My Biggest piece of advice to new Steemians
For new bloggers, Steemit can seem like a daunting place, a huge open decentralized blogging platform that's really just in it's infancy. Hopefully you've taken the time to watch what established bloggers do here and follow suit and make sure to read some basic Guidelines in order to figure out the dos and don'ts of the Steemit Community.
Nevertheless as this post is titled, this will be my biggest piece of advice for getting a few of your good posts a couple of hundreds of dollars to start your journey here on Steemit!
Curie Steem
If you don't know what Curie is you should Check this post out, It's an awesome project by a bunch of great people dedicated to finding and promoting great content from newer users (reputation < 53), basically if you want to become even minimally recognized you'll probably need to have at least one Curie vote under your belt and this whole post revolves around giving you the ability to score (or at least not disqualify yourself from getting) that sweet sweet Curie upvote and the many upvotes that come with it.
This is a 2 part piece of advice and is Short and Simple (And I will write a TL:DR At the end);
1.) CITE SOURCES for ALL Images
This is a big one! If you want to make sure you qualify for Curie you will make sure to cite any external sources (EXPLICITLY, ie. with the EXACT link) in order to ensure that no plagiarism has occurred and that we are within the guidelines for fair use. @grow-pro has written an excellent article about how to accurately cite sources and to verify the copyrights of any material used HERE
2.) DON'T USE RANDOWHALE WITHIN 24 HOURS OF WRITING A POST
This is a HUGE problem, @liberosist has written specifically about this issue HERE, It's not that you shouldn't use Randowhale, I am a huge fan of what @berniesanders has done for the platform, but it's about WHEN You should use it, to be eligible for a Curie vote, you must not have had more than $1 worth of votes on your post, and thus instantly Randowhaling your posts is going to crush their future of being Curie'd.
Honestly, I've seen so many fantastic posts that are 100% Curie-Worthy that I have wanted to submit, but CAN'T due to the fact that creators have jumped the gun on a Randowhale vote and destroyed the possible beautiful future of that post.
Well that's basically it, if you follow those two things above and make sure you post ORIGINAL, in depth posts that actually Discuss a topic rather than posting a Youtube video (Shit posting) then you will be eligible for an awesome Curie vote, and we'll all be a lot happier;
We'll have more awesome content to submit to Curie, Readers will have much better content to read and learn from (rather than shitty posts of youtube videos), And you'll get a kick-ass Curie vote to jumpstart your blogging adventures on Steemit!
TL:DR : Cite Sources of ALL Images and DON'T Use Randowhale within 24 Hours of posting a post.
Edit & End Note: Doing the two things mentioned above will NOT Guarantee a Curie Upvote, these guidelines are more about how to NOT get DISQUALIFIED. Nevertheless there are many of us Content Scouts out there and if you write good quality and long posts regularly I'm sure a Curie vote will come around soon enough.
Solid info @locikll, your 1st tip is priceless: cite your sources for images. It is baffling to see so many people unaware that citing your source is a CYA tactic (cover your ass!) BUT it is also the respectful thing to do if an artist or photographer created a work good enough for you to use in a post that will generate monetary gain. Otherwise not citing your source is taking a risk and many have no idea what risk they are taking. It can cost BIG money if you get slammed for plagiarism and even more if you're monetarily benefitting from it.
As an artist and designer, I've had my work stolen countless times. I hope more people will heed your advice and stop stealing/misusing IP and copyrighted works. It does no good for this great platform to draw attention for piracy and plagiarism. If anyone is having trouble figuring out how to cite photos that they forgot the source to - please read How to cite images & tools for finding image source.
Many people just grab images from search and use them - this might get them sued or have legal action brought against them. It is vital to realize there are simple, free tools to help people avoid that altogether. Taking a few extra minutes to find the source and check image usage rights - could save you more trouble than you know. I remind others that there are tools to identify misuse of images and it is very easy to find those that misuse images online!*
Great message @locikll. It's short, sweet, but straight to the point. STEEM ON 🔥🚀
Thank you very much man! It really does get overlooked frequently and from a legal standpoint, taking a few seconds can save thousands in damages, the reputation of the post author(s), and of course Steemit.
