Good initiate. I am not a Dolphin and may never will though if you need assistance to setup bots etc, I can contribute

@poeticsnake :

We both connected, talked about it etc, but I think I should be writing about the reasons why I thought the project is a good idea. I am not even a plankton and I am not very bothered about the social status / VP / SP etc & I would like to focus on the artistic side of things in me and others as well technology. That being said, we need an eco-system that supports growth. 

Why Silicon Valley is repeatedly the place with all the cool and groovy startups with their sky rocketing real estate prices and stuff ?

I think its quite simple. They have an ecosystem to support, retain talent.  If someone fails, even then there are means to find opportunities, share experiences and move ahead. Unlike many countries regulations support a free market / Ayn Rand world out there. The same community aspect is valid everywhere. Whether someone is an amoeba, plankton, minnow, dolphin or a whale, there has to be a community, a society that pushes towards a direction which is in general good of people all over. I originally joined here after seeing the active social network, but later realized that its all about the favor banks (vote banks - though I would refer to that using Paulo Coelho's Favor bank theme). For the long term sustainability there has to be support systems and communities at every level, micro communities as opposed to gigantic groups / associations which will fail eventually. No one can show us the path to freedom and truth but we can do good to our immediate surroundings irrespective of the returns and good things will happen. Projects like MSP are pushing us to the threshold of success and then we need further guidance along the way to reach next level, I would define the next level as adding more value to the community as opposed to oneself. The next levels will eventually help everyone including the member contributing. We just need to focus on the right things and eventually it will rise against the monetary aspects of people taking out money via bots/delegations and stuff. An example is what happened to digg.com which collapsed in just 5 - 7 days from world's top portal to nothing. Yes, there might have been external business reasons behind it but the large part it was the community coming together. So all in all I believe this is a good initiative which will do lot of good things to the community as a whole and in the process to Dolphins as well.

PS: I am a non-follower of Jiddu Krishnamoorthy and thus like his ideas and thats highly influenced what I have written here as well as every community I am part of.

I agree entirely, but I think the issue is that steemit doesn't really do much to create and empower a "middle class."  There's the rich whale accounts, there's the new users, and then there's the people that stick around long enough to not really be new users anymore.  Most of my SP is actually used funding Minnow Support like many other dolphins.  I actually powered down to be a minnow again because the illusion that dolphin status changed anything in the past was kind of a joke.  Then again the same people making the same generic posts are getting tripple digit payouts every day because whale's are only voting the same accounts etc.  I believe it's a great idea, I just don't know how much funding you'll be able to get for it since it's mostly dolphins funding the minnow support projects currently.  The whales are mostly just selling votes and renting their SP.

🍎 henlo snek 🍏
I am approximately five days behind in my votes//to comments ratio, and scrambling to catch up on the ones that truly matter which aren't just pleasantries. As I've said elsewhere, I'm available for whatever you may need~

Creating a fatter middle class is key to retention and to platform stability, but also encourages a group that tends to vote both up *and* down, and who has a greater handle on the responsibilities of networking, cheerleading, and curating thoughtfully.

Hi @poeticsnake, this post really strikes a tone with my experience on Steemit. From when I joined five months ago I set my goal to become a dolphin, thinking this would surely enable me to get to a point where I was making a decent enough amount to help me get to my ultimate destination, being fully self-employed. Needless to say, once the infatuation wore off and I learned about the more discouraging/dysfunctional aspects of how Steemit works (or *doesn't*) I quickly realized that dolphinhood was the "no man's land" of the platform.

I *never* had even a chance to get @curie 'd, since I put my money where my mouth was and quickly powered up, used @promoted, borrowed delegations, etc. in order to be able to get decent exposure and support other users more easily. It always struck me as odd that people were being rewarded for not investing in the platform (though of course I am aware it is simply unfeasible for many.)

Even though I had around 20K SP (borrowed) all I saw when I looked around was hungry mouths everywhere, and I didn't have the ability to fill them. So I kept getting more to experiment to see "how much is enough?" Turns out, not even 60K SP was really enough. There is such uneven distribution on the platform, and unless you are singled out by some elite clique of whales to get dogpiled on *every post* (something that I wouldn't even want for myself, *think of seeing your every post on trending!* For me, that's horrifying, simply because it's monotonous, lame, and stagnatory.)

