STEEM The Super Basic Explanation for NEW Users
Introduction
The growing attention on altcoins and the current market conditions (bull market, higher price of Steem etc) will bring in a lot of new people who are not familiar with Steem/Steemit and are looking to just find out about it before they dip their proverbial toes in the water.
I thought it might be useful to make a summary for those who just want to know the basics and aren't necessarily used to cryptocurrencies.
I think if we can start with the most important points people will gradually pick up the rest themselves or via the help of others.
If you are one of these new people please let me know if you find this helpful or if you have any suggestions:
Steem - The Basics
What is Steem ?
Steem is a form of cryptocurrency network (smart digital money) like Bitcoin. It combines the ability to send/receive money and store information.
What is the main advantage of Steem?
You don't need expensive hardware to mine Steem - you mine it by creating and voting on content on Steem applications like Steemit
What other advantages does it have over Bitcoin?
1. FREE transactions with NO transaction fee
Right now sending bitcoin can cost several dollars at a time and your transaction can end up at the bottom of the list if you don't pay enough.
2. Simple adresses that are easy to remember and type
For example my Steem address is "thecryptofiend" that is a lot easier to remember than a bitcoin address like 1BvBMSEYstWetqTFn5Au4m4GFg7xJaNVN2.
3. Scalablity
Right now Bitcoin is capable of a theoretical maximum of about 7 transactions per second and this matter has been a source of serious conflict in the bitcoin community. Steem is already capable of doing thousands of transactions per second.
4. Speed
In ideal situations a Bitcoin block takes a minimum of 10 minutes to solve but you will often end up waiting a lot longer for a transaction to clear and be confirmed. Sending Steem is virtually instantaneous.
5. Steem Dollar is a low volatility currency for merchants.
The Steem dollar is a special dollar pegged asset based on Steem that is designed to resist the normal volatility you get with most other cryptocurrencies including bitcoin.
What Steem applications are currently available?
1. Steemit - a blogging platform like a combination of Medium and Reddit.
2. Busy- a more Facebook like app with built in personal messaging.
3. Esteem - a mobile app for IOS/Android.
4. Others are in development like Steepshot (a photo sharing app).
5. There are also a variety of tools for Steem available at Steemtools.com.
What is the difference between Steemit and Steem?
In simple terms Steem is the money, Steemit is an app that uses Steem to pay rewards.
OK so I've decided I want to make a Steem account - what do I do?
- Follow the quick start guide I created here.
- The guide takes you through the process of registering and creating your first post on Steemit - if you prefer to use Busy you can use the same account (once created) to make a post there.
Where can I get more information?
- The Welcome Page, Official FAQ and a more comprehensive FAQ here.
- Steemithelp.net.
- The Whitepaper - if you like reading - it is quite out of date now though.
- Ask a human in the help channel of Steemit chat.
Conclusion
These are the very basic points that can be used to explain what Steem is to those who are not technically minded or familiar with cryptocurrencies.
We can create further summaries to explain the more advanced concepts in plain language too.
What do you think?
Feel free to share and link to this post if people come to you with questions.
Also let me know if you think there is some other point that absolutely must be added here (but keep in mind the simplicity aspect).
If you spot any errors either factual or otherwise let me know.
Thank you for reading
Follow me on Steemit: @thecryptofiend & on Twitter : Soul_Eater_43.
All uncredited images are taken from my personal Thinkstock Photography account. More information can be provided on request. Thanks to @ocm for providing a free image of the Steemit logo here which I combined with the stock photo.
Before you go have you filled in the Coinbase form to list STEEM? It only takes a few seconds. THIS POST shows you how.
Are you new to Steemit and Looking for Answers? - Try:
Here is the most complete FAQ there is https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_Br4sf1zODJQrEsLrzYuc5w6beE-6As-o4oI3qqnvhw/edit?usp=sharing
From https://steemit.com/steem/@shenanigator/the-newly-updated-steemit-faq-is-now-complete
Yes it is already in the post.
You mean the official FAQ ? That one is more current and 56 page long.
OK I thought I linked to that one but I just checked and it seems to be a summarised version of it. I will add it as the long FAQ!
I have already started sending a link to your post here to my (so far) non-steemian friends. Thanks for this superb marketing material!
Thanks mate! Let me know if you want me to refine it any way.
muchas gracias, me ayudo mucho este post, creo q es facil de entender, y de hecho se lo reenvie a varios de mis amigo sinteresados en steemit
great introduction for starters :)
Thanks:)
I think this will help many newcomers. Being a fairly new person myself, I know at first all of this can be a bit unnerving, especially for us less than tech savvy folks!
Thanks, I hope so!
not bad. going to to something similar in German language for the community in Germany, Austria, Switzerland =)
Cool let me know when you do and I will share it.
sure thing =)
Gute Idee. Lass mich wissen wenn Du wen zum gegenlesen brauchst. Etwas simpel ausdrücken ist manchmal viel Aufwand. Gruß Detlev
Thanks I honestly haven't been able to figure out why people are using this just yet. When I ask questions I just get flagged so its a bit offsetting as a newcomer.
I believe you @benjaminadams but just don't worry even though Its upsetting for anybody. Some don't get flags?! Can anybody explain why not?
https://steemit.com/food4thought/@mammasitta/good-vs-bad-and-the-morality-of-steemit-smooth-operator-inspired-by-sade
It seems the more power you have within steemit, the harder it is for someone with less power to flag?
Have you noticed this trend or am I incorrect?
Hmmm, not really sure about this. I thought everybody can flag.
Don't worry about the flags it is just a way to redistribute rewards. I also have a site called https://www.steemithelp.net/ which you may find useful - it is a little out of date but most of the information is still valid and I will start updating it shortly. You can also ask for help in the chat: https://steemit.chat/channel/help - all the best!
Thanks for the post....very helpful for us newbies.
Thank you verry much ! I found this very helpfull ! I am new here maybe you consider checking my blog ?
Sure will do when I have a moment! Welcome:)
Thank you.
You're welcome:)
How does the Force come into play?
As you know the force is involved with everything - that is why a master like yourself was able to conquer Steemit so fast. Unfortunately nobody is on your level and most regular people need a helping hand (pun intended given your new post!)
You are an excellent leader of your people. Do you ever choke any of them? If no, how do you overcome the undeniable urge? If yes, good of you!
And
Thank you. After many years of training I have managed to stop choking them but the temptation is still there and a battle I must fight every day.
Vera keeps telling me it is possible... but I think you have to really want to stop. So that might be my problem.
Lol yes perhaps!
As always, you are concise and easy to understand. I think this will be an excellent resource for newcomers.
I think the one addition that might be missing is: Ok so I'll get some STEEM, how do I spend it?
It's all very well earning a currency, but the reason to earn it is to spend it :-) (at least that's what my wife tells me....) hehe
Thanks! Yes the spending thing is tricky - I'm not sure there is an easy way to sum that up though! I might just add a link to a blocktrades guide or something. I need to start updating the help website - just really pushed for time right now!
No worries. I didn't want to add to your workload :-) It just seems that was the only missing piece of information I would have liked to have known at the start.
You do awesome work, but don't overload yourself. It's ok to let some stuff slide for a bit, you know?
Lol thanks. I want to get things done before I go back to work!