Of the Steemians I've focused on so far, @topkpop is the one whom I've met most recently. I met her after joining the relatively new group called SteemUSA. She's one of the founding members of that group, but more on that later. So far, she's been great to interact with, and she has some interesting things going on across the platform, so I decided to ask for some of her thoughts to share here.
So how did @topkpop get started on Steemit? Here's what she had to say:
I actually found out about Steemit from my husband. I had been considering starting my own blog and was trying to figure out what type of site to make. He suggested Steemit, so I got an account started and then just kind of ran with it. It was very easy to take to and honestly I haven’t looked back.
And run with it she has. Having only joined Steemit in July of this year, she's already approaching reputation 58 after 170 posts with an average payout of $3.57. Not bad at all. (stats from SteemTracked.com)
If you take a look at her blog, you'll see topics such as art, humor, music, and of course Kpop. I admittedly thought she was blogging about Bitshares when I saw her posts about BTS, so I got a bit of a Kpop education myself preparing for this post! When I asked her about her favorite blogging topics, it was no surprise that she said:
Other than sharing some cool stuff I do from time to time, I enjoy blogging about Music (my own, others, Kpop), and Gaming (although I don’t get too much time to do this one).
As someone who posts gaming reviews from time to time, I'd love to see a gaming review from @topkpop. She didn't mention what types of games she enjoys playing, but a scroll down her blog revealed posts about games such as Tom Clancy's The Division and Overwatch, and even Super Smash Bros and Halo. I'm hopeful that we'll see some more gaming posts from her in the future!
A look through her blog also reveals her love of art. When asked about what types of posts she enjoys curating the most, @topkpop had this to say:
I find myself curating Art posts the most. I run an Art Contest and I absolutely love Art, even though I am not that talented in it myself. So, I find that I often search for and curate Steemians who create Visual Art as I really thoroughly enjoy it. Following that would be Photography & Music posts.
It's evident that she enjoys art, as you'll notice a series of posts on her blog called "Jenny's Art Contest," which just completed its 10th week on Steemit! If you enjoy art submissions from across the platform, you should check out her weekly art contests. Even better, if you are an artist, you could have your art featured in one of her contests!
Overall, @topkpop does some fantastic blogging and curating on Steemit, so I highly recommend following her account for updates in the future. Maybe you'll even get to see some more gaming posts!
Life, Offline
As in past volumes, I'm always interested in the lives of Steemians when they aren't interacting with others on Steemit, Discord, or elsewhere. @Topkpop had this to say about her offline life:
My life outside of Steemit is, busy yet interesting. I homeschool my child full-time so that keeps me quite busy but allows my schedule to be a bit flexible in some regards. I live in the sunny state of Florida in the USA so we tend to either be outdoors in some heat (or the odd coolness as of late) or inside in the air conditioning, always doing something.
I've discovered many people on Steemit who choose to homeschool their children, and often some of the best content on the platform comes from these individuals. As far as I can tell, @topkpop has not blogged directly about homeschooling, but it seems the flexible schedule she maintains with it allows for plenty of time to blog.
I've also been asking my interviewees if they have a favorite movie or TV show. @topkpop's response was great:
I honestly don’t watch too many of the newer shows as I don’t want to get hooked on them. I tend to rewatch a few older series that I enjoy since I don’t have to focus on them. Movie wise I do get to see the newer ones quite often now and I must say anything with Wonder Woman is amazing. But, if I have to give a favorite, I will still say that even after all these yes, and this is going to sound silly but I don’t care, it is still Bring It On. I watch that movie whenever I get a chance to as I just find it fun.
For those of you unfamiliar, Bring it On is a 2000 movie about a high school cheerleading competition. It also spawned several sequels. I personally have not seen the movies, but maybe I should since @topkpop says it's fun!
I will agree with her that Wonder Woman is a great movie, although I've not yet seen Justice League, so we'll see if that opinion stands.
Getting hooked on currently airing television shows seems like a concept that those of us with Netflix are unfamiliar with. I suppose it can happen, though. I remember when 24 was still airing on FOX. My family stopped everything we were doing on Monday nights at 9 and were glued to the TV with our hearts racing for an hour. Maybe it's a good thing that doesn't happen now....
Thoughts on Steemit
@topkpop said if she had to describe Steemit in one word, it would be "community." We've heard similar sentiments from other interviewees, and I think to a certain degree, we can all agree with that. So I asked her what her favorite groups are on Steemit, she mentioned several:
My favorite groups, with the risk of not mentioning all of them as that would take up too much time, I would have to say are SteemUSA, The Alliance (core and alpha syndicate), Steem Music Alliance, You are HOPE and The Writer’s Block (even though I am not always in there this group is great). I have a couple of others that are just kind of getting more steam and getting more active that I can see becoming a favorite, like The Dolphin Cocoon.
If you're interested in checking any of these groups out, here are links where you can find out more information:
One in particular that I will highlight is SteemUSA, a new community that @topkpop helped get started. It's a community for Steemians from the United States. I've been a member since they opened their doors, and I've enjoyed the level of support and interactions from the members of that group. If you're from the United States, and you want to check out a great community, check out the group's account @steemusa.
As @topkpop has been around on Steemit now for a few months, I asked her about what she would change about Steemit if she could:
I love this platform but there would be a few things I would change. If I had to only change one I would say… That Steemit should have the ability to have an area to chat. As it stands right now, in order to be part of any group and really connect with others really well, you have to go to a third party area (Discord). Discord is fabulous, but it would be nice if I could spend more time on Steemit and chat the same way and even have private messages if I want so I could reach out to people from Steemit who don’t go to Discord.
