that for a few weeks before I did it. I might do it in the future; if Steem stays low I might do it sooner. As of now, for now, almost two years that I’ve been here, I have not put in my own money.

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HopeHuggs: Did you use a lot of social media before Steemit? You mentioned Facebook and things. Do you still use them now?

Poeticsnake: Yes, I have been on Facebook for many years, and before that I was on the social media platform called Hyves. It’s a same kind of chain like Facebook, only it was a Dutch site. I started to write there and started to share my little fiction stories.

Then one day somebody told me about Facebook. I went to Facebook about I think 11 years ago. I started to write there a whole lot. There’s a whole role playing scene going on on Facebook and I dived into that. Sharing stories and writing stories together with like-minded people.

I still do it, but honestly I am more on Steemit because I can share my stories on Facebook and have a good time but it won’t pay my bills. I am human. I will be honest, I joined Steemit because there was an opportunity to earn some money.

Money is not everything in the world to me, but it is a great deal of my daily life. We all need it to be able to eat and to buy the stuff you need to do what you like to do. In my case, that’s painting and drawing.

I still use it, but my heart is really into Steemit at the moment. Not only for the money, but also for the amazing friends and people I’ve met there so far. Steemit is just the best version of social platform that I found so far, and I hope it stays that way. I will always use Facebook because I also sell my artwork.

I want to be on as many platforms as possible because you don’t want to miss out an opportunity to sell a drawing, or a painting, or to make friends. Since I joined Steemit, my time on other platforms have been reduced a whole lot because Steemit is just Steemit, and I like to be in there.

Most of my time I just go to Steemit. Every morning I always opened up Facebook first, and that really changed. It’s now Steemit, Steemit, Steemit first and then the rest.

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HopeHuggs: That’s my next question actually. Has Steemit changed your life in any way?

Poeticsnake: Yes, absolutely. Next to giving me all the new friends and the amazing people that I’ve met, it has given me the opportunity to share my art on a platform that is way more open to artistic people than other platforms I’ve been on.

I’ve been embraced from the moment I walked in or slithered in, as I always like to say. It really is different and it gives you so many opportunities. It also tickles your brain to think about the things that you still can do.

There are so many opportunities, things to be built, not that I can code or write any programs, but the opportunity is there. If you look at Utopian for instance, all those projects they are mind-blowing. Oh my gosh, it changed so many things.

Next to that I never have a shortage of paint and pencils anymore. I can buy it now whenever I want and that’s a good feeling. Yes, it changed so many things absolutely.

Also changed my sleeping habits by the way, because since I joined Steemit, sleep is something I hardly get. Everybody I talk to, they are in different time zones than I am. Most of the fun things happen after midnight.

There was this one point in my life I decided, I’m going to live in the night and forget about day time. I don’t want to miss out. Yeah, a lot of changes. They all made me feel good, so they are really good changes.

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HopeHuggs: What’s the one thing that you wished knew at the beginning of your Steem journey?

I think after say the opportunities, because when I first joined I think like many others, I joined for the money. I think I wish I knew how important it was to make connections, to make friends, talk to people. At the beginnings when I joined, discord was not there yet.

Well, it was there but it was not used for Steemit. Steemit.chat was not there for me at least. The first six months, I just did this solo writing thing without knowing that there were opportunities to talk to people besides replying. I wish I had known about that sooner, because the moment you start to make connections things change.

For me, it no longer was about the money anymore, I found it far more interesting to get to know people all over the world. Talk to someone with an ocean between you and talk about the same things you like. When you do that, your account starts to grow as well.

I wish I had known that so that I would have done that right from the start, because having friends is so much more important than making money, at least in my opinion it is. Yes, that’s my answer.

HopeHuggs: I have to say it must have took about seven or eight months before I discovered Discord, so I can completely relate to that.

Poeticsnake: Yeah, I really enjoy chatting with people all over the world. You can learn so much from every story. It’s just amazing that we are able to connect with so many people in such easy way. It’s like I invented the phone all over again.

It’s really weird, because for many years before Steemit we could talk to people in America or in Australia, but this feels so much more easier. Just a click on a button, you go to Discord or Steemit chat. You find like-minded people who are not interested in things other than you want.

On other social networks, there are a lot of people you really don’t want to inbox you, and here the things are so much nicer. The people are so helpful. It’s really a different kind of people, I like to believe, who is on Steemit. It’s really amazing.

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HopeHuggs: What three pieces of advice would you give to a person just starting out on Steemit?

Poeticsnake: Well, my first advice is, forget about the money. When you first join the platform, it’s really hard to get noticed and it won’t happen right away. You might share your most amazing piece of writing if you just join two weeks, it won’t happen. Please just forget about the money.

