I am very new to the world of crypto and blockchain.
I wrote a post on how excited I was for the Hivelist store, which did not do very well because: 1. I am new and no one saw it but mostly because (and I could be wrong) 2. It was poorly written.
It wasn't horrible, but looking back a few days later on it, I quickly realized my assumption that everyone else BUT me knew what the Hivelist store was, was very wrong. I didn't even talk about what it was LOL and there was a lot of links and important information that was left out. It can be checked out here for those who are curious. It is a new and exciting blockchain marketplace.
So because I felt it did poorly and realized where it went wrong, I wanted to delete the article. So I promptly went to my husband with this request because I had no idea how to go about it. That was when I was I was told "you can't". It stays forever.
Now, my next idea was "one could go into the article, edit it, and delete all the words", but that is extremely inadvisable and I (as in my husband when I asked him) does not know what would happen. The best we could find is that a laymen would not be able to find the article, but one could go onto a block explorer and be able to find the original article that way. So it was pointless for me to do all of that work when it could be found anyways. I also don't think it would make anyone look very good and as someone who wants to succeed on the blockchain, the less skeletons I have the better.
So, I struggled with it.... I was annoyed with the permanency of it all.
I had social media accounts in the past for a small while . They were never my thing and I was very happy that after the trial period I was able to delete everything. You can delete any post, any comment, any picture etc. that you ever put up. (Now, I doubt it's truly gone behind the scenes but when an average person searches, it will not show up).
I continued my struggle and let myself think/ruminate on it and came to a couple conclusions.
The first one I have is maybe an odd comparison for it all. My tattoos. About half of my body is covered.
Are they all perfect? No. Absolutely not. Do I love them all? Yes. Even though there are slight changes I would make or small imperfections, I respect all of the tattoo artists that did my work and I respect and love all of my tattoos. A great deal of research, thought and attention went into every single one. All of my artists were accountable to myself and themselves. They provided quality work. I was a good client.
and that is where the next conclusion ties in.
Think before you speak.
Quite an over stated and looked over quote in today's society, which is an oxymoron when stated together but somehow true. I grew up with that statement drilled into my head by my grandma. Mostly because as a young girl I would get so excited and nothing but gibberish would come out of my mouth because I didn't take the time to properly form a sentence in my head before speaking, lol.
Well, here I am as a grown adult learning that lesson again, on the blockchain.
So if we apply the term "think before you speak" specifically to writing on the blockchain, what does that entail?
Basically it all comes down to accountability - know your subject and do the research! Provide well written, thorough content that is not thrown together. If you are excited to share something and just cannot wait, resist the urge! Take.Your.Time.
When people read your article, don't leave them in the dark about anything. Have thorough, accurate information. Give links to your citations and be prepared to share where your information came from if one is curious.
Go over your article and see if you can find where one reading the article might be wondering about a certain word, sentence, reference etc. Something that is commonplace for yourself does not mean people reading the article will know what the heck you are talking about. Do NOT assume everyone will know what you are talking about! Even if you think everyone and their dog knows, the newbie, the oldies who don't know yet and the one who only goes on once a month who is always behind on things will thank you!
I totally left my audience in the dark.
I did not tell them what Hivelist was or even what it did! A huge mistake. I assumed because I was the newbie, everyone else already knew about Hivelist.
If you know your subject and did the research, when people do ask questions or post comments, you will be well informed and able to answer questions properly, in a timely manner (because you won't be scrambling doing the research feeling stressed because you don't know that answer).
It also means that your post will have less questions and better ones! The more information you give people, the better their knowledge. Making mundane questions asked over and over by people nil and the questions that are asked, will be more interesting and fun! Making your article all around better for your audience to enjoy and for yourself!
This in turn will also make your reputation as a writer higher and people will be looking forward to seeing your posts.
Here are some things to ask yourself when going over your article.
How do you want to be seen by the community?
What questions might someone ask about this post?
Why are you writing this article? To spread new information, teach something, be seen as an expert in your field?
Who are you writing this article for? Every audience has different needs, make sure you write for what they need, not what you need.
What action are you hoping the audience does as result of your post? Entering a contest, clicking a link, being better educated. Is this clear from your post?
What existing articles do you have that you could link to that would give more depth?
Is your article easy to read?
All of these questions are from this article which I found quite good. Click the link as it has even more points and goes into more depth on why to ask these questions.
You can have someone proof read your article for spelling and grammar mistakes but to give an outside point of view as well. See what questions/comments they have for you and if you can fit them into your article to improve it.
Last but not least, here is the link to my (very) bad and thrown together article.
Happy writing! I hope this was insightful and that someone can learn from my past mistakes, and that even long time writers will be refreshed with some of these points and like some of my tattoos that are not perfect, they define my life experiences, so if you also have a "crappier" article, forgive yourself, love it anyways, and moving forward, do better!
