The Minnows Accelerator Project (MAP) was started back in [July 2017](https://steemit.com/steemit/@rycharde/minnows-accelerator-project-reward-share-and-200-sp-delegated-july-2017-signups) and is being re-booted after some weeks in limbo due to my own work and health. 

The project now has two branches: MAP itself and [AAKOM](https://steemit.com/aakom/@aakom/how-to-join-the-aakom-community). They currently share the same Discord chatroom and chainBB forum but, depending on your interests, you can use different tags.

<center>https://i.imgur.com/co4L7nA.jpg?1</center>

Let's go through the process in the simplest way possible! But first...

<h3>The benefits of joining MAP</h3>

= membership of our private Discord chatroom

= you may use the #mapforum and #mapsters tags for visibility within [the MAP forum](https://chainbb.com/f/mapforum)

= upvotes from our community accounts (@aakom and @accelerator)

= your articles are eligible to be included in our curated content posts

= you may win delegated SP as curated content posts are voted upon within the chatroom

= advice and updates on other sources of income within the Steem blockchain

= exchanging ideas and interests with fellow members

<center>https://i.imgur.com/laP8OPC.jpg</center>

<h3>How to join the MAP community</h3>

Firstly, membership is not automatic; it is subject to consensus from within the existing community. 

1 = Go to [the #newmapsters forum](https://chainbb.com/f/mapforum#newmapsters) on chainbb. You will need to login using your private posting key.

2 = Post a new article from *within* [the #newmapsters forum](https://chainbb.com/f/mapforum#newmapsters) requesting to join.
 
Please include a short introduction, including why you would like to join MAP, and links to a few recent best posts.
The forum automatically generates the #newmapsters tag and you can then add further tags if you wish.
Everything published within chainBB will also appear on Steemit and other Steem platforms.

3 = Your own followers, and other existing community members, can comment and vote on your new post. If you are accepted, you will receive a message from @accelerator with an invitation code to the Discord chatroom.

4 = That's it!

As the [#newmapsters sub-forum](https://chainbb.com/f/mapforum#newmapsters) is only used for new signup requests, older posts will eventually be "hidden". This removes them from being visible within chainBB but they will still be visible on other platforms - they can never be deleted from the blockchain.

Please note, this is a new method for members to signup, so may be subject to rule tweaks to speed up the process.

<center>https://i.imgur.com/QjtXc6Z.jpg</center>

<h3>MAP posting guidelines</h3>

One thing that existing MAP members pride themselves on is the helpfulness and civility of the MAP chatroom. So when looking at prospective new members, I look for good quality posts and some engagement with the wider community through comments. Although there always remains some subjectivity to this, I don't think these are overly high standards.

We have a very broad range of content creators across the arts and sciences. The only topics we do not have are those that tend towards partisanship of some orthodoxy: this obviously includes religion and politics. There are other communities who may welcome such perspectives.

Rather than reading lengthy guidelines, I think it is just easier to scan through [the MAP members feed](https://steemit.com/@accelerator/feed) to gauge the quality expected - it is not primarily about being a professional blogger, just that posts should be engaging and well-written.

To gain visibility within the MAP forum, you will need to use the #mapsters or #mapforum tag as the first tag in your post. If you are posting from within the MAP forum, this first tag is automatically generated for you; you can then add four further tags to also be visible on all the other platforms such as Steemit. Also note that all MAP forum posts are also visible within Steemit.

I look forward to welcoming new members to the MAP community.

@rycharde

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<center>https://i.imgur.com/tG1TJdO.png</center>
<center>Please comment, upvote and resteem. Thanks!</center>
<center>All new info to participate will be published by @accelerator</center>
<center>MAP is managed by @rycharde; please vote for me [as witness](https://steemit.com/witness-category/@rycharde/how-to-vote-for-a-witness-outside-the-top-50-and-what-not-to-do). Thank you.</center>

<div class="chainbb-footer"><hr><em><small><a href="https://chainbb.com/mapforum/@accelerator/how-to-join-the-map-community-minnows-accelerator-project">Originally posted</a> in the <a href="https://chainbb.com/f/mapforum">/f/mapforum</a> forum on <a href="https://chainbb.com">chainBB.com</a> (<a href="https://chainbb.com/chainbb/@jesta/chainbb-frequently-asked-questions-faq">learn more</a>).</small></em></div>