How-To-Steemit! A Guide for Newbies

in #steemhelp8 years ago (edited)

(aka Steemit-for-Dummies)

Chapter 1 - The Vision

Hey Steamy Steemers,

I find it hard to fully understand what Steemit is. I'm feeling dazed and confused as I look around this platform.

I have so many questions like:

  • Why did Steemit come to be?
  • How can this platform be used to make this world a better place?
  • Is the money thing real? If so, how?

... and I want answers!

Once I get a grasp on the inner workings of Steemit, I will then distill what I learn into a handy, easy-to-read, How-To-Steemit Guide.

I want to create an epic piece of content that will help newbies like me understand the brilliance that is taking place here. I want to make Steemit accessible to more people, because from what I already know, this is a beautiful thing that has been created.

There is a resource called [Steem Whitepaper,] (https://steem.io/SteemWhitePaper.pdf) which, while rich in information, is overwhelming to a newbie like me, and it is written in a language that I don't fully comprehend.

This is why I am writing How-To-Steemit!

I want to learn all about the many facets of Steemit, but I need it to be broken down into digestible pieces because this virtual space is both exciting and confusing for people who are not previously crypto-savvy, like me.

I am separating the platform into Chapters and your help and understanding on any or all of the Steemit topics is not only welcome, but needed!

Currently I am researching what the Vision of Steemit truly is, so that when I do start making contributions, they will be effective and helpful to the community.

When I first arrived here, I went to the "About" section of our platform, and found this:

"Steemit is a social media platform where everyone gets paid for creating and curating content. It leverages a robust digital points system, called Steem, that supports real value for digital rewards through market price discovery and liquidity."

... this did not really explain much to me as a newb.

Can you please help me understand:

*Where did Steemit come from?
*Why is it here?
*Where is it going? (ideally...)

What is the VISION you have for Steemit?

I'd really love to know!

Be Well!
Talk Soon,
Bee

Sort:  

Steemit came from years of blockchain/cryptocurrency development and a realization that we should focus on building an online community first and then the benefits of a growing cryptocurrency will follow.

Steemit is here to empower people like you! and of course the many communities in the world. It's meant to be an all encompassing and positive environment to allow people to communicate in helpful and valuable manners.

The platform will eventually go lots of places as a movement towards the freedom of social media. The first thing we are working toward with Steemit is getting the blogging/curating platform side of things down pat - but there is much more. Steemit can grow into a full fledged social platform that supports followers, friends, personalized feeds - and then more interestingly, 3rd party games can be built as Steem plug-ins to continue to build a more and more vibrant ecosystem. Overtime, we see the core products -- a steemit option for any piece of internet content -- becoming ubiquitous -- and we see 3rd party apps becoming a very important part of the ecosystem. I'm commissioning a design to show many of the possibilities for the platform through the 'tree' metaphor. Steemit is one branch on a small tree called Steem .. but in time the tree will become large and provide cover for many communities and walks of life.

-Ned (ceo steemit)

Steem is the tree and Steemit is a branch; what a beautiful metaphor; wish I had said that! :)

I think the main vision of most steemers (aka steemians) is to get lots of bucks, at first the steem ones, then the real greens :-)
PS
wonder, which social media definitely made this world a better place?

Hello there :)
Yes, I think so, too, that most / a lot of people intend to make money with being and sharing their information on here - though is it truly a bad thing? Every company wants to sell their product and wants to recieve a "token" of appreciation for it. You can't buy a home and raise a family from a "thank you so much for sharing" - though it would be an ideal place, I think ;)
If you want to share what you love with the world and spend time and energy on doing so, you need a reward for it, that helps you keep going. In older times you paid with other goods (changing /switching), like bread for eggs. Then someone invented money to give a base for switching goods, so that everyone could get what they needed (which is not yet a bad thing). The bank system thing now is a real problem, because it is based on making more from where there is nothing to gain from. They literally try to make money out of thin air, but it has to be somewhere first in an equal value (which is why rich people get richer through interest). This is a system which only serves some people.
Everything in the world has the possibility to make it a better place if used wisely or maybe, used with consciousness. If you spend your money and time (which are the current currencies) on things that make the world a better place, then there will be more of that. So if you buy fair trade and biological stuff in the store, the store owner will think "to make money, I need to get more stuff like this". And if you are on social media or youtube / dtube and spend your attention on things that create good vibes, you will get more and more good vibes overall.
It is actually the choice of each and everyone of us, wether this plattform creates something beautiful or not.
Have a great day! :)

From what I've gathered so far, Steemit is all about the money.

People create content and share it on this platform, and instead of the platform making money off of the content and curation, it's the content-creators and the people who curate it who get paid.

Please tell me if I'm wrong, but the point of Steemit is for people to share information and those who create content which people find useful, they get paid. And so do the people who voted for said content.

There's no higher purpose?
Just write useful stuff, and you'll get paid if it's helpful to others?
I am curious to see if there is real cash value paid out on July 4th, as this all seems too good to be true.

I'm still trying to wrap my head around this, but it is a new way of relating to the world, so it's no surprise that it's a little hard to grasp.

Thanks for your help, folks!
Please feel free to keep the insights coming.

Be Well!

Right, so where is the money that is being paid out in real cash coming from? Is it from the capital of outside investors? How does Steemit make money?

That's a great question and I'm still trying to work that out myself. How exactly does the site earn revenue to pay out it's users for posting content?? Can someone please explain that to me in a crystal clear way I can understand without getting cryptic about it! Please? :)

Don't ask and don't tell probably is the best answer. It is still foggy to me but from reading the White Paper the way I understand it is there are three currencies which somehow feed off of each other. Correct me if I'm wrong here but Steem is inflationary by 100% per year. Steem Dollars are tied to the US Dollar, and Steem Power is inflationary by 10% per year but you can't sell it for two years. So users who hold Steem basically pay a 50% tax per year that could be used for payouts. Steem Power sounds like a fractional reserve system where you pay 10% interest for the privlidge of letting them hold your money for two years. It sounds basically like a jackpot system from what I can figure. You pay into the system and then post and hope to win the jackpot. My biggest concern is how is the Steem going to continue to double every year? That does not sound sustainable to me. Don't get me wrong. It's brilliant.

Where did Steemit come from?
Its the brainchild of @ned and @dantheman . You can look up their bio: Ned Scott and Daniel Larimer
Why is it here?
As mention in my article Confession of a Facebook Ad Man, Facebook and other are clamping down on free speech and they make money from us creating content for them for free.
Where is it going? (ideally...)
Is this there to eventually replace the establishment. To create a new way to distribute earnings in social media. Rather than users doing all the work for free and then get sold to advertisers, Steemit aims at distributing a part of it's value back to those who increase it's value -> content creator and curator.

Love the photo!

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