Application For The Communities of the Month Support Program | Best of India

(1) Best of India Community (BOI)

(1.1) What is the purpose of your community?

The purpose of BOI is to make it a self-reliant community in the long run where the community members through the proof-of-dedication move up the ladder and help each other. Proof-of-dedication can be anything related to adding value to the community.

It's a general niche, so all types of content are being catered to, we are focused more on quality blogging, keeping the basic structure intact, and creating that much-needed social intersection that not just happens by blogging but also by value engagement to foster a sense of community.

(1.2) Is it unique?

Yes, it is.

• Because we are a community where we are focused both on the process and the outcome. Social intersection, Quality blogging, Engagement, etc these are the key things to build a better social platform.

• Because we are a community that always looks for a scalable solution, and deploy resources to build those things, which is useful for the entire Steem community. In fact, two of our MODs earn their ranks as MOD by developing scalable tools.

• Because no single person owns this community. Anyone can become MOD (with proof-of-dedication, adding value to the community), conforming to the principle of decentralization, community value.

• Because we take constructive criticism as a guiding path, accordingly make necessary course corrections.

(1.3) Are there any other communities covering the same subject or area as yours?

I think NO. We(BOI) guide the Newcomers and steer them to a smooth start in Steem Blockchain. We have a setup in place where anyone from India joining Steemit(through the Newcomers community program) is greeted and introduced with BOI vision. So basically Newcomers after their induction join us. Most importantly BOI is a learning ground for naive users, Newcomers.

(1.4) Why should people join your community?

• Because we have created the best avenue for Newcomers to learn the basic structure of blogging, with continuous follow-up, mentoring, etc.

• Because we organize initiatives, contests, etc from time to time and create opportunities for the users to earn more.

• "What comes from people must go back to them"-- We distribute 100% curation reward to our delegators.

(2) Community Team

(2.1) Who are the Admins and Moderators of your community?

Admin- @rishabh99946

MODs- @neerajkr03 @sapwood @starlord28

@bestofindia is the Community Curator Account.

@neerajkr03 & @starlord28 both are techies and developers, so their role is quite specified in the Community. We believe that coding is a cognitively challenging task, so needs sustained attention, therefore they do a lot in the backend.

@rishabh99946 is taking care of the Newcomers(from India) joining Newcomer Community Program and introducing them to BOI vision, and steering them to a smooth start. He also shortlists 5 users per day for @booming support.

@sapwood is responsible for accounting, Engagement stats, curating with Steemcurator07 account, distributing Delagator's rewards, publishing Community update from time to time.

By and large, all four (Admin & MODs) engage with the users in the Community and keep following up with the users to ensure that the guidelines and the basic structure of the posts are being maintained and followed.

(2.2) What countries are they from and what languages do they cover?

All of them are from India.

@rishabh99946-- Uttar Pradesh(Northen India)
@neerajkr03-- Uttar Pradesh(Northen India)
@sapwood-- Madhya Pradesh(Central India)
@starlord28-- Karnataka(Southern India)

In INDIA, both English & Hindi are the official languages, so all the MODs are familiar with both of them. But we do recognize the linguistic diversity within India, so we do not restrict anyone to post content in any language they are familiar with. However, we request them to make sure that the language is translatable using Google Translate or DeepL.

(2.3) Are the team members paid or rewarded in any way from the community funds for their work in running the community?

They are not separately rewarded with liquid funds, but yes, they are being given one full vote from Community Curator Account(@bestofindia) every day and on a weekly basis one full upvote from the Steemcurator07 account.

(2.4) If you only have one Admin what would happen to your community if you left or lost your keys?

Although we have only one Admin, all the MODs share the private keys of the Community Account. So there is no single point of failure.

(3) Community Curation Account

(3.1) What is your Community Curation Account?

@bestofindia is the community curation account.

(3.2) How much Steem Power does it have - both of its own and delegated to it?

