These days, starting out on SteemIt is a real challenge. The newcomers featured in this post definitely deserve a little TLC, because they're going for it... with all they've got.
This is my entry for Week 54 of the Pay It Forward Curation Contest
It's Not Easy Being New
Newcomers are struggling. For me, and for everyone else who was already a minnow before HF20, it is almost impossible to imagine what they are going through.
When I started here, about 18 months ago, I was free to post and engage to build my network - until I ran out of bandwidth.
Today, a newcomer that starts here and gets a 15SP delegation from Partiko for example, is limited to 2 posts or comments per day. Yes, you read it right: 2!
How are they expected to meet people, get to know them and build a network? Everyone here knows that networking is one of the fundamentals of growing your account.
As a result, most people leave before they even got started. I can't blame them, because they just don't get a fair chance.
I had assumed that by now, Steemit inc. would have realized they are killing their platform. Because without newcomers, the stream of redfish to push towards minnowhood will dry up. Without fresh blood, this platform will die a low and painful death.
But no news from that side. They don't seem to realize what they are causing... or they just don't care.
Supporting Newcomers
These last couple of weeks, I've been focusing on promising newcomers, trying to give them the fair chance they deserve.
But finding these promising newcomers in the endless stream of introduction posts is a hell of a job.
That's why I couldn't be more thankful to the ladies from the 
All I need to do, is go through their list and pick the ones of which I think they'll have a chance to make it.
I then delegate 50 to 75 SP to their account, so they will have a little breathing space and a little more freedom to get to know the platform.
It's always a bit of a risk. In spite of the small delegation, more than half of the people still leave. Some of them don't return after two posts, but it really makes me sad that people who were off to an amazing start, just seem to be gone. 
But there are also the success stories. Yesterday, I retracted the delegation to 
Featured Bloggers
But let's get to it. After all, the idea of this post was to put two of those promising newcomers in the spotlight. Going through the list of my delegatees, I found 3 people who were doing exceptionally good.
I think the one who deserves some more exposure the most is Jess Dales (
But the 2 bloggers below are just as valuable, and really deserve some recognition.
(AKA 'Joan Explores') has worked her way up to a reputation score of 52 in only 53 days, which I think is amazing.
But it doesn't surprise me, because her blog posts are a pleasure to read. She writes about her travels, and always has some original things to tell about the places she has visited. But the real eye-catchers in every post are her amazing photos.
This is not different in her featured posts: 'Have Fun in Gibitngil's FUNtastic Island'. Her pictures of this Island near Peru made me want to take the first plane and go visit the island.
There are loads of amazing photos to be found on her blog... I would appreciate it if you would pay her a visit and show her some support.
To my big surprise,
did even better, and made it to reputation 52 in only 35 days.
He's a real artist, and does not only share his amazing pencil drawings, but also shows the reader every step of the process. You'll find a perfect example of that in his featured post: 'Portrait 9 - Hyper-realism Drawing of Bukunmi Oluwasina (Nollywood actress)'
Please pay him a visit and show him some support. And by the way, it is his birthday today. Don't forget to send him your wishes.
Both have worked really hard since the day they arrived - which was not so long ago. It looks like both have found their place here on SteemIt, but a little TLC from the community will give them the drive to keep on going.