Obviously logistically I am not sure how that would work alongside the Steem Blockchain, but I think it is something that needs to be addressed. If Communities are so important, like they have been mentioned to be by some high up people, then I would think that this issue would become a priority, at least I hope it would.
There's plenty to unpack from this response, but I think many of us are hoping for a way to send direct private messages here on Steemit without the use of a third party. Building community does happen off-site, as you've read from the past few interviews and even above. We'll keep watching and waiting as Steemit continues to evolve, but @topkpop ended her response to the question by giving a great piece of advice:
Communities are a huge part of this platform, and I know this from my own experience, so if any of the readers here haven’t found their place in one, keep looking, it’s out there.
She's right. There are communities popping up for almost everything. Do a quick search, and find the community that's right for you!
Out of all the projects she's involved in, @topkpop has found a new niche that I believe will be very productive in the weeks to come: her own Internet radio show.
SteemStar Radio: @topkpop's Show
Presently, @topkpop hosts a live radio show on The SteemStar Network, a project of witness @sircork (more on him later). She has just begun the weekly show, so it's been fun to follow the developments and see what kinds of things she's doing.
@topkpop had this to say about the opportunity to have her own show:
I had actually thought quite a few months ago about doing something like a podcast or a type of talk/radio show and remember reaching out to a podcaster I met, she deserves recognition @mariannewest, who a few months ago talked to me about it and even recently game me some tips when I asked her. Aside from thing about it back and forth, not really overly serious yet at that point, I came across an opportunity that I just had to jump on (that seems to happen a lot lately where what I ask for comes to me in an opportunity), so here I am.
On December 8th, @topkpop broadcasted her first live show! During the broadcast, she talked about many different subjects, but one of her main goals was to promote original music from people on Steemit. Since I'm in a band, I was excited to find out about her radio show, so I sent her a recording of one of my band's original songs, and she played it on her first show!
It was an honor to have our band's music featured, but her program also featured many other artists from across the platform, so I encourage you to check out her summary post from her first show, where you can read more about the artists she featured, as well as listen to the full audio from the show.
She had this to say about how it felt to host that first show:
I will admit, to make a quality show, one of the most important parts is preparation. It takes a good bit of work, I will not lie. I focused on my display images, finding original songs from Steemit Musicians as that is something I desired to share to my audience. It takes planning of topics to talk about (this can differ on the type of show you are doing), and more. However, I am so stoked I have started to do this. All the work, prep, post-work, recruiting posts, advertising, and whatnot that you have to do for the show, all of that aside (even though quite fun, for me at least), the Show and the rush you can get from it is amazing. It certainly is one of the best decisions I think I have made while being on Steemit.
I think there's nothing but success waiting for her with the radio show. She'll be hosting the show each Friday evening, and you can find the stream and the full schedule at Steemstar.net.
Final Thoughts
,Throughout the Steemian Spotlight series, I've given each interviewee a chance to express their final thoughts, similar to how I do during most of my blogs. @topkpop had some great thoughts to leave us with:
I would have to say my final thoughts would include a couple of tips for those out there in this platform, and even outside of this I suppose.
- Follow the Like. By this, I mean blog about what you like. Share stuff you like. If all you are doing is writing about what you think you should be writing about, it won’t last. You may make some money, but it won’t last. It is always obvious when you don’t like your subject or your heart is not in things. I have done too much of not following my likes in my life that I will not go back to it. There are things you may have to do that you don’t like, but it should always be towards the things you do and with those in mind.
- Be Genuine. I say this, because I remember the time I had joined some groups, and had been blogging for a while, and finally did my first Vlog. You know what happened? I actually got a few comments that surprised me. People were genuinely surprised that the person I was when I wrote my blog, the person they chatted to on discord, and the person they were not seeing on camera, was indeed the same person, as I was the same in all forms. I live my life being Genuine and the people I end up connecting with the most on this platform do the same. So, for anyone who is out there who wants to really connect more and do better, that is my tip. Be genuine. Be yourself.
Finally, if you are an Artist, check out my Art Contest. If you are a Musician, get in contact with me as I am looking to feature Original Songs on my Radio Show weekly. Besides that? Have fun! I know I am.
Definitely some great advice from a rising Steemian. Being genuine on the platform will improve your relationships, as well as improve your post payout. Those two things are intimately connected. If you're already blogging about things you like, find people who share similar interests. Get out there and discover a new community!
At the end of it all, be sure you're having fun. I can definitely tell (and you probably can, too) that @topkpop has fantastic fun with her blogs, contests, and radio shows.
So let's get out there and keep having fun!
This formally ends my interview piece with @topkpop, however I do make a note to ask my interviewees about witnesses that they support. Here's what she had to say:
If you check my profile you will find out that I currently only support 9 witnesses but am always doing some investigating here and there to add more, just slowly. There are quite a few on my list that do some amazing things on the Steemit Platform and even outside of the platform, but, I could not pick just one to promote, so I won’t single one out. If you are curious who I vote for though just check out my list.
You can see a list of the witnesses @topkpop supports by visiting her profile's page on Steemd.
As always, thanks so much for stopping by!
Check out the other Volumes of The Steemian Spotlight!
