My 1 Year HIVE anniversary MY journey and My what I think of Hive

So yesterday up popped this notification courtesy of the buzzy bee that is @hizebuzz

My HIVE Beginning

I registered on 3rd September 2021. I am generally of the look before you leap persuasion, as I don't like making a tit of myself unless it is football related! I looked and did not really grasp what Hive was about.

However, I had seen how @coquicoin and @ifarmgirl seemed to be enjoying it. So I finally leapt and made my first post on November 1st GREETINGS FROM THIS MAD SCOTSMAN - MY HIVE INTRODUCTION POST

During the next two months I made 9 further posts, but really I was spending most of my Hive time on Splinterlands, as I still was not getting the hang of Hive.

A new years resolution was made after getting more advice from Super Eli @coquicoin so I made a Hive Power Up post on the first of January 2022, I have not missed a HPUD since then. I powered up 11.995 HIVE and now had a grand total of 27.453 HP whatever that meant I thought!

The rest is history, after a rocky start I am here to stay.

Finding a Niche

There are so many communities within Hive that you can easily get lost! As a result you can end up joining a thousand and one communities and also end up spreading yourself far too thin and actually seem to go backwards. It is all about finding what you like, and not just writing posts for rewards in my opinion.

People that know me, know that I love my local wildlife and am forever feeding them (Hive rewards provides nutritious food) and taking their pictures. I love the Feather Friends community as a place to post dedicated birds posts.

I also love faction, the art of writing a story based on both fact and fiction,something I have been doing for a long time, and something people now do here too!

Early on I was fortunate enough to win not one but two HP delegations from @fionasfavourites and I am eternally grateful for that, as it helped boost not only my confidence on Hive, but my rewards. Ultimately I found that the Silver Bloggers were an awesome bunch of people and I was invited to be a moderator there. Thank you @lizelle @fionasfavourites @coquicoin and my mad brother @mondoshawan for making me feel so much at home! Previously I had helped out galenkp in the Weekend Community and I tell you what, I now know some of the lengths people will go to in an attempt to cheat the system!

Just post and engage where you are happy being at.

Hive is frustrating for a writer.

I am not one for Hype and doing what others do, so I never look at trending things. I am me and don't give two fluffing fluffs what people think, I will post what I think is a decent enough post.

However, it would appear that writers on Hive are given short change. In that respect Hive can be like a Instagram or photo app with pretty picture posts getting all the rewards.

The time and creativity it takes to write seems by and large not to be rewarded unless of course you have been here a few years, and then it does not really matter what you post as you have the autovoters with you.

I love being social and think of hive as social media. So when you write a story and get not much feedback or engaging it can be pretty frustrating:(

Plenty of times I would engage on others posts, hoping that maybe some would come and have a look, not many did at all. It is more often than not one way engagement. If you look at the Hive Engagement League I have been in the top ten for months, so I do make an effort.

Then I was introduced to the amazing Dreemieweemieseeme @dreemsteem and her amazing @dreemport project which gives writers eyes on their posts!

A wonderful idea and fantastic for all us little accounts trying to navigate the Hive ecosystem.

Now though, I have my list of TWENGERS!

TWENGERS you are asking wtf I am now!
Yeah I like to name the birds and make up words, I told you I was mad🤣
So Two Way Engagers I call TWENGERS

You know, people you engage with on their posts, and they engage with you on your posts.

Those are the stars for me, and the reason to be on Hive. Meeting people from all over the world and establishing connections.

Some of my favourite TWENGERS

I will give out some tips if you know which pies they are!

Clues in my last post

We are all HIVE we are all equal.

Being a little account, I like to sample everything.

I don't believe one front end is better than another. They are all HIVE front ends.

I don't believe one whale curator is better than another whale curator. They are all HIVE curators.

I don't believe one community is better than another community they are all HIVE communities.

Make sure you follow community guidelines and don't spam and plagiarise etc and live and let live I say.

Believing in HIVE

I have been in involved in crypto for years and love the fact you can learn so much here. There is also a load of codswallop posted as well, so you need to be careful what you read!

I believe in HIVE and don't take my rewards and run to the nearest bank with them, like many other little account I see.

If you are fortunate enough to be given good rewards, use them to help grow your account. I see many people getting mega rewards and zooming up the reputation rankings yet have a HP less than mine, and they keep getting these rewards. They to me do not believe in HIVE. Curation to me is bizarre, but then again that is the difference between manual and just getting putting on an auto list.

This is our blockchain, so help it grow and flourish. Yes it is great taking some rewards out, I just did it, but put some back too.

All I can say is long live HIVE.

The bottom line is, I have made tons of mistakes on Hive, and I still do.

But I enjoy it here and when you enjoy something you keep doing it!

If you are new or a small account like me, my advice is to keep plugging away, engage and be a TWENGER, post what you enjoy creating even if you get frustrated.
If in doubt ASK ASK ASK.
Set your payout to 100% HP every so often (like I have done with this post) and give back to our blockchain oh yes And join community discord servers!

Here is to another year on this incredible blockchain of ours.

Many thanks to you for taking the time to read this, I really do appreciate it, so thank you from the heart of my bottom I mean the bottom of my heart💙