Own SP-- 4225 SP

Delegated in-- 50214 SP

Effective SP- 54439 SP

(3.3) What are your plans for growing the SP of the account?

We are paying 100% delegator rewards. We have kept this structure to attract more nos of delegators. Earlier we used to set @bestofindia for 10% benefactor rewards(applicable to Admin & MOD only), we will do that again w.e.f. 1st Aug 2021.

Further, at the moment the social users in our community are the only investors, and more or less their SP is earned through PoB.

For long-term sustainability, we seek to create an avenue for External investment opportunities for the investors primarily on the premise of investment. That will also add fundamental value to STEEM price dynamics.

That said, the immediate priority for us is to help users to reach dolphin status, and to encourage them to stay powered up and delegated to BOI in the long run. More dolphins mean more will be the effective SP of the BOI community.

(3.4) Are all the post rewards powered up, or are they used for paying delegators or members of the community team?
No. Because for contests and delegator rewards we have to have the liquid rewards at the end of the month. Any surplus amount is kept in the Saving account.

We also want to be honest in our submissions. We need to put more effort to publish at least 2 weekly posts in the BOI community, which will also earn us more rewards for the community. And we can assure you all that we will do that again. We have certain plans w.e.f 1st Aug 2021.

(3.5) Who has access to voting with the account?

Admin & all the MODs have voting access.

(3.6) What is the current Voting CSI score for the account (from Steemworld.org)?

As evident from the screenshots, our 7 Days voting CSI stands at 13.4, which is indeed a very healthy figure, shows a diverse voting pattern catering to more nos of unique users.

Please do note that we do not self-upvote, as that is considered bad social behavior.

That said, we would also like to highlight that:-

• We do vote delegators from time to time.
• We do vote outside the community as well to encourage quality content(as that helps strengthen PoB)

But primarily our loyalty is with the content(within BOI), does not matter who the author is. Through quality content, we socially intersect with an author.

(3.7) On average what proportion of the posts each week receive a vote from the community account?

On a weekly basis, more than 150 posts are being published in the BOI community. We are trying to cover as much as we can with the available resources, at present 80%-90% of them are being curated with the @bestofindia account.

Here is the stat of BOI curation within the BOI community using the @bestofindia account(from 2nd July- 9th July)

(4) Plagiarism & Abuse

(4.1) What measures do you take to check for plagiarism and other forms of abuse (content farming, duplicate accounts, fake accounts)?

We have fought a long and tough battle(precisely a good fight) to deal with the insidious acts of spam/plagiarism and abuse of the reward pool.

We diligently check the Achievement Task-1 of a new user joining Steemit(from India) and BOI. There have been numerous cases of multiple/fake accounts, plagiarism, and abuse of reward pool in the recent past.

But we have been vigilant and working in close coordination with endingplagiarism to ward off any such attempt.

We further believe that geographic decentralization is needed because plagiarism could be contagious. If there are a group of people who somehow manage to leech the reward pool, then the honest user in that group also tends to cheat(even though the honest user has a good record in the past).

(4.2) Do you have designated people in your team for plagiarism checking?

Yes. We do maintain a curated directory of all the social activities including spam/plagiarism cases. From time to time we also publish the list of Repeat Offenders.

At the moment, the code of social conduct enforces the following criteria in BOI--

• First case of Plagiarism-- Suspension for 15 days
• Second case of Plagiarism-- Muted forever
• Multiple Accounts/Fake Accounts-- Muted forever

(4.3) Do you ensure all photos used in your community are copyright-free?

Yes. We are in continuous follow-up with all the users to follow the basic structure of a post and that also includes citing the source(in case it is not the original image) and also encourage them to use copyright-free images.

Basic Structure--

• Proper formatting
• Captioning the image
• Use of copyright-free images
• Cite the source if it is not original photography/content
• Specifying location(if any)
• Proper alignment of the screenshots
• Consistent styling techniques
• Emphasizing text (wherever needed)

(5) Engagement & Commenting

Engagement is the soul of BOI.

