One Year On Hive: The Journey So Far

_{Image courtesy of my Tecno Camon smartphone}

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Hello guys, how are you all doing? Let me use this opportunity to wish you all a Happy New Year. 2021 was no joke that is for sure. It had its ups and downs, but believe me, I was able to see it through. And by God’s grace, I’ve made it to 2022 and I will make sure I make the best of this year.

The last December was the month that marked my one year on the Hive Blockchain, and I have to say it has been a bumpy ride. With twelve long months gone, a good number of followers, and over a thousand posts to show for it, I must say I did pretty well for a rookie.

I was introduced to Hive by my good friend @prayzz, and being a writer already I was glad at the possibilities a platform like this offered. And I could not wait to try them all out.

At first, it was not easy, nothing ever is at first. I struggled during those early days, dropping posts in different communities hoping to get support. Back then, it was the upvotes that mattered to me, not the fact that I was actually doing something I really loved.

But, as you can guess, my approach failed miserably and the support I got was abysmal. I had to sit down and find out more about the blockchain and how it really operated. And together with @ubani1, who had joined the platform about a month prior, we learned all we could about Hive.

It was then I realized that I had been going about it all wrong, chasing the wrong thing. Just because there were a lot of communities in the blockchain did not mean I had to make posts or engage in all of them. No two communities were alike, they all had something unique that made them different from the other. It could be their goals and mission, it could be the kind of topics they post about, it could be the rules they allow in their community.

And it was then I realized that it was my job to sieve through the communities and find the one that works best for me and then focus on carving out my space there. All I was interested in doing was just the same thing I had always loved doing, writing.

It took some time, but I was eventually able to pick out the two communities that worked best for me The Inkwell and OCD. These communities were vital in helping realize the great potential that was in this blockchain.

And so, I wrote and wrote, trying to be as consistent as possible. There were days I lagged back, but I forged on and refused to give up. And as I wrote, I made sure I engaged with my fellow writers, commenting on their works and getting to know a lot of them. It was not easy, but I made it happen.

Eventually, I began to see results. The support I had so desperately craved in the beginning was coming in now, but I was just interested in getting my writing out there for people to see. And soon, I hit the 1000 mark on the number of posts I have made and I will be sure to triple it before this year runs out.

If there is one thing I’ve learned while on Hive, is that you are not required to be perfect or be the best. All that is needed is for you to give it your best shot, and the platform will do the rest for you. The moment I realized that believe me everything became way easier for me. I also learned the easiest and best way to improve my writing talent is to just keep on writing. Practice does make perfect. And to cap it all, the communities I belong to are there to correct me when I make errors in my work. Can this get any better?

And today I have made great friends from this platform, even got a few people to join as well. There was no way I would know of something like this and keep it to myself. I would continue on this platform, double my effort and increase my following so I can reach even more people because I believe there are still those who need to hear the things I have to say.

So, what am I saying in essence, dear Hiver? Are you new to this platform? Have you been dropping posts but it just seems like you are the only one reading them? I am here to tell you that it’s all only for a while.

All you have to do is figure out what you love writing about, there will be a community that you will surely be able to take over and rule as you carve out your niche. If you can follow these little tips I’ve dropped, I’m sure everything will be falling into place in no time.

Thank you very much for reading, it means so much to me that you went this far. See you in the next post.

And do have a Happy New Year.