Hi Steemians,
Before I come to the topic, there's a short story from Steemit that I would like to share with you. I woke up today to see a gift of 5 Steem from 
Thank you for participating in the welcoming efforts ❤
I had done nothing directly to receive it. There was a competition for finding how-to guides and tutorials which would be helpful for new users and thus welcome them to Steemit. I found out, using the eSteem app, that I had been mentioned by many participants in their comments.
They didn't mention me though. They mentioned my work; my guides which welcome new Steemians to the platform and guide them about setting up profile, understanding reward system and learning all the good things about Steemit. The gift I received was reward of the efforts I have done since my early days to educate newbies.
My first ever archery experience and I managed to hit the target four times.
In my opinion and experience, no effort goes unrewarded. It may temporarily be ignored or even ridiculed but effort over a significant period of time always gets rewarded. My efforts on Steemit have always been rewarded. Not all of them, not the way I wanted them to but over the last [6 months], the total time I have been of Steemit, I have seen my efforts rewarded in multiple ways.
"Proof of Effort"
What is an effort and how to prove that it had been made? An effort is where a person spends time, energy and willpower etc. to complete a task or, at least, try to do so. For example, a person who reads this post and then posts a relevant, detailed comment under it has made an effort.
In the above example, his comment is the proof of his effort. Comments are very important on Steemit. You may have seen some comments get rewarded, some ignoref and others flagged. What causes any of these reactions? The answer is; proof of effort!.
People evaluate our efforts. If they don't see an effort in a post or a comment, they simply ignore it. If they see an effort to spam, malign, scam or game the system or people, they flag such a dishonest effort. If they see some value in that effort, it gets rewarded.
How do I Reward Proof of Effort?
Firstly, I reward an effort because it should be rewarded. It is rude and irresponsible not to reward a valuable effort; especially here on Steemit where people expect the community to reward their efforts. I see a detailed comment on my post as a valuable effort and I always try to reward it.
I rewarded good comments by upvoting when I was a newbie. I rewarded when my upvote became worth $0.12 in June/July. I reward effort of people who read my content and care enough to comment on it. The only difference is that my upvote is worth $0.65 now after purchasing some delegation.
Scrollshot of Replies tab on my profile. Whenever I get time, I try to upvote replies as per the value they create.
PS: My upvote will be worth more than $1.7 when my next delegation request gets filled. I hope it happens soon so that I can reward more people, rather more efforts.
Encouraging Healthy Engagement
Engagement is key to success of any thriving community; for example Steemit. Healthy engagement means people engaging with each in such a way that something good happens. Some good things that stem from healthy engagement on Steemit or in life are:-
- Good relationships.
- New friends.
- Evolution of ideas.
- Constructive feedback.
- Lot of learning and education.
And a lot more. Healthy engagement on Steemit can do wonders for your blog as well as rewards. Learning how to engage with other Steemians is not only essential, but also the only way to survive and thrive on this platform.
I always try to reply to each and every human reply I receive on my content. In the early days, my score was 99 %. Now, things get in way and some comments may go unnoticed. But you won't see a host of replies on my content go unanswered for days and weeks.
Another scrollshot.
That's my way of encouraging healthy engagement. Many people from Steemit have become my regular friends and I have a headache how to upvote all the replies without depleting my voting power and decresing the worth of my upvote.
I also share insights, ideas, educational posts and community initiatives to encourage engagement, communication and healthy interaction.
Conclusion
My principles on Steemit are simple. You can find them incorporated in my blog's introductory line.
"I love Steemit, upvote good comments, encourage good interaction, and teach good things about Steemit. Follow to be connected."
My message for you is also simple. Love Steemit. Reward people who comment on your posts. Encourage healthy interaction. Learn and share good things.
Please consider resteeming and upvoting.