Dec 7 -- Steemit Ramble #47 -- Don't You Hate it When You Miss Good...

Well November proved to be a pain for trying to get writing done. December is likely not going to be great either. We have finished with the regularly scheduled days for taking Christmas hamper applications. A Christmas hamper consists of food items to help low income members of the community have a bit of an easier time getting through Christmas and into the New Year.

Families with children can get the kids on the Giving Tree so they will have some gifts. The Giving Tree is a county-wide initiative that places a Christmas tree in an area mall. We fill out wish lists for each child and take them to the tree. Volunteers then place cards for each child on the tree and shoppers select children to shop for.

We’ll be sending a school bus with volunteers over to pick up the gifts for the local children and then we match them up with their hamper for the families to pick up. The program is a huge job but one I really enjoy doing at Christmas. For me, Christmas is complete when the last hamper goes out the door.

I’m really starting to look forward to Jan 2nd when things should quiet down a bit. Great timing too, the beginning of the new year and time to reflect on the year to come.

Been interesting watching the price of STEEM on a rollercoaster the last few days, but higher than I’ve seen it for some time. The hard fork happened yesterday, pretty much a non-event.

The site was down for a few minutes and then back up and running. Some people, including myself, have seen their Following number drop. If you check on Steemd.com you’ll see that your Following number is still there, it appears to be a display issue.

It is going to be interesting to see how it all works out.

Onward to today’s rambling

Today I Learned About a Conspiracy Reality - Big Brother is Watching You

Hive account@krnel writes about the surveillance state and how their growing methods of watching our every move is intruding into our lives. Yet, many don’t believe this is a problem or that it is as wide-spread as it is. Interesting reading.

Free Curation Badges for everyone !

Hive account@elyaque has designed some really neat badges to display your curation ranking. To find your ranking visit http://steemwhales.com/. If you don’t already follow Hive account@elyaque, you may want to. He produces one of the best daily STEEM reports I have seen. I look for it every day.

Why Were 2 Nuclear Bombs Used in WWII?

Hive account@krnel writes today on the question of why two nuclear bombs were used on Japan. It’s never been clearly answered why the second bomb was dropped on three days after the first one. Hive account@krnel explores the question.

Busy

Hive account@everittdmickey writes about his previous life and most importantly, his invitation to join the closed beta of Busy.org which is expected to open it’s doors in February of 2017. It’s an interesting looking project that is expected to be the lead into more exciting things for Steemit and STEEM.

For steemit to grow and be successful it takes all types... This includes types that you yourself may not like

Hive account@dwinblood writes a very well laid out post on how counterproductive flagging for the wrong reasons can be. Hive account@dwinblood doesn’t name names but what is being called out is a member of the community with strong voting power taking exception to another member and flags that person because that person doesn’t respond to comments. Hive account@dwinblood’s main point is that when we go after each other for things other than plagiarism, abuse or spam it tends to hurt the whole community not just that member.

An Optimization Guide for Posts

Hive account@kevinwong writes about how to optimize your posts. He suggests applying the KISS method and of course, some visual appeal. Few people read for depth these days, most times the topic needs to be presented as simply as possible. Nice, short and simple guide.

We All Need Somebody To Lean On - Helping Your Friends Get Off To A Good Start On Steemit

Hive account@luzcypher posts about the importance of helping people get a start on Steemit. Mentoring a newbie gives them a boost on getting started and takes some of the lonely voice in the wilderness sense out of their first posts. It’s something we all need to keep in mind. My sister has joined Steemit but hasn’t yet posted, I’ve encouraged her but I have to wait until she actually posts before I can try to help.

A QUEST FOR THE PERFECT PITCH (Attracting Awesome Content Creators to Steemit)

Hive account@ericvancewalton writes about how he’s changed his approach to trying to recruit people to Steemit. Rather than trying to put emphasis on the ability to make money on the site, he’s directing his pitches to people who are already succeeding in engaging people on other social media sites through quality content.

This makes a lot of sense. It will serve to attract quality posts and when those he recruits like the site, they will bring over some of their following. Growth will follow but quality growth which means a lot for the future of Steemit.

When people talk about growing membership, they often think in numbers rather than the calibre of the numbers. I’d far rather see ten quality contributors than one hundred names on a list doing little to nothing.

One of the comments on the post mentioned that one of the downsides to pitching the income aspect is that cryptocurrency can scare a potential recruit off. I recently had a conversation with a friend, a semi-retired journalist, about my experience on the site and suggested to her that she give it a try. She was very enthusiastic until I mentioned the crypto aspect. Her response was that she was ‘too old’ to mess with that, it was too much to learn. She’s wrong of course, but I know her well enough to know she’s closed her mind on the topic. At least for now.

The #philosophy Review 12.6.2016

Hive account@aaanderson posts links to what he feels are some of the better posts using the philosophy tag. I don’t have a strong interest in philosophy but I do find some of the posts interesting and thought provoking. There are others posting on the topic who are less deep thinkers and more pompous windbags who are more engaged in trying to ground others under their heel than reasoned and thought discussion. Hopefully Hive account@aaanderson brings the former to light and leaves the latter in the darkness where they belong.

[PHOTOGRAPHY] Jeff Wall's Meticulously Constructed Photographs

I don’t usually think of photographs as being constructed but through Hive account@steemswede’s analysis of Canadian photographer Jeff Wall’s work, it’s quite clear there is a lot of work and construction can and does go into great photography. Very interesting post.

Wrap-up on Day 47

Today has been an interesting ramble through the wide variety of posts on Steemit. Always something to learn or to keep up to date on.

This past Monday marked my fourth month on Steemit. I feel most strongly about the future of the site and that I want to be part of it the longer I’m here. Real life may take my attention at times but it doesn’t distract me from being committed to the site.

This is the time of year I start exploring what I want to accomplish in the coming year. Front and centre to those ambitions is to grow on Steemit and to see Steemit grow and prosper.

Supporting and Upvoting

Let’s not forget folks. I’m sharing these posts not only because I like them. I’d really like to see them get support and upvoting. I know some of the posts have done okay by the time I post my ramble, but some really could use the support and upvoting.

Subscribing to My Posts

In addition to following me on Steemit, which I really appreciate. If you want to be sure to know about every post, you can subscribe at my other blog. I’ll send you an email when I post.

Dec 7 -- Steemit Ramble #47 -- Don't You Hate it When You Miss Good Posts?