Noobie's Guide to Whales and Other Steemit Fish

As I read posts and blogs, I see that everyone talks about whales as an obvious fixture of Steemit society. Everyone seems to know exactly what they are...except me.

When I think of "whale" in context of a human, Dale the Whale from my favorite detective show, Monk, comes to mind. He is an evil, greedy, gluttonous, fabulously wealthy 900 pound man who hasn't been out of his bed in a decade. Through his network of spies, he knows everything about everyone and can destroy them with a push of a button, then laugh about how clever he is.

He's creepy, but as far as I know, he's not on steemit!

I asked some expert steemians, and here is what I learned:

The term Whale is much older than steem. It refers to a big fish in a small pond, or someone with a lot of money in a smaller market. "Whales" provide liquidity so people can get into and out of a coin easier... So if a whale leaves, it is a very bad thing. The market could collapse.

That isn't quite what a steemit whale is. They are invested for at least 2 years, and they can't just leave. This provides additional stability for the steem world.

An interesting fact of steemit: Everyone's vote doesn't count the same. Each vote is weighted, and this weight is based on the amount of money you have in SP or

STEEM Power.

SP is something you get for every post you write, every upvote you receive, every curation (that is, the upvotes you give other posts, thus helping fellow steemians). It's something you earn from socializing, but you can also buy steem from websites, like poloniex, and convert it to SP. If you do this you will gain influence, which means your opinion will matter more.

People generally love to have influence, so the opportunity to buy our way to the top encourages ordinary people to invest in the society. This is a good thing, it means more funds in the system.

You ask, How much steem power qualifies you as a whale? Generally, 100,000 or more.

Noobs like us are called minnows. We have less than 25,000 steem power. If you have more than 25,000 but less than 100,000, you are called a dolphin.

Keep in mind, these are not hard-cemented numbers. I am speaking generally.

Here in the steem world, whales provide upvotes and commentary. A single whale's upvote can easily kick a post from the bottom of the ocean, to the top of trending.

To get the attention of a whale, you should produce compelling content of things you are passionate about, and then write and post more. Be active in the society. Comment, comment, comment. Enjoy yourself!

If the whales don't notice us, well, it's nothing personal. We are tiny fish in a big ocean.

If you ever want me to read, comment or upvote your postings, just come to my latest blog or post and let me get to know you. I don't consider it spam as long as you comment and upvote me too! We can become friends and upvote each other into the realm of dolphins.