Out of nearly 35,000 Steemians, his reputation score sits at #28. His post count ranks #51. And many of his stories earn thousands of dollars worth of Steem.
With out-of-this-world numbers like that, it's no wonder he calls himself @the-alien.
But what has @the-alien observed during his time as an early-adopter? Whose blog posts is he most interested in? And, seriously though, why does he call himself @the-alien?
Sit down, grab a cup of tea and learn more about @the-alien. He'll bring the saucer.
20 questions with @the-alien
1 - For those who missed your "IntroduceYourself" post, what can you tell us about yourself in one sentence?
@the-alien - I’m a Leo! That means that I’ll need way more than one sentence to talk about myself. ;)
2 - You were an early adopter on Steemit. How did you hear about the platform and why did you join?
@the-alien - I guess that I found it like everybody else did. Those e-mails that you get all the time asking you about your opinion about this site, or that app… You know, those emails you never open?
Luckily for me, I opened the one that matters and stumbled upon Steemit and we have been in a love affair ever since.
3 - What's the best thing you've observed about Steemit so far?
@the-alien - The people in it, a hundred percent. It’s the people for me.
I’ve met some amazing people, I’ve made friends. I know now that there are incredible and noble people that do tons of great work behind closed doors.
It’s not only that, it’s the combination of dreams and aspirations that you see everyday on Steemit. You see how far some have come. You see how many others are still working everyday doing what they love and someday they too will be rewarded.
I see a sense of community even; people supporting each other in several different ways.
I’m not saying that it’s a troll-free environment, not at all. Just that I have a very short memory for negative stuff. I flush it quickly from my mind.
As I once wrote, you have two wolves inside of you, feed them wisely.
Wait, how did the conversation turn to wolves? ;)
4 - What's the worst thing you've observed about Steemit?
@the-alien - People who wanna bring people down, who blame women for having breasts…etc. You’ve seen them too, I’m sure.
I never really had much tolerance for constant complaining, I quickly look for something productive to do, or fun, or both.
5 - What is your favorite song? (Both right now, and all-time)
@the-alien - Well in the shower I sing “Baby, One More Time” by the great American philosopher Britney Spears.
Haha, jokes aside. My favorite song right now would probably be “The Only Thing Worth Fighting For” by Lera Lynn.
All-time, that’s a tough one. I’m more of a Blues guy but I’ll have to say something in the line of Metallica’s “The Unforgiven” for what it represents: people being shaped by the societies they were born into.
6 - Let's talk about the name: "@the-alien." For those who missed your "IntroduceYourself" post, what's the meaning behind the name?
@the-alien - It’s a long story actually, when I came down from planet… I’m just kiddin’.
The truth is, I’m creating a series about an alien that came from outer space and his adventures stumbling on all the crazy things we humans do, it’s a comedy. Kind of like “Friends” but with an alien in it.
That’s the meaning behind the name. That’s how it started, but then one day I was polishing a script from an episode, and I still had that mindset when I decided to write my daily Steemit post… So that’s how those “From a Strictly Extraterrestrial Point of View” started.
I figured that Steemit needed a weekly opinion column, like all other media. And I found that people liked those ‘non-traditional’ point of views, so I kept writing them.
7 - Who is your favorite comedian?
@the-alien - George Carlin.
8 - Most of your posts earn hundreds of upvotes and several bring in thousands of Steem Dollars. What advice would you give to aspiring Steemit bloggers?
@the-alien - Invest in a really good hacker.
Haha, it’s the same advice I will give to anyone in any aspect of life. It’s always a relationship either between a customer and a creator, between friends or lovers.. It’s always the same road for positive outcome.
Care for people’s needs, listen to what they’re not telling you. And try to not get too comfortable. After all, they say that magic comes out of your comfort zone.
Things will always have up and downs, but if you’re enjoying the process the hard moments will be easier and the best moment will be unforgettable.
9 - Whose Steemit blog are you most entertained by?
@the-alien - There is this 20 questions post that you have got to check out Wade! ;)
The truth is that I’m reading mostly new comers these last weeks, but I follow quite a few. I really like the style with which Stephanie @budgetbucketlist writes, it’s fun with a dose of reality and adventure.
I’m starting to develop a little envy towards @allasyummyfood and her impossibly delicious looking cakes. If I lived next to that woman, I would be so fat!
I follow quite a few actually, most of them know that already.. Too many to name.
10 - Do you have any regrets in life?
@the-alien - I ask myself that question frequently. I have been doing that for a very long time.
Of course I have a few regrets, nothing big luckily.
11 - What is your favorite movie?
@the-alien - The Usual Suspects
12 - Out of more than 34,000 Steemit users, you rank #51 for post count (according to SteemWhales). Why is it important to you to comment often?
@the-alien - Actually that number might be a little deceiving, and there’s a reason behind that.
There are many, many more people who write most posts than me. I never write more than one post per day. Sometimes I publish every two days, mostly because the story some days doesn’t match up to the quality standards I think that the readers deserve.
