*This post is an entry to @kabir88's #steemclassof2018 contest. The contest post is found at Win 10 steem if you're in the #steemclassof2018.
In the beginning
I first heard about Steemit back in December 2017, when Bitcoin mooned to extraordinary heights. I didn't know anything about it as I was invested into other alt coins at the time. In January of this year, I joined the Litecoin Discord channel, which @someguy123 is one of the admins. This is when I started getting more information about Steem.
That was the response that piqued my interest in this platform. However, I was also taken back by some of the negative sides of Steem and had read about community struggles, drama, and ruthless big stake holders.
Signing up
Instead of buying an account, I decided to approach through the free route. It took me at least two weeks to get approved. This should explain why my account says I joined in March. It was not until later that I learned of the issues surrounding account creations on STINC's end.
Noobing around
I had no idea what I was doing. Soon, I found myself reading about the Flag Wars and became acquainted with @hendrix22 and @lyndsaybowes. They were amongst the earliest Steemians that noticed me. In fact, I met the contest host, @kabir88, around this time as well. He encouraged me to develop and grow on Steemit, and we often have chit chats over Discord.
When the conflict seemed to have simmered down, I started to explore other communities. I first became acquainted with @apolymask's @ifc. I signed up to be a guest judge for their competitions. His Discord was the first Steem-related server I joined. I am still a judge for @ifc and there are a lot of good folks in there in addition to a marketplace that deals in Steem for services and commodities. If you are looking for an artisan, give that place a shot.
It wasn't long before I stumbled my way into @steemstarnetwork after reading about @grumpycat's actions and @sircork's blunt, but real, comments on various subjects. This is also when I actually started to try to understand the Steem blockchain and how it functions. @sircork was very helpful in clarifying questions about Steemit, etc. I still see him as an incredible man. He's gone through a lot of hardships in life and is probably one of the toughest mofos in the community. Now, he's part of @noblewitness and has been relatively quiet since. Well, he isn't dead. He's just hiding in his bunker apartment somewhere making music on @dsound. On the second thought, you should probably go read his latest post instead of taking my word for it.
Finding a niche
Snooping around, I landed myself in @anthonyadavisii's @steemflagrewards in late April. I was curious of what the initiative was about. I befriended Anthony as well as his colleagues @steemseph and @samueldouglas. Hilariously, I was given a role to assign emojis on the server soon after. My role eventually expanded when @iamstan and his wife, @lovenfreedom, joined the cause. I was surprised that I became a part of a project. This initiative encouraged me to venture into other communities such as @josephsavage's @steembasicincome, @sherlockholmes' secret hideout, and @johnstone's Steemit Russia Team.
Today, we have @steemcleaners regulars such as @naturicia, @flugschwein, @serylt, and @bullionstackers who volunteer their time to help with the cleaning efforts in a lawful good manner. We received delegations from prominent Steemians such as @berniesanders, @fulltimegeek, @steevc, and more recently, @lukestokes as well as several other close friends of the community. You can see a list of them on SteemWorld.org.
Through this time, I also got to know the hard-working @themarkymark better, especially through the Steemit Defense Doofus League fiasco and took a full-on lecture from the elusive @transisto. I've conversed with various bot owners, mostly to report abusers of their services. It has been an enriching social experience.
Building myself
Finding my niche in the anti-abuse community was great, but I also sought a way to improve my stake on the blockchain. I often refer back to the advice @someguy123 gave me:
Here I am five and half months later. I'm still a tiny plankton, but I have made some progress on my journey through the Steem blockchain. Currently, I average a post about every 2-3 days and I dish out flags to abuses here and there for fun. With the current price of Steem, I am going to invest in my account a bit for the future.
That's a brief history lesson to my journey on Steemit. This post made me feel like I should update everyone on the post promotion approach I started doing two months ago.
In addition, I should let people know more about the communities that I am involved in. These should be good for at least two posts in the upcoming weeks. I also think I should start encouraging people to vote for or update their Witness lists again.