Inner Blocks celebrates a year-and-a-half

Someone asked me on Discord this week about the @innerblocks project. I gave them the information they needed, but thought it would also be a great idea to write about it here for those who might not have heard of the project yet.

@innerblocks is a project founded by @freedomtowrite and @freedompoint to celebrate the inner "blocks" of which we are all made. Each of us are constructed uniquely, with different experiences in life, different points-of-view, different hobbies, different interests, different ways of handling challenges, etc. No two of us are exactly alike. @innerblocks is all about celebrating the differences between us and sharing them with each other.

The project was officially launched on 01-Apr-2019 with their public announcement after much behind-the-scenes planning (because StacieD and Yeti don't do anything halfway!). That means that the project will be one-and-a-half years old on 01-Oct-2020, so this post is also to celebrate that milestone! The project launched as @theinnerblocks, but the "the" part was dropped after a while. In that first announcement, @freedompoint explained the project in detail, but the core idea is this:

We hope to create a space where an individual can share and grow the many things that make them who they are. Those things are the "blocks". Our building blocks on the inside...The Inner Blocks. We are excited to host and curate amazing posts of first hand experiences. All aspects of what makes you...you.

In my own words: The community @innerblocks is dedicated to celebrating all of the little "blocks" inside us that make us who we are. The project focuses on people more than anything, not any particular subject. We love personal stories and it's all about LIFE HAPPENING!

For several months after launch, @innerblocks hosted a live "radio show"/podcast every week where those interested in the project could learn about it and provide feedback and opinions to the founders. Those sessions were informative and instrumental in getting the project off-the-ground as details unfolded and were implemented. It was like watching a flower in a garden bloom and spring to life!

I have been a curator for @innerblocks for maybe a year or more (?) I forget exactly when I started doing it, but it has been a long while, definitely! I have really enjoyed being able to curate quality posts for the project and give a little more reward to content that deserves it, especially when my own Voting Power (VP) is running low. So, I can give some personal insight into what sort of content we like to see...

As one example, if you are a photographer:

• If you post a stunning photo and nothing more, you will not get an upvote from InnerBlocks. I don't care if it's the prettiest photo I've ever seen, if there is no personal info there, I will not curate it. It might get a personal upvote from me, but that's it.


• If you write about the latest tech in cameras, you will not be curated by InnerBlocks unless you include some personal experience.


• However, if you write a post about how you became interested in photography, curators for InnerBlocks will love your post! If you write about the camera given to you by your grandfather and how he taught you to use it, InnerBlocks will definitely curate you if we see your post!

It's all about personal experience and the "blocks" out of which you are built, as a person. And it is easy to add a paragraph or two to any post telling what motivated you to take the photo, how you labored long to get the perfect shot because you're a perfectionist, etc.

Similar examples could be cited about any other topic, whether is is needlework, poetry, painting, dance, music, flowers, animals, or anything else. Say that you wish to show some of the sights around your city... great! But tell us why you picked those sights, what they mean to you. Did you take dance lessons in that building as a child, or do you just like the architecture? Let us know! Show us a flower that you grew in your own garden and tell how you nurtured it from a tiny plant into the big bush it is today! Did your grandmother teach you to knit? If so, mention that in a post where you show-off your work! Almost every post can have a personal story behind it with a little bit of thought and imagination! 😊