Breathing on Steem

No midlife crisis so far. No convertible, no mistress and, I don't need a wig as I am not going bald. Of course, I pretty much need money for those things which excludes them from my list of needs.

With the price of Steem increasing, I have noticed a bit more activity from some people and if it continues, many will return.

People often "worry" about the numbers that leave Steem stating one reason or another but as I see it, most will be back. It has actually been a common place move for years by the dissatisfied but, when push comes to shove, most either stay or return once there are benefits to do so.

What is going to be interesting to see is how those who left cope with returning to a platform where they may have lost some of their relevancy or perhaps worse for them, they are no longer earning what they once did.

On a platform such as Steem where earnings are public knowledge and largely transparent, seeing people earn more can be quite an issue of contention. It is something that most in the real world haven't faced before and for me at least, having an open wallet was strange. In fact, talking about personal wealth (or lack their of) of any kind was incredibly uncomfortable.

I remember many times where I made excuses as to why I couldn't join friends for a coffee or drink instead of telling the truth, I just could afford it. It is strange how much stigma there is around financial hardship and how protected most keep information.

I am not talking about tasteless bragging but over the last two years on Steem I have been trying to overcome my discomfort of talking about financial matters. I am still very uncomfortable with it but I force myself to do it for various reasons now.

Firstly, sharing has helped me better understand my own personal economy as I have been forced to address it in numerous ways. On top of that, I have received feedback based upon it with people's own experiences across the financial landscape. While I don't take advice blindly, I do like to consider a wide range of alternatives.

The next major point is that Steem is an economy and one that is quite unusual in the world for several factors. For those coming into the platform, it is either, too good to be true or, expectations run wild and overestimate the potential results and especially, the timeframe to get them.

I am hoping that through my own experiences I can rein in both sides and bring some type of balance by showing it is possible but, it is going to take a lot of work over an extended period of time.

What is great about Steem is that we are really free to make it what we choose however, the pathways we choose are going to suffer the judgement of the crowds to a great degree also. What I mean by this of course is there is a free market system to a great extent and how we each approach the platform is going to influence our potential future upon it. Do what you want is tempered by the consequences of doing what you want.

When it comes to the value one holds on Steem however, there is a fair bit of entitlement felt by those who don't hold Steem. Many feel that they are deserving of what others have, that they should be upvoted, should be supported. Now, don't get me wrong here because if everyone just upvotes themselves, it isn't going to work so a balance has to be found however, no one is entitled to anything on Steem at all a d thankfully, there is no government that is forcing wealth reallocation - it is opt-in.

As said, Steem is an asset class with a great deal of versatility in the way it can be used but, expectation by those who don't have it on how those that do have it should be thought through by both groups. If those without leave unless they get supported "enough" they probably and worthy of the support, if those with are unwilling to support anyone else but themselves, the value of their holdings will diminish even as they grow larger.

Someone recently asked about curation and whether it will earn them more than voting on their own comments 10 times a day. No, it won't. But, voting on your own comments ten times a day isn't likely to build social capital and goodwill in the community which means, always being limited to ones own stake to earn or forced to buy votes.

At some point, buying votes is not going to be profitable for anyone and will instead become processes of marketing and promotion.

What is valuable is that social capital, the value created through relationships and importantly, the interactions between. Those interactions are the transactions and use cases that will power Steem, not the votes themselves.

I do think that in time, most people won't come here to earn at all or at least, it will be a secondary and untargeted bonus to earn on Steem. Most people don't watch and use YouTube to monetize it, most Instagram users aren't looking to brand themselves as a paid product. Most users of Steem are going to be consumers.

What they will benefit from though besides the earning potential which will still be a draw card, is they can directly influence their chosen applications, they can use one account in multiple ways, they can transfer funds globally fast and for free, they will be uncensored and empowered to create and build on an open source platform run and owned by the platform users themselves.

People are finally waking up to the dangers of centralised platforms and the control and power they not only hold, but wield. They are getting tired of a handful of people possessing everything. Once they come into Steem and can see that there is wide distribution and all types of people supported, they will be more willing to take part in the economy.

While there will be differences in outcomes, the people involved are not multinational conglomerates engineered for mass appeal, it will be ground-up real people who are doing the best they can to manage through. Some will be successfully some won't but the decisions will be made by the many. At least in time.

This is why I am hoping that people buy-in and power up for the future as the more that do, the more distributed the decision making becomes, the wider the range of content will get supported and, the more attractive it becomes for users who could benefit in multiple ways but, just don't know about it yet or, still think it is too risky or a scam.

I think that in the coming months and couple of years, the platform needs to start finding some stars of Steem, users who can demonstrate what is possible and where it is heading without losing themselves along the way, able to keep their ego in check.

It is not easy I'd say of someone goes from near nothing to near everything but, there will definitely be a lot of Steem Cinderella stories to come and, I might even be considered one of them one day.

What I think people should consider is that while we might not be doing it pretty, we are changing the world and the way value is established. The economies of the world are shifting and what is known today will eventually break catastrophically beyond any kind of savior. Each of us is ground floor in and have front row seats for the show that is to arrive. We all have a ticket.

Yes, people have left Steem and whether they come back or not, it doesn't matter because, who is left here now is the foundation that is going to set the course for the future of Steem, the people who made it through the lows and still kept working toward the highs. This consolidation of the community will happen at every trough but the growth of the foundation will increase at each also.

Never has there been so much Steem distributed as widely as there is now and, tomorrow it will spread a little further again. While some earn highly today, another could take the position tomorrow but hopefully everyone holds a little for the future because, owning an asset is vital and as I have said, Steem is versatile. Owning Steem is access to all forms of interaction that the infrastructure can and ever will hold.

Owning Steem is more than your voice, it is your breath on the platform - and it powers the next steps.

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]
_{(posted from phone)}