Anyway, I think @clayboyn and @lexiconical both had really good points here. I'm not yet to the point of being fully jaded, since I have only been around since June. (Not planning on powering down anytime soon.) (*Note: I'm not implying that you two are jaded, I just know I'd be a lot more to my wit's end if I'd been around these parts longer! I'm super grateful for the roles you both play in the Steemit community*) Also, the idea of Steemit being pretty unprofitable for investors and more about being able to give to others doesn't bother me; it's the main reason why I keep buying STEEM. I see it as potentially paradigm-shifting and in line with the current "hyper-evolution" of the human species that I believe to be occurring. I can look for profit elsewhere. However, I also foresee STEEM being over $10 by the end of next year. **It really doesn't matter what the cynics and emotionalists think, because the technical and fundamental analysis doesn't lie.** *STEEM is still one of the best, most convenient, and widely used blockchains today.*

TL;DR

I am very interested in being involved in this project, though I can't offer support of a "whaleish" proportion. IMO dolphins need more support than minnows, who get plenty of "pity votes," often without putting much at risk, as do most dolphins. I like working pretty independently for the most part but perhaps I can be helpful; I'll reach out to you in discord. I can be very stubborn at times and I am willing to lose the $13,000 I've invested into Steemit. I'm not willing to power down. 

Sorry for the miniature essay, but I tend to engage to the extreme when something that strikes a chord crosses my path!

Wonderful idea my friend.   I would like to ask a question.  Where is a reputation score cut off for minnows, dolphins and whales?  At what number does one stop being an minnow and is a dolphin or whale? Also how high does the number system go.  I have only seen a 76.   Thanks again.  Great post.

Great idea. I'd like to help with this where I can. Not a dolphin yet but would appreciate the help once I am.

Sounds worthy. I'll try to catch up with you about the particulars.

I get confused when talking fish. I am a Minnow now. But before that I was a Plankton. The Plankton is where I see all these wonderful projects aimed. And I don't think that's a bad thing--I think it's good. Some of those programs helped me as I got started out. 

But I don't see many projects aimed at those officially recognized as Minnows. I see folks *saying* they're for minnows, but it seems to me they just don't want to use the 'Plankton' word.

This isn't to take away from your proposal. I'm certain it will be well-received especially among Dolphins. It's just that, as a Minnow, I get tired of seeing references to Minnow support projects that actually are there to help until one becomes a Minnow. They are in fact Plankton support projects.

I wonder what the subtle inferences would be over time within the Dolphin group. It would, I think, set a sort of precedent: A fish group with support projects only for that fish group. As I understand it now, the groups above have support groups for the ones below. (Maybe the Whales should support the Dolphins?)

I'd worry some about the increased view that those in the upper echelons of steemit care only for themselves. Just look on any given day and find articles about Whale-for-Whale upvotes and you'll see what I mean. 

My personal opinion is that we are adults, or try to be. Yes, support groups for fresh Plankton are a great idea. But once one has reached Minnow, True Minnow status, one should be taking responsibility for one's progress and fortune. 

We know by now what it takes to succeed here. At some point we take off the training wheels, and this is that point. Every level above is just as responsible for themselves, and doing what they can to help the Plankton, Minnows, and Dolphins swimming in their wake.

The best way to help ourselves is to help the platform, and the best way to do that is to give. We don't need to be coddled. We don't need guarantees. We know that's not the way the world works.

Apologies for such a long post. I perhaps should have created a post on my blog. 

I really do think this is a great idea, I am nowhere near a dolphin but my rep went too high for curie and other projects like that ages ago so there is definitely a market gap to fill there.

keep going  , I like your work !

Agreed with Clay's points above. Resteemed.

Everyone should support great content and talent on Steemit regardless of status or level in SP, and yes I agree that people with higher reps and SP sometimes get looked over by certain curation groups. It'll be good for those people who have put in the time to get to dolphin status to still get some support from the community for the content and support they give to the platform. Nice idea @poeticsnake!

This is realy nice

@poeticsnake - not a dolphin yet (by a long way) but wish I was because this seems to be such a great initiative and something that is much needed from what I can see around me. The artwork is beautiful by the way. If there's anything that a minnow can do to help (other than upvoting and resteeming the article) please let me know :)

Dolphins have kindof gotten the shaft here on Steemit.  Agreed. 

What a wonderful surprise it was to wake up in the morning and see that one of my posts had been curated and suddenly had 100s of upvotes.  Several times, as a minnow, my blog posts were curated  and it really kept me motivated to write additional content as well as to invest more in the platform via Steep power-ups.   

Little did I know that I'd be shooting myself in the foot.   As soon as I invested in the platform, I was no longer eligible to get any of my posts curated.   

I continue to put out daily content on my blog, even though I get much less attention... generally only from my immediate followers.  

I think this is sorely needed as there are probably many, many others in my dolphin shoes. (OK... dolphins do not technically wear shoes any more that whales or minnows do.)

Cheers, 
@rebele93

Being a dolphin I agree. I will still post my art no matter what happen though. I like the community on Steemit.

Does only your reputation decides whether you're a 
**minnow**
**Dolphin** or a 
**Whale** ?