Thank you for providing your experience as an artist and explaining why this affects you in such a big way as maybe this will help people understand that they are actually hurting REAL people by doing this. I will edit my post now to provide a link (under how citing sources) to your article for how to properly check the rights and usage of images in posts.
My pleasure @locikll, and THANK YOU. We are building a social community here on Steemit, so a strong foundation is vital. Respect for each other (the users) and respect for the platform (Steemit) will only enhance our community.
If artists & photographers stopped contributing works - we wouldn't have media to enhance our posts with. I've been here on Steemit for almost 40 days; one of the first notes I made was that images and media greatly enhance the value of a post. Whether your writing is as witty as Mark Twain or a monotonous as Ben Stein - media adds value.
The more we appreciate artists/photographers and respect their work - the more value they will generate. As an artist, I respect my fellow creators. I know that without them, our world of visual communication would collapse.
If we feel that a photo, song, or artwork might enhance the value of our post - why not respect the originator of that media? If we feel it is good enough to use, then we should be acknowledge the wonderful minds that created it for us. These artists often share their work to help us - the least we can do is say thanks.
I appreciate you taking the time to reply and to graciously extend this information to your readers. We are building a better platform friend! Together, we all determine the longevity & success of Steemit. Users like you @locikll are invaluable and I will gladly THANK YOU for all of us here on Steemit!!
No worries man :) Absolutely , I don't think I could explain it better myself.
That's all good, I am a strong believer that knowledge is power and this information (and a lot of the stuff that you've written) is incredibly useful not just for the individuals but for the community as a whole.
I see that you find a lot of great content especially with @finnian 's work, I actively look for great content to submit to Curie and I submitted This Post Because you Re-steemed it. This is to say that you're as much of an 'invaluable' user on Steemit as I am as all we can hope to do is promote the content that is well written and is awesome to read!
You don't know how much I appreciate that @locikll! I have known @finnian since the earliest days of Google+ and when I was a graphic freelance artist - he was one of the most enjoyable people to work with. In fact, he is the reason I'm here on Steemit!
I've found so many creative minds on here already and I am truly grateful for that. You are a kind creator @locikll. I read about Curie in your articles and when I saw that @finnian recieved a vote - I was literally clapping. 😆 He certainly earned it. The funny thing is: I had a feeling it was you that submitted it. You were so kind as to share with the community how it works and I hadn't seen many others touch on what Curie is and how it works. So... You really stuck out in my mind.
You're an awesome person and may you find limitless rewards in your endeavors.
Thank you for your support! You have a new buddy, so don't hesitate to find me should you ever need a helping hand. STEEM ON 🔥🚀
@locikll, Thanks. As a newbie I appreciate the advise. Although I had to look up what Curie and Randowhale even are.
I assume a source link isn't required if you own the content being used?
What you're doing right now is absolutely fantastic and you're one of the examples who is immediately off to the races! In terms of own content, technically a source link is not required however it is always good to put a few words to that possibly by saying "Photo I took of ... [Insert Object here], showing [whatever the image shows]", Basically like captioning in Journal format. (You obviously don't have to do this, but I think it's quite a simple way to make an article stand out and makes it easier for reviewers to realize that it's your work and doesn't need to be accredited).
In terms of Curie and Randowhale, I wouldn't worry too much about them, if you keep your content consistent and as brilliant as it is now, then I'm sure you'll be going a long way :D
Oh crap, I used an image to comment in one of your post. Sorry.
Thanks for the write up, this post is really helping.
