}
The content on this account (up until this post) was originally written on my STEEMIT account back in 2017. I was new to the blockchain content creation space. I first heard about STEEMIT from @MichaelX who spoke at the Educating for Success conference. He knocked everyone's socks off! At that time I had been hearing bits and pieces about crypto for a couple of years. It didn't make sense to me. Getting involved was way beyond my techie geeky mind. It wasn't until I saw Michael Taggart up on stage speaking that the light bulb went off. He simplified the complicated.
I knew how to create content on social media platforms. What was new was learning there were places like STEEMIT where I could write what was on my mind BUT potentially earn crypto from it. This was such an exciting idea that I jumped at the chance to create an account and test it out. So I did!
The four posts you see before this one was as far as I got. Since I was starting from zero followers, it didn't seem like I was going to get much traction. While I know that building an audience is a long-tale proposition, I had more pressing and higher-paying things happening in what I called "the real world". So, I allowed my STEEMIT account to go dormant.
Then in 2021, my friend (@ShaineMata) told me about how STEEMIT had experienced a hard fork, HIVE. He shared the benefits HIVE had to offer. An entire ecosystem which is built around its blockchain. He said, "You probably already have a HIVE account and just need to claim it." So I did!
Next, he spent time showing me and my family the ins and outs of HIVE. I could see that everything that was out in the regular blogging, social media, video, photography, and gaming space was inside of HIVE, but with one HUGE difference. There were earnings built right into the system. Write a blog post that people like? They upvote your post and you could earn rewards. If you leave a comment on someone else's post, your comment can be upvoted and you could earn rewards. Share someone's content? You could earn rewards. WHAT?! Do you mean the thing I had been doing for free for almost 14 years on traditional social media, was something I could potentially earn rewards for on HIVE?
This was somewhat similar to what STEEMIT was back in 2017 yet HIVE has done it so much better. It wasn't easy for me to connect and build up a network on STEEMIT. On HIVE it was just like I was on Twitter or Facebook or YouTube or Instagram. It just made sense. I thought I could really go all-in on this. So I did!
Nowadays, I am finding myself spending more and more time in the glorious HIVE Ecosystem. So much to do and a wonderful global community to connect with.
While I sometimes kick myself for abandoning content creation on the blockchain back in 2017, I know that sometimes it's not the right time. And when it is the right time you take swift action. So I have!