As a boy on a farm I learned some important life lessons feeding the pigs. You see it was my job to tend them every morning and every evening so I got to know them pretty well over their sometimes brief lifetimes. You might be surprised to learn that pigs are very intelligent animals. (They’re also clean in certain ways but that’s another topic.) Our pigs were ordinary pigs meaning they weren’t fancy or purebreds. They were just pigs but I learned each had its place in the pig society.
Having been around Steemit for only a bit I’ve noticed a LOT of interesting parallels between my pigs and the Steemit community. Now don’t get me wrong. I like pigs and have a great deal of respect for them. I would never attempt to denigrate or demean a pig by associating it with a particular class of Steemians. (Or vis versa ;-)
The pig, hog or swine (they all mean the same) social structure looks something like this:
Shoat, sucker or piglet
(an unweaned, young pig, or any immature pig)If you’ve ever seen a piglet play you can attest that there are few things that are more cute or lovable. These are the ones that just found Steemit. We love ‘em. They’re so cute and spunky as they run around all the forums. They’re so excited that they can earn a few cents for just being happy. I can even remember how excited I was when an upvote from me actually registered as $0.01!
Weaner
(a young pig recently separated from the sow)When you realize that you may NEVER earn more than a few cents from your posts you’ve been weaned. It happens when you make the best post of your short life and then watch it scroll off the bottom of the New list into oblivion in about 10 minutes. But, you’re hungry so you search for ways to feed; some socially acceptable, others not so much. You see the potential of Steemit.com and know it’s for you. But you can’t quite figure out what’s the best way. Do you post? Do you comment? Maybe buy votes (but that requires fiat dollars at this stage)?
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Runt
(an unusually small and weak piglet, often one in a litter)No matter what these folks do they just don’t grow a following. They’re fine folks but small. Now matter what they try they just stay runts. Often they are the sweetest and most lovable but the law of survival of the fittest is hard on them
Boar
(male pig of breeding age)These are the ones that have been around since the beginning. They were mining the blockchain before very many knew it even existed. They’re big and sometimes they can be nasty. You don’t want to piss them off as they can flag you into a negative existence. The big boars are the first to the trough and they eat their fill. Mostly they’re nice, some are even lovable, and for sure we need them to keep the Steemit family going growing. But they also can eat it to death with circle voting amongst themselves or as they “powerdown” and cash out. For now it’s in their interest to keep the platform growing. Let’s hope it grows big enough so they don’t want to leave for greener crypto pastures.
Barrow
(male pig castrated before puberty)They’re frustrated, confused and often greedy. They run around commenting on everything and wonder why people hate them. Some call them the sh&# posters. Their only goal is to grow and they don’t care how but alas, they’re impotent. Little do they realize that the other name for them is “feeders”! These bad boys are going to be bacon someday.
Stag
(an older boar after castration)They’ve joined at various stages but weren't around in the beginning when the big bucks were made. These are the guys that are older, more experienced who are along for the pure enjoyment of watching a unique platform evolve. If they make some money that would be OK too. Their posts are wonderful because of their experience. They, along with the sows, give the platform breadth and depth. Be nice to these emasculated old folks.
Gilt
(young female not yet mated)These are the hot ones and they know it. Every post is accompanied with plenty of photos, all of themselves, in various stages of dress. On occasion they can be NSFW so be careful if you follow them. The more articulate ones often have large followings and earn well.
Sow
(breeding female)These are the real heroes of Steemit. We owe them everything. They post from experience and they have something worth saying. They know how to nurture and care for others. They have significant steem power and use it for others. Ya just want to give 'em a big hug, hog or not!
All photographs are from Pixabay unless another source is provided.