I’ve been around the platform since August 2016. I haven’t made a ton of income from it but I keep plugging along and doing what I can to contribute to the community.

My Activities

Not long after I started on the platform I started manually curating to find quality posts on the platform. I created the Steemit Ramble to post the results of my curation efforts.

In September 2017 I created the Steemit Ramble discord as a place for others to make nominations of posts to consider for the Ramble. There still is a channel for nominations that I check regularly. I also share some of the post proceeds with the nominators I use their posts from.

The first week of October, I tried something different. I announced the first Pimp Your Post Thursday. A voice chat designed to allow people to share their current posts and network with others. I added a morning show to accommodate other time zones soon after.

@sircork asked if I’d be interested in the show being broadcast on the radio network he was then building, Steemstar Network. In short order it has become a show that many enjoy attending both to listen to and to participate.

A reference library of articles about the platform and learning the craft of writing is being developed on the Ramble. Check it out when you have a chance.

I also support some projects in the community either through trying to put some light on the projects or directly through some delegation, usually pretty small amounts.

The thought crossed my mind the other day that I should create a post about the projects I actively support on the platform.

So, here they are:

Women Oriented Projects

I am a woman on the platform. I am also a woman who has spent her life engaged in non-traditional activities. My mindset has always been that it’s okay for me to do what I want to and what I am capable of doing. Don’t ever try to stop me from doing something because I am a woman.

That’s a redflag you don’t want to fly.

Feminism is about equality of women. It’s not about every marginalized population out there. Feminism overlaps into marginalized populations, so the two are not mutually exclusive.

My path through non-traditional activities over the years has been scattered with an ongoing struggle to stay on the path of my choosing and not the path others try to shove me onto. It’s meant developing backbone to stand tall against the winds of discrimination that vary from the whisper of a breeze to a full gale force wind.

I’ve learned that I get as far or further by walking the talk than I do if I spend time yelling from the rooftops. Attitudes change when they are challenged by unyielding action and results.

I give whatever support I can to projects that support women being the best they can be.

@ladiesofsteemit

This effort by @ameliabartlett works toward curating and highlighting women both on the blockchain and off. They are women who chart their own paths and march to their own drummer.

@steemsugars

Led by @meanmommy33 this women oriented group was formed after Steemfest with the goal of attracting more women into crypto and by extension STEEM. They meet on the Steem Sugars Discord. Men are welcome to take part in supporting that goal.

@feminism and the Feministeem Discord

The @feminism account was originally used for trolling feminists on Steem. Recently @beanz acquired this account with an eye to the future arrival of communities on the platform. It’s good to see the account in the hands of a respected member of the community who will rehabilitate it into a more appropriate usage.

Steemit LGBT+ Discord

I met this group through @ancapbarbie and quickly learned that the group is there to be a place of respect and support for those who identify within the LGBT+ group of people on the platform. A person doesn’t have to identify within the LGBT+ group in order to belong to the platform, they need only to be respectful of the people they are.

Building Community and Quality Content

As a manual curator on the platform, I’ve learned different groups have differing definitions of quality on the platform. My experience has been that there is a correlation between groups which encourage direct engagement about content and those who just want to take in everyone.

@fiberartists

Yes, I’ll admit bias on this one. This is my sister, @artemisnorth. She’s working to build a community of creatives, especially fiber artists. She has started a weekly curation project called The Fiber Ramble and a weekly coffee hour for creatives on Mondays at 3pm in the Steemit Ramble discord.

Artemis is also building a reference library of posts about fiber arts in the Fiber Artists area in the Fiber Library.

@muxxybot

This is a group of manual curators operated from The Writers’ Block and headed by @gmuxx.

@thewritersblock

The Writers’ Block discord is home to a great group of people who take learning the craft seriously. Not so seriously that any writer interested in improving their work couldn’t feel comfortable. I’m active in this group even though I don’t get as much work on my writing done as I’d like to.

@thealliance

Like The Writers’s Block, not everyone gets to join The Alliance. There is a review process which includes taking a look at your engagement with others, the quality and the consistency of your posting. In order to join you need to visit The Admissions Office discord to receive instructions on how to apply.

Witness @enginewitty started The Alliance. The principles it operates under match those of his own personality. He actively supports many projects across the platform, especially those involving his alliance family.

@thesteemengine

The Steem Engine is another group with a primary goal to promote engagement and interaction among its members. It also supports and encourages the members to create great content across the platform.

One of the founding members, @ethandsmith, is currently working on building a document that will eventually become a resource to be given to potential and new members of the platform to learn how to use the platform. In addition to the channel on the Steem Engine discord for the posts that are part of the document, I’ve created a channel for the posts on the Ramble.

Steemit Mastermind Group

This is a group I joined over on Facebook. It has recently announced it is transitioning to the Steemit Mastermind Group discord. This group fosters interaction and mutual support among its members. @kenistyles is a great driving force behind the group.

Charitable Causes

@youarehope

Founded by witness @sircork, on the You Are Hope discord, YAH engages Steemians on the ground in impoverished areas of the world to bring help directly to those who need it. Funded completely by donations from the platform and support of the @youarehope account.

@tarc

The Tazwell Animal Rescue Center is a charitable organization based in Southwest Virginia. TARC doesn’t receive much in the way of support from the local community. Yet it is a community where homeless and abused dogs are plentiful. @rhondak, one of the admin at TWB, was about ready to give up trying to keep the rescue open before she came to the platform.

She came to the platform to pursue her writing and to her surprised found a community that not only supports that pursuit but also the animal rescue.

Conclusion

This is not an definitive list. It is a list of the main areas my energy goes. I’ve been a community volunteer offline for over four decades, so I guess giving of my time and abilities here on the platform is a natural extension.