An interview with @sircork via meet a whale episode17

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 @sircork, A steemian who has a great passion for the Steem blockchain, a steemian who works tirelessly at the witness level, creator of steem.agency user tools, founder of the YouAreHOPE Foundation, founder of steemstar network, as well as a reputable witness. 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

Meet @sircork

Let's get started

@Jamesmovic - Who introduced you to steemit and what was your motive for joining?

@sircork - I honestly don't remember. I mostly looked at coinmarketcap.com for utility based coins I could afford, and I probably found it there and came direct, without any other people referring me involved.

@jamesmovic - How many times do you think its appropriate for a newbie to post per day?

@sircork - nobody really needs to think in terms of how often its appropriate, they need to think in terms of competing with 50,000 other bloggers for people's attention. If you wouldn't read that crap, why would you post that crap. Make your thing, blog, music, video, meme, fiction, how-to, vlog, whatever, better. Get good. And get a following, get in the communities, build your crowd, your gang, your buddies. Work together. Make something greater. Don't be mediocre. If you can do that more than once a day, more power to you. If not, well, don't do it. It won't work anyway.

@jamesnovic - What communities are you supporting and how?

@sircork - Some days, as a witness, it feels like most of them. I get approached by hundreds of people a week. I am in about 65 discord communities, mod in half a dozen, own a couple, and I know people who have "cut back" to just oh, 95 discords or so. Get in your communities. Grow your crowd. Enjoy the ride.

@jamesmovic - Can you tell us why you decided to become a witness?

@sircork - Yeah, I was asked to when I was a mod in a major platform community to lend technical credibility to their team last summer. I took them up on the idea, and ran with it. I've long since departed that team and that community, to forge better ones of my own, but kept up the witness and have made it to #63, recently partnering with @RhondaK, who is a big community builder and well known platform contributor in her own right.

@jamesmovic - Can you tell us how your feel about it (witnessing) now?

@sircork - It's a good way to lose your soul, suck the fun out of being here and stay busy all the time. Is it worth it? Debatable. Will I quit? Not a friggin' chance.

@jamesmovic - What exactly does "voting for a witness" means to you,and do you think it is necessary for all steemians to vote?

@sircork - Second question first. Yes, all steemians should vote. Only about 30% have ever voted for a witness, but if you want us to keep witnessing and by extension, making steem even POSSIBLE to exist, then get out the votes and do your research on who best represents the future you want to see in the steem blockchain.

What does a vote mean to me? It means someone hopefully investigated the many contributions and efforts and hours that my witness team partner @rhondak and I, put into the platform and provide to, with, and for the people who "reside" here on steem with us. It means they then in turn chose to put their trust in us, not to let them down on the visions we foresee and foretell as our team's position and intentions with regards to various platform forking decision points. And a lot more, a whole lot more. And we are grateful to every voter who places that faith in us.

@jamesmovic - What are your thoughts on the possibility of there being a new "Steem 2"?

@sircork - You mean what Dan Larimer is making over at EOS? Or like any other front end builder might be making here, such as the worthy and sturdy Busy.org, or dlive, dtube, dmania, zappl, etc?

I don't quite understand the intent of the question, but in general, there are lot's of "Steem 2's" on our own chain and others like it.

@jamesmovic - Is there anything you would like to say on your own, without me asking the question?

@sircork - Vote for witnesses. It's important. Learn who they are. Attend the forums on SteemStar Network every month and hear the witnesses who attend, speaking on major issues on the platform.

Visit http://steemstar.net for viewing information and to learn more, visit the discord linked from that site.

Also please consider supporting our steem exclusive, blockchain transparent, community fueled @YouAreHOPE Foundation - worldwide humanitarian aid funded and delivered directly by steemitizens all over the world, working together, as Agents of HOPE. YouAreHOPE: Help, Opportunity, Purpose, & Empowerment!

@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?

@sircork - Work harder. It's not a gift. It's like this. You just opened a tiny, underfunded restaurant in a major city. There are 50,000 other places to eat already. Are you offering something people want to consume? Okay, that's only step one. Now you gotta market yourself, and get known. Dive into the city, meet people, improve your recipe for your blog till people comment better and longer and nicer, that's how you know they liked their "meal" with you, keep working.

It's not a magic free money machine. It's a very serious business marketplace. Make your mark in it, but if you aren't writing world class level blogs, or creating world class level music, art, photography, or whatever, then consider that any reward at all is probably more than you'd get on the street in a competitive world. Keep that in mind. Don't be discouraged, be glad there is such an accessible place to keep getting better with nearly instant feedback and rewards for improvement. Now get busy, cause it ain't gonna make itself, market itself, improve itself, and consistently continue to do so, ... itself. ;)

@jamesmovic - What impression do you have about this interview and what do you feel about it?

@sircork - I feel like it's good for witnesses to talk to the community. In my case, I work a LOT, averaging around 20-22 hours a day involved in my business or steem activities, and it's hard to fit this sort of thing in to my schedule, in terms of unplanned additional to-dos. But it's worth doing, so I gave it a shot. I hope my quick, brief responses will suffice. Thanks for asking me to do it.

@thanks for honoring my invitation