Cent Spotlight #12 - A Talk With the Moose
The Cent Spotlight is a series focused on all things Cent, covering noteworthy Centians, novel uses for Cent, and other need-to-know info.
Last week I had a great call with @mightymoose.
If you’ve ever listened to his Running Thoughts podcast you’ve basically already spoke with him as well. That’s how I felt too. He’s amazingly candid and hilarious as well. I laughed a ton during our call.
So if you want to get to know one of the most passionate, elequent and sincere Centians who has probably dropped a reply beneath your post, you're going to enjoy our chat below.
[Note: Parts of the conversation may have been lightly edited for clarity]
@matthew: Who is @mightymoose?
@MightyMoose: I’m a 36-year-old balding dad. This year marks 14 years of marriage with my lovely wife. I absolutely love the outdoors. And back before I had kids, I used to be an avid mountain biker.
@matthew: I’m curious to know a little bit more about you. Like myself, I know you’re a runner – where does running fit into your life?
@mightymoose: Well I actually used to hate running. But after I had kids it got really hard to find the time to pack up the bikes and head to wherever the destination was that weekend to bike. Running is easy though. You just need to put your shoes on then you can hit the road.
I’d really like to be an early morning runner. A few years back a group of friends and I would actually get together and work out early in the morning. But as you know, after a while life kinda happened to everyone such that I was the only one left in the early morning workout club. I remember telling my wife that’d I’d really stick to that routine, but after about a week; yep, stopped that pretty quick [laughs].
So now I run in the evening after I get home from work. Running really helps me to cleanse my mind of all the thoughts that pile up throughout the day. It really helps me focus.
@matthew: Yeah that’s actually exactly why I enjoy running too – it’s supremely meditative and clarifying. But getting back to Cent, how and when did you originally find your way here?
@mightymoose: Back in September of last year. I was perusing the interwebs looking for dApps [Editor’s note: The Moose pronounces this dee-apps] and other apps that promised to pay users when I stumbled upon Cent out of the blue.
Initially I was a bit skeptical. There are a lot of scams out there. But after I used Cent and left a reply to some bounty, I earned $0.15 – and everything blasted off from there. It’s funny though, because before I found Cent I had sworn off social media – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and everything else – for over a year
@matthew: Why did you take a break from social media to begin with?
@mightymoose: Everything just became so invasive. They know everything about us and always want access to more. And I wanted to focus more on family.
But really, as I like to say to my friends, Facebook is the garage sale of ideas [explosive laughter]. Seriously, like all the useless, counter-productive ideas that people keep out of sight somehow all come out on Facebook.
I had checked out Steemit for a little after I read an interesting post or two, but after I actually tried to post, there was nothing; literally no responses.
On Cent though it was different from the start. Maybe it’s the pseudonymity that strips everything down such that we have to say or share something of value to get value. I’m still so excited and blown away by all the talented and interesting users who share such amazing things on Cent.
@matthew: Speaking of amazing users and posts on Cent, what’ve some of your favorite all-time posts been?
@mightymoose: Oh man there’s been a bunch. But the first one that comes to mind is that post from @justsomeguy where he tells his story. Man was that powerful. That really marked a turning point for me on Cent.
The other post that really left a strong impression on me was the Show Me Challenge that @mckie did a while back. That post and the replies to it really proved the out the incredible engagement on Cent.
Another one was that one where that college student [editor’s note: @rockzu07] uploaded all the groceries he bought with money that he’d earned on Cent.
@matthew: Yeah, those three are also some of my favorites too. But did you see that post today? From @ByteLong I think; the dude is telling the story of him being a farmer in Indonesia from a freaking Indonesian rice field – and he’s actually earning some decent money from it. That’s so amazing!
@mightymoose: Oh man! Yeah! I just saw that too. It’s so awesome.
@matthew: One of the other things I wanted to talk to you about since you’re also a podcaster on Cent is your take on podcasts and audio in general on Cent. To me it’s been an unexpected surprise how more and more users are taking up vlogs and starting podcasts. What’ve some of your favorite moments in Cent audio been so far?
@mightymoose: For sure the 4 tracks for the soul that @Joel posted. Those songs were all just so perfect to me. That and @RingMaster’s Decentralize your Love episode was just a really perfect expression of what audio can add on Cent.
@matthew: Yeah, we already have a community of users that we all track in our own ways. And overtime we develop a certain affinity and familiarity with one another, but layering a user’s own unique voice in top of that – like their real actual voice – just brings the intimacy up another level. Even with you, while this is the first time we’ve ever talked, it really does feel like we’ve already spoken with one another before since I’ve listened to your Running Thoughts podcast.
@mightymoose: Yeah it really is something else. I can really see audio adding a whole other dimension to the user experience on Cent. Just imagine users being able to record themselves and embed their voice or a quick video instead of typing a reply.
@matthew: Yep – those are both features I am super stoked to see rolled out in the short-term. I really think those two features will be game changers for the platform. But on that note, where do you see Cent in a year or two from now?
@mightymoose: I see adoption continuing to increase. As long as you guys follow @Joel’s warning and don’t **** it up that is [laughter]. But seriously, after Cent leaves beta, as long as the core of Cent is intact, then I think a flood of new users will happen.
The flood is coming. Iinitially it’ll be from countries that have been closed or largely ignored relative to other, typically Western countries, because the value of a dollar is just so much more valuable there. And also their voices just haven’t been heard before.
But like @ByteLong, I think everyone has an interesting and unique story, and Cent will help so many people get their interesting stories out there; and of course help them get paid too.
Cent’s vision is to help anyone earn from anywhere – and that for sure will continue to happen – but on top of that I think Cent will also help anyone become friends with users from everywhere.
@matthew: It’s been awesome talking with you Moose. Who would you like to see Spotlighted next?
@mightymoose: There’s a lot, but @agfnzn or @127kgs and @acousticsteveo would all make great for great interviews I’m sure.
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