It's like going to the gym, really. You CHOOSE to start, cos you understand the long term benefits. You KNOW it will feel tough and unrewarding at times. You keep the long game firmly at the far edge of your peripheral vision. And you show up. Put in the reps. Sweat. Grunt occassionally. Have daily goals. Challenge yourself.
A great Hive engagement habbit doesn't arrive - it is carefully sculpted like tight obliques.
Why engage?
Can't you just dump your stellar post, plonk a few one liners and an emoji here and there, rely almost exclusively on autovote and then join the long queue of Hive people complaining about lack of engagement?
I have to say lack of engagement is NOT an issue in my Hive world. Because I AM an engager. What does it being me besides a few Hive sheckels in curation rewards? Each and every day I have new followers onchain, and on my Hive twitter accounts. My posts are read, and upvoted, by more people. My post rewards have grown steadily over time and my content is shared more readily.
I REALLY BELIEVE that most people don't come to Hive for the money. They come for validation - for having a genuine voice and a chance to be heard in a noisy, crowded digital space. And personal engagement meets that need.
So how have I built my Hive engagement habit?
- Just as in my great gym habits, I first mentally have made a commitment with myself about its value to me long term. I have given mental assent and prioritised it;
- I have set myself goals. I try to meaninigfully comment on 12 posts a day, every day, from the people I follow;
- I REWARD every comment on my blog, answer it and (sometimes-often) go to find the last post that my commenter has published, and comment & reward THAT!
- I have associated Hive comments with pleasurable activities I LIKE to do, like drink coffee. And so several times a day I settle with a coffee in a pleasant spot and Comment.
- Like going to the gym, I have come to ENJOY it. And so I feel cut off and disconnected when I don't comment.
- I set real tangible goals - (a) answer and reward all comments on all 3 of my accounts AND reward/comment 12 posts per day;
- I don't like to reward without a comment and only follow one curation trail consequently.
- I use Hive comments & post reading as a work break - a pleasant change of pace in a demanding world. So I have mentally stopped seeing it is a chore, a "must do"
- Several times a day I open my Following Feed and upvote-commment on the first 2 or 3 most current posts. Whomever they are. And commenting more randomly grows my circle than having epic comment raves with people I know very well.
- When I first switch on my laptop, I pop in to Hive straight away and upvote/comment 2-3 posts;
- Before I switch off my laptop at night, I like to engage my "just 2 more" rule. 😊
Spacing the comment-upvoting through the day means my VP recovers quickly and also means I am able to DO MORE over the 24 hour period, which brings better curation rewards long term and an ever growing circle of new Hive friends.
I TRY to not see posts as bits of content fodder, but as personal expressions someone has invested time in. I HATE the term "shit post" and I never use it. I also sidestep people who do, ever so politely. Cos when we see Hive as an overflow of a sovereign, sentient, feeling PERSON somewhere else on this planet, we have come to grasp its true value and its power. I wouldn't be rude about your tasteless clothing if I met you in the street, and would find something nice to say about your hair, your smile or your latest accomplishment instead. And so it is with commenting & post engagement.
I passionately believe in the strength of the whole. I also KNOW as a long-time entrepreneur of a physical business here in Thailand, that we don't grow by always reinforcing only our strengths. We grow the most, and become invincible, when we support & develop the weakest 10%. And encourage, mentor, model and help them to GROW. And we can START doing that by engaging with them!
Using a simple TOOL for engagement really helps - be it the notifications in PeakD, Discord or an app like http://engage.hivechain.app
Please check your mentions everyday!!
It is SO discouraging as a curator when someone mentions you to try and engage you in a chat somewhere, and you don't respond cos you don't see it. It's also deeply discouraging to a curator wo takes TIME to feature your blog or video in a curated piece - maybe even makes you a post beneficiary - and you don't see it cos you NEVER check your mentions.
I have really started to see my Hive account grow through the commitment to these simple strategies. I also liberally dish out the ENGAGE coinn, in addition to an upvoted comment. My last three blogs are all showing 20+ comments.
I'd encourage you to treat post engagement at the light weights you work everyday at the gym, which strengthen and enable with the long term payout of feeling good, health and longevity. When you SEE people as individuals and engage with them, Hive becomes meaningful beyond clicking for monetary profit; and we learn to SEE eath other by getting to KNOW one another.
This post is in response to the Engagement Intiative created by 
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