Thought I’d try something new. As someone who “puts in that work” and spends two or three hours a day curating Steemit content (around a full-time job and a full-time family), I thought it might be useful to give people a daily insight into how I vote and why.

I wouldn't say I'm one of the biggest STEEM holders. Certainly not a Whale. However I probably hold enough to be considered a Dolphin.

I’m generally quite liberal with my voting. My motto is to give “the benefit of the vote.” However as my STEEM Power has increased and I've been able to sway the allocation of rewards more, I've decided to try to be more discerning. These Chronicles should help me in that journey.

I also thought it might be useful to give newcomers to Steemit an insight into how I vote and some of the logic (or lack thereof) behind it. I hope some of my thought processes, particularly around maximising my share of Curation Rewards prove resourceful.

I’ll try to be as honest as I can with my comments – and apologies in advance for offending anyone!

Today’s voting

https://steemit.com/steemitx/@discombobulated/presenting-steemitx-com-a-simple-way-to-follow-users

This was the first post I upvoted today. I broke my golden rule on this one. My golden rule is not to waste votes and time on content where I’ve missed the boat. What I do when I see a post that has “gone clear” on Steemit is not vote, I just take a note of the author. If I’m fortunate enough to catch their future content early, their past success will be useful information on whether and when to upvote them.

My general strategy is to catch good content early and maximise my return.

However as I said, for this post I made an exception. The rewards were already in the thousands when I upvoted. Eventhough I know I’ll see little curation rewards, I upvoted it anyway. Steemitx looks like a fantastic temporary service for those who are looking for a sorely missed FOLLOW section in Steemit. I will most definitely be using this service, at least for the short term, so it’s only right to tip the creator. Great work Hive account@discombobulated

https://steemit.com/introduceyourself/@emily-cook/guerrillas-in-the-mist-the-faces-through-the-steem-let-s-connect-on-a-personal-level

So Hive account@emily-cook is someone that I introduced to Steemit. We were having a water-cooler chat about how the platform had treated her so far. I was doing my usual motivational speech on how she may be able get the most out of Steemit.

In these early days, its not just about uploaded quality content, it’s about going that extra mile to provide value to the platform, if you wish the platform to reward you back. It seems like my gee-up had worked better than I’d expected and Emily had bashed out this quick post. I thought it was clever and genuine, so upvoted it.

https://steemit.com/steemit/@hisnameisolllie/why-steemit-needs-really-successful-bloggers

From the title alone I was inclined to upvote this by Hive account@hisnameisolllie. I agreed wholeheartedly with the assessment of the impact of Hive account@guerrint post. Aspirations are important. Thats why people play the lottery. That single ticket to big rewards.

However I do think there needs to be a balance. Other good content needs to be rewarded with more than cents to retain good authors. It's a two way thing. Authors need to indulge in a bit of self promotion to be heard above the noise. Whales and Dolphins need to go out of their way to seek out good content. Hopefully the two will meet somewhere in the middle more often than not.

https://steemit.com/hack/@jl777/i-am-being-attacked-on-liquidity-provider-points

This was a bit of a lucky dip play. I know of Hive account@jl777 from the Bitcointalk forum. I did really well recognising that he had joined before most. I took a chance that it was his genuine account. Once it was confirmed I cashed in well (67 SP for one vote). This inflated reward was aided by the hack (and subsequent downtime).

When I saw Hive account@jl777 had posted again I skim read and upvoted. With hindsight, I'll probably be more selective.

https://steemit.com/steem/@cryptogee/the-goose-and-the-golden-steem-a-tale-by-cryptogee

I was lucky to catch this one early just by chance. It had been up seconds before I saw it. I skimmed it. I knew I was going to upvote it, it was just a question of when. I put my money on 10 minutes. 15 minutes is probably too long for Hive account@cryptogee post. He has a lot of STEEM Charged bots backing him. I'm sure they're being programmed to vote earlier and earlier to get in before the other bots. Then you have other Dolphins like me fishing around. One of us was going to go then everyone would be in.

I got in 11 minutes after the post. Early enough for a decent share of what should be a large pot. But not too early. However it wasn't the optimal time. I was probably a minute too late. Dolphins Hive account@masteryoda and Hive account@joseph got in seconds before me. However looking at the shares they got compared to mine, not too much damage was done.

