The Steem Blockchain Needs Curators
Over the last month I have witnessed some excellent discussions brewing on the STEEM blockchain and in the discords. Game changing discussions. About delegation, upvote bots, circle-voting, flagging, and the reward pool. I’ve seen witnesses, whales, and large groups of minnows engaged in genuine discord (not the platform, but the back and forth discussions where people didn’t agree and that’s okay).
One thing that has come up in several of the discussions that I witnessed is that the STEEM blockchain needs readers.
We call readers curators but often times curators need to blog if they want to earn STEEM, because there isn’t much STEEM in curation alone when you first get here.
So, let’s start there. When people first come to the blockchain, who are they? It’s hard to build a persona, so I don’t want to try - I’ll leave that to the statistical experts - but in a very broad sense people are either bloggers or they are not. 
Not everyone is a blogger. I think I am safe in saying that. I may even be safe in saying not everyone is a commentor. If you don’t believe I am on solid ground with that leap, you can tune me out. If you are still with me, my point is that some people are just predisposed to curate when they get here.
Personally I got less than a penny’s worth of STEEM Power (SP) for any curations I did when I first got here. The best I did was 0.007 SP for a single curation, and had way more curations that resulted in 0 reward than 0.001 SP or more. I also made a small investment in the platform early on, a couple mBtc - nothing major, but having never cracked 35SP in my first month, I felt my curation was pretty much unrewarded. 
Dan, the co-founder of STEEM blockchain, had this to say about minnow curation, “Curation is a game for whales and dolphins. Minnows are unlikely to earn any significant return on their votes. Minnows should stick to posting and commenting.” https://steemit.com/steem/@dantheman/curation-rewards-and-voting-incentive.
I agree with him, as things are right now, but his statement has me asking a question: what is a predisposed curator doing? Are they blogging? Commenting? Leasing delegation? Or leaving? If they are blogging or commenting, I wonder if that is benefitting the blockchain? If they are leasing delegation - are they making STEEM or losing it? Are they selling votes? Are they blogging and self-voting with leased SP? Are they circle-voting with leased SP? I hope they’re not leaving. But, I don’t blame anyone for any decisions, I don’t judge and I won’t moralize the question. I want to ask a different question:
What if there was a way to reward a pure curator? One that spreads the vote around and doesn’t self vote, circle-vote, or sell vote. Reward those minnows with increased delegation, because their contribution to the community is what keeps the content creators around. 
Raise the quality of the blockchain by offering the curator enough incentive that they aren’t forced to do something that degrades its quality. The net positive done by a pure curator raises the profile of the STEEM blockchain and makes it more appealing to investors. The pure curator is just what the STEEM blockchain needs, so I hope we can give them a path to success.
And, it’s actually already happening! The other night on MSP Waves, I heard an announcement that several minnows were made instant dolphins by some free delegation thanks to some very kind (and I would say forward thinking) individuals. I don’t want to get it wrong, but I think Stellabelle then fulltimegeek gifted the dolphin making delegations and maybe some others added to it. I was blown away to hear it. Those that received delegation promised enthusiastic responsible curation and I know they will do it. Could this start a trend? I can only hope.
Thank you to any that are experimenting with such delegations, because the service you are doing for the long-term good of the blockchain is incalculable. To any thinking about experimenting similarly - remember this about delegations: A delegation can be reclaimed at any time by the delegator. You can make sure that your gift is in good hands at all times.
Thanks everyone and keep steeming!
Image credits: pixabay special thanks to these photographers
https://pixabay.com/en/users/coyot-2009089/
https://pixabay.com/en/users/kalhh-86169/
https://pixabay.com/en/users/derneuemann-6406309/
https://pixabay.com/en/users/QuinceMedia-1031690/
https://pixabay.com/en/users/6072518-6072518/
I'm delegating to send minnows so they can spread the voting. I don't expect anything in return. At this stage steemit needs more people earning, not a few making big money.
"At this stage steemit needs more people earning, not a few making big money."
YES! That! The power needs to be distributed. We have enough issues with wealth and power distribution being bad in the real world. Steemit deserves to be above that.
I think that's great. I am sure that the delegation means a lot to those you give it to. I won a random draw at a 500 SP delegation for 4 weeks 24 days ago and it meant the world to me. I have been dropping into the 'new' tab frequently in search of posts.
True story.
I see so many people who joined during that wave I came in on who have left because they see how unbalanced the platform is- these are people who spend quality time creating original articles. People who bring new concepts and thought processes to the community.
I quit after a few months. I admit it. But I came back because I believe in the power and unlimited potential. However, it can very easily sway the other way...
Thank you, @steemitgraven29, for this excellent piece.
You have echoed what I've been saying for many months, in comments and articles, but more than that--you've said it with clarity and gone beyond what I've imagined by offering some clear and immediately actionable suggestions for making it happen.
