Interaction Is One Of The Main Forms Of Steemit Currency
The Purpose Of This Series
As we proceed on our Steemit journey of growth and discovery we begin to realize that a MAJOR catalyst for our growth on the platform is gained through the interaction we have with other like-minded - and sometimes even NON-like-minded - Steemians, who can educate, inspire, and/or challenge us in developing new ideas and topics for further exploration. Part of this process arises through the content of other people's posts, but ANOTHER major part of this evolves through interactions via comments. It's interesting to note that on Steemit the primary "post" AND the "comment" are BOTH labeled as "posts". This makes clear the idea that comments have the potential to be EQUALLY - if not MORE - valuable (at times) compared to "proper" posts. In addition, one added benefit of "comments" is that it is possible for people to comment on a post AFTER the "7 day" active phase of the post (after which time the main post itself can no longer be edited, and is saved "as-is" on the blockchain forever and ever and ever).
I have therefore decided that it would be interesting - and likely helpful to others - to create a series where I show some of the most helpful/interesting comment interactions I have had on Steemit, with people who have turned me on to new areas of inquiry, inspired the development of my writing and artistic style through example, andeven challenged me to question my ideas and/or how I present my ideas on Steemit, etc. As there have been NUMEROUS occasions where various Steemians have introduced me to topics and content which have made MAJOR positive changes in my life and artistic/intellectual pursuits, I believe these interactions are worthy of being recorded, reflected upon, and commented upon. Therefore, this series is an effort to analyze and showcase some of the especially valuable interactions I have had on this platform. My hope is that some/many of the people reading the posts in this series may gain THEIR OWN inspiration from the comment interactions presented here, AND that I can help show people the value of reflecting on the valuable interactions we all experience in dialogue with other Steemians. Perhaps my STYLE/METHOD of commenting may also help readers gain some insight in how to maximize the value/effectiveness of their commenting activities. If these posts help readers gain more value in their overall experience on Steemit then I consider this series a success. I will try to limit my analysis to ONE of the most valuable interactions I have had each week, as this will likely keep the amount - and depth - of information manageable for the reader.
One other thing to keep in mind is that often people who are new to the platform - and have not yet figured out how to create interesting and income-generating posts - as well as those of us more experienced posters who simply need to tone down our activity to commenting INSTEAD of the more energy-intensive posting process, will likely find value in this examination of the commenting process, since commenting can INDEED be a significant income-earner for those who do it seriously. This is a more practical benefit of this series. This is NOT to say that "earning income" is a major focus of this series, but is simply a beneficial, natural side effect to harnessing the power of the Steemit (monetized) "comment" feature.
As always, feel free to leave any feedback in the comments section. If your input is especially good, I may even include your comment(s) in the next episodes of this series - as I have done in THIS one ;->
Good luck
Top Interaction #1
The comment interaction focused on in this post is a good example of how somewhat "conflictual" interactions on Steemit can be thought-provoking and enlightening. It hightlights the value of exercising diplomacy, and composing "constructive" feedback in order to increase the movement of your ideas/opinions/content. As I read the first sentence of this comment by 
[comment continued below]
As you can see from my response, I was pretty blunt about how I believe such lack of "basic diplomacy" had squelched my motivation to read the entire message and give it the level of consideration it ultimately deserved. As many will likely agree from reading my response, I believe that I was honest - yet firm - in pointing out what I believed to be the flaw in communication of this comment. Unfortunately, my response was met with further "non-productive" discourse, and so I decided to make an effort to diffuse the situation the best way I could, and consider this a learning experience. But for the purpose of this series this comment interaction is illustrative on many levels. That is, you can have something valuable to say, but it is important to present your information in a way which maximizes reception of your message. That is NOT to say that you even have something to say which people AGREE with, but that if you alienate your audience it doesn't matter WHAT you have to say if they don't even consider it.
[comment continued from above]
My goal here is NOT to single out this commentor, or destructively criticise them or their message, but simply to point out the importance of communication skills on this platform. The GREAT thing about Steemit (compared to the traditional social media platforms (ex. Facebook), which basically just PIMP OUT your creative energies) is that it actually provides an INCENTIVE to maximize communication (in the form of SBD/Steem income upvotes which can be applied to comments, just like main posts). This means that we are REWARDED for maximizing communication. In addition, I am not just referring to "positive" communication - but CONSTRUCTIVE communication. I have received SIZABLE/VALUABLE upvotes and counter-comments on comments I have made which "productively challenged" the original poster, and helped them to think about the topic of their post in new ways which were beneficial. "Constructive criticism" can be JUST AS valuable -if not MORE - on Steemit than the more "cheerleader" type support. The main defining factor if this value, in my opinion though, lies in the MANNER in which the COMMUNICATION is presented. If you alienate your audience you will NOT be "rewarded" - whether that reward be in the form of monetary upvote, investment of attention, consideration of your ideas, or a combination of ALL of these.
The best part is that, on the macro level, the "incentivization" of communication through comments benefits the platform as a whole, since the more people who contribute to Steemit - through posting, commenting, etc. the more the platform grows, the more monetary AND social value the platform has, and the more incentivized people become to contributing increasingly valuable information via the posting and commenting features of the platform.
So please be vigilant of the importance of always continuing to improve your communication skills, as this will benefit yourself, and all other Steemians.
Good Luck