I got a little behind on upvoting posts that were using the waintwiserupvote tag. OK. I got way behind.
There are several reasons I got behind, the main one being that the way I was approaching it was turning out to be too much work. So I have been taking some time to think about how I can accomplish my goals with the tag in a way that I can realistically keep up with.
My goal with the wantwiserupvote initiative is simple. I want to help small minnows on Steemit with my whale upvote. Even though I'm not technically a whale yet, I want to get in the habit of using my Steem Power to boost other Steemians as well as myself. My upvote is currently worth two cents, which means that after Hard Fork 19 (last I checked) it should be worth roughly 8 cents (multiplied by 4) and might even be worth more than that when taking into account the more linear rewards curve in the plan, but then would also be more vulnerable to dilution depending on how many upvotes I cast in a short amount of time. I continue to post content here in order to grow my Steem Power, though I am no longer powering up 100%. I also periodically purchase Steem and power it up. Between those two activities, the value of my upvote continues to move upwards.
For the past couple weeks I posted and commented on Steemit without tracking how I voted just to get an idea of what I do naturally when I'm not trying to meet a specific goal. Here is how it works: I upvote my own posts. When someone comments on my post I usually upvote the comment (unless for some reason I don't like it much, which does occasionally happen). If I reply, I also upvote the reply. If I read someone else's post and like it, I upvote it. If I comment on it, I usually upvote my own comment. If I get a reply, I usually upvote the reply.
The picture that emerges here is that I'm kind of a Steemit narcissist (in the nicest sort of way). I'm very aware of the things I post and I get excited about getting replies. To me it doesn't feel like work to be upvoting and replying to people who have commented on my content.
While I do occasionally glance at my feed, I can't say I do it with any sort of consistency. Sometimes I'm just not interested. Sometimes I have other things I need to be doing instead.
But if I see that reply button light up, I'll make the time to read what it says and most likely post a quick reply back, or if I need to think about my reply, then I'll make a point to come back to it later, and I do.
The wantwiserupvote initiative version 2.0 is about leveraging what I do naturally on Steemit for the benefit of others. It's also about taking into account the normal ebbs and flows of my Steemit activity. I just have to put it up front that there will be times when I'm very active here, and then there will be times when I'm not, and that's just the way it is.
Here's how it will work from now on:
About once a week (give or take), I'm going to post an article asking for whoever wants my upvote to post a good comment and/or a link to a post they'd like me to read. Then I'll go through the comments and upvote the ones I like--I'm sure that will be most of them. I might read the articles, and I might not, but at the very least the comment posting the link gets a shot at my upvote. If I reply to your comment, I'll upvote my reply, and if you reply to that one I'll likely upvote it too. So, basically, if you interact with me and we have a conversation, you're likely to get several upvotes from me, and I also get to upvote myself. See how this works?
If a week goes by and I don't post an article inviting comments and links, then just keep posting to the most recent article. If I stop replying and upvoting, I'm probably just taking a break.
My original rule of tagging no more than one article per day has worked very well so I'll keep it. You can comment as often as seems natural, but only post one link to your own work per day.
I'm especially encouraging small minnows to do this, but I'm not going to take the time to check everyone's wallet balance. So if you're a large minnow or even a whale and you stop by and I like what you say, I'll be happy to upvote you too. If it gets to the point where I need to ration out my upvotes (hasn't happened yet), then I'll think of a plan at that time.
I figure for the time being it's going to be somewhat self limiting to small minnows anyway. My upvote is worth two cents. If you're already at a point where you can make your post worth a Dollar or two by upvoting it yourself or you already have a following and regularly get post payouts over ten Dollars, then are you really going to go out of your way to post a comment on one of my articles just to get an additional two cents? If you're that type, then welcome! But most people who are already doing well on Steemit won't bother if the only reason is to get the upvote. But if you're a brand new minnow and you don't know anyone on Steemit, well, that two cents could be very helpful in getting you going. This whale in training is happy to send her two cents your way. You just need to come and find me.
The one part of the wantwiserupvote initiative version 2.0 that I haven't thought through yet is the outreach issue that I've mentioned before. I have a following of people who are already inclined to stop by and comment on my articles. If I want to expand that to new people, then I will have to reach out. I'm putting outreach activity on hold for now, but am definitely working it over in my mind.
In the mean time, stay tuned for my next article which will be a post specifically inviting you to share your own content or just interact with a comment, all for the cause of getting a wiser upvote.