I am so excited to have been a member of Steemit for 31 days! I love the sense of community and the opportunity to get paid for creative and original content. Although my account isn't worth much, it's the first time I have ever been paid for my writing, so it's pretty exciting to have anything at all! I have learned so much about steemit, and have met so many wonderful people on the MSP/PAL discord channel. If you haven't had a chance to check it out, you should. They are a wonderful group of people who are working to make steemit the best it can be- many of them wearing multiple hats, djing on the mspwaves channel, modding the boards, and creating upvote bots to help support minnows. 50% of the liquid SBD from this post will be donated to the Make A Minnow support project
Some things that I learned in my 31 days....
-Many of the posts about "how to use steemit" are a little outdated. Talking to people on discord is way more effective, and many of them are super helpful. Shout-out to @Sammosk for walking me through the process of delegating steempower to the minnow support project!
-Getting involved in the community is the best way to be successful on Steemit. This might mean different things for different people- perhaps they chat on discord and make friends, perhaps they might find people who write about the same things and make connections through commenting on posts. Contests are a fun way to get your name out there and get involved- just be sure to pay attention to the rules!
-Markup is terrible. HTML doesn't always work the way it should. Steemit is in beta. Sometimes you just have to get over it.
Posts that I love
That Time I Spent A Week Swimming with Wild Dolphins and What They Taught Me by 
The Roving Reader writes such fun posts about her travels- they read like stories rather than normal travel writing, and I just adore the photos she takes.
A Love Letter to the Pond by
Crimson is one of the major mods at PAL/MSP on discord. She's a small miracle in and of herself- friendly, sweet, and metal to the core. I adore her and her photography, and you should check her out!
How I Became Saint Naked Nikki by
Stichybitch is one of my favorite ladies on Steemit. She writes content that is both hilarious, real, and heartfelt. She's a lot of fun on discord too, and one of the newest mods.
Winter, a new original song by
This song is so haunting and pretty. Isaria creates amazing original content that I would also recommend checking out.
Dream Abduction- Original Story by
Clayboyn writes beautiful poetry, and the prose in this story is just as gorgeous. I adore dreams in general, and found this post to be fascinating.
PAL Discord Channel Awakened Me by
Gingyptian writes about his experience on steemit, and on discord. I think this is a really interesting post because he discusses something that is a common problem on steemit- plagiarism- and his complicity in that problem. I am so proud of him for admitting his mistake, and working to fix it.
Why I'll Never Return to Laos by
Most people think traveling is all sunshine and rainbows- I appreciate how fronttowardenemy is real and honest about the positive and negative sides of traveling. Sometimes certain countries just aren't as much fun to travel through. He also has a lot of other really great posts about traveling by scooter through other Asian countries that are also really interesting.
The Dream Life by
In this post, Diabolika explores what she wants from life, and what she already has. She writes really interesting posts about her travel experiences, where she explores not only other countries but also her thoughts. I love how her posts regularly delve into the philosophical.
Photo 1 is property of the author. All other photos are property or sourced from their respective posts.