Still Confused by Steem, Steem Dollars, and Steem Power? The Power Plant Analogy

Welcome to all of our new users! Like most people who discover Steemit, you’re probably wondering about the currency tokens: STEEM, Steem Dollars, and Steem Power. Why do we need three of them? How are they different? When will I get paid? These questions are understandable, but they focus on the pieces. What we really need is a 200-foot view.

What Powers Steemit?
What powers Steemit? The blockchain spins the gears. Witnesses keep it honest. Developers enable the Steemit social media platform and the payment systems with which we interact. Average people like us provide the content that gives the site its chief value. And we curate it, too, deciding which content is rewarded. Everybody tells their friends about it.

Put that together and what does it give you?

Holy guacamole! If a holistic whole is what you want, here is a model for you. We can compare Steemit to a conventional thermal steam electric power plant. Steam power, get it? Wink, wink. Change the ‘a’ to an ‘e’. But before we go there, I need to explain how a normal steam power plant works.