It is difficult to get in on the action before all the auto votes appear on a popular author. So I don't bother and try to spread my vote to new people as much as possible. I am glad to hear that there are those who like to roll the dice on undiscovered gems. 
The voting circles are a worrying development in the demise of the bidbots and I am glad too that I ain't the only one seeing it.
Earning more Steem is one thing but making it something others will value will require those circle jerkers nurturing the rest of the community and not just relying on curation teams to make content creators feel like they won the lotto. 

Whatever, you don't get me crap man.  :) that is awesome though.  I have been wanting to get to that point for a long time that I can change someone's experience on the platform like that.  Sadly, I am not sure it is ever going to happen.  I just don't have the funds to sink into STEEM like I wish I did.  I have to keep trying to gain it the old fashioned way :P  I really think this is awesome what you are doing though and I am glad you found a balance that is working well for you.

I love upvoting accounts with a small rep; even my smallish vote immediately gives them a higher rep. And they need the vote/SP for basic things like commenting and posting!
Besides this, for me with a post average of below 1$, #newsteem has brought exciting times; I do 'earn' less sometimes, but these **BANG** surprise votes (that are very motivating!) have become more regular.

I've been more or less inactive on Steem for the last month (I will put a short post online tonight about why), but I have been reading and curating (both manually and automatic) and it looks like there are some HUGE changes. I feel like I might have to learn lots all over again. Glad things are starting to sound positive though and great to hear you actively seek out good quality content. See you soon!

#newsteem is helping a new steemians like a AC in summer .......
#newsteem = Proof of brain

I read your post and enjoyed it. New Steem is working much better than I expected. Thanks about the <50 cent post tip!

I'm going to give you an upvote now.

>The curation rewards are making up for it, and I’m now doing other shit like…er.., curating and playing SteemMonsters.

You must be a *monster* steemmonster, because I don't think we have ever battled. Probably doesn't help that I raged sold pretty much my entire collection... *twice*..

I'm hoping to see you play Steemknights too. I don't know where you stand with this, just hoping.. ~~subliminal's subliminal's~~

@slobberchops does that mean you will be doing manual curation for poetry and fiction as well?  I was honestly thinking of quitting to write stories but perhaps there is some hope after all.  It just seems that everyone is focusing on the NEW people on steemit and the people that has been here for three years are not being noticed anymore except if you have friends in high places....also I see no reason to build a reputation anymore. Steemit is the place where you work the hardest and get the least rewards....

I also noticed Paul and he earned quite a lot of my votes from his great posts and pictures.
Maybe I found him through one of your resteems, who knows?

I see a lot of new content creators getting quite a bit of love and that is really good. I know that from first hand since that's what made me stick around for soon almost 3 years.. That early support and recognition is crucial. Of course it also came from a passion that someone out there saw. 

I think you are one of the people here doing some honest work with what you can:) 

And I can tell you it helps us all a lot! 

Now we all just needs to be like you. 

Cheers

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Nicely said! 

*gotta get me one of those sideways cars though*... good for parallel parking Lol... 

Involuntary I have been a bit away and angry comments about the *censoring* downvote, pleas of compromise and complete bewilderment are pilling up. Normally I have had good experiences explaining, but as I'm IRL for the time being I will just reshare this.(I autovoted it :)


I have made some steem resharing good overlooked post though, and the joy seeing the money actually going the right place is more important than the money. I am a longhair (OK, that was my phone autocorrect)I am init for the long haul and that means we need to make the curation seem fair.

> I would suggest to these other bot owners that have jumped on the auto-curate bandwagon in hopes of the best curation rewards for ‘authors known to consistently get $15+ rewards’ to think outside the box a little.

>Yes, you’re going to get some juicy curation from all this, but is it going to raise the price of the STEEM token?

No, you're not going to automatically get juicy curation rewards from going after consistently well earning authors. Why not? Because so many 3-4 minute snipers are already targeting their posts. You'd be better off off the beaten path to find something new instead. 

You are a good finder of people's and no mistake. I rely on posts like these for the finding!

had to comment just cause steevc said you got no comments, so here is my comment lol

edit. circle jerking makes no sense to me anymore. thank goodness that era is over. For me anyway

It's almost like "be your own Curie" these days - which has great potential for the platform in my humble opinion. Recently I've been struggling to find the time to even look at Steemit, never mind curate, but whenever I come back to it, things seem to be more positive. 

I need to focus on learning about tribes - this development seems to have huge potential. I'm imagining that instead of having to scan the entire platform, and mountains of... sideways cars posts... you could just look at the topics that you're passionate about, and maybe find gems from newbies who share the same passion. 

I'm really glad the Bidbottophant's back. Things are looking up.

Yeah, I have been pretty happy with the increase in revenue that I've been getting since I became active again. I also went ahead and jumped back up to around 30k steem power from a low of 12k. 

I'm starting to feel a bit more positive about the future of this platform again. I mean, the money I lost in 2018 I am considering gone, so if Steem goes up and I get some of it back then so be it! Otherwise I am happy just being part of the community.

> I’m now doing other shit like…er.., curating and playing SteemMonsters. Some washing the dishes, ironing, gardening and DIY might prove a better bet

Ha ha, I used to have a flat that looked like something the wombles would live in about a year ago when I was writing long fiction pieces most days and editing vlogs occasionally. Certainly curation has become more lucrative.

As to the circle jerk question. Unfortunately what we've got now is the majority of the whales and orcas all piling in on the same 10 -15 people. Many of whom are decent content creators, but no better than a lot of other talented content creators. As you've pointed out in this post, it's an auto curation game they're playing. But if the problem isn't addressed, we will end up perpetuating the same old behaviour as before.

People will leave.

I'm very close to taking a break myself, but it's partly due to other family issues rather than anything to do with steem politics... but it makes me sad to see the same mistakes being made over and over again.

I do think that newsteem had the right idea, but honestly, whales need to wake the fck up and realize that if they basically vote exclusively the newsteem cheerleaders, and steem-centric content, they will drive what is left of a wide variety of talent away. As to new users, people aren't stupid. If they see that all that is rewarded here is brown-nosing and writing about a very specific niche content type, they'll laugh and leave before they're here long enough to even consider throwing a few hundred dollars into the system to really function.

Anyway, thems my 10 cents. Good post dude, it's through conversation like this that peoples attitudes change. Don't know I'll be around much to engage in these convos anymore but we'll see.

P.s. what curation guilds are you training for? I know curie are currently seeking new curators. I've been submitting the odd post each week myself for the first time in a while.

Always admire your commitment to finding and supporting new and undervalued content creators and interesting to hear you're working towards being a more formal curator.
@super-irie is writing some interesting travel posts that you might enjoy. Latest one is [The Bourbon Man](https://www.reggaesteem.io/reggaesteem/@super-irie/faces-of-jamaica-part-5-of-10-the-bourban-man)