Discovering Steemit
It's amazing to me that it's only been just over a week since I first discovered Steemit. From hearing someone mention the site in passing on my corner of Facebook to being inspired by the platform to start writing about music again, Steemit has consumed a lot of my time and my thought. I almost feel like I've spent a month learning about the site and its community. Of course, I was a little skeptical when I first heard about what Steemit claimed to be, so I went to the trusty google search bar to do research. One of the first things I ran into was a YouTube video by @andrarchy titled "Mistakes I've Made on Steemit and How I Plan to Fix Them." Perhaps a bit of a jump ahead, but as a skeptic and critical thinker, I wanted to be aware of the challenges before I got too excited about the rewards.
I then looked into Andrew's other videos and began to see a picture of a platform with overwhelming potential, like a field swollen in abundance for its coming harvest. I saw a place where I could get more than the flash-in-the-pan, quick validation of Facebook likes. I saw a place where I could find a real audience for my writing, music, and photography, past just my own friends. Andrew's enthusiasm for the platform sealed the deal for me, and I've even been learning about some economics concepts through him.
Another early influence has been @craig-grant, whose Steem reports have kept me clued in and informed about the changes coming to Steemit and some good strategies to follow to build my stake in the site, while staying light and informal and giving occasional insights into his life and philosophy - something I appreciate from anyone. His tag - #craigrant - has proven useful as well to help my writing which I work so hard on to slowly find an audience.
I've also learned the value of commenting, as providing feedback and engaging in the community is both a good way to make some Steem, and the most important thing one can do to make connections, friends and a name for oneself.
The Harmonic Series
I've been writing music reviews casually on and off since 2011, when I was published in my high school paper with about three pieces monthly. Last year in November, I undertook a challenge for which I would listen to a new album I'd never heard every day. As time went on, the writing that would accompany this listening became changed forms several times, from stream of consciousness while I listened, to more formal, structured writing based on notes I would take while listening. Though life got in the way, I did end up writing nearly 150 reviews in as many days, and learned a lot about myself, music, and how to write. As I mentioned earlier, I was inspired to start writing again by Steemit, and I decided to brand my music writing The Harmonic Series ( #harmonicseries ), after the series of mathematical tone relations that underlies nearly all western music.
Above: a simple chart showing the first seven relationships of the harmonic series
I've written a few new reviews:
Brendan Byrnes - Micropangaea
Cult of Luna & Julie Christmas - Mariner
TTNG - Disappointment Island
Kayo Dot - Plastic House on Base of Sky
And shared some from my archives:
Autechre - Tri Repetae
Amon Tobin - Permutation
and I plan to keep writing as much as I'm capable. I'm committed to discovering new things, figuring out what they're all about, and sharing it with anyone who's interested in exploring music with me.
Where I Am Now, and Where I'm Going
Unfortunately I haven't hit it big with any of my posts, but I've had some valuable interactions with other users, written some good content, and I've more than doubled the Steem Power I started with. I'd say that's pretty decent for a first week. I've decided to go all in and power up all my rewards into Steem Power until I can use my influence to significantly reward people who I feel are making quality content - especially quality content that isn't receiving enough attention or flying under the radar. Additionally, I'll be trying to share a wider variety of things than just music writing, such as my photography and my own music.
One thing I may do sooner than later is a challenge proposed by @stellabelle that caught my eye and that I think will be a good sort of crash-course in exploring Steemit. The #commentchallenge is this: in one day, post 100 well thought out comments across Steemit, and take notes on the things you learn about other Steemians. Then, write a post detailing the experience and some of the many things you discover on Steemit. I don't know what to expect or what things I'll get out of it, but I'm excited to challenge myself to learn about others, as well as the steemit platform.
Thanks for reading!
I've had a great time on Steemit so far and I'm impatiently excited for the future. I'd greatly appreciate follows if you like my writing style or would like to discover and learn about music along with me. Til next time!