I was scrolling through my Hive feed engaging as usual some few minutes ago. I was taking it easy trying to go with the flow and enjoy the whole process when I noticed something. All this while, I was skipping some posts absentmindedly and eagerly consuming others.
It wasn't like they weren't good posts, obviously they were for me to follow them and have them on my feed. But there was just something utterly wrong, I kept wondering to myself, why did I choose to skip those posts and engage with the others?
The Simple Answer
It's my subconscious mind working it's magic. Overtime I've been scrolling on my feeds consuming different articles and over time I've taken notice of some great authors, other times I've been able to connect in the comment section with some (I almost fell in love once) and for sure, they're quite a few I know in real life.
Without actually thinking too much about it, my mind just picks interest whenever I see posts from these set of people on my feed and without any stress I click on their posts, engaging with them comes pretty easy and after that I leave behind a priceless upvote of 0.01 Hive behind.
In some situations where I go engaging with new users, what catches my attention the most is the topic of the post, it's ability to capture my attention right away and then of course the front image. I'm human, I get drawn to things that look good, so If I see a pretty good image that gets to me, I go in for the read and if the first few lines can keep me glued, I drop my priceless upvote first so I don't forget after reading the whole article.
I think it's the same or almost similar story for a lot of Hive users and this is really how it works. The upvotes you're obviously complaining about not getting is already judiciously used and every one is happy except you. Does that make us biased, does that make the whales biased, and does that make Hive as a whole biased?
well yes!
What can you do to among a good biased list?
I know the first thing that'll come to your mind is engagement, joining communities, and posting quality contents. But for me I'll say:
Build Good Relationships.
Hive is a blockchain technology and you how it works, different blocks working together to keep everyone happy (clearly not how it works). What I'm trying to say here in essence is that, what you need more than,engaging on new authors posts, begging for votes in comments, using hashtags you think would get you votes, is building a strong relationship.
Would you be in a relationship with someone you cannot in anyway benefit from?. Of course not, there has to be a give and give back type of thing going. But as hard as it looks it is actually quite easy on this blockchain. It just takes a lot more consistency and fun.
The best way to build a relationship is to show the other person you'll always be there. For lovers, they call each other on a daily to know how the person is fairing. For hive, it's dropping a beautiful comment on that person's post on a daily. You might not be able to do it every day but do it whenever you can, and don't just drop a long comment and leave, make it fun, converse with the person, drop replies upon replies until you're sure to get the person hooked.
Then you can go on to add the person to your favourite list on peakD so that you'll never miss that person's post in your crowded feed. Here's a little trick, you can build that same relationship with whales too. First make sure you have people who now have become your ride or die, add them to a list, then also add a few whales you'll love to build a connection with. Don't add to many just a few you can cope with and then dedicate time to always show up on their posts regular and have fun. Do this continuously for months, without even knowing it, you'll be building yourself a good relationship to thrive here on Hive. (
Add value
A lot of people have complained about their quality posts not getting any upvotes and it's quite painful, no one wants to work hard and not get rewarded. But then no one actually wants to pay for crap, sorry to say, your content might be quality to you but it surely might be crap to any one else.
Hive thrives on community building and each person works to move the community forward. You can't expect to come enjoy in an already laid foundation and not do things to keep that structure standing. You can get upvotes easily if you look for ways to add value on Hive.
It's not as easy as it sounds but it's not that farfetched. You can be involved in community projects, community promotion and also community building. You have to be part of something to get the big whales to upvote your post. They can't keep wasting it on posts that don't help this space in anyway. Make posts that help promote Hive and your loved community, it's a give and give situation.
Do your own research, find out what the community you're rooted in needs. Provide them with that thing and gain the attention of atleast one big whale, it's quite easy to be added to their autovotes and reap the fruits of smart labouring.
Meanwhile, you really need to check out the Leofinance.io community if you're a newbie. It's actually a fun place to be, I've been there a lot lately and I think I'm already getting addicted!..Do well to check out the space, you'll find how helpful it'll be.
Don't give up, keep having fun
You might still do all of this and still not get any mouth watering upvotes. Does that mean you should stop?.
No!, Don't stop!
Your big break is well on its way, you just have to be really consistent about what you're doing and keep doing it with a lot of love. There's some one out there watching you, soon you'll get on their good list.
It's a never ending process, don't stop when you're already making headway, still keep it up. Ever wondered why the big guns still remain relevant?..it's because they're always consistently doing what they do best. Most of them are the biggest on Engagement, they still go ahead to make good quality posts, and still have time to curate.
You surely don't have an excuse, at the end of the day you're the only one that can inspire yourself.
Thank you for reading this, if you enjoyed it or it connected to you in a way, I invite you to drop a comment I'll be glad to reply鉂わ笍