Who Do I Follow on Steem & Why? A @theycallmedan Initiative...

One of the things I told myself I would do more often in 2020 was become more involved in community "challenges," because they are usually a good way to move outside our usual beaten paths we develop.

It's all too easy to fall into a routine of just visiting a handful of people's whose contributions you like... and that's that. Not a productive way to build community!

Yellow winter roses

I've seen this initiative from @theycallmedan come through my feed a few times, and now several people I know have completed the challenge... so why not?

And sorry Dan, I tend to take these things a little over the top!

TL;DR:

Here are 10 great people I follow, and then 10 great people I followed and now miss because they have stopped posting...

The Challenge:

Dan asks: Has anyone on Steem left an impact on you? Changed your life for the better? Made you laugh or cry, smile and cheer? Are they still around? Are they active? If not, do you miss them? Have you tried to contact them?

Close-up of a red cactus blossom

The task at hand: Pick three (or more) and describe why they matter to you, and what sort of bonds you have with them.

Well, allrighty then... I thought this was going to be easy, but I have a tendency towards overkill. AND I got part way into this and realized that I was as much creating a "Tribute Post to the Missing" as I was sharing people I currently follow.

Since I have spent more than three years here... I decided to make a segment on people I keep coming back to, even if there are sometimes a few time gaps in the connection, followed by a segment of "Missing Steemians" whose contributions I genuinely wish I would still see.

Purple irises

So, in no particular order... 10 I follow:

@abh12345:

I'm not entirely sure when I started following Asher's blog, but it was most likely right about the time when the weekly Curation and Engagement Leagues started up. We connected because we both believe engagement is how we can build a sustainable future for our community, we're both interested in the underlying framework and statistics of building community... and we both happened to have been expats living in Spain, albeit at different times.

@jaynie:

I first came across one of Jaynie's posts in the late summer of 2017, and clearly remember thinking "Whoa... THIS is a bright spark!" What I love about Jaynie is her heartfelt sincerity and authenticity that comes through in every post she creates... and shines through in every project she's part of. Yeah, she's also Steemlandia's resident "Energizer Bunny," not only creating and running the Power House Creatives community, but often serving as cheerleader and driving force in an assortment of efforts to being Steem awareness to the greater world. And my favorite thing? She does all this without hardly EVERY talking about blockchains or cryptocurrencies!

Pink wild roses

@doitvoluntarily:

One of the very first people to welcome me to Steemlandia in 2017 and offer me encouragement for my efforts. I think what I really connected with was learning more about Voluntaryism from someone who offered a balanced perspective, rather than a strident message shouted from rooftops. This is someone who continues to be on my short list of people whose posts I check, even when I have very little time.

@whatsup:

She and I haven't always seen eye-to-eye on everything, but she was (and is) a great ambassador for the part of the Steem community that made me want to be here... the part that seemed so much more capable of offering intelligent and respectful dialogue, even when there was disagreement in terms of opinions. We also share a similar approach in terms of wanting to focus less on moaning and groaning about how things are, and instead jst plug away at making a difference, in our own small way.

Spring cherry blossoms

@tarazkp:

Aside from having landed here on the same day (January 29th, 2017) as I, I started following what might be Steemlandia's most prolific publisher of engaging quality content early on, and have never stopped. The man is a thinking and writing machine! I follow his blog because there is always something interesting and engaging to read. When someone asks me "who to follow," he's always near the top of the list as a stellar example of what someone can accomplish here without having been part of the infamous original "Ninja Mine" that created the first Steem Whales.

@por500bolos:

My quirky friend from Venezuela who is — to my way of thinking — one of the most undervalued content creators in Steemlandia; creates often funny and off-the-wall treatises on a variety of topics... and perhaps one of our most interesting and colorful commentators, and someone who truly understands the meaning of engagement. You're just not going to get a "nice post" comment from this guy...! Of course, knowing him, he'll prove me wrong here!

@shadowspub:

Another of the earliest people who offered me encouragement, and — in fact — featured several of my earliest efforts in "The Ramble" when I was pretty much an invisible piece of plankton. Again, this is someone I admire a great deal for supporting the community through consistency and highlighting content that adds VALUE to our ecosystem, and encouraging engagement.

