Hello Steemians, it's another episode of my interview in which I get to ask some technical Steem questions and also bring you closer to your witnesses. For this episode's interview, I have the pleasure of bringing to you @scrooger, A steemian who has a great passion for the Steem blockchain, a steemian who works tirelessly on the Qurator Project at the witness level by supporting minnows,as well as a reputable witness. @scrooger is not a witness himself, but his project Qurator is. This episode promises to be educating, and interesting . Be sure to sit tight and grab a cup of coffee while reading through this great interview.
Lets get started!!!
@jamesmovic - Who introduced you to Steemit and what was your motive for joining?
@scrooger - No introduction, was simply browsing as I always do. Reading up on some Crypto news and random blogs. Stumbled upon Steemit and registered. Kind of forgot about it and then eventually got my email with login details. Logged in, fooled around and then left. Posted the random things that a total newbie posted. Knew very little about the platform and after not seeing much rewards on my silly posts I left, only to return a month later...
@jamesmovic - How many times do you think it's appropriate for a newbie to post per day?
@scrooger - This is purely based on the quality of a post. For a total newbie I suggest keeping it simple. Create one or two quality posts a day. Gain some followers and give them a reason to return to your blog. Pushing out low-quality posts will simply look like spam. Experienced Steemians can spot effort when they see it.
@jamesnovic - What communities are you supporting and how?
@scrooger - I support quite a few. I love supporting those who support others.
With the internal SP generated from our witness we try and support other projects who are also trying to share some love to minnows and original content creators.
Even though the delegations are small we are communicating on Discord and always offer advice and help where we can. We are looking at some more projects as well, we believe in mutual support, growing together is better than not growing at all. Not a big fan of freeloaders.
@jamesmovic - Can you tell us why you decided to become a witness?
@scrooger - We actually became a witness quite late, Qurator has been around maybe 180 days before we decided to become a witness.
Qurator's main goal is to support original and quality content. This is difficult if you don't really have the funds to do it. We knew we had quite a few members and even though the majority of them are minnows we know there is power in numbers. We are after all a community project. Supporting each other while we slowly build our accounts.
The witness was to show the community we are stepping up our game and laying down roots for more serious long-term growth.
@jamesmovic - Can you tell us how you feel about it (witnessing) now?
@scrooger - When I first started up my witness server I had high hopes, I knew we would get some support from our members and I was extremely grateful for every vote. They really do make a change. Thank you Qurites!
I also had to go through the rude awakening of what is actually going on in the witness scene... More of that below.
@jamesmovic - What exactly does "voting for a witness" means to you,and do you think it is necessary for all steemians to vote?
@scrooger - This is a question that I have sorted avoided since I am slightly negative about it. Guess it's time to be 100% honest and get it out...
We have so many witnesses that do great and marvelous things for Steemit. Then we also have so many that, uhm... Well, are just kind of in it for the money. The platform and blockchain is indeed a great way of earning an income but by spamming people for witness votes and making "friends" with some whales for their support is not what it is about. A popularity contest with vote for vote to the max. So many witnesses and steemians hate those simple comments asking for upvote for upvote. Well, in the witness league it also happens on a mass scale. This is something I am quite sad about. Instead of voting for what you believe in, you are selling out. Seriously against it.
I will admit, I have asked for a few votes here and there, mostly from people I know and have had conversations with. Only if they would hear me out and know about the Qurator Project.
I would like to say something to the minnows and the whales regarding this topic:
Minnows: However small you might feel. Your vote counts. There are 100 000's of minnows. Most of you have a bit of SP and if you are serious about making a name for yourself here on Steemit then you should take care of Steemit. Take a day off from your regular posting, spend some time on researching the witnesses, make a post about it. Give your opinion of why you vote for them. Don't simply vote for someone who asked you or just for the sake of voting. Vote for those that will make the change you want to see on this platform.
