On the 18th of December 2017 I applied for an account on steemit.com. Six hours later it was approved. The 19th of December 2017 will forever be the date I arrived on Steem (then I thought of it as Steemit) after talking about it with my long-time blog partner @r00sj3 (read about our long journey through blogging communities HERE).
Instead of naming all my milestones and 'current achievements' I thought I would look back to 19th December of 2017 on steemd.com and see what I did that day. I must say: I think it was a lot!
My first day on Steemit
First thing I did, of course, was follow @r00sj3. Second thing I did was write my intro post, not knowing about the whole thing where you would put your name and date on a piece of paper and take a selfie, but still, it was not a bad intro post I think.
Having done years of 'community blogging' already I knew I had to be social from day 1 to get noticed and even have a small chance of receiving upvotes. So I want on a comment and upvote spree:
My intro post
@markthepoolman, @byiriss, @cqf, @fedorbottini, @afiqsejuk, @bigpanda, @beatenegg, @theaustrianguy, @darthnava, @moloditch, @nedochet, @lidprokhor, @mathewdeep were the first people to ever upvote my post. I got a 21 dollar payout which then translated to about 8 STEEM I think, which I decided to spend on upvote bots the next week, since I thought that's what everyone was doing and I was dedicated on making 'a name' here quickly.
[Screenshot from upvotes, next to the thumbsup you see all the names that upvoted me, but under 'vote details' I could select the ones that were cast on the 19th of December. 16 upvotes, plus a self upvote with zero weight :D)]
First blogs I followed
First blogs I followed after my blogging partner in crime were @ned and @steemitblog. In hindsight I'm proud of myself for doing that, immediately chasing after the information I needed to stay uptodate on development and announcements - I have no idea how I even knew these were the accounts I had to follow.
The other people I followed were people welcoming me, which back then were @theaustrianguy, @czechglobalhosts and @welcoming - I should find out if they still welcome people on the Blockchain, because I remember feeling welcome, which is very motivating.
It's interesting to see I also followed @thejotographer, a very talented person from Nigeria I still sometimes think about because I would love to see more content from him. I apparently met him on day one! <3
Upvote spree - with 15 SP to 'give' :')
With my delegated 15 SP I want on an upvote spree.
I gave all my zero cent upvotes and emptied out all my Voting Power that first day, without even knowing or caring, oh, how easy my life was back then!
First SPAM received :D
Who has never received a message from @hottopic? If you can prove it leave me a message and I'll share the revenue I got from receiving these SPAM messages the past year with you :')
In conclusion
About 150 transactions were put on the blockchain a year ago, connected to my account. Through incoming upvotes, comments, me replying, commenting, upvoting others, and following some accounts of which I now remember or follow only a few.
I had to write this post in less time than I thought I would have today, because life happened, and it's now only 6 minutes to midnight and I'm obsessive enough to want to post this with the '19th December 2018' timestamp on it. So I'll do just that.
But since it's fascinating to look back at the beginning I might dig a little deeper tomorrow and if I find something interesting to share I'll do just that.
For now I just want to say: I'm super grateful I arrived on Steem(it) a year ago. I've learned a lot about myself, about cryptocurrency, blockchains, communties, defining value, and have gotten tons of friends all over the world. Sharing laughs and stories and meeting so many of you at SteemFest has been a highlight of my year. I can't imagine not being here 19th of December 2019. Hope you'll all still be here to celebrate with me.
<3 Steem ON!