I'm not a fan of New Year Resolutions, but I do have some suggestions for readers who want to focus on enhancing the Hive community in 2021.

A Note to Newcomers

If you are a new user, there aren't really any quick paths to success, but you can still focus on comments and content creation. If you create something good, it will earn an audience over time. Don't fall for post promotion scam artists, and don't beg for followers and upvotes. Instead, explore the communities and find a place where you can start engaging with an audience that shares your interests.

Manual Curation

Trails and bot votes are an easy way to support specific users and communities, but actually reading the content people create before choosing whether (and how much) to upvote it matters more than you might think. The serious creators are here for engagement as much as for the crypto.

Both Hive and Peakd support curated lists of followed users, and PeakD adds the option of a favorites list. Communities are also a great way to find a lot of posts on specific subjects.

Don't forget your ability to downvote spam, plagiarism, and absue, either. We all have a role to play in maintaining the Hive ecosystem.

Focus on Comments

Write responses that engage with what people write. Upvote good comments on your own posts and elsewhere. Let's promote conversations and start rewarding discussion.

Remember, keep the comments relevant, and the tone civil, even when you disagree with someone's position. Resist the urge to downvote over disagreements, though.

Follow New Users

A lot of us have been here for months or years. Some of us have our collection of bloggers we upvote regularly, and do little else. I have fallen into that habit myself. Let's try to bring new users on board and support the new users who are here as content creators. Reblog newcomers to support their work. Comment on their posts to show you are actually reading their content.

2021

None of us know what this year will bring. Wars, plagues, economic devastation, ecological catastrophes, political disputes, police state growth, and more are possible or even probable. We will continue to see people suffer from causes great and small.

You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you aren't troubled, for all this must happen, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there will be famines, plagues, and earthquakes in various places. But all these things are the beginning of birth pains. (Matthew 24:6-8, WEB)

HIVE is a place where we can share good news, support those who desire freedom, comfort those who suffer, and become a beacon of hope. Steemit failed, and HIVE may one day collapse, too, but we the community remain. Let's make it a community worth preserving no matter what.