(5.1) Does the community team check and comment on every post in the community?

We do check on a day-to-day basis and also follow up with the authors if the shortcoming of a post outweighs the quality. But on Monday and Tuesday, we thoroughly check it and cover all the users when we curate with the Steemcurator07 account. In fact, we used to reward more whose nos of comment in that particular week is more.

We maintain the Engagement statistics on a weekly basis too.

We agree we need a better setup and we are keen to expand our team with a second layer setup in which two curators will be recruited who will enforce all the guidelines and rules in a timely manner.

Proposal for Steemcurator07 and Booming Curation

At the moment, we are curating the Indian community(not just BOI, but all active users from INDIA) with Steemcurator07 account for two days(Weekly, Monday & Tuesday)

We are curating on the basis of Weekly Engagement Statistics, Basic Structure, and No Power Down Criteria.

More the comments more is the weightage of upvote for a user. It is really very fair, effective, and democratic in my honest opinion and we have seen visible effects since its enforcement w.e.f. 4th April 2021.

Here is a sample of 18th July Engagement statistics of Active users (from India).

Now the same can be applied for Booming curation too but in a different way. (Based on WEMA)

WEMA- Weekly Engagement Moving Average

_{WEMA is calculated based on the data collected since 4th April 2021}

Leaderboard (WEMA stat) of the active users from INDIA (since 4th April, updated as of 18th July 2021)

How to read WEMA:-

Let's take the WEMA stat of @birjudanak

The WEMA for @birjudanak stands at 71.88, which means on average he is producing 71.88 comments per week(considering the average figure of the last 16 weeks). The daily average figure for @birjudanak is 10.26 comments. He is indeed very consistent in engagement & activities.

Let me explain.

Suppose a user joins on 1st of July 2021, after completing the induction program in Newcomers community, he/she started participating in #betterlife, #cryptoacademy #mytown10pics, or any other community-led initiatives, he/she also believes in value engagement, so he/she also engages with other active users.

Suppose a user produced 30 comments on the first week, 40 comments on the second week, 50 comments on the third week, and 40 comments on the fourth week.

Then the Weekly Engagement Moving Average(WEMA) for that user= (30+40+50+40)/4= 160/4= 40

So let's maintain such data of the users and create the leaderboard and based on that the first 35 users will receive Booming support for that week(5 votes to 5 different users every day based on the leaderboard).

Here is a sample--

In the next week, the Booming support should be extended based on the fresh WEMA stat update. And the cycle goes on.

Please note that we do maintain such data in BOI but not enforced yet for booming curation, after approval from Steemit Team we would like to enforce at least on a trial basis. But we are very sure and confident that it will definitely work.

This will make it fair & square and more democratic for the entire community, at the moment we do not have any such formula to assuage the feeling of discontented users, if we define it on-chain, then the users will be more motivated and they will have more valid reasons for healthy engagement. That will also improve the on-chain statistics of Steem Blockchain and ultimately the reward will flow to the right social vehicle.

Note- Don't worry about possible spam comments to flood the chain. We are already working on it to define a logic so that we can automate counting the comments in a proper way. I have already talked to @starlord28 on the same. He will soon deploy this tool and automate the WEMA.

Observation:-

• As of 18th July 2021, there are 63 active users from India.
• The average WEMA stands at 19.31, which means per week 19 comments(approx) are being produced. On average a user is producing only 3 comments per day. Considering 5 comments per user per day, the average figure should be 35. Therefore if we probe the activity and engagement with tangible data like this, we always have a reality check in real-time, which will help us to bring necessary adjustments.

(5.2) If not, approximately what proportion of posts are commented on?

On average 10 to 12 posts are commented on.

(6) Plans & Updates

(6.1) How often do you post plans and updates for the community?

