If you’ve been on Hive long enough, you’ve felt that sting. You craft a thoughtful post—editing photos, formatting headers, and sharing something you’re proud of. You hit Publish, refresh your notifications… and then: silence. A few cents from loyal followers, maybe a friendly comment, but the Big Whales? They swam right past you. No @appreciator, no @ocdb, no @curie.

The usual explanations—“It’s a popularity contest” or “Whales only vote for friends”—don’t hold up once you look at the data.
I’ll be honest: I wrote this post for myself as much as for you. I see posts everyday getting "juicy" upvotes while my own—which I believe carry more weight and effort—get bypassed. It’s frustrating. I analyzed 30 days of voting behavior from the Top 25 curators on Hive using HiveSQL. This is the only "truth" I can prove with data, even if it’s only part of the story.

The result? It’s not a conspiracy; it’s a system of patterns, constraints, and human habits. Understanding these patterns explains why your masterpiece was skipped and, more importantly, how to get noticed.

1. The Effort Filter: Why 800 Words is the Threshold

Curators responsible for millions of Hive Power don’t read every post. They use proxy signals, and word count is the most significant one. Posts under ~500 words are often ignored not because they’re bad, but because they don’t signal enough effort or depth.

Curator Group	Avg. Word Count	Curation Style	Why?
The Heavyweights (appreciator, smooth)	830–850	Selective / Manual	Seek high-value, evergreen content that reflects well on Hive.
Discovery Scouts (curie, curangel)	650–750	Selective / Manual	ExplorationLook for hidden gems, but text must justify a vote.
Niche Specialists (leo.voter, actifit)	400–700	Community-focused	Focus on specific tags or front-ends rather than pure length.

Takeaway: Posts under 500 words rarely pass the initial filter. Aim for ~850 words to be on the radar of the heavy hitters.

2. Community Silos: Are You Entering the Right Door?

Curators operate in silos, focusing on specific communities. If you post elsewhere, you might as well be invisible. Your content needs to land where the curator actually looks.
This is where many authors fail. They post in a general community (like "Hive" or "OCD") hoping everyone will see it. If you aren’t posting in their specific community, you simply don't exist in their daily workflow.

Curator	Top Communities (Focus)	Notes
appreciator	Hive Food (10%), Worldmappin (8%)	Lifestyle and visual storytelling.
ocdb	Actifit (14%), Hive Open Mic (6%)	Niche, "Proof of Brain" active communities.
curie	Black And White (14%), Sketchbook (10%)	Artistic discovery focus.
blocktrades	Worldmappin (69%)	Extremely selective; few votes per day.
ecency	IndiaUnited (5%), Hive Learners (4%)	Broad community support and onboarding.

Lesson: Posting in the wrong community can cut your chances in half. Curators filter by community to manage massive workloads. A fantastic travel post in a "General" community has a 50% lower chance of a whale vote than the same post in Worldmappin. Curators filter by community IDs to manage their massive workload.

3. The Tag Strategy: Triggers, Not SEO

Tags aren’t just for search—they signal specific curation teams. Some tags trigger votes; others get ignored. Generic tags like #blog are rarely effective. You have to be surgical with your choices.

Tag	Curator Triggered	Use Strategy
#spanish	curangel, ocdb	Strong trigger for Spanish-speaking curation branches.
#photography	curie	Works for discovery; some whales prioritize community first.
#neoxian	ecency	Community tag with broad curation visibility.
#hivedev	Tech-heavy curators	Target if content is development/tech related.

Strategy: Pick tags based on your target curator, not generic reach. Community-driven tags beat general ones for high-value votes. Stop using generic tags like #blog or #hive. Look at who you want to reach. If you want the tech-heavy whales, use #hivedev. If you want the lifestyle whales, use the specific community-driven tags.