The second thing is, start connecting with people. Do it right away. Don’t wait like six months like I did. Go to Discord, go to Steemit chat and try to make those connections. Friends is what you need in this world and connections is what makes your account able to grow, so do that.

A third thing is, be open, be honest, don’t plagiarize out of peoples posts. Only share your own content. I understand that if you are new and you see all these things get money, it’s so easy to be drowned into the darker side and just to post. Don’t do it. Give it time.

Keep your most amazing post to a bit later. The first thing I think should do is I think to reply to other people and share something of yourself, like a welcome and introduce yourself post.
Tell them what you’re planning to do and keep adding at that before you start to share posts you think are worth like 100 dollars.

Give it time to grow.

Be patient and don’t think that you will be growing in two weeks. It’s a hard time to start. Don’t pull back. Keep biting yourself into those first months and then you will see things will change. Those are my tips.

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HopeHuggs: Nice. Are there any tools or apps that make your life on Steemit easier?

Poeticsnake: No, I am one of those Steemit users and I have not spoken with many. I have spoken about it with many people but not many people are the same like me. only one person I know. I don’t use anything else but steemit.com. I don’t go to the other sites. I don’t use the apps available like Busy or anything. Maybe I’m old school that way. Steemit.com for me.

It took me almost a year and a half before I started to use Markdown. It was offered of course, but I am just that stubborn little person who sticks with the only thing she knows. Sometimes that is good and sometimes that is not so good, because I know I might be missing out a lot of opportunities. I joined steemit.com and I’m staying on steemit.com.

The only thing that I have added is an app, and sorry if the person who made that app is listening. I don’t know the name of the app anymore. I don’t know who made it anymore. It’s an app you could install on your chrome browser for Steemit, and it shows you right away when I go onto my account, how much my vote is worth and who voted on me and etcetera.

HopeHuggs: I think that one's Steemit more info (or Steem Plus).

Yes, I believe so. I clicked on that link. I really enjoy it because I can right away see know what my vote is worth at the time. That’s the only thing I use. I am sure that in time, I will start using more apps. I am just that really slow person that needs a lot of time to adapt to changes.

There was an update like two days ago on Steemit, so these little things changed. Pardon my French but I said, “What the fuck!” It changed.

HopeHuggs: The "post" button is now a little pencil, isn’t it?

Poeticsnake: Yes, and that messes with my head. I am just a person. I can’t handle with changes all too well. It takes a lot of time. Now I have to find that little pencil while I’m still looking for my big obvious post button. I feel like homesick back to that little post button already, and I know that I will adapt.

I am, like I said, I am that slow person who really slowly adapts to the new options and things like that. I do believe that all these apps, people please keep them coming because that is what’s so marvelous about the Steemit platform. I might not use them, but I’m so grateful for them to be there, and thankful for all those hardworking people who create those things.

One day I might adapt, just not yet.

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HopeHuggs: Do you have a Steemit related project or a series you’re working on that you’d like to talk about?

PoeticSnake: Yes, I am doing a curation project called "You Got Snekked". At this moment, I’m going to post about it today that "You Got Snekked" will be paused for 8 to 12 weeks because I’m going to work on a project that I can’t talk about yet, but "You Got Snekked" will be back. I think it’s just a break because I need my voting power. "You got Snekked" is a curation project, so I want my vote to be worth something if I do the curation.

I started that project the 1st of January because I won the prize from MAM MSP. I got delegated 10000 SP because people voted on me, and they thought that I could do good things with the extra power.

I wanted to create something that really gives back to the platform and also helps new members. So "You Got Snekked" was born, and every day I scan the platform for undervalued posts and content that I think is worth more than it’s getting at the moment.

It was only for a month because I won that SP for it for 30 days. I fell in love with it. I fell in love with my own project, so I decided I’m going to keep going with this. I have got so much from the platform, and giving back is something that I strongly believe in. I will keep doing it. I’m just on a break now for 8 to 12 weeks then we will be back with a big bang hopefully and some extra curators.

You Got Snekked is on Pause

The project will grow, but sometimes you need to step back and reevaluate what you’re doing. I’m in that time now thinking what do I want to do with my Steemit account. How can I grow so that I can help more people? That’s what I’m going to do. Sometimes you have to put a project on pause for a while. It’s not that I don’t believe in it anymore, I believe in it wholeheartedly. That’s a hard word for me to say. It will be back and yes, that is what I’m working on.

One more project, if you can call it project, every Wednesday I do this radio show together with @ma1neevent. We interview people across all the platform, from newbies to whales, witnesses and what not. We like to interview them about how they found Steemit, how they feel about it and what their projects are, or anything Steemit related. We talk about curation, updates, hard forks you name it, we talk about it.

