Second thoughts on Steemit

So, I was thinking.... Since joining Steemit a few days ago, I'm still making my way around, learning the ropes, figuring out what it is, who the prime movers and shakers, (and whales are). Also trying to see what's the best way for me to share, what to share, and how that might impact followers, find an opportunity to provide value, and evaluate the best prospects for networking, community and type, and what impact steemit might have on my content, & to what extent it could be detrimental in google's eyes vs posting to my own site. I've had the newbie excitement that this could be the new-next-big-thing. And as internet wisdom goes, early adopters are favored. & to participate in what may be an interesting social experiment. I've had the frustration of posting an #introduceyourself post without a photo & could not change it later. Then somehow I found some very useful posts on verification, how to work with steemit etc., who the influencers are, and promptly lost them. There is no faq that tells people "how" steem really works. The thought of being economically rewarded for writing, as I am a writer of sorts, is interesting. But there is one nagging thought about introducing the economic principle here and it is this. It's work. Labor. Effort. Designed as contest. With a bit of community roulette. When I started on Twitter, by contrast, it was fun. Easy and fun. Intuitive. Obvious. Same thing the first time I played Angry Birds, till 2 am, to the chagrin of my eldest who woke up hearing the cackling birds. Shouldn't this be fun? What's the net impact of introducing an economic reward? What does introducing an economic principle take away? Does it introduce a pressure to earn? Does it reward or challenge authenticity?