4. Discovery vs. Habits: Unique Authors Matter

We often complain about "friends voting friends," but the data shows that several curators have an active mission to find new people. The key is to understand the ratio between unique authors and "Daily Favorites."
Here’s a snapshot of unique authors vs daily favorites:

Curator	Unique Authors (30d)	Daily Favorites	Personality
curangel	834	11	Explorer: Open to new faces and diverse content.
curie	707	27	Scout: Constantly searches outside the mainstream.
appreciator	642	53	Selective Giant: Mix of established and high-quality new posts.
leo.voter	207	53	Niche Holder: Focused on finance/gaming communities.

Daily favorites did get at least 15 days an upvote of the curation account in the past 30 days.

5. Timing & Social Proof: Golden Hour

Maybe the most important lesson.
Curators are risk-averse. They wait to see social validation: comments, organic votes, traction. Posting before peak activity ensures your content is visible when the curator is active.

Curator	Peak Voting Hour (UTC)	Recommended Post Time
appreciator, rocky1	00:00 UTC	22:00 UTC (build traction)
ocdb, curie	09:00 UTC	07:00 UTC (early morning round)
ecency, gtg	17:00 UTC	15:00 UTC (mobile/app users)

If a curator sees your post and it already has 5 meaningful comments and 10 organic upvotes, it’s a green light: "The community has already vetted this."

This is why the Golden Hour is critical. You need to post before the curator's peak activity to build this runway.

Tip: 1–2 hours runway lets Social Proof accumulate, signaling low-risk and high-quality content.

6. The Whale Landscape: Effective Hive Power

Top curators vary widely in effective Hive Power. Some, like appreciator, distribute selectively; others, like blocktrades, are extremely scarce.

Curator	Effective HP	Avg. Daily Votes	Unique Authors (30d)	Notes
appreciator	9,928,308	100	642	High HP, selective, mix of new and established content.
ocdb	6,694,019	55	75	Targeted niche, moderate activity.
blocktrades	9,302,713	10	1	Extremely selective, few votes per day.
curie	166,318	70	27	Discovery-focused, finds hidden talent.
curangel	2,129,831	84	11	Explorer, open to new authors.

Observation: High HP alone does not guarantee votes. Activity patterns, uniqueness, and selectivity matter more.

7. The Truth About Delegations

One final myth to dispel: Do you need to delegate to get a vote? For the Top 25 curators, the data suggests: No.

While some community-specific bots require it, the heavy hitters like appreciator, curie, and ocdb show no significant correlation between delegation and upvotes in their organic curation. They are looking for content that makes Hive look good to the outside world. Your Hive Power is better kept in your own account than used as a "bribe" that rarely works for high-tier curation.

Conclusion: Strategy Beats Guesswork

If you were ignored, it was likely a combination of these factors:

• Timing Mismatch: You posted during or right after the curator's peak, leaving zero time for "Social Proof" to accumulate.
• Wrong Door: You used a front-end or community that the target whale doesn't monitor.
• Tag strategically: Match tags to curator triggers, not general reach.
• Low Signal: Your post was "fine," but at 400 words, it didn't give the curator enough proof of effort to justify the risk of a large upvote.

My Personal Take: To Adapt or Not to Adapt?

Looking at this data, the path to a whale vote is clear: post at a specific time, in a specific community, with a specific length, and probably with a mountain of photos.

Will I do all of this? Probably not. I’m not going to turn my blog into a cookbook or force myself to take a hundred photos when I know I'm not a photographer. I won't write bilingual posts just to chase a tag. However, I might make small concessions—tweaking my posting time or being more deliberate about my community choice.

To say I don't care about the upvotes would be a lie. We all want our effort to be recognized. But more importantly, I believe that the more the reward pool is distributed to authors who put real effort into diverse topics, the more value Hive has in the long run. A diverse Hive is a healthy Hive.

I hope this data helps those of you who are willing to pivot your strategy. The whales swim in predictable paths; it's up to you if you want to jump into their wake or keep swimming your own way.

What about you? Are you willing to change your style for the "Juicy" upvote, or do you stay true to your niche regardless of the payout? Let's talk in the comments.

Cheers,
Peter