I remember joining (Steemit) mostly because there was a lively and respectful discourse on the topics of Basic Income and alternative financial systems.

I was certainly aware of the fact that we also received rewards in Steem, but this was when the token was 7-8 cents and I had no expectations of ever actually seeing any of that.

TBH, my mind was slightly blown when I was able to pull out some rewards in late 2017 and it could pay for a much needed set of tires for our truck!

I do wish communities would find new life, in the sense that communities who are not receiving Booming support would also be able to attract membership and stay active. For example, the pet communities. People don't post about their pets mainly because "you don't get rewards for that." And yet they are posting cat photos to twitter and Facebook for nothing...

I don't know if you remember Asher's "Curation and Engagement League," which has hundreds of participants every week... there were certainly symbolic prizes but people were mostly in it for bragging rights.

Good times!