Steemit Basics

STEEMIT BASICS

Steemit.com is free to join. It’s currently in its beta stage. It’s 2 months old.

Steemit.com was created in order to reward quality content creators with monetary and other rewards (discussed in detail after the newbie section.)

Steemit.com represents the decentralization of power. What does this mean? Here’s the most simple explanation: right now our entire society is based on an extractive corporate structure. All the social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Medium, Reddit, Instagram, etc. are profiting from your creative and social activity. Facebook is an advertisers dream come true. Right now you might be thinking, “So, what. Facebook allows me to connect with people all over the world.” Facebook has done a good job of connecting people together, but ultimately, individuals are not benefitting from Facebook. The people at the top of the Facebook empire are the ones who are economically being rewarded. This is not good for people, especially in the long-term.

Steemit.com pays when your blog post/photos/etc content is upvoted by others who are vested in Steemit. You’re probably thinking to yourself, “Yeah right.” That’s what I thought 4 days ago when I stumbled by accident into Steemit.com. Now, after approximately 40 hours of both research and active involvement on the site, I’m no longer a skeptic. I’m not sure how much money I’ve made, but I can tell you this: it’s way more than I’ve made thus far from Amazon, YouTube and every other site combined. Wait til July 4 because that’s the first payout date. At that point, I will report back about exactly how much money I’ve made. But anyone who knows me well, knows that at heart, I’m a dedicated creator. I’ve been struggling to meet basic financial needs because my primary motivation in life is the spreading of useful knowledge and the maintenance of independent creativity. I’m a firm believer in the commons.

Steemit.com uses blockchain technology which is way more secure than anything currently being used on the internet. The next internet revolution is about to happen and it’s called blockchain. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, I’d like to introduce you to the word, Ethereum.

Depending on your level of knowledge so far, you might have checked out. It’s pretty futuristic, but I believe this sort of decentralized power structure is inevitable.

The reason I think Ethereum will take over: it’s way more secure than our existing internet.

In order to understand why, you’ll need to read up on blockchain technology. There’s a lot to learn, but let’s get back to Steemit. You can join Steemit and learn about blockchain technology, by using it. Steemit uses blockchain technology. I didn’t know a lick about blockchain before joining Steemit. I have been learning as I interact with it. I was initially turned off by the word, blockchain, because I thought it would require me to sit down with a giant book the size of Gravity’s Rainbow. There’s a shortcut to knowing everything about a new technology: USE IT.

6. Steemit allows good, quality information to rise to the top, much like Reddit.

7. Steemit allows you to have a stake in the Steemit site, if you become an active, valuable to the community, member.