My Curation Methodology
As a curator, I like to think of myself as a prospector panning for gold. The feed is my stream, and the posts are the rocks and pebbles which I sift through in my search for those precious golden nuggets.
I thought I'd put together some guidelines that I use to locate the best content Steem has to offer. My hope is everyone can benefit from this to some extent, whether curating themselves or authoring posts.
I am not claiming that this is in any way a definitive guide, or that these are rules that can't be broken. There have been plenty of times where I decided against voting on a post for one reason or another only to see it trending a few hours after I looked at it. Such is life.
In the end, curation is much more an art than a science. I try to take a balanced approach that has potential for decent earnings while also striving to recognize content that I think benefits Steemit as a whole.
My Curation Workflow
I always use the "new" category, or "created" as it is referred to in the URL and through piston. I want to start with fresh posts in the hopes that I be the first person to notice something incredible. As I scroll further down the list, I will often keep finding overlooked posts to consider that have been posted 4 or 6 hours ago. I rarely look past that though, because it's less likely that I'm going to find something that slipped through the cracks. And besides, by the time I get that far there will be plenty of new content in the feed.
When I'm looking at the overview of the feed, the following things will make it less likely that I consider the post for promotion:
Greyed Out Listing
- Negative Rep Accounts
- Flagged Posts
No Images
Most well rewarded posts contain at least one image. Many people interpret a lack of images as a lack of effort.
Title
- Steem/Steemit, Whales, Post rewards, Complaints
- ETH/ETC, Bitcoin, Crypto, Markets
- News articles
- Advertisements/Referrals
- Gimmicks/Scams
- Foreign language (nothing against them, but I can't evaluate these posts)
Category
Really the only category that I try to specifically avoid is 'introduceyourself'. I think it is something that the most influential voters will be avoiding more and more as time goes on. The previous success of these posts has led to scam attempts and money grabs. There are exceptions for high profile individuals and very well made posts, but generally speaking I'm not looking for these posts.
However, a post that I might otherwise overlook might warrant more attention based on:
Votes and comments
These are good signs that the post deserves some attention. When bots were running amok, it was not useful to look at this. It has since improved quite a bit, and it is relevant information.
Payouts
I am not necessarily looking for a post that already has a high payout, since that defeats the purpose of curating. But I will be interested in a post that has a few dollars on it. That is a good indication of a high quality post and content that other users appreciate.
After I spot a post in the feed that looks promising, I open it up and read it to make a final determination based on these considerations, among others.
Quality of Presentation
Images
- Broken Links
- Balance of Images to Text
- Subjective Effectiveness
Length
An ideal post will find the sweet spot between being too short and too long. That tends to be more than 1 or 2 paragraphs, but not much more than a 10 minute read (if that).
Styling
- Headings for main points
- Paragraphs - No walls of text
- Overall visual appeal
Quality of Content
The most subjective part of the process is determining if the content itself is worthwhile. Some considerations:
- Will the topic be of interest to users on the site?
- Could it help the platform in some way?
- Does it offer something new, or is it a rehash of previous posts?
- Might this spark some conversation?
- Is it entertaining, enjoyable, informative, or interesting?
And finally... I always check whether it has been flagged by 