We try to give as much information but also as much exposure for those who are on the show. That is something I really enjoy doing as well. We just changed the name to the Resteem Radio Show and we have a lot of plans for the future. We are working hard for that. I really love working together with @ma1neevent. We get so much from feedback and good feedback as well.

Join Us for The Resteem Radio Show on MSP Waves!

I think I’m just a person who likes to help others, next to being selfish at times because I also want to help myself. I think I found that perfect little, how do you call it, balance between it. I will keep working hard on both those things. For now, the first 8 to 12 weeks I’m going to dive into a new project, like I said I cannot talk about it yet. Maybe in the future we can talk again and I can tell you all about it. It’s under the radar right now.

HopeHuggs: I shall have to keep an eye out on your account.

Yes, keep an eye out and I hope it will be fun. I’m going to dive into that and it will take up all my time. I have to pause some things, but I’m looking forward to the future. I know that even after the new project that I’m working on now, there will be new projects again. You get inspired on Steemit. You get so many inspiration that it’s never ending and I like it.

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HopeHuggs: Who are your inspirations on Steemit?

PoeticSnake: I think everybody is my inspiration. I really enjoy seeing what people come up with, may that be memes or memes, or how you call it, fiction stories or stories about their life. I have a few friends that are really close to me that keep me going.

Like @ma1neevent for instance, he’s always there. Even at times when I say, "My Gosh, I can’t do this anymore." He said, what the fuck and gives me that little kick in the butt.

@thebugiq, @shadowspub I mean oh my gosh, and @freedomexists. All those people who do things around minnow, like @crimsonclad.

I always call one person puppy. I love you, puppy.

And you know @sircork, I love all of them.

They do these different kind of posting. Everybody follows their own path and that alone is such a great inspiration to me. Mostly, I also enjoy to open up the art tag and just go scanning and watching drawings and painting all day.

That is a big inspiration for me because sometimes you find things you never thought about yourself. Somebody using coffee to make paintings with. Seeing those things can be such an inspiration as well. It’s not only my friends, I enjoy the whole platform and the whole platform is inspiration for me.

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HopeHuggs: What’s your advice on creating quality content?

Poeticsnake: Yes, that is a hard one because opinions differ on that a lot. What’s a good post for me might not be a good post for somebody else. I can give you my opinion of what I think is a good post. A good post is not just one picture and one line of text.

Steemit is a platform where people would like to see that you put some effort in it and not just throw something on and walk away, and throw something on again and walk away.

Content for me is a post with at least two paragraphs of text. If you share art, tell at least something about your art. Why did you create it? What inspired you to create it? You don’t always have to always show progress pictures like I do.

I like to share progress pictures as a kind of identification that it’s really made me because I don’t always have a lot to tell. I like to fill my posts up with pictures and show the progress. During the moment of sharing progress pictures, I go back to the drawing, which makes me write more.

Like I said, it’s hard because some people don’t like to read much and other people want to read a book. I always say stay in the middle. I always aim for a 1000 words for a post if I do a writing post, which is not aimed the end of my drawings. If I share my drawings there might be 250 to 500 words, but I do share a lot of my pictures and art related pictures I make because I draw my drawing on paper, and then I turn them digital and do stuff with it, so I also share that.

Posts like "Becoming an open book", something new I’m doing, I aim at 1000, let's say 2000 words each post so that I give people something to read but not too long.

A good post is not plagiarized; a good post is not stolen from somebody else. A good post is something that comes from within yourself, something that you have worked on. As short as that might be, if it shows that it comes from within your heart or soul, to me that’s a good post.

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HopeHuggs: Sounds like a good post to me as well. Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Poeticsnake: To the interview or to that subject?

HopeHuggs: To the interview.

Poeticsnake: I think that Steemit is still in beta. We have had a few hard forks and many more upcoming. I think people should not judge too hard at the moment. Sometimes it might not work, sometimes it works perfect. Steemit is growing and we all have to be patient to see where it will take us. Please, everybody should take their time for that. Also, try to be welcoming to the new members. It’s a hard journey when you just join.

You don’t have to welcome everybody. That’s impossible because there are so many people joining every day, but just sometimes, maybe twice a week take the time and read a post and say hallo. You don’t even have to vote on it. Just give them a little bit of attention and show that when you have been longer on the platform, that you care. That’s what I want to add to the interview.

HopeHuggs: That's beautiful.

Poeticsnake: Thank you.

HopeHuggs: Thank you very much for that interview PoeticSnake. There is really good stuff in there.

Poeticsnake: Thank you for having me. I feel I’m very blessed that you asked me to be here. I want to say thank you to you as well.