Just about four years ago now I wrote one of my first posts on Hive. It had a very similar title to what you see above and this post can be considered a refresh of that one.
Given the last hardfork and the renewed focus on curation and commenting, I thought this would be the perfect time to rehash this as I approach my Hive anniversary.
I don't feel like digging back that far, but if I remember correctly, the predecessor of this post was one of my first posts that earned more than a couple of cents. It got tagged by some pretty influential people at the time and that was enough to spurn me forward.
It worked, because here I still am today!
Go back and read that again. Since I wrote it in bold go ahead and scream it if you want. I can't stress how important it is. It is something I believe, take to heart, and do my best to implement every single day on Hive.
There are a couple of reasons why this is so important: First, creating a comment that is thoughtful, and has some meat to it will help you improve your writing skills for your own posts. This is a perfect way to write a good paragraph or two without having to make it a full 1000 word post, or get shamed for making a "crap post".
Writing a good "meaty" comment, allows you to flex your writing muscles and helps you find a style and tone that is uniquely you.
Hopefully you warm up and stretch before you work out right? Think of this like that.
Additionally, writing good comments allows you to create those connections with other people on Hive that will ultimately (hopefully) blossom in to mutual support and growth for each other. Sometimes it doesn't happen right away. I can think of a handful of people who I commented on their posts regularly without getting any response before that relationship was finally initiated.
This is where you have to be careful. There is a difference between simply commenting because you are hoping they upvote you and commenting because you enjoy their content (and you hope they upvote you). People can tell the difference, don't fool yourself into thinking they can't. As you grow on the platform you will realize what I mean. Just trust me on this one.
There may be a point where you need to cut and run, don't feel bad about that. It happens, but I can't tell you when the perfect time will be.
Let's say you post thoughtful well written comments on pretty much every post someone writes. You do this for several months and you get zero response or upvotes from them. It might be time to stop wasting your energy there. You can still read their content, that's what drew you to them in the first place anyway right? However, there are plenty of quality authors on Hive. Since we are here to grow as a community, it might be better to focus your energies on that.
That's the title of the post after all isn't it? Okay, well here is my two cents.
Personally, I think one of the best comments you can craft is one that asks a question or questions to the original post author. By writing the post they have indicated they are either an expert, or at the very least a little enthusiastic about the content within said post.
Why not delve deeper into that knowledge or interest?
At this point I think it is important to point out that you actually need to read the post in question. If you are a skimmer, that is cool, but if you don't really read the post, the author will know it, your questions will show it, and you will have totally blown it.
You like my rhyming there? Go back and read that again too just in case you didn't get it the first time.
Finally, don't hold yourself to some otherworldly goal. You will either burn out or have pretty much no time for anything else. As you build those relationships, your comments may indeed become a little shorter. You have built that rapport with the original poster and you likely have your own inside jokes that allow for short single sentence comments. Don't let anyone else judge you for those.
I am not saying don't shoot for the stars, but using a bit of restraint is important too. If I get a comment that is more words than my original post, my eyes are more than likely going to roll into the back of my head and it is going to be difficult for me to focus on your reply. Especially if we don't already have that connection which was forged over years of mutual respect on the platform.
I apologize if that sounds harsh, but it is just the truth for me. There is such a thing as being too "extra" or trying too hard. It can be off-putting to certain people. Just keep that in mind.
I hope you find some bits of wisdom in this post. If not, at least something you can apply practically to your own Hive routine. Feel free to try out something you might have learned from this post in the comments below!
All pictures taken by myself or 
