Being a newbie on steem, there certainly are some weird words that you may seem confused at the sight of, I mean, some of these words to you, might not necessarily mean much or have any correlation with the blockchain at the first look of it, until well, you get someone who happens to explain it to you or you happen to stumble upon a post that does just that for you. Well, this post here, hopes to be able to do just that.
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When I first came across the phrase “vote for witness” while touring steemit as a new steemian, it got me filled with so many questions like; "who the heck are they, what are they witnessing, why do I have to vote for them, Is there gonna be some court case in the future?" etc. But I pushed them all aside and went on with what I was doing because well, it wasn't my cup of tea (or so I thought). "Not here for politics", I thought. (well, because the word "vote" somewhat gave me that impression
I came across a few posts talking about witnesses and well with without actually saying who witnesses are (more because I wasn't actively looking for who they are), I concluded that they were "steemit’s influential people", and moved on with my steem life. Lol! How wrong was I, I guess I should have searched for information about it, but I probably wasn’t so interested in it, because, partly, I thought it was something I might never understand or get the meaning of.
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Until when I stumbled on Teamsteem’s post which was focused on explaining what witnesses are and what they do, and that post really did give me insight about what witnesses are, and their input on the steem blockchain. However, even with that insight, I didn’t understand all of it, more because I had little to no details on how the blockchain works and even terms used on here. Somehow, I guess I needed some sort of a personal explanation, yeah, I could have asked questions but I guess I am quite bad at that, so I didn’t. So, dearies, “ASK QUESTIONS”.
Well, I joined the welcome wagon months later, which is a really small community started by Dreemsteem and Bluefinstudios (supported by a few of our witnesses amd steemians), but with a big heart, focused on making newbies understand and find their way through steem, there, most of my questions about steemit and witnesses were answered. Plus, I was also encouraged to use those votes…
Witnesses are quite crucial to the overall functioning of steemit, without them, every transaction one takes on the blockchain wouldn't be valid. So, essentially they (their servers) validate our every transaction on here (the votes, the comments, transfers, and even hardforks).
For that to happen, they run witness servers and running servers sure isn't an easy task plus it does need resources. So, for one to be a witness, he/she must have apt knowledge on how servers are run, enough resources to run a server and of course, the ability to convince the community that they could actually be good witnesses for the community. It does take that much to be one.
They run servers to update blocks, so our every activity on the blockchain is able to run smoothly. I think that should be quite the basic explanation of who witnesses are
Sure, a few witnesses (especially those at the top) do make a few coins but most of what they make often times end up being used to run servers, while most of those that are somewhere down on the list often times, even end up losing money.
It's clear that for most of these witnesses to keep up with what they do for the blockchain, passion for it has to be involved… I believe they do need a little bit more appreciation.
How Do They Attain Their Placement On The List?
That's where all our votes count. Our witness votes is what pushes a witness up on the list or down the list. It is not just the number of the votes a witness have that matters but also how "influential" the voters are, that is, how much steempower the voters have.
But then, whether you have a ton of steempower or quite little of it, we all are entitled to giving out 30 witness votes (i.e you can vote for 30 witnesses at a time). And those votes, you are free to change who you vote for from time to time…
So, Who Should You Vote For?
Well, that is all up to you! I believe it is essential for all newbies to go through the witness list, probably go read witness applications and see who you sort of believe in, in some way… and is worth theire vote.
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You can revisit the people you vote for from time to time, see how they are doing, and if actually they still are worth your vote. There are a few witnesses that "quit" (disable their servers) sometimes and without you going through your list from time to time, you leave your witness vote "wasted", vote that could actually be useful for another.
So, feel free to go through your list from time to time and "shake up" things.
Some witnesses, do come up with projects and ideas which helps in the growth of the blockchain, and so, it is easier for a newbie to conclude that that's just what they do on steemit. But then, projects is one of the things they do out of that passion for the platform, because they hope to see it all grow.
Voting for witnesses is just you playing your own part on the steem blockchain, it's your way of somewhat validating a witness' input in making the blockchain run smoothly and functional.
Much Love — Audrey❤
Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://steemhosting.com/audreybits/2019/03/31/what-comes-to-your-mind-when-you-hear-of-the-word-witness-tenkminnows-prompt/