To Resteem or Not to Resteem on Steemit

To resteem a post means that you are clicking the small circular arrow at the bottom of someone else's post. By doing so puts that post in your blog section and it will be marked as "Resteemed". It also shows up in the feeds of your followers...even if the original author is not being followed by the same people. The person that resteems does not get author rewards for resteeming, only the original author gets those.

Resteeming is a powerful tool if done properly. There are benefits to the resteemer (you) and the resteemee (the author). There are also some potential downsides to the resteemer (you) if done poorly.

Benefits to the Author

The author's post will show up on the resteemer's follower's feeds at the time of the resteem. Even if the original post is 2 days old, it will show up as if it's a new post on the feed. That is going to generate more views even if the resteemer has a very small follower base.

• More Followers: Followers are arguably the life blood of a high earning Steemit author. Getting more views could result in more followers. As a minnow you have to work to get more followers. You may have to write many many blogs making $1 each until you build up a decent follower base. But, if you get resteemed by a whale that has over 1k followers, you could significantly increase your follower count instantly. Even if you get resteemed by a user the same size or smaller than you, the chances are that you will have a whole different set of followers so the potential for adding new followers is good.
• Author rewards: Getting more views will result in more up-votes, which means more $ for the author.

Benefit to the Resteemer

• Helping a fellow Steemit author: Maybe you truly believe the article provides value, maybe you're doing it to help out a friend, maybe you held a contest and the winner gets resteemed, or maybe it helps you sleep better at night. Whatever the case, if it makes you feel good then there is a benefit.
• Builds Relationship: Steemit is a social platform. It's not just about writing blogs, it's about interacting with other authors. By resteeming an author that you think did a great job, you're building a relationship. It may result in some direct benefit to you down the road or it may not.
• Curation Rewards: If you were one of the first to up-vote the post and close to the 30 minute mark, then you could potentially increase the total reward pool for the post. The higher the reward pool, the most the early up-voters will get. If you have a big follower count, this could prove to be very profitable. As a minnow, it's unlikely this will result in much of a curation reward increase.
• Solidifies your follower base: If you pick a strategically relevant post and resteem it, it's like adding to your own post portfolio. You're exposing your followers to something you feel provides value, providing value to your follower base helps to keep your base from un-following you.
• Might attract minnows: Maybe I was just naive as a minnow (I'm still a minnow btw), but I would click on usernames to see what kind of a post portfolio they had. Seeing an author with posts that each generate hundreds of dollars did tend to make me believe they must be posting some really good shit. Before I figured out what the heck a resteem was, I assumed that the resteemer was getting paid for that. Seeing an author with hundreds of dollars as their post value did seem more attractive of an author to follow vs an author with 19 cents per post. I have since figured out that dollar value of a post doesn't equal post value. Some posts are literally just a picture of a wall and they make hundreds of dollars....but you never know, you may get some minnows to follow you if you strategically resteem high dollar value posts.

Risks of Resteeming

• If you're one of the people that resteem 5x a day, then it's too much. Your followers will eventually get tired of it and un-follow you.
• If the post is 7 days or older, you're not adding any financial value to the original author or you. So you really have to think about it at that point...it would have to be a really great post that fits like a glove in your portfolio to get a resteem.
• If the post has nothing to do with the rest of your post portfolio, then maybe it's not a good idea. Your followers most likely follow you because you have a certain brand. Resteeming something drastically outside of that brand may not work.
• Make sure you read the entire post before Resteeming. If the post is just poorly written or provides no value, then you're hurting your own brand by resteeming it.

Conclusion

If you do decide to Resteem, go ahead and leave a comment on the post letting the author know that you are resteeming. Maybe they don't want you to resteem for some reason or most likely they will thank you.

It's a tough decision to resteem. You'll have to weigh the social, financial, and mental health rewards in deciding whether to resteem or not.

Are you a resteemer?

What are the factors you use to decide?