How Two Unknowns Became Known Worldwide By the Power of a “Resteem”

Leveraging the power of edification.

This is a story about Merrick Hanna and Alec Benjamin. Merrick grew up imitating robots as a child and it turned into a passion of his to dance like one. Merrick is only 12 but his skill level is that of dancers 10 years his senior. And, Alec Benjamin is a 23-year-old man who sounds like a child when he sings. Without formal music training, he tinkers on his piano or guitar until he hears something that “strikes a chord”.

Merrick auditioned for America’s Got Talent, dancing to Alec’s song, I Built a Friend. The 90-second audition trended. In one month, the audition was viewed over 17 million times with 18,300 other YouTube videos referencing it. The song ‘I built a friend’ as millions of view and references. Seemingly overnight, Merrick had a worldwide following and took Alec along for the ride solidifying both their careers.

Merrick "resteemed" Alec.

Merrick could have picked any song. By showcasing Alec’s song, Merrick essentially resteemed Alec’s creation. A resteem, also known as a reblog, represented honor, generosity, and gratitude and can result in both parties increasing their influence. Merrick and Alec were amazing apart, but together… oh, baby!

This post was inspired by


(Fast forward to 43 seconds if you want to go straight to Merrick.)

An "extra life" in pinball.

Resteeming puts great content of others at the top of feeds across the Steem ecosystem. It’s like playing a pinball game and winning an extra life because you rocked it! And, when a resteem gets a resteem, that’s like getting 2 extra lives. It puts food on the table for both worthy content creators and their dedicated curators so they can go back out the next day and be great again. Followers are exposed to better content. With everyone winning, “to the moon” Steem value is inevitable.

You are what you resteem.

Remember, resteeming is great, but your profile is prime real estate, so don’t resteem everything. Fortunately, for new minnows unaccustomed to the permanence of the blockchain, the system asks us if we are sure we want to resteem, giving us a chance to reflect.

Do I want to make it a permanent part of my profile? Will this help others? Was I moved or inspired? Do I want to showcase the talent of this particular Steemian?

If the answer is Yes to any of those questions, I resteem. I consider the posts I resteem as valuable diamonds because I believe sharing them will help others. As I introduce Steem to new people, I find myself saying, “If you really want to know the heartbeat of Steem, read the posts I picked to share on my feed.”

Buried in diamonds.

Yes, my personal posts can seem like they are buried beneath resteems but because I love what I resteem so I’m okay being buried in diamonds. And, in fact, sometimes I post things I know won’t be resteemed like the story of my dog or the eulogy I gave for my dad because I know the blockchain is permanent and it’s something that I want to preserve.

Tech Tip: When I’m looking at someone’s profile with lots of resteems and I only want to just see their posts, I simply go to www.Busy.org, where personal posts and resteems are kept separate.

Know who's supporting you in this special way.

Tech tip: As I was preparing for this post, I discovered a way to pull a report listing my resteemers. Turns out it’s super easy!

reblog resteem report.jpg

Shout out time

Ah, my favorite part, shout outs! Here's a big ol’ shout out to all resteemers, thank you for providing “extra lives” to content creators in this pinball game we call STEEM. And a super special heartfelt appreciation goes out to my personal resteemers, @the-ego-is-you @bitcoinparadise @adh12345 @oddnugget @sumatranate @live2love @liberosist @joeyd @stover.daniel and @helena-m … Thank you so much for introducing me to your followers!

Sharing heart, hope and vision

My last 5 resteems – Talk about Fired UP! Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. If you take a look at these posts, I truly believed I shared heart, hope and vision.

@knircky resteem
@andrarchy resteem
@kid4life resteem
@sumatranate resteem
@barrysamways resteem

A couple of my previous posts

As always,
Want more? Follow
Inspired? Vote
Inspired to connect? Comment
Inspired to share? Resteem

Grateful for this amazing community,
@karencarrens

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