Cool Steem Resources: Steemd and Your Bandwidth Usage
Steemd.com will seem a lot like the Steem Block Explorer, but with some crucial differences. If you don't have this website bookmarked, I suggest you do.
To view your account on Steemd, simply go to https://steemd.com/@youraccountname.
One of the primary reasons for visiting Steemd, especially when your account is new and your Steem Power is small, is to check on your bandwidth usage. As your Steem Power grows, your available bandwidth grows as well, meaning that you can do more on Steem before you hit your limit.
| To put things as simply as possible: |
|---|
| - the Steem blockchain can only process so much data per block, and no more than that. |
| - to prevent congestion and the possibility of spam attacks, a limit is imposed on every account, which is determined by how many vested shares you have, or in other words how much Steem Power you have. |
| - You maximum available bandwidth can and will fluctuate based on the current global traffic hitting the Steem blockchain. |
| - Everything you do on Steem that adds data to a new block will use up bandwidth, including (but not limited to) posting, making edits to a post, resteeming someone else's post, commenting |
| - Your bandwidth usage is averaged out over a 7 day period |
| - If you use up your bandwidth limit, your ability to post, comment, resteem etc. will be unavailable until you either power up some more Steem Power, or you hold off for a while until your 7 day average no longer exceeds your bandwidth allowance |
So what does this mean for you?
When you start out with a new Steem account, you need to mind your bandwidth. Don't go around spamming comments or making 50 posts per day. Quality over quantity has real meaning here, because posting lots of garbage and upvote begging in the comments of other peoples posts will have real consequences, besides getting downvoted and having your account reputation pushed below 25, which alerts everyone else that you pissed someone off, or did something really bad.
You don't want any of this.
So if you are new to Steem and your account has the standard startup ~15 Steem Power, make it a habit to check your bandwidth usage on Steemd. This in turn will make you a better content creator, and mind how often you interact with others on the Steem platform. No one likes a spammer on any website, but Steem websites just straight up punish you for it.
Here is a cropped screenshot of my account on Steemd. we're looking at the left hand side of the page, and we can see my Bandwidth remaining is at 68.42%, or to be technical I've used 84kb of 265kb of data allowance on the Steem blockchain. If i keep refreshing the page, that 265kb limit will fluctuate with the global traffic, so don't be surprised if your Bandwidth Remaining percentage goes up and down without you doing anything. You're account isn't glitching, it's just how Steem handles network congestion and combats potential spam attacks.
As proof, here is another screenshot, taken minutes after the last one. I have done nothing since then, yet my Remaining bandwidth has increased by a decent amount. Again, this is just the network expanding and contracting your limits based on global network traffic for the Steem blockchain.
Based on what I've shown today, it should be very apparent why growing your Steem Power is the ultimate goal on Steem. It doesn't just make your upvote bigger (or your downvote more frightening to those that would harass you or your friends), but it also gives you more bandwidth, allowing you to do more on Steem.
Of course, like I mentioned earlier, you should really focus on quality instead of quantity. There are many giants on Steem that will find you and punish you for spamming and/or abusing this ecosystem. Don't plagiarize, and don't post anything you wouldn't upvote if someone else posted it. While Steem may be a virtual place where no rules exist, being an habitual line-crosser will have consequences all the same.
I hope this post has been useful. Thank you for reading. I hope you have a wonderful and prosperous day.
Previous Cool Steem Resources:
- Markdown
- Busy
- Steem Follower and Steem Cleaners
- Steem Block Explorer
- Steem Supply
- Steem Power Delegation Manager