Whales:
Dear whales, or anyone who has 10K+ Steem power
I feel you have a major responsibility when it comes to voting for witnesses. Your opinion and vote are much stronger than the minnows. The minnows look up to you and follow many of your votes, yet some of you never vote for witnesses. Supporting your friends is fine, we all support our friends, but having empty witness votes is pretty shameful. You need to use them, push Steem in the right direction by casting your votes to those who deserve it and is constantly doing something to make the platform better for everyone, not just the whales. Making the rich richer is not what Steemit is about. Share the love, share the votes and instead of giving yourself that 100% upvote on every post, how about swinging by one of the smaller project who support all the minnows and show them some love. Most of those projects use all the SBD of their posts to lease SP so that they can support the minnows some more. The project owner put most of their efforts and time into their projects while instead they could earn way more if they focus only on their own personal post.
@jamesmovic - What are your thoughts on the possibility of there being a new "Steem 2"?
@scrooger - Steemit is ever evolving and we see changes all over. Being absent for more than a few months and it might feel like you missed a few versions of Steemit. Even if Steem 2.0 is here it will only be a few weeks before we see Steem 2.1. We have to change and adapt with it. Fuel it and keep it growing in the right direction.
@jamesmovic - Is there anything you would like to say on your own, without me asking the question?
@scrooger - I joined Steemit just over a year ago and since I first joined I rarely visit my feed anymore. I stay away from trending. The posts being promoted are mostly bogus and upvoted to ludicrous amounts by voting bots. The $300+ payout for a picture of your grandma's chicken soup recipe is ridiculous. I know I come off a bit negative here, but I am calling it as I see it. I remember when I started there were so much interaction, so many competitions to keep track of. Commenting kept me busier than some of my posts. Lately, there is way too much automation, we are all part of the problem in a way. Steemit is slightly broken and only the developers can make the right changes that steemit needs. If there is a way to earn without doing anything then people will use it.
Bring back the manual rewards to the posts that actually deserve it. Bring back manual upvotes and real interaction. I am not saying it is not there, I am just stating it is not what it used to be.
With that negativity out of the way, I am excited about upcoming changes and those who still grind away creating awesome posts. I will always support those who go the extra mile to make a quality post and not buy upvotes worth ridiculous amounts. Stay true to yourself, if you feel your post is worth that much. If you poured your blood sweat and tears into it then by all means give it some extra upvote love so that others can see and enjoy your hard work as well.
I will keep working on Qurator. Working with my amazing team (@boontjie | @goldendawne | @ewkaw | @ackhoo | @brumest | @stresskiller | @blacklux) to make it a better service for those who still post their heart out. I am extremely thankful and grateful to have them working day in and day out to help the minnows.
@jamesmovic - Any advice you would wish to give to my fellow steemians[ newbies] who are feeling dejected one way or the other due to low upvotes?
@scrooger - Start slow, take your time, ignore the upvotes in the beginning. Rewards will only bring you down or invite greed. Stay true to yourself and post about things you enjoy. If you love it put some genuine effort into it then others will also enjoy it and reward you. Join communities to help and guide you through the steep learning curve. Read posts about how Steemit works and write about what you have learned. There are so many new members and so many posts that it is always helpful to see new fresh educational content. Helping each other is the best way to build a decent following and a nice upvote base. Keep it real!
@jamesmovic - What impression do you have about this interview and what do you feel about it?
@scrooger - This was pretty fun. Got to vent a bit and appreciated the platform to speak my mind. I am not a big fan of voice interviews and think what you are doing is pretty cool. I will try and check in from time to time to see what the other witnesses have to say. I am still learning new things on a daily basis. =)
If anyone is interested to see what the Qurator post is all about feel free to check out THIS POST
@scrooger has spoken on the need for all steemians to cast their votes for witnesses whom they trust, if you want the community to keep on flourishing, If you truly believe in @scrooger efforts, in making the community a better place, if you value and appreciate what he does as a witness, you can support him, and make his efforts count, by casting your vote for @qurator. If you are doing this for the first time, all you need to do is head to the witness page and follow the instructions written on the image below
You can check out my previous interviews with @demotruk @pfunk @roelandp @themarkymark @krnel @someguy123 @felixxx @neoxian @adsactly @noisy @D-pend @pharesim @ehiboss @ogoowinner @nnnarvaez @surfyogi @timcliff @papa-pepper, by clicking on the overview of all my interviews so far
@jamesmovic is just a young guy trying as much as possible to make the community a better place, by promoting witnesses. If you like what I'm doing as a steemian, you can support me in any way you can.
Thank you all for taking your time to read through this interview, and also for voting for these witnesses. Till next time