Getting started on Steemit: Lots to learn!
Being new to steemit is tough. There is a lot to learn. Stuff you'll need to figure out includes, but is not limted to:
- How to write a post in markdown - bold, italics, tiny text, headings, how to upload pictures and acknowledge sources correctly etc.
- How to get your blog looking nice - banner and profile pic etc.
- General literacy and a writing style that you might have to adjust from writing for other venues.
- Learning what the expected behaviour is;
- What will get you flagged (plagiarism, spam, begging for followers or votes etc.).
- Who you shouldn't heckle or disagree with in any way.
- Developing realistic expectations regarding earnings.
- Understanding the steem attention economy, including bots, resteem services, and why the trending page looks the way it does (it's not you, it's them).
- Finding a safe discord where you can vent about people, steem economics, or whatever is grinding your gears, as well as get moral support and a sense of community.
A quick look at how many accounts there are overall vs how many are active shows that there's something missing from our onboarding of new users.
I'm not sure what the best overall approach is. But I do know that certain communities have helped me a great deal since I've been here:
#TeamAustralia: If you are an Aussie, or anyone living in Australia, or an Aussie ex-pat living overseas, you should definitely sign up. Details on how to do this can be found in this post from the inestimable @choogirl. People on this team have been a great source of ideas, epic discord channel banter, support and upvotes.
TeamAustralia grew out of the PAL (Peace Abundance Liberty) Minnow-Support Project and associated discord channel. Joining MSP/PAL is super helpful, no matter where you are from.
@newbieresteemday and the associated #newbieresteemday tag: A great community and discord channel full of (mostly) newer members, all trying to think outside the square and give each other a boost in terms of votes, coverage, and generally making sense of steemit.
There's theme here: All these channels are worthwhile, but I'm sure there are others. The main thing is getting on the right discord channel and talking to people who've been around longer. This is tricky as lots of people have set these up, and I'm not sure they are all good - especially those who spam the introduceyourself tag looking for people who don't know any better.
Like I said, I'm not sure how to ebst tackle the bigger problem of properly onboarding new steemians. I do think OPERATION SAVE A NEWBIE is the kind of thing that can help, and I'm happy to support it. But it would be great to see something more widespread.
Finally, while this is about numbers overall, it's also about individuals as real people. When someone tries to get into steemit, and it's too difficult, isolating, disheartening or off-putting, we never know who we are letting slip through our fingers . You want to send the next Stephen Hawking or George R. R. Martin to a rival network or leave them supporting Facebook? More importantly (in my opinion), we might be missing a chance to make someone's life a bit brighter and less lonely - which is important no matter how much or how little value they might bring to steemit.
Thanks for reading. Upvotes, resteems, and comments are always appreciated.
Photo by Daniel Cheung on Unsplash
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I must thank you for introducing me to team australia when I hopped on this platform last month - I had no idea and still have very little knowledge about this new world of steemit and what it is all about.
As far as markdown use - I am still clueless 🙃
Is this a feature only utilised on a PC ? I typically use a tablet and have no idea how to access markdown.
Thank you again for your guidance 😁
No problem - it's great to have you on-board. I should hang around in 'new' more often :).
Markdown can be done on anything. It’s essentially a form of code that allows you to properly format your posts. @tubcat has written a few posts on this topic so check out that account.
Thanks - i will check it out now
Thanks - i think?
I had a look and couldnt see anything on the blog to indicate a relative post.
I did see a couple of pics of someone in the bath with a cat lol - that was amusing 😁
This one: https://steemit.com/steemit/@tubcat/tub-cat-s-advice-sourcing-text-and-images
And this one: https://steemit.com/steemit/@tubcat/tub-cat-s-advice-formatting-tips-and-tricks
And yes, Tub Cat is quite the odd ball.
Thanks for taking the time to do that - it was informative and appreciated
Welcome. :)
*italics***bold**___ line across the pageHello Matt 😁
So you are saying if I use * in those examples I should get italics and bold writing in my posts?
Oh wow it works ( I just witnessed this working)
💃happy dance 💃
Nailed it 😎
<h2>BigFatHeading</h2>(For bonus points)
1 gets bigger headings, 3 gets smaller
Ok Not really sure ....
how do you remember this
What do you mean by 1 and 3
Ok ignore my question - I just read @tubcat and saw the example 😀
Now I feel sad I'm not Australian...
But glad to have met you, and I like your analysis. No answers from my side... only maybe that I have found PYPT ("Pimp Your Post Thursday") hosted by @shadowspup an interesting initiative for newby steemians.
And for me, having joined @thewritersblock has made the difference for me, without that community I would have left Steem a long time ago.
There's definitely more than one group to join. You just need to find your people. The writer's block is good. If I had more time I'd hang out a lot more in there and do their challenges.
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Creating a following can be daunting regardless of the platform. Comparing Steemit to the various platforms I have used, I find it to be much more inviting. The fact that there exist such a wide range of groups to help newbies is encouraging, since it means that for many people the community is just as important as the potential income you could generate.
If anything, I think the UI is the biggest obstacle. And then there is the writing itself. Not being a part of any type of team right now, when I see someone with good ideas, but a poor writing style, I am not sure if I should leave them a comment or move on. The community side of me wants to comment with encouraging words about grammar and syntax, but without knowing the person, I fear it will not be well received. Groups like the ones you mentioned can do this with newbies, thus enhancing the overall quality of the community posts.
Great post. I haven't seen @newbieresteemday or Operation Save A Newbie before. I'll have to have a look.