I thought I’d take some time today to write a post to announce the communities I have opened and the badges I’ve created on Steempeak
As you all know, the communities are live. They were moved from the beta site where they have been for a few months to Steemit.com on Wednesday evening. Has to have been one of the smoothest rollouts I’ve seen in recent times on Steem. Great work 
One of the really cool aspects of communities is what you post in a community stays in the community. It doesn’t go to your blog unless you send it there. That means you can hold conversations by posting a conversation starter in the community and people can carry it on in the comments section. Very much like is done in groups on Facebook.
It’s going to be interesting to see how the communities are used and what innovative ideas will emerge from them. Each community can create rules for who can post about what and enforce them through moderation. That is infinitely better than the tag spamming that was so frustrating before.
I’ve started three communities at this point. Who knows I may add more. Let’s see where the spirit takes me.
I am best known for the shows I do in The Ramble discord. Others also host shows there. They are talk based and can run an hour or more. If you have an idea for something you’d like to air each week, feel free to contact me with your proposal.
With the release of Communities, I’m opening up the posting to those who have attended Pimp Your Post Thursday (PYPT) to crosspost the posts they have presented at PYPT. Check the community rules before doing so and make sure you have joined.
The Ramble is also the home base for the SHADE token. It’s earned at PYPT. Once you’ve acquired 100 of them you can share them on posts and comments.
Visit the Welcome Post for more information on each of the shows offered in The Ramble.
I have established an email list called Prompt A Day. Each day subscribers receive a variety of writing prompts to use to create their own writings.
I am a writer and I’m often looking for ideas. This list gives you a constant list of possibilities. There is no time limit on when you can use them. They are yours to use as the creative spirit strikes you.
The Shady Writing community provides you a place on Steem to share your creativity from the prompts. Maybe you prefer to create a drawing or video from the prompt. That’s okay too.
In case anyone is not aware — I am a Canadian. Any Canadians I know are proud to be Canadians and love meeting fellow Canadians.
We Are Canadian, Eh! Is a home to share your post with fellow Canadians. They don’t have to be about Canada. Some about our native land would be nice. Let’s share with each other and help others learn about this awesome country to live in.
And no, just because I’m a Canadian doesn’t mean I would know Jane in Vancouver or Bill in Nova Scotia. I have however met 
We’re a large landmass, not a small community. I live in a small community. The sort where you don’t talk about anyone cause you’re likely talking to a relative by birth or marriage.
I’ve not been a regular user of Steempeak. I do appreciate some of what it offers. In a recent interview with 
If you don’t know, they are badges people can create and award to others. Now, they are not just a pretty graphic that shows up on your feed. If you click on the graphic, you will see a feed of the posts made by those who have the badge.
I’ve created three badges. Some people are already seeing them appear on their Steempeak profile pages. They are:
Left, The Ramble/Shade badge for those with regular active participation in the Ramble and larger holders of SHADE which is earned at PYPT.
Middle, Prompt A Day badge is for those who are members of the Prompt A Day email list and actively posting their content. If you’re not posting your prompt creations in Shady Writing you can use the tag #promptaday.
Right, Canadians on Steem is for Canadians who post on Steem. I’d like you to also join the We Are Canadian, Eh! Community but it’s not required. If you are Canadian or live in Canada and want the badge, contact me.
Creating the badges was pretty simple. Took me a while to create the graphics but that’s on me. Once created you get them whitelisted by messaging
I really like the idea of communities creating clusters of like-minded people and the badges creating avenues to other like-minded people. The two really create a web across Steem.
I hear features will continue to be added to Communities like a header on the Community pages on steemit.com like they have on Steempeak. That will let us customize our communities. The badge idea may appear as well.
Notifications are working, something a lot of people have complained about the absence of. I still like using Ginabot on discord for my notices as I follow a range of Steemians that way but it’s handy to scan the notices on Steem too.
There are two more versions of communities coming. So they will continue to evolve. When SMTs arrive you’ll be able to do even more. I have some ideas about my SHADE token but am waiting to see exactly how things work when SMTs are rolled out.
Fun times are happening on Steem.
** top image from Pixabay