It’s a bad “strategy” people say, but that’s me, and that’s what motivates me. To provide something good.
I rank high in the comments because I make it personal to answer all the comments on my posts. Most of them are very rewarding comments, many people sharing their stories with me.
I get a lot of comments too, and that makes me very happy to know that my work and attention brings some kind of value or a smile to people. I hope to keep it up and improve more and more.
13 - Your reputation score (67) ranks #28. How do you think you've earned such a solid reputation?
@the-alien - I really don’t know. I don’t know how the reputation is measured, but I’m really humbled to rank that high in reputation. That won’t change anything though, I’ll still continue doing what I’m doing and trying to help and bring something helpful and fresh every day.
14 - On average, how much time do you spend per day reading and commenting on others' Steemit posts?
@the-alien - Not as much as I want to, unfortunately. But I do spend quite some time on Steemit and Steemit-related things. I have side projects as well, so it really depends on the day.
15 - Your blog posts explore a wide variety of topics. How do you come up with your ideas?
@the-alien - I try to figure out what’s the subject of the day, or what need I can address in the community. That’s the only question I ask myself.
Sometimes, I write about different subjects to distract a little bit. We all need these little vacations from time to time. How I come up with those? I don’t, they come to me.
You know how it goes, something makes you think of something and before you know it, you wrote three pages already and your food was burning for half an hour already.
16 - You get to have dinner with three other people, living or dead. Who are you eating with?
@the-alien - Hmm, only three? Maybe David Foster Wallace… Edward Norton, the stuff that he’s doing in Crowdrise is amazing. Plus he’s my favorite actor anyways.
And the third would be Noah.
I wanna ask him how the hell did he manage to get his hands on two polar bears from Sweden, two Kangaroos from Australia, two penguins…And how the fuck did he manage to get all of them shipped to his modest tent in the Middle East?
Wait, can I swap Noah for Olivia Wilde? I don’t care about those penguins anymore.
17 - Who is your favorite author?
@the-alien - Let’s put it this way, I will only name those who passed. It will be between Vonnegut and Orwell (I was lucky to read “Animal Farm” at a very young age).
I won’t mention David Foster Wallace because I’m already buying him dinner.
18 - Who is your biggest inspiration in life?
@the-alien - I wish I had a clue.
19 - Tell us about your most embarrassing moment.
@the-alien - Oh man! We probably need another 20 questions post just for that.
Off the top of my head, once I was running late to watch a football game in a friend’s house, I stopped by the store to get a pack of beers… I started walking as fast as I could. I get to his building, they buzzed me in and I ran up the stairs as fast as humanly possible.
I get to his place, the apartment looks completely different but for some reason I was totally unconcerned. I go straight to the living room, everything is different, different sofa, different TV but I don’t judge.
I put my feet on the coffee table, crack a beer, grab the remote and change the channel while screaming this at my friend whom I thought was in the kitchen:
“The Game has already started man! Why the hell are you watching the news?"
As I turn my head, I see in the kitchen behind me a family of four with a shocked expression on their faces. They were waiting for someone while having dinner so they just buzzed me in without asking who it was.
So there I was, with reality catching up to me. In the middle of the living room of some scared family with my feet on their table.
I grabbed the beers, went to the kitchen to apologize, I put my hand on the man’s shoulder and said: "I’m so so sorry!" But what actually came out of my mouth however was this: Bon Apetit!
They didn’t say a single word, they just kept starring at me in disbelief. I ran down the stairs as fast as I could, got out the building as fast as I could, and then I realized that I was in the wrong building next door.
Oh yeah, I do these things.
My friend couldn’t stop laughing and told me that the family will talk about that incident for years!
20 - What is one thing very few people know about you that you'd like to share with the Steemit community?
@the-alien - Ok this is gonna sound weird but I consider myself the man from nowhere. I never actually felt that sense of patriotism they talk about. I always felt this way as far as I could remember, I just didn’t start talking about it openly until the last 3-4 years.
Even when I was a kid, to me borders and stuff like that are like deities. People can believe in them if they want, but I have the right to not choose to believe in them.
To me we’re all people, you don’t become special by being born inside some arbitrary lines that keep changing as the years go by.
I’m not saying that people should feel that way, I’m saying that’s how I feel.
Where you’re from, what you do, or how old you are… These things mean nothing to me.
Thanks to @the-alien for being so down-to-earth and delivering a great interview!
Also, a huge thank-you to all of you for taking the time to read.
Who would you like to see me throw 20 questions at? Drop me a comment below and I'll work on setting up the interview.
If you like what you read, be sure to follow my blog!
Previous "20 questions" interviews:
20 questions with @heiditravels
20 questions with @katecloud
20 questions with @manthostsakirid
20 questions with @blockchaingirl
20 questions with @piedpiper
20 questions with @stellabelle
20 questions with @budgetbucketlist
20 questions with Roger Ver
20 questions with @allasyummyfood