Don't be afraid to play politics...

I did some decent Curation on Hive today, I handed out a few tipu votes and it felt satisfying. Some of the accounts I voted for are super users in some way; they are always grinding, creating great content, networking, and even helping others.

Although I agree that I do some sentimental curation on occasion: I see a user who has some quality photos on their post, I throw a vote; I see a user who comments on my post, and I vote them without even checking what they have posted; I like their perspective on life, or I can relate to them, I throw a vote; or they are funny and we have been talking off-hive, I throw a vote.

There are numerous reasons why I curate a post, but I compensate by occasionally discovering and curating new users.

I saw this introduction post of someone some weeks back. I was impressed by how well they crafted their posts, so I curated them. I won't say my style of curation is the best, infact it's flawed and might not be good enough, and even worse I also curated for petty reasons.

I am extremely lazy, or have become so over the years. This is due to two factors: my health and the losses (family) I have suffered in the past two years.

However in all my laziness, I never fail to appreciate anyone who has supported my content, at least 90% of the time either in interaction curation and active meaningful engagement. Why are some accounts on my autovotes likely to remain there indefinitely?

I am indebted to them, whether they still talk to me or not, whether we are no longer friends, or if we have had disagreements and issues and we are no longer friends, their accounts will remain on my auto, because I do not believe that ending a friendship with someone takes away the good things they have done for me over time.

That's probably another petty reason, but I'm always grateful to the core.

I still talk with the very first account that started supporting me. Some users secure the support of another user, and boom, they no longer talk to the account. This is because they feel they've gotten what they want and there's no need to keep supporting or engaging the person.

Unfortunately, attitudes like this indicate phony attempts at socialization and easily make you a jack of all trades and master of none. Take a look at some of the biggest users here, look at their cycle.

They're probably going to be friends with these people till death, and why do you think so? Although they began engaging to gain support, they eventually developed something stronger among themselves that went beyond "vote support."

If you do not build anything real or solid, you are unlikely to make any real friends. Hive politics is real-world politics. When you don't like a user, or your style of interactions doesn't align with them, it's best not to force it, don't force it because you want their vote, dislike them, and dislike their vote.

This might come out harsh, but what I intend to say is, don't interactions for support, if the engagement doesn't match, move on.

There is nothing wrong with securing the friendship of another user with no stake. When they set a goal of growth, you can both benefit from the building experience you have gained over the years.

I understand that it is difficult to grow, and that one may be impatient and want to get it done quickly, but you will most likely require a long time, a building mentality, and other factors.

Unfortunately Hive prioritizes the long-term mentality, it means people who are keeping at least 40 to 50% of their stake gets a lot of attention, and if you simply want to grow fasters, this is the way.

Some of these prospective supporters are as interested in seeing you grow as they are in supporting you. You've got to bury your scrotum in the sand (this is a native saying that means "skin in the game") and that way you can build like-minded accounts and users that also wants to grow in the long term.

Now the bull market is a different game altogether. In the bull run everyone wants to catch the market and make profit, and you'll be a fool not to do so, because you can literally double your HP by selling high and buying back a lot more in the space of 12 to 18 months when the bear market hits. The goal still remains using some of those bull market gains to buy back cheaper Hive.. it's that simple.

It is what we encounter or go through on a daily basis. Building a form of support or partnership is difficult because, like it or not, life is all about giving and taking, and Hive is no exception.

The product we have here is massive, and while there are some drawbacks, such as the DHF, we can fix them. We can fix many things that are not working properly. Unless you are delusional, no aspect of web3 is perfect, so there is nothing like "greener on the other side."

For me, as long as I'm alive, the plan is to secure some profit when Hive is more valuable and later, continue to build more active HP, rinse, repeat..