So.
Two things.
1) FIRST AND FOREMOST IS THAT I HAVE BEEN SELFISH
Well, more exactly, I have been on Steemit with an attitude of basically coming in to get whatever I can get. I mean sure, I help out in the WhatsApp Groups and answer questions and comments but I suspect if I analyze my motives too deeply on that front, it will come down to ego or something equally venal and asinine.
I look at people like @ejemai and @surpassinggoogle who are doing such incredible far-reaching things in meatspace to make Steemit happen.
Anyway, recently, that started to pay dividends which is frickin' nice make no mistake -- but I'm feeling like I can maybe possibly do more to contribute to the platform than just pontificate on my favourite topics in the finest of Markdown fettle.
"But what can I do?" he asked plaintively.
Cool mofos like @destinysaid are able to organize large groups and get them pointed in the same direction, able to recruit multiple university students from our country to come and level up their knowledge and their lives on Steemit, people like that guy that created #dtube are able to directly create incredible pieces of software to directly enhance the capabilities of Steemit itself and people like @gavvet and @miniature-tiger are able to dig deep into the blockchain to uncover treasure troves of statistical data to show us how Steemit is and isn't progressing.
None of my skills even come close to lying in any of those directions. What I am fairly decent at is written words. Reading them, writing them, editing them and enjoying them. I know what I like and at the very least, what is properly punctuated (seriously, some people 😩)
Thus, I feel my best possible contribution to Steemit would be as a human curation bot, tracking down quality posts from the New section (and wherever else they are to be found) and highlighting them for curation. I have never leased Steem Power (actually don't know how) but I figure, if @curie takes me on, I won't have to (nudge-nudge, hint-hint, wink-wink)
Which brings me to the second thing.
2) NOT ENOUGH EYEBALLS
Turns out we don't have enough eyeballs to even remotely begin to keep track of all the new posts that flood the platform every second. It's a bit like how the volume of a sphere grows so massively faster than its surface area with even the tiniest increase in size; the more of us there are, the more posts there are.
So.
Thought I'd start with the most recent undervalued posts I've run into during my current Steemit sprint. Specifically, two works of fiction and some really really really good news for American Steemians who like money.
a) Golden Horse by @britlib16 - First off is the most recent. Saw it while editing this very post. Can't quite remember how I came across her page (possibly we both commented on something -- or something) but I found her really great urban fantasy magical realism tale starring a young Lagos-born lawyer trying to make a living in London and having a very strange time about it. Seriously, go read it, it's good. Thank me later.
b) Steem Gift Cards - Next up is this right here. Let me repeat that for you:
STEEM GIFT CARDS!!!!!!
Are you freaking kidding me? For those in America, shoot your shot! Nothing more need be said here, these guys are up and running with Visa gift cards both physical and virtual that you can buy with Steem/SBD. That's Visa gift cards. That you can use anywhere credit/debit cards are swiped. What more do you need? Gooooo!
PS - @limabeing, this means you.
c) @vermis - aaaaah, @vermis. Last but Not Least.
This dude is the reason I did this post at all. Well, the culmination of the reason. It was when I stumbled across his page (I think he late-upvoted one of my posts or something) and saw the so-far-small-but-amazing body of work he has done in utter obscurity as a squeaky-clean super-new Steemian that I said "No. This cannot stand."
NOPICTURES
So I dropped his link somewhere in the @curie discord and sure enough, within the hour someone else who agreed with me on the quality of his Black Mirror-esque and frankly terrifying short story Red Queens Race (hell, @steemstem should get in that action too -- I mean, it's fiction that combines machine-learning, human learning and neuroplasticity? Are you kidding me?!!!! Vote that shit like the fist of an angry god!!) had hammered it with a massive @curie upvote. I felt so proud and pleased and I'm like, hey, isn't that what Curie Curators do?
So here I am, in my infinite arrogance, hoping to be made a curator or something. Come at me, bro!
Like what you just read and/or the seven day upvote window has expired? Well, you're in luck, my friend because donation options abound! Descending order of preference if that matters at all:
Steem/SBD: @edumurphy
Dash: XdCpkRRxejck5tfXumUQKSVeWK8KwJ7YQn
ETH: 0x09fd9fb88f9e524fbc95c12bb612a934f3a37ada
NKN: NaAKsxh3SycrXNkbJMxYsvfwWbDteBga8w (seriously, ask me about Encocoin. This is ground floor time, people!)
Doge: DNwUsAegdqULTArRdQ8n9mkoKLgs7HWCSX
BTC (if you really really have to): 1L9foNHqbAbFvmBzfKc5Ut7tBGTqWHgrbi
