I agree re your concern of this becoming quite a mercantile platform. I see the same thing with LinkedIn and in some circles on Twitter, too - people just patting each others' backs and producing and sharing feel-good, positive drivel and rarely saying what they mean. I think that's why Facebook is still popular and so successful, it feels personal and more like you can be yourself.

All that said, I am not too sure what the intrinsic value of these Steemit tokens are? I mean, if it's essentially just a counter of my upvotes, then how is that not just tradable Reddit karma? And why should it even be tradeable? Just so someone can buy karma and gloat? I don't get it.