Some weeks ago I did an experiment to see what time would be the best for me to post. My assumption was that posting when the U.S. was online would get the best results. However, after trying out this method for some time now, I feel that it is time to do a follow-up
The best Time
In my final results post I concluded that for me the best time to post would be around 3AM CEST. I still believe that for maximum exposure this is the best time to post. I still see that posts submitted around that time get more attention than posts submitted at other time slots.
With Streemian it is easy to schedule your posts and post them at your desired date/time.
For some reason the max. payout when you post with Streemian is $1000, but I am not at that level yet to be bothered by this maximum payout setting.
Posting at 3AM
I have been using Streemian for some time now and posting at 3AM.
The results are a little better than posting at night (around 10 PM) but there is one major drawback. I also commented on this in my previous post but I underestimated the consequences.
This is what I concluded in that post:
Conclusion
"Although it is close I am going to say that I think that the best time to post is around 3AM CEST/9PM EDT/6PM PDT, this post got the most views, upvotes and comments directly after it was posted. If your post does not get noticed after 3 hours of posting then the chances of getting a large amount of views and upvotes are very slim.
For Europeans however there is one major drawback. You can schedule your post with Streemian if you are not willing to stay up that late but you will not be able to reply to the comments your posts receive until the next morning. This makes directly interacting with the people who took the time to comment on your post very difficult."
I highlighted the important part of that conclusion because like I said, I really, really underestimated this drawback.
I thought that I could just post at 3AM and reply the next morning (CEST). However at that time the people in the US would be, for most part asleep. This means that they would see my reply hours later and I would see their reply again the next morning. This is not beneficial for a good exchange about something you posted.
The Breakdown
In this case the best time to post actually isn't the best time to post for me because it makes one very important aspect of Steemit almost impossible and that is communicating with the people who took the time to read and comment on your post.
Replying on comments and having a conversation about a subject that you wrote about is something I really enjoy and posting at a time that I am normally asleep takes away that part of Steemit. Replying hours after someone has commented just isn't the same as having a direct conversation with someone in the comment section. I also believe that someone is more inclined to follow you if you immediately reply to their comments instead of 12 hours later.
So yes technically posting at 3AM still is the best time to get the most views for my posts but if this means that I will not be able to see how my post is doing and reply to the comments of other Steemians then it kind of defeats the purpose.
A new timeslot
I still take the US exposure factor into account when I post but I also make sure that I will be able to reply to comments left by Steemians who took the time to read the post and leave a comment. I now post when it is most convenient for me. It probably means that my posts will receive less views but at least I can give feedback to those who are in the same timezone as me.
It is interesting to experiment with timeslots to find out what the best time is to post on Steemit. But my take on it now is that in the end it doesn't really matter. Post when and how you like, the most important thing is your engagement with your fellow Steemians. If done correctly then your following will grow anyway and your posts will get the attention they deserve
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