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A Quick, Somewhat Simplified Guide to What Steemit is and How YOU Can Get Started Quickly

I've been blogging on Steemit for over 2 months now and I'm at a point where I get daily requests for an explanation of Steemit. So, I've decided to write this post to answer a bunch of the questions I get in order to reduce my time in responding to all the interest.

First and foremost, Steemit is awesome. It has allowed me to actually earn some money for what I write and post instead of just contributing to the wallets of FB, YouTube, and VK. This post is intended for non-Steemians to encourage more people to join the platform. If you're a Steemian, please comment to correct any of my mistakes or to add links to good and helpful posts. Thanks in advance.

The Steemit social media platform and its sister sites like Dtube, Dmania, Steepshot, etc. function and look much like other social media like Reddit, FB, YouTube, and Instagram. However, There are no annoying ads and the system rewards posts based on content and not on advertising revenue like the social media giants. In this way, I can create original and interesting content and get paid for my effort without needing a bazillion followers and likes.

Generally, I find the content on Steemit to be of higher quality than posts I read on FB or VK. There are articles on nearly any topic and the authors are often quite good. Of course, nothing is perfect and Steemit has its "Machine posters" as well. However, the community helps to keep these posters in check.

What is Steemit?

This is a simplification, but Steemit is a social media network where authors post content and receive upvotes (equivalent to "likes") from people who read their posts. Steemit itself is like a blogging site and the authors of posts are encouraged to produce original and creative content on any subject.

What makes Steemit special is that the people who "upvote" posts, also known as curators, receive a portion of the revenue generated by the post they "upvoted". The author of the post gets 75% of the revenue generated and the curators get 25%.

The next obvious question is how does the post make money? Each Steemian joins Steemit for free, but they are given some voting power with actual value to use to vote on posts that they enjoy reading. Their individual vote is not worth much at first and they have limited votes each day (about 10), but each of the votes has a value for them and the author of the post. For people that invest money into their accounts by buying Steem (a cryptocurrency), they can increase their voting power on the platform and subsequently get higher rewards, but no investment in the platform is required at all.

That's correct. Join Steemit for free. Vote for people's posts and post your own. Get paid for participating in the process.

Where Does Money Come From if it is Free?

This can be a little complicated. The easiest way to explain it is that Steem is generated through blockchain technology. As people interact through posting and upvoting, the system that processes these interactions earns Steem for the work and then that Steem is distributed back to the authors and curators. More Steem is generated through the blockchain as more and more articles get processed, but the value of Steem increases in the market because it has an actual use: Steem can be bought to generate more voting power on Steemit.

As the demand for Steem increases more than its availability, it's value on the market increases. If the amount of Steem created (it doubles each year) outpaces the amount demanded, it's value on the market decreases. It is traded on cryptocurrency exchanges such as Bittrex.

An article by @steemrollin on Steemit gives a great, more in depth explanation. You can view the entire article here: https://steemit.com/steem/@steemrollin/steem-where-does-the-money-come-from

Here is one excerpt:

A blockchain-based software network creates Steem dollars, to be used as currency, from loans on the value of Steem digital assets. Steem digital assets represent the ownership of this software network and have value because they're useful and they are scarce.

How Much Money Can I Make and Do I Get Fiat ("real") Currency?

When you upvote or post on Steemit, the value of the upvotes are calculated for each post for a period of 7 days. At that point, the post matures and the curators and authors are paid their rewards to their accounts. These rewards are paid in two different ways. One is liquid and the other not.

Steem - Steem Power - Steem Backed Dollars (SBD)

The best way I could think of to explain this process is this:

When you register for FREE on Steemit, you get some Steem for free, but it is converted to what is called Steem Power (SP). The SP in your account determines your voting power as discussed before.

When people buy Steem on an exchange, they can transfer it to their Steemit account and convert it to SP. Many people do this so that when they vote, they get bigger rewards. Over time, they will receive much more than they put in especially when the value of Steem goes up on the exchanges.

Steem Power (SP) is therefore, Voting Power. Your voting power when you create your FREE account is limited, but it will also increase over time as you post and curate other posts.

When rewards are paid to your account you will get half of those rewards in SP and the other half in a liquid form called Steem Backed Dollars (SBD). These SBD are also a cryptocurrency that you can immediately, if you choose, transfer to an exchange and convert to USD, Bitcoin, or other cryptocurrencies as you choose. This can be a lot to absorb at once, I know.

So, to recap - You upvote and post. Others upvote your posts. After 7 days, you get rewards based on the popularity of your posts and the popularity of the posts you upvoted. You get those rewards in SP and SBD. The SP increases your voting power to upvote more posts. The SBD can be immediately traded for cash.

So How Much Money Can I Make?

Like anything, the more time you invest in the platform, the more money you can make. Unless you invest in Steem, your rewards won't be much to start, but the more people that like your content, the more you will earn. Invite your friends to join and get them to follow and upvote your posts and you will make more. Make friends on the platform through a variety of venues and you can expand your network of followers to upvote your posts and make more. You can upvote your own posts also and most people do.

Invest in Steem and increase your voting power as well. Every Steem coin you invest increase your voting power (SP). Your vote then generates more rewards.

Some Common Questions and Answers

(I'm not the greatest authority on these topics, but the answers are accurate to my knowledge)

Do I Need to Blog or Post to Get Rewards? - No, you can just curate with your voting power.

Do I Have to Invest in Steem? - Again, No. It just speeds up the process of building up your account.

How Do I Get Started? - Go to Steemit.com and Create an Account. It usually takes between 3 and 7 days to get approved due to the volume of new registrations.

Can I Post Content on Other Platforms such as FB, YouTube, etc.? - Yes, you can post in Steemit or it's variants Dtube, Dmania, Steepshot, etc. and copy the links to your other social media sites. Note - only people with Steemit accounts will be able to upvote your posts on Steemit, but they can view them.

Do You Get Any Benefits for Referring Other People to Steemit? - No. There is no direct referral system so I don't make anything directly for encouraging you to join Steemit. However, people tend to upvote their friends' posts so, indirectly I may benefit if you support my posts and vice versa.

What Should I Write About? - Whatever you find fascinating. Perhaps you're an expert on something or you have some strong, well thought out opinions, or maybe you take great photographs. The list is endless. There is even a place for meme creators. Personally, I write about historical topics, energy, bbq, and my travels. I don't have a specific theme, but many people do. The choice is yours.

Like this article? Please resteem, upvote and comment.
Don't like it? Comment and tell me why. Let's discuss it.
All intelligent comments get an upvote for effort (even if I disagree).
Send me a copy of one of your posts and I will try to read it quickly.

All images not credited are believed to be in the public domain. The photo is from Pixabay.com.

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