I don't see Steemit as a Reddit (or even facebook) alternative.

I see Steemit as an asset driven social platform with the opportunity to create and share original valuable content. It is unique compared to many other social media sites in that it encourages a monetized blog over short snippets and reshares of mindless web content.

Sure, there's plenty of unoriginal reshares of crap here, but the people who are building successful Steemit profiles are bringing something of value to the table.

What does that mean for the value of Steem?

Well advertising revenue is a possible model for higher monetization, but I don't know if many Steemit users will be receptive to that as a model. Instead, Steem is a unique valuation model. It's not Bitcoin (and more effective communication is needed to separate it from Bitcoin) and it's not Facebook. It's Steem.

Steem, like any other asset, has a value because owners of it agree that it has a value. I think Steem will grow in value because I think that the value of Steemit is in its content and community.

For this reason, I'm in it for the long run.