An Introduction to Zigzagoon Balloon

Introduction to my Introduction

Hello Steemers (if that’s what you call yourselves). I go by the name Zigzagoon Balloon. I understand that it is customary on Steemit to make a post introducing yourself so here I am. You know my name and soon, you will know a little bit of my story too.

(Quite fond of this profile picture even though it's rough around the edges)

Why I’m here

Cryptocurrencies. It’s the reason why most people are here, isn’t it? I knew about Bitcoin a few years ago but never put the time or effort into buying, as is the case with many I believe. About a year ago I started donating my spare computer processing power to science through BOINC, an open system for the distribution of cloud computing. I was searching for aliens, looking for pulsars, folding proteins and helping run the Large Hadron Collider. I found this usage of my computer super cool. And then I discovered Gridcoin. 

Gridcoin

Gridcoin rewards cryptocurrency for doing BOINC work. I could be rewarded for the work I was already doing! Having discovered Gridcoin I had entered the world of cryptocurrencies. I decided I wanted to contribute to Gridcoin and its community as I loved the idea but lacking many relevant skills, besides knowledge from a basic design course, the main thing I could do was discuss and give feedback on the design and branding of Gridcoin. Luckily enough I joined in a period where Gridcoin was undergoing a major brand redesign (see these posts: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3) and I could try to make myself useful. I would love to help program but sadly my programming knowledge is limited to basic Python and Java and is nowhere close to understanding a cryptocurrency. Very recently Gridcoin minted its 1 millionth block. An impressive feat and a nice milestone. Although I had dreams to mine said block, it was sadly not to be. Anyway, most posts on the Gridcoin subreddit end up being links to Steemit posts and that’s how I discovered Steemit.

Thoughts on Steemit

The idea of Steemit is great. Make it easy and simple to support content creators who make things you love. That being said it definitely isn’t perfect. The aesthetic is quite nice and simple but finding the content I want isn’t effortless seeing as the search function is just a google search. The servers don't always seem to keep up also which can be frustrating. The community seems very friendly, open-minded and willing to discuss topics which is great and exactly what I desire in a community.

My Plans for Steemit

I’d like to make thoughtful posts about video game balance and other current gaming topics as well as just general post when something is on my mind (I’ll stay far away from politics, don’t worry). On the internet, opinions are usually very quickly ridiculed but Steemit seems to be slightly more immune to this effect than other websites (I’m looking at you Reddit) so I’d like to share my opinions with you :). I mainly play online competitive games such as CS:GO, HotS and Dirty Bomb but there aren’t many genres I don’t enjoy! I guess you could say it will be pretty much a personal blog though I’d like to think I’ll keep it interesting.

Conclusion

Well, you made it through this post so I guess it didn’t bore you too much (unless you skipped to the end). Thanks for reading! Thoughts/comments/feedback are always welcome.