Oh haha, Don't worry about it :P It wasn't about that kind of thing and while it probably would be good to cite sources for all images, I think for comments (where monetarily do not benefit as much as posting) it should be safe-r to use images, as this could be compared to the ongoing use of memes and such on Facebook/Other Social media. It's really only when Monetary benefit kicks in (where posts earn > $1) that copyrights, plagiarism, etc apply and are actionable, and for these cases Curie will understandably Not Up vote as this could be damaging for Curie as being seen as monetarily benefiting (from Curation reward) from Copyrighted/Plagiarized content.
Hey @locikll - thanks for this very informative post! I definitly follow you now, but sorry - even if you really deserve it I cannot upvote in the moment... my power is down.
Don't worry about it mate! :D I don't do this for the Up-Votes haha, I'm really glad you found it useful as I do this for people like You and not for my own gain.
Very noble attitude :-)
I think just a few want a strong community here. it sucks quit a bit to get DMs in the chat with F4F and vote4vote requests and to see scammers making fake profiles. It will sort out hopefully. What do you think?
Thank you :). Absolutely, I hate the Follow for Follow / Vote for Vote culture and it is a culture that stems from Youtube and any other social media platform where content is monetized; Unfortunately people have this belief that if they gain enough 'Followers' or 'Votes' that they will suddenly become popular and have the "Easy life of Internet dollar dollar bills yo".
In Reality though things could be further from the truth, the easiest explanation as to why these 'schemes' do not work is respect; our whole human culture is centered around respect and we only watch and like content consistently if it's by someone we respect. People who ask for followers and votes don't realize what they are doing is actually permanently damaging the respect anyone would have for them, as if you don't respect yourself then how the hell else can anyone respect you?
In terms of it "sorting out", I'm not sure it ever will. All we can do (and I do this whenever I see a spammer / someone who begs for follows/likes) is flag and make sure that spammers/beggers do not clog the system and remove visibility power from people who have legitimate and good quality content, (And also make sure that spammers earn $0 on this platform and so are dissuaded to use it).
I do have an example of a group of the community 'Sorting out' a 'bad' User, if you look at @ivylifestyle You will see a classic example of a horrid spammer who now (due to me finding and flagging him as well as others helping me out), from a lack of reputation cannot post and has effectively had his account "destroyed".
This concept is so interesting. I love that Curie helps those who are needing momentum, and the fact that it happens because people help people while also helping themselves. Ca't wait to get rockin' in SteemIt and find out how to put all this together. Thanks for the post. It's given me something to think about as I move forward on my journey!
Well, finally got here after using both my Curie upvote potentials, but thankfully I was aware of at least the first one before I lost both.
Good stuff, actually.
Thanks for post and it is great what they are doing, but I still think it is a shame that people have to organise themself in order to promote original content on a platform that was made for original content but fails to reward it.
Yeah it probably looks like my usual rant but system is failing we need to find a way to change it or at least start talking about ways that may change it. So we could fix the issue itself instead of fixing it's consequences leaving problem unsolved.
Steem is blockchain right? Blockchain is decentralised so there must be a way.
Look at my reply to @art-universe, I said there that I don't think it will 'change' but instead what will happen (or should happen) is that users will band together and flag / filter out the content that is 'shit'.
Honestly in my opinion alot of content is "shit" here, but it doesn't deserve to be deleted, yet it doesn't deserve rewards it gets. We all have issues with this platform why not discuss them and make some kind of open letter at least?
I wrote my issues but very few people noticed that, but if someone popular would do that and if discussion starts maybe we can sort this out.
Great tips and advice, thank you so much!
No worries mate :D
Great tip! Still new to the community and hadn't heard of Curie steem yet, but it seems very useful. Also loved the post of @donkeypong which you linked us to.
Keep it up.
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Thanks for the post. I learn a lot about the two mistakes to avoid and now I have to go back and edit my post🤔🤔
I am looking to learn how to search for topics that interest me. Can someone please explain to me what/how to curate? @cleverbot do you know how to be a curator on steemit?
I met her online and it was alright for a while, but the feeling is dwindling after a couple years.