PS - I got around to reading Hive account@cryptogee's post on the way home from work. A fantastically creativity and imaginative piece that summarises Steemit's journey so far. He even gave me a little name drop at the end which was a bonus! Thanks CG.

https://steemit.com/steemit/@repholder/repholder-s-steemit-escrow-service-beta-marketplace-and-more

I really like posts that attempt to offer a new service. While this post from Hive account@repholder may not be the answer to creating a Steemit marketplace, It could spark further ideas and experiments. So upvote.

https://steemit.com/posts/@gavvet/dragonslayer109-s-daily-pic-of-hidden-gems-proxy-posting-for-user-of-hacked-account

I love the fact that Hive account@gavvet (and others) are posting on behalf of those that are not able to due to the hack. A great example of the community/ friends pulling together. Love that. Upvote.

https://steemit.com/steemit/@liondani/steemit-com-has-not-doubled-in-value-in-the-past-three-weeks-it-has-ten-fold-10x-increased-it-s-value

Took a flyer with this one. Hive account@liondani is a solid contributor. The contribution whilst simple, was informative and had decent graphics. Posts like this seem to be doing better than I’d expect at the moment, so I went for it.

https://steemit.com/introduceyourself/@steemitpolitics/steemit-you-won-i-am-leaving-wordpress

Again, probably a liberal upvote. It was a chance to get in early and get a huge share if Hive account@steemitpolitics post blows up. Would probably need retrospective verification to happen. Didn’t think on it too long. Went with my instinct, upvoted and kept it moving.

https://steemit.com/travel/@anca3drandom/i-made-the-first-steemit-earrings-but-few-bothered-to-look

I kind of sympathised with Hive account@anca3drandom, her earring post was a good one and she’s right it was probably worth a few more upvotes. I like the way she dusted herself down, got it off her chest and tried something new. Upvoted this as my way of saying keep your chin up.

https://steemit.com/steemit/@fyrstikken/how-will-the-new-steemit-referral-system-work-and-when-will-it-start-working-ned-and-dan

I love Hive account@fyrstikken – "he’s crazy and he knows it". This time he was touching on a subject I'd brought up days ago. My post got guzzumped by the-hack. Upvote for raising the debate.

https://steemit.com/steemit/@nanzo-scoop/re-fyrstikken-how-will-the-new-steemit-referral-system-work-and-when-will-it-start-working-ned-and-dan-20160718t125407774z

Upvoted my own comment here, just to give it a bump. I felt my referral scheme proposal of a few days ago, is worthy of mention in any conversation around referral schemes. I generally don’t upvote my comments unless I feel I really want what I’m saying to be heard.

https://steemit.com/tutorial/@andrarchy/the-first-steemit-martial-arts-tutorial-the-roundhouse-kick-thai-kickboxing

I've really enjoyed Hive account@andrarchy so far and this was a real pleasant treat. I would have never guessed he was a Mauy Thai practictioner. Upvote.

https://steemd.com/steemart/@camilla/a-drawing-to-express-the-power-of-steem

I was drawn in by the thumbnail picture here Hive account@camilla. When I clicked into the post I love that she didn't stop at the pictures. She went on to explain how it was made and what art meant to her. Two or three posts wrapped up in one. Value. Upvote.

https://steemd.com/cookingwithsteem/@mummyimperfect/cooking-with-steem-how-to-make-the-perfect-steem-powered-carrot-cake-vlog

Great video by another person I introduced to Steemit. Had to upvote this one given I had a hand in helping Hive account@mummyimperfect pull this together. Well done. Great job! Upvote.

https://steemit.com/grandparents/@missjessica/possibly-the-oldest-steemit-fans-say-hello-to-the-community

I was planning to log off when this one caught my eye. I just loved the family pic Hive account@missjessica! Would be even better if your grandparents signed up!! Upvoted any, got in early so expecting a decent return.

That's today's voting

In tomorrow’s Chronicles, I’ll also include a section (“Yesterday’s results) and let you know how I got on in terms of Curation Rewards for these upvotes.

Final word...

Okay, I'm off to bed.

If you feel there are good content I’ve missed (it doesn’t have to be your own, it might be stuff you’ve voted on), please leave a link to it below and the reason you upvoted it. I’ll take a look in the morning. If I don’t upvote it, I’ll try to give feedback on why.

Hope you enjoyed this review of my voting activity. Happy Steeming. Be sure to follow and check in tomorrow.

Scoop

#dolphincurator #curator