Dear Steemit!

I wanted to write a longish post to introduce myself and to throw around a few ideas about Steemit and social media. I'm aware that this post won't get much initial traction, so this is more aimed at those who check me out later on (hi!) or for those from other networks I've invited over here.

About me and verification.

So what am I interested in?

I have always been interested in photography - see my Flickr here - I think I have a fairly good eye, but I'm not that technical a photographer and need to learn more. I will be sharing photos. I am also a video producer, so no doubt I'll share some videos as well.

I'm interested in new developments in society as much as in tech; but I'm not a believer in technological 'fixes' for what are truly social issues. The kind of breathless uber-positive TED-type talks leave me cold. I am interested in ways democracy itself can develop and deepen through new technology. I am on the left (we Europeans don't use 'liberal' the way Americans do), and share a libertarian outlook only in so much as that outlook differs from conservatives. You could call me a 'commie', but I don't believe in authoritarian solutions and think that Stalinism has been massively destructive to social progress. You can call me a 'libtard' if that's your thing, but just as I'll try to understand your perspective, I hope you'd return the same courtesy. For those who understand the left, I'd broadly describe myself as a democractic socialist.

I started blogging on Medium, and this is partly an exploration to see if this is a better way to develop as a blogger. We shall see.

I've hung out on traditional social media - and will probably maintain my Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts for a while. When Google+ was first developed, I thought it a far better platform than Facebook, but would only be worth changing if everybody jumped ship at the same time. It wasn't enough of a difference to make that effort.

I live in Hastings on the south coast of Britain with my partner and 14 year old son and a reluctant cat (as in - she's reluctant to fulfil any of the functions of a cat and won't go near me!) See a collection of photos of Hastings here

And here's the customary Steemit photo!

(You may notice something strange - if you do, tell me in the comments!)

Is social media coming of age?

I've been hearing about a potential paradigm shift in social media for a while now and feel that there's a shift coming up. Mainstream social media started with large corporations providing a 'free' service through harvesting all your data: friends, habits, interests, purchases and selling them to the ad men. Apart from the sheer cheek of that - there's problems with a central provider - as with Google and Facebook in China, Iran and Israel, you can see what can happen when there is a 'provider' against whom you can make demands.

What if there's no 'provider' as such? What if there were no central servers that could be shut down? What if users had guaranteed privacy by default? What if users earned money by posting, commenting and endorsing others?

That's the premise of a new wave of social media - Steemit, Sola, Minds... based on blockchain, crypto currency and on rewarding their users. (There are probably other networks as well, if so, please tell me in the comments, I don't claim to be an expert.)

So that's why I'm here. But it's not to be some kind of social media pundit, (though I did run a social media company in Kabul for a short while) - I'm just interested in the possibilities that communities like this throw up, and the best way to explore them is to join them!

I have been exploring Sola for a while now (same username, use this link if you want me to benefit with 100 AP and 5 Sol) and say hello in either place if you want help or just a friendly voice to help you.

I have been an inactive user on Minds for a while, in fact, I confess, so long I'd completely forgotten about it!

And what about Steemit? I'm here with an open mind to explore. But how about I throw out some of my first impressions here, so that you can respond to them in the comments?

What is Steemit about?

"Original content" seems hardwired into Steemit - and users and even bots are set up to slap you down if you simply repost other people's stuff. That seems fair enough to me. However, I hope there's a place for linking to items of news or developments for the sake of discussion.

Steemit feels fairly hierarchical - whales, sharks and minnows - and there's quite a lot of negative comments among 'minnows' about the fairness of the community. Will new users find an audience for their content? How hard do you have to 'work' the community here in order to float into attention?

Are Steemit, Sola and Minds simply Ponzi schemes - generating their pool of money through a continuous supply of new users? What if that flow of new users dry up? Can these communities be self-sustaining?

I've seen advice to newbies to post on two subjects only and 'work' them. I'm not interested in that, I have a butterfly brain and am interested in a range of things (see below) so will that work against me in Steemit?

The original aim behind Steem seems to go way beyond simply a new kind of social media app. The way the original CEO talks about it seems to reflect anarcho-capitalist ideas about economy and government. I don't share that political outlook (see below) - does that matter? Is Steemit pluralist enough to accept a range of views?

Anything else will have to wait for my posts. Please correct any of my nonsense in the comments or ask any questions I haven't addressed. And please say hello!