It seems so obvious to me - we can't all be writers! We don't all want to be!
Steemit desperately needs a vast army of readers who curate, and who do it well. Then we'll begin to see the obscure, overlooked gems of talent rising to the place they belong on trending pages. Then we'll see hard working authors of excellence begin to be rewarded for their quality content.
😄😇😄
Thank you creatr. A vast army of readers would be wonderful - especially if they curate well. I look forward to the day :)
I agree completely. I'm pulling my brains out trying to come up with an idea for this too. The MSP initiatives are really good but we need something much broader.
Thank you - I agree that the broader the better when it comes to encouraging our curators.
I wholeheartedly agree. Curation is important, and should be rewarded. On many platforms, you're actually expected to comment and engage with existing content before publishing your own. Which makes sense - it's how people learn and understand the platform before contributing to it. On steemit it seems to be the other way around. If you do not publish or invest money, your votes will never mean much.
There are more readers than writers in the world, and they should have the power to reward GOOD writers.
Thank you. I think we need to take care of our curators from the beginning. Before they invest and before they feel forced to post.
An excellent post!
Some of us have been saying similar for a while.
@curie pays its curators, and now delegations are being given to folks who wish to 'curate for you' and the Steem Blockchain.
I hope this movement will grow, as it really does benefit everyone at the end of the day.
Cheers!
Thank you. I have high hopes for this as well.
They should incentivise curation more, like 50/50 instead of 75/25. I'm surtain it will prevent a lot of certain it will prevent a lot of selfvotes! Writers happy, investors happy!
I think they have experimented with a few different ratios and equations when it comes to finding a writer/reader balance. I am not sure what the best is. I only hope like you - that they can find a way to make everyone happy - because I think this has the potential to be the best platform for writers and readers!
I spend most of my time reading and upvoting when I have more than a penny to give. I know I am not alone on being a reader and there are many who give of their time for a project like this.
Here's a whole bunch of tips to do better and grow your steemit vote. If you got to rep 49 and like to curate - this will really help you now. You can do it and succeed here. Good luck!
Make Money Blogging on Steemit Top Tips and Checklist for Better Results!!
Thank you for being a reader. Writers and readers need each other. I appreciate you.
I think the difference between curators and bloggers is followers. Some people who come to this platform as bloggers with a preexisting following easily start posting.
When i first joined i didn't know much about blogging and I am still learning how. I have things to say but no following and so the wise advice of @aggroed was "if you dont have a reputation, wait until you have built up a couple of hundred followers before you start blogging all your greatest material and getting .. crickets."
Yes, that is the advice I have heard as well. But I wonder about the people that follow a blogger to this platform - how will they fit in?
I cannot say. But I think that consistency of presence goes a long way. When you read through the steamit posts you start to see people who consistently work on this platform. I try to make sure I spend some time here everyday. There is almost always something interesting to find. Its interesting to notice the waves of interest with price. What I love about this platform that gets me through the ups and downs of price is that every time you work on it you get to increase your share. So the dollar value may not be going up but my Steem Power progressively does. Its hard to find a liquid investment that compounds well and even harder to find one that allows you to contribute both cash and sweat equity. For me personally, that's why I think its worth waiting for Steemit and I think that on the way I will find other like minded people. I am sure it will be a niche group but again that is another strength of the platform. Something for everyone.
having only 25 Steem Power (5 of which I have delegated to dMania) my votes do not add any visible $$$ to the the post however when I upvote, comment or resteem it still eventually adds value to that post. and the Creators still get encouraged on a small level. If anything, the fact that there's some activity on a post will encourage others to check it out too. I am also a very big creator that is not going to use Bot Voting (although I tried when I first joined just to see the results). So, I have to be persistent and have realistic expectations of the type of exposure I will get in the beginning. I understand this very well but unfortunately many new Steemians won't be as persistent and will join and leave. I am encouraged by all of the 3rd party sites like dtube,dlive,dsound,dmania and Lucksacks poker to name a few which will allow more divers creators an avenue to post and express themselves and get more attention. But being new, you can't just expect to be making money or have much of an influence on the Platform until you've proven yourself to be a good Steemit Citizen and shown support for those who have built it up to where it is today. I do however look forward to the day that I can start to reward all of the amazing Artists and Creators on Steemit !I just thought you would find some of my opinions as a newer member interesting. Thanks for reading :)
Thank you for reading :) I appreciate your time. Yes, we do have to be persistent in order to succeed. I try apply that philosophy to everything I do. I will take some time to investigate all those 3rd party sites you mentioned - I have not heard of all of them. All I hope is that there is an avenue to success for a pure reader, as there is one for a pure writer, with enough persistence.
I think whales should delegate to minnows that is responsible. Not many can do it and some just stick to their circle jerk.
The good news is that if a whale saw their delegation being used in this manner - they can undelegate. This would leave the delegations in the hands of those that treat them well.