Dwarf petunias

@kus-knee:

"The Old Dog" was one of the most interesting contributors I found shortly after having declared "I'm too old for this" in my introductory post. I learned a lot about the value of engagement from him, and how (at least back in the day) a well-placed and well constructed comment could get more attention than a top level post. And, of course, we seem to share a fascination/appreciation for the everyday and commonplace elevated to ART!

@lukestokes:

I'm pretty sure my first encounter with Luke had something to do with Non-Violent Communication... and we developed a nice connection over blending the psychology of communication with ideas of furthering the ideals of freedom, voluntaryism, anarcho-capitalism and beyond... because you're just not going to get very far through beating people over the head with your ideas.

@krnel:

My favorite philosopher and keen student of human psychology and the nature of existence... along with being one of the community's strongest advocates for ending reward pool rape and pointing directly at those who were abusing the system... often to his own detriment. We don't see as much of Kris as we used to, most likely because he's been busy becoming a family man; in fact, he just became a proud father last week — congratulations!

Summer poppies

Missing in Action: 10 Who Made a Difference

@onceuponatime:

was perhaps the first "bigger player" to follow my blog, and we connected over lots of interesting philosophical discussions... while I also learned a lot about blockchain and cryptocurrencies from him. Sadly, Paul had a medical mishap some months back and is not currently an active poster... and according to a recent post by @stan, he may not even be with us much longer, which would be (in my opinion) a great loss to the community.

@surfermarly:

One of our early community builders and idealists who was always a great ambassador for Steem, both online and off. I always loved her optimistic "Let's build something awesome! attiude... she left in early 2019, disappointed by the direction the community was taking.

@arthuradamson:

A British ex-pat artist living in Norway, Arthur and I would have awesome and lengthy comment discussions about the nature and trends of art, philosophy, love and life. Like many we miss, Arthur left us about a year ago; I think he just got tired of laboring in obscurity and generally in the shadow of content about Steem and about cryptos.

Leaves in the sun...

@reddust:

Another artist whose work I always enjoyed, and whose posts I followed regularly... and whom I miss seeing. She, too, hung up the towel in early 2019.

@stellabelle:

Allright, so StellaBelle isn't really gone entirely, but her days as a colorful, quirky and often outright weird contributor and amazing and passionate Steem ambassador are far behind her. She's busy with other projects, and occasionally tosses a brief post our way, but no longer in the style of the powerhouse with a following of 17,000 people. I miss seeing her in my feed.

@erikaharris:

I actually knew Erika for a long time before Steem as an alternative motivational speaker in Chicago; I always enjoyed seeing her posts on alternative living and anarchism... and one day she dropped her life and moved to Mexico, and subsequently Belize to become a cannabis evangelist. Her posts also stopped earlier in 2019; I miss her....

@sykochica

who always finished her posts with "the obligatory kitty pic;" ironically, the last time she posted was to announce the passing of her beloved cat Gizmo... she had a radio show for a while in the early days of Steem and helped many newcomers, including myself.

@budgetbucketlist

wrote stunning and elaborate travel blogs from many rarely visited corners of the world, and they were always filled with adventure because she traveled (largely) without money... sadly, she left us a couple of years ago, citing declining rewards. As far as I know, Stephanie is still out traveling the world, but has returned to mainstream social media with its large numbers of followers.

@dwinblood

was for a long time my favorite philosopher, freedomist and anarcho-capitalist, with his frequent engaging posts and lively engagement with people who challenged (or not!) his perceptions. I miss his posts and still admire his ability to make an argument without having to belittle or diminish anyone in the process. Yet another who went away in early 2019.

@arbitrarykitten

isn't exactly gone completely, but she also isn't entirely here anymore... we connected over writing and... well... cats. I miss her posts, which seem to have become one-a-month, or even less.

The Best of Steemlandia!

Well, that all became far longer and more involved than I had intended, but so it goes.

I definitely recommend that you check out these folks, at least the ones who are still active!

Thanks for reading!

(Another #creativecoin creative non-fiction post)

Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation!

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Created at 20200209 16:22 PST
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