We generally update the community's progress on a monthly basis about the overall progress. But we do update the community on a weekly basis on the nos of active users & Engagement statistics and encourage the users to improve engagement to get higher rewards.

Further, we also organize contests from time to time and accordingly announce them through Community Account.

(6.2) Do you post these through the community account?

Yes, all the announcements and updates are always posted through the Best of India(@bestofindia) community curator account.

(6.3) Do you have a roadmap or long-term plan for the community?

Yes, we do have a roadmap. We take this opportunity to brief you on the long-term plan of BOI.

Economy

• We will have at least one weekly contest and one monthly contest w.e.f. 1st Aug 2021.
• There will be a second layer setup(2 Curators) along with MODs who will work in tandem to ensure engagement and activities in BOI at any given time w.e.f 1st Aug 2021.
• All the MODs will set 10% benefactor reward for BOI.
• The immediate target is to achieve 0.1 Million SP, but the long-term goal(perhaps 2022) is 1 Million SP. (SP to be read as Effective SP). We are keenly following up with the investors to bring fresh investments. It's just a matter of time.
• We will open up a separate marketing channel for both Quality Bloggers and Investors.

Curation & Enforcement of the Rules/Guidelines

As we have stated we will recruit two curators from the BOI community and we will go for deep engagement in the BOI, all the areas of improvement( in the context of Basic structure) will be closely monitored.

We will also maintain one more sheet which will feature the possible areas of improvement.

Here is a sample.

S No	User	Areas of Improvement	General Feedback
1	thakur9520	Detailing of the subject	Needs to pay a bit more attention to his posts. The diary game gives authors the freedom to express themselves and in turn meet like-minded people. By not providing details, this user is missing out on a lot of amazing engagement
2	roopk97	Proof-reading	This user makes use of markdown well. Adding more details to everyday posts and also doing another round of proofreading along with the use of Grammarly, the quality of posts can be improved. The user's engagement stat is amazing though.
3	layersinn	Proper Formatting	One of the most active users with regular engagement. While his posts do have something new every day, it needs the right formatting to make it more readable. By formating his posts, he would surely attract more readers.
4	nainaztengra	Markdown styling/formatting	A very consistent user. Her posts are extremely informative and the quality of the posts is also amazing. Even though the user doesn't use any markdown, the quality of writing and her prompt replies bring people back to her posts. Using markdown formatting would help structure her posts visually and would make them look more professional.

On a weekly basis, we will keep updating it, following up with the users to make necessary improvements, and accordingly reward the users.

Further, when we curate a user, we will drop valuable suggestions/feedback/remarks to each of the posts(whether it is curating with BOI account, or Booming Account, or Steemcurator07 account).

Here is a sample.

---

You have been upvoted by @sapwood, a MOD of the BOI community. We are curating original content that is being produced in the Best of India Community.

Engagement is essential to foster a sense of community. Therefore we would request our members to visit each other's posts in Best of India and make insightful comments.

Pay attention to the Remarks/Feedback(Basic Structure), we have also provided the resource which will help you to make it better and/or fix the issue(if any).

Basic Structure	Yes/No	Useful Resources
Captioning image	Yes
Copyright-free images, citing the source wherever needed	Yes
Proof-reading	Yes
Specifying Location using What3words(if any)	Yes
Proper Markdown/Styling	No	Link
Proof-reading	Yes
Free of Spam/Plagiarism/Fake Account	Yes
Any other Remarks

---

Thank you.

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If all the columns are showing YES, that means the user has kept the basic structure intact, if not, then it is the responsibility of the MOD/Curator to provide the links of the resources so that the user can learn it. If the resource is not available the curator will immediately intimate the same to the MOD and the resource material will be published on a priority basis.

Further, the Curator will follow up with the users to make necessary improvements in the next blog.

We want to enforce this w.e.f 1st Aug 2021.

And this will be applicable for all the posts that are being published in the BOI community.

