What is Steemit and its functionality?

in #steemit6 years ago

What is Steemit?

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In order to explain what Steemit is, it is a good idea to go back about 10 years ago to the birth of Bitcoin. At the end of 2009, Satoshi Nakamoto published an article explaining a new P2P protocol that described the operation of a digital currency based on blockchain technology. Since then, this has been considered very useful in the field of economics, as an efficient alternative, an accounting book in which to record all transactions in a given network. However, over the years it has been shown that its usefulness transcends these limits, having different applications in many other areas.

Steemit was created by Ned Scott and Dan Larimer, the creator of the renowned Bitshares exchange. It is a social network built on the top of the block chain of the Steem cryptocurrency, which seeks to reward its users as bloggers and critics, maintaining the basic principle of decentralization, fairly and, of course, self-sustainable.

How is Steemit made up?

Once the operation of Steemit was described in detail, it was time to explain its three main components. These are represented by the Steem, Steem Dollar and Steem Power, of which we will speak next.

Steem

Steem is the official cryptocurrency on which the Steemit community is based. This can be obtained through the purchase of an Exchange, or from the performance and work dedicated to Steemit, and for the latter, Steem Power is necessary. The Steem can be exchanged for other digital coins by Bitcoin and others.

It is important to highlight that, unlike other cryptocurrencies, the Steem does not have a limitation control in terms of unit generation. The amount of Steems increases by 100% annually, so there is no fixed amount, but it increases every year.

Steem Dollar
The Steem Dollar is presented as an asset that should have more or less the same value as the US dollar, as do the stablecoins. They understand a form of gain by interacting with Steemit content. Once obtained, users can use them as they do with a cryptocurrency, or turn it into Steem Power.

As we have said, Steem Dollars maintain a 1: 1 ratio to the US dollar. They generate a 10% annual interest as long as they stay within the platform and its value does not exceed that of 1 USD; if so, the generation of interest stops. On the other hand, if the value of the Steem Dollars is below 1 USD, and if the amount of them is small too, then the generation of interest increases.

Steem Power

Steem Power is the way in which the Steemit platform gives its users the possibility to vote and comment on existing publications and, in this process, they manage to improve their "reputation" or influence within it.

When a user registers with the Steemit community, it provides an amount of Steem Power so that they can begin to interact with the content. This is spent as comments are made and voted, but as we said before, it is possible to get Steem to Steem Power. The process is called Powering Up.

Having said that, it is worth mentioning that as a user possesses a greater Steem Power, he will have greater influence in the publications he votes. In fact, if a content is well voted by someone with a high Steem Power, it will be rewarded with Steem, Steem Dollar or Steem Power cryptocurrencies.

With this, we have that Steemit is a merely meritocratic platform, because the vote with the greatest influence is given by those users who have the greatest amount of money. Payment for the creation of content is at the discretion of the owner thereof. This can receive 50% in Steem tokens and 50% in Steem dollars, or if you wish, get the full payment in Steem Power.

How much can you earn in Steemit?
Despite the fact that a well-known user in Steemit managed to make an amount of $ 100,000 in just one week, this is rather a particular case. The expectation of a new user is very few dollars, and these become constant, should be around $ 500 a month, getting followers.

Here it is worth clarifying that despite appearing so practical, Steemit does not enter between the websites anymore we recommend to make a lot of money in a short time. In fact, remember that to publish the content, it must be original and meet certain intrinsic criteria of the curators and, if those who vote for it have a high Steem Power, then the profits for the creator will be better. However, we must keep in mind that this is not a constant.

Does Steemit have a disadvantage?
So far, Steemit seems the ideal place to take advantage of our love of social networks, however, not everything is rosy. There are some points not so favorable that should be mentioned, and then explained.

Imbalance in voting power
We already explained that Steem can be exchanged for money or voting power, but the latter can be applied as a masked disadvantage. And the fact is that as a person accumulates more Steem Power, their votes and comments will have a lot of value within the platform compared to other users.

This situation, despite being very profitable from a certain point, has managed to generate harassment by vote. Also, do not rule out the possibility that certain users with a high voting power may damage the publications of others and prevent their promotion in the network, even when they meet the quality requirements.

High risk of hacking
Although practically everything exposed so far seems to be in favor of this social network, there is an undeniable reality that is the high risk of hacking. This represents one of the biggest fears for those who feel interested in joining the community, as cyber attacks have already been raised on several occasions that have cost millions of dollars to users.

In fact, in 2016, Steemit precisely suffered a hack in which 260 accounts were affected and around 80,000 were stolen. And although the network closed momentarily and was responsible for the damage, reimbursing the money to each of its affected users, this risk remains a latent concern.

High risk of losing the account when losing the password
Another disadvantage that we can mention is related precisely to an intrinsic security measure of the platform. And is that Steemit does not have the option to recover password if you forget or lose it. So, if we have not fulfilled the important foresight to write it down or keep it in a safe place, we can give up all our money and influence in the network.

Inflation

A very important point that we should not overlook is the fact of inflation. Unlike other cryptocurrencies, Steem does not have a finite number of units, but continuously generate more of them, which are distributed among the members of the network.

With this, we know that there could be for all, however, we have an imminent risk of inflation, which could confer an absurdity for experts in the field. For this reason, many recommend changing Steem to Steem Dollar, which, as we said, generates an annual interest rate that can be of benefit.

We have then that Steemit is an innovative social network that seeks to take advantage of the benefits of Blockchain technology to reward its users for contributions of quality content. In this way, the continuity of its members and the frequent updating of the block chain are guaranteed.

For those who like the new, who are exhausted from the routine of Twitter, Instagram or Facebook, Steemit is an excellent alternative for obtaining writings and other content of guaranteed quality. With this they manage to not only clarify doubts or satisfy their leisure, but also obtain profits and learn about the interesting world of cryptocurrencies.

One of the best experience in the world of the cryptocurrencies STEEMIT for me this is like a new world order.

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Greetings @inverc

This is a very valuable post that can help new users to know the platform they are entering and learn some of its most important terms, is very well written and easy to understand, thank you for sharing this information.

Enjoy your day, Piotr.

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