steemit

Before I go into a long-winded tale about my Steemit rabbit hole, here’s the link to the brand-new book which I co-authored. It’s called Steemit 101 and it’s free on Amazon right now.
It’s been a wild ride since I first discovered the new social media site, Steemit.com. I didn’t sleep very much that first week I found it, and the concept of the Matrix feels even more real to me now (I’ll explain shortly).
After I began to make some decent money on Steemit, I kept asking myself, “Why would I continue pouring out creative energy onto the other platforms: Medium, Facebook and even my own blog?”
I’ve been pretty much pouring myself out on all kinds of platforms in the hopes that one day, I will be rewarded. It really hasn’t happened.
I now realize why my efforts have not resulted in the desired results: the platforms on which I post are designed for the advertising/corporate system. They are not revolutionary and they lack a decentralized approach. Many of us have no idea what this even means.
We are so used to the concept of a centralized power structure in social media sites, that we cannot even imagine the alternatives. Corporate systems are based in hierarchy: the CEO and the shareholders amass the great majority of the wealth. Sure, they have put in place massive infrastructure and systems, but this wealth is not actually maintained or created by the CEOs and shareholders. This wealth is created by the masses who generate a continuous stream of digital content. This content is sold to advertisers who pay the social media site for it.
So, where are the regular people, the creative people who are posting and adding enormous value to the social media site? They receive nothing economically. All the monetary rewards go to the social media site. We have been easily fooled by such a system. We have started to believe that nothing is wrong with such a system. I disagree.
I think we can do better.
You see, I was an early adopter of social media from the very beginning. I liked the collaborative nature of the first sites: Friendster and MySpace, YouTube. I jumped on Facebook in 2007 and I started actively searching for an alternative around 2014. I’m very accustomed to hopping to different platforms, once a new and improved one springs up. I’ve been doing this for ten years.
I noticed I had grown tired of the Facebook format plus all my relatives were now on Facebook. I felt stifled.
I didn’t know there was anything radically different out there. So, I jumped onto Medium, thinking that the ad-free environment was the solution to my issues. I gained some traction here, but in the end, I still was pouring lots of creative energy into the platform and getting $0 in return. Not such a great thing actually. The best thing about Medium, though, is the editor. I love using it.
Ok, now you have a background. I’m a creative person, a writer, an artist, a person with many ideas and passions. I’m a firm believer in the commons but I also need to solve my creative output/money issues. I’m working on several books, yes, but at heart, I think I’m best with blogging since I cover a wide amount of topics. So, as you can see I’m in need of a solution that incorporates economy, independent thought, freedom and decentralization.
Steemit is exactly that. I’ve been using it for two weeks now and have established my reputation. Actually, I never tried to establish a reputation, it happened organically. I’m someone who likes to read, to comment and to share. I like the idea of a community and I like the idea that my efforts are going to be rewarded both economically and socially. The system inside Steemit is designed specifically for someone like me.
There’s a lot to learn about Steemit, but just remember, not everything has been figured out in the world. There are solutions that exist now that very few people know about. The co-founders of Steemit are some of the most compassionate and intelligent people I’ve met. I’ve spoken to Ned Scott and Dan Larimer and I am continually impressed with how they conduct themselves. Their commitment to both integrity and community is unwavering.
There are some challenging times ahead in Steemit. I’ve seen some bullying stuff in there, but it’s being managed by downvoting. Steemit culture is better than anywhere else on the internet right now because it allows for people to express their ideas without the fear of being attacked. When someone does needlessly attack someone, the bully is downvoted, then ignored.
If you want to learn the ins and outs of Steemit, read the Whitepaper which explains what it’s about in-depth. Here’s an excerpt from the Whitepaper:
“Collectively, user-generated content has created billions of dollars worth of value for the shareholders of social media companies, such as Reddit, Facebook, and Twitter.
In 2014, Reddit hypothesized that its platform would be improved if everyone who contributed to reddit.com by posting stories, adding comments or voting were rewarded with a fair share in Reddit, Inc . Steem aims to support social media and online communities by 1 returning much of its value to the people who provide valuable contributions by rewarding them with cryptocurrency, and through this process create a currency that is able to reach a broad market, including people who have yet to participate in any cryptocurrency economy.
There are some key principles that have been used to guide the design of Steem. The most important principle is that everyone who contributes to a venture should receive pro-rata ownership, payment or debt from the venture. This principle is the same principle that is applied to all startups as they allocate shares at founding and during subsequent funding rounds. The second principle is that all forms of capital are equally valuable. This means that those who contribute their scarce time and attention toward producing and curating content for others are just as valuable as those who contribute their scarce cash.
This is the sweat equity principle and is a concept that prior cryptocurrencies have often had trouble providing to 2 more than a few dozen individuals. The third principle is that the community produces products to serve its members. This principle is exemplified by credit unions, food co-ops, and health sharing plans, which serve the members of their community rather than sell products or services to people outside the community.
The Steem community provides the following services to its members: 1. A source of curated news and commentary. 2. A means to get high quality answers to personalized questions. 3. A stable cryptocurrency pegged to the U.S. dollar. 4. Free payments. 5. Jobs providing above services to other members.” -Steem Whitepaper
So far, my active time in Steemit has already paid off in multiple ways. One of the most amazing ways is that I was asked to co-author a book about Steemit. I had expressed an interest in writing about Steemit, so one of the other writers asked if I wanted to contribute to it. I was paid in Steem and it was all a surprise. It happened pretty quickly!
My posts continue to generate income and I look forward to how Steemit will develop into the future. I’m being cautiously optimistic, but since I blog almost every day anyway, I’m putting my content in there, as well as everywhere else. The content I put into Steemit belongs to me. I’m free to post it where I want. Steemit doesn’t view my content as theirs.
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