With this approach, it would truly feel like learning and developing the skills of a professional blogger, the overall average quality will greatly improve which will further strengthen PoB and will be rewarding for all.

(7) Promotion

(7.1) How do you promote your community?

At the moment, we are doing this off-chain/off-line. But we are keen to bring more users through Twitter promotion.

(7.2) Do you promote your community outside of Steem?

Yes, we do. We do engage with users in other mainstream social media like Facebook, Twitter, etc, promoting Steem. But crypto is not as straightforward as the legacy centralized system. So it generally takes a lot of time to persuade them.

(7.3) Do you have a Promotion or Marketing Plan for your Community?

Yes, we do have a plan. In fact, we are already in touch with the moderate level Youtubers, who are struggling to get that recognition and reward from Youtube(despite producing useful content). A few of them might join us soon.

Further, we are in touch with a few coaching institutes to conduct interactive sessions and Q&A activities on a weekly basis. We will host them and all the participants will receive rewards from BOI. That way the students will also get exposure to the Steem ecosystem.

Steemit has made many students self-sufficient, particularly in the last year. We can ensure significant traction if this materializes. Not to mention, many students have developed better writing skills, professional authorship qualities, etc which will also help them in their mainstream career.

(8) Anything Else

(8.1) Please include any other information you would like us to know about your community, and why your community should be selected for extra support?

We are a pan INDIA community catering the active users from India. The MODs of the BOI community have developed useful scalable tools for the entire Steem community(not just for BOI), #SUT, #TAGSEARCHER, #SCRIBE, #SIR #AFFABLE, etc. We are developing a few more(already in progress).

In terms of quality, we have never degraded it. We have always believed in organized writing, we have also been mentoring users how to produce quality content, how to keep the basic structure of a post intact. We have produced a number of tutorials on the same.

That said, BOI is not without shortcomings. We are one of the most organized communities in the backend, but in the frontend, there are a lot of things that need to be put in order, to make it even more organized, and being the MOD of the BOI community I take that responsibility.

W.e.f 1st Aug 2021, we will introduce a second layer setup and will pay 50 STEEM as salary(+full upvote from BOI) each to two curators so that we can address each and every user in the community on a daily basis.

We assure you that we will produce at least 2 to 3 posts in the BOI community on a weekly basis.

(8.2) Any other special features your community has?

Yes, we are unparallel in identifying the right social vehicle for Steem Platform. When we say the right social vehicle, then it does mean that social activities always remain unabated by the price dynamics of STEEM.

We have very often observed that with the rise of STEEM price we witness an influx of Newcomers for obvious reasons. But the euphoria dies out during adverse market conditions or bear cycles. So the real asset for Steem Blockchain is the one who believes in consistency, blogging is a passion for him/her. Those who believe in the idea of delayed gratification. We use tangible data to figure out such users.

We do use the moving average of the engagement statistics to identify the right social vehicle for Steem Blockchain.

Now based on the data of WEMA, the BOI MOD/Curator will accordingly give a weightage in proportion to the WEMA stats to reward the user. So the users will find it more profitable to engage with others. That said, every community curation accounts whether it is 07 or Booming to follow the same set of criteria to make it fair, consistent and transparent & democratic for all.

(8.3) Do you encourage only #steemexclusive posts in your community?

Yes, we are very particular about #steemexclusive content. The curated directory, trending page of Steem becomes the tangible intellectual asset if #steemexclusive content is being produced. It also adds fundamental value to STEEM.

Producing #steemexclusive content could be laborious, time-consuming but it always creates a sense of brand(Steem).

We encourage our users to produce unique content in Steem Blockchain, in particular, #steemexclusive content.

Thank you.

Cc:-
@steemitblog
@steemcurator01
@steemcurator02

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Cc:- @neerajkr03 @rishabh99946 @starlord28

Unless otherwise stated, all the images, infographics, charts, tables, etc(if any) are my original works.