This is where the magic happens
When you go onto any site in the Hive realm, there is inevitably a "trending page". This is where we see all of the "best" work that our network has to offer. For newcomers, this is the bait and hook to get people to get involved and become one of us.
Curators set the trend
It is the curators, especially the large stakeholders that set the trend and make the front page what it is. Much like a newspaper or a tabloid, you want the front page to have some interesting headlines and some quality writing. If this is not the case, people are going to look at the front page for a minute and then go elsewhere.
In the voting bot days of steem, the trending page was a wasteland of bot-boosted posts, whales at war with each other (or everyone) and large stakeholders trading votes on whatever their thought of the day was. The trending page was not something that looked intentional. If it was intentional, the intentions were not to make the front-page look inviting and interesting. The intention was mining crypto, and it was no secret looking at the trending page.
Less is more
Everyone on the trending page during the vote-bot days was investing in their own account growth, selfishly. Where did it get them? It got them a whole lot of extra steem that plummeted in value. Getting less of a token that grows in value may be a better investment strategy. How do we grow value? By creating good content and allowing the curators to decide what is worth showcasing.
Now, when new users see the front page, they are going to see an interesting and inviting look at an exciting platform with loads of potential. When they see a good post that received decent rewards, they will also see that good work is what gets rewarded. Looking at the old steemit trending page, that was not the story it told. It was evident that some sort of scam was happening and the evidence was the trending page.
People don't want scams, people want a place to invest their time and energy. The rewards are simply the cherry on top. A strong trending page is the best invitation that we can have to make this a reality.
Curation is important
This is a very important job. It sets the trending page and rewards the content creators. This is a lot of responsibility and the larger your stake, the larger the responsibility. The future of the platform relies on consistent, good quality curation. The price of the tokens will be reflected by the quality of the curators. I believe this is where LEO got their big jump. 
It is very easy for large stakeholders to just trade votes and grow their stake... very easy. That does not create a healthy ecosystem that is set to grow and flourish. It makes the trending page look shabby and it stunts the growth of content creators that will ultimately take their talents elsewhere. It is large stakeholders that curate that make or break a platform.
Proof of Brain
I mentioned in my last article that the curatorship on POB is really good. If this continues, the growth of the platform will continue its astronomical growth. I look through the trending page and I not only see a wide array of topics from a wide array of writers, I also see a place for me to spend some time reading. I am excited to be here.
This, of course, requires content creators to create, but it really needs the curators to decide what needs to be on the front page. A successful newspaper has a lot of quality staff writers, it is the editor in chief that makes the paper what it is. They decide what the front page articles will be, and decide what is not fit for the paper that day.
Sure, having your work cut from the days paper likely stings, but, if your paper is number one and your work is often featured, I am sure you will get over it and see the big picture.
I said it a few days ago and I will say it again. The curators, especially the large stakeholders, have a heck of a responsibility to keep the trending page looking good. They are doing a great job on Proof of Brain. LEO set the bar on what a good trending page looks like. POB took that bar are ran with it. This is great to see.
Less is More with content too
I have been trying to write everyday on POB. I realized that I do better work if I don't write every day. I think if I write a well thought out post every 2 or 4 days, I will likely end up creating more consistently at a higher level. If I try to write everyday, some days will be better than others and I could lose some readers that way.
Consistency is key. My goal is to be consistent with high quality content, which means I will be writing less moving forward. I hope it also means that I will be writing better. That is the goal. My other goal is to find myself on that trending page from time to time, next week and next year.
Conclusion
In order to grow a platform, it is best to think about the platform before our own gains. If the platform grows, that gain will be much better than squeezing some extra tokens out of a failing platform. Less is more. I would much rather get 5 LEO and 5 POB / post when both of those tokens are worth $50, than get 30 LEO and 100 POB when both of those tokens are worth $0.15. Growing the platform is where the real gains are coming from.
POB saw some real crazy growth in the last week. That was due to the fact that the trending page looked great, the community was coming together with lots of engagement and contests as well as suggestions and idea to improve the platform. People take notice of this and the price of each POB reflects that.
Focusing on platform growth as opposed to individual account growth will be better for everyone. Curators and creators alike will do much better if they focus on quality and growing the platform. We all have a job to do, I for one, plan on doing the best I can with it.