I have only very recently joined Steem, and made a few cents at most. However, in my 8 year career as a copywriter and inbound marketer I have monetized countless content and raised a lot of money (most recently $1 million in 9 days) for various companies, especially in the cryptocurrency space.
And for the vast majority who may not be familiar with my backstory, my family has been robbed of considerable wealth (after being framed by special interest groups) and we were targeted by assassination attempts, makeshift bombs, and phone terror. I did a reddit AMA which I later deleted due to journalists deciding to use it as a front page story in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. If you would like to be creepy, you can go digging on Google to find out more.
However despite winning our court cases, the money was never returned. It was used to line the pockets of whoever was there to grab it. And despite stating our claims, the media never listened to our story. They reported whatever made them money. In the beginning, this dropped me from the lap of luxury into fighting my own way paycheck to paycheck. And this is how I was first introduced to Bitcoin - because I understood that it gave people control over their own money. If my family had used bitcoin, the courts would have declared them innocent (as they did already) but the money would still be there.
In my history I have witnessed media censorship and manipulation first hand, as well as the profiteering of media enterprises on their users. On my journeys through the marketing space, I encountered individuals who were making six figures a month from views alone. Page views alone. Views are money, and clicks are even more money. A journalist once climbed into our balcony and took a photo of my guitar. In the article they claimed that they were invited into our living room, and that I had a band. Neither of these things were true, but it made them money!
If social media and media had been built in a similar manner as Steemit, every message would have an equal opportunity to be heard and seen without censorship or profiteering. It would make money to those who produce content. It would empower writing in the same way that Bitcoin empowers personal finance. And this, dear esteemed audience, is the revolution we are lucky enough to be a part of.
And even though it may not seem like that today, at least not to everyone - Bitcoin and Steemit are a big step towards in political freedom and individual liberties. More than ever, people need platforms which offer them an unbiased chance to be heard, no matter what they have to say.
So tell your story, spread the word, and ride the wave.
Thanks for reading, and thank you to all developers of free software and open-source.