Hello everyone! I am so excited to share this post with you all as I have been planning to write it for a couple of days. I'll go over the history of Steemit, it's importance, how it fares against others and where I think it is headed. It's gonna be a bit long so sit back and relax. Let's get into it, shall we?
Brew a coffee while you read this article. Maybe even tea.
Recent Growth and History
STEEM has emerged as a top dog in the crypto-currency world, becoming the third most valuable currency by overtaking Ripple and Litecoin. It is third to Bitcoin and Ethereum which are first and second most valuable currencies respectively. But this is only temporary.
If we look at the growth Steemit has had in the past month, it becomes infinitely clear that STEEM skyrocketed so much so that it overtook Ripple and Litecoin only in a month. It has achieved numerous milestones: It has overtaken the number of daily transactions of Ethereum and is now chasing Bitcoin, it has been listed on PoloniEX which is a pretty big sign that STEEM is no small coin, it has the potential to beat the big ones.
Poloniex Logo
The listing on PoloniEX did wonders for Steemit. It helped Steemit gain a huge amount of exposure. We had gained so much attention that everyone in the crypto-community was talking about us. From Reddit to Bitcointalk and the Poloniex Troll box. It was really crazy. If you had visited the PoloniEX website and even peeked in the trollbox, you'd see that literally everyone was discussing Steemit. Some were calling it a ponzi scheme, some were calling it the next big thing. But everyone was telling each other to sign up and make a account on here. That's how much popularity we got.
Getting listed on a major and trustworthy exchange like Poloniex is huge for a new and relatively unknown crypto. The listing sparks interest in the crypto, which leads to a staggering amount of people going to the crypto's website and checking it out.
Think about this: you just heard of a new up and coming crypto that claims to revolutionize the market. You think "sure, lets go check it out." You open the website of said crypto and what do you find there? You find that the crypto has no community, no forums, no place to discuss. Do you invest in the crypto? I think not.
If there is one thing that Steemit did incredibly right, although there are a lot of things but I think that this is a major one, is that it marketed itself as a social media platform.
Not as only an online currency, but as a place which invited you to join in, have a chat, discuss life and universe and ultimately be rewarded for it. Now, tell me which one are you most attracted to? A website that offers no place of discussion, only a place to buy? Or a website that is warmly inviting and rewards you for taking part in discussions?
Social media is an addiction. One that is hard to get rid of and one to which you keep coming back.
The big ones. Only Steemit and reddit are missing.
When I think about new social media websites, I think to myself, There are already a ton of other websites like this. Do these guys think that they can beat Facebook, Twitter and Reddit at their own game? I look at what other new things this website brings to the table. We don't need anymore websites with a "friends and follows" system. There are already too many websites with this system as is. Does it bring something that I haven't heard of? If it is indeed something new and innovative, I sign-up and explore the site further. Hell, even introduce my friends to the site if I feel like the site deserves more people. I believe that this is how most people think.
So, why didn't they ignore Steemit when they heard that it is "just some other social media website"? Because it is not another run-of-the-mill website. You see, people are stupid. But they are not that stupid. Most people would take someone else's word on the website. If it's positive, then the website is great. If it's not, then it can go to hell. It is the reason why reviews prosper on the internet. Sure, you can read the reviews of someone that you think is more educated in the matter. But if the product seems interesting to you, why not give it a look yourself. That way, you can examine the product first hand, point out it's pros and cons AND you can decide if the product is worth your hard earned cash, and time.
The only way that you can find a hidden diamond is to look for it.
A wise man said this long ago. And by that I mean I said it just now.
Steemit has amassed a following/community this big in such a short amount of time because people like social media. And what's the thing that they love even more than that? Even more so than their lives? You guessed it, money. It becomes a perfectly killer combination of these two, one that has all the potential to rock the industry.
It all comes down to innovation, really. Steemit innovated. It didn't copy anyone, it just mixed up two of the most popular things on the internet and made a terrific cocktail, one which everybody wants to drink now. It is really fascinating how fast Steemit has grown over the past few days, seeing that it was pretty unknown in the months before. My personal belief is that Steemit owes it's recent success not only to the support of the community and the hardwork of the devs, but also to the innovation that it brought to the table when it came into existence.
Steemit vs Facebook, STEEM vs BTC: How Steemit fares against others
I just went onto Facebook to see what was so different about Facebook that made it so... useless. A proper time-waster. I had the answer in my mind after 2 minutes of browsing on Facebook. To summarize all of the talk. that I'm gonna do. in a few words, Clickbait and Stupidity.
There's nothing that I hate more than these two right here. Clickbait on TV and internet, and stupidity in well, the universe. The amount of clickbait on Facebook is just off the charts. I mean, sure I can handle a few clickbaits here and there but everything has a limit. Facebook crosses the clickbait limit for one. That is why no one tells you to go on Facebook if you want to read a well-written, and interesting article. Facebook offers none of that. The only thing that you'll find there is 10 ways to... read on for more. Get what I mean?
If clickbait wasn't enough, Facebook sure has it's share of stupidity. Literally everyone who has no idea what they are doing try to take part in a discussion and end up making an ass of themselves. The ads, malware, spam and even censorship has started to emerge at facebook. I mean, I'm fine with ads and spam, every site has that. But to this extent and not to mention the recent reports of censorship happening is beyond me.
People work so hard for their pages to actually become something on Facebook. I'm not talking about 9Gag which is just a big copy-pasta but real pages with real humans behind them who produce original content and give credit where credit is due. I think that the big reason I stopped using Facebook was because I was sick and tired of seeing stolen images and videos every few seconds. I'm totally fine with people sharing them for the entertainment of others, but it is necessary and obligatory for them to give credit to the original submitter.
Where others offer imaginary internet points that can only buy "bragging rights", Steemit offers STEEM. What the hell is that?
I'm sure all of you know that STEEM is a crypto-currency which fuels Steemit. STEEM is the life of Steemit. It's reddit. With STEEM for karma, and an amazing community for a toxic one. The distinguishing feature of reddit community is it's ability to engage in a process known as circlejerking. Reddit is amazing at that one thing. You could say that the community on reddit is like the people I talked about above who just read reviews instead checking the product for themselves. The reddit community rarely researches the facts for itself and tends to go with what others have said even if it is totally wrong. They think it to be below them if they ever touched Google. Although there are times, times to be cherished when people realize how f-ing wrong a given answer is and what is actually right. It is then when I think that reddit actually has brains, unlike facebook.
So, the big question. What do you do with karma? It... does nothing. You might say that it makes you popular in the reddit community or it buys you bragging rights, that's right. These are about the only thing that karma does. What if the karma kings over on reddit started to post all of their original content here on Steemit instead of reddit?
They could become rich, become whales and whatnot. After all, the Steemit community loves original and interesting content. It's what we need right now. Even if the submitters don't become rich right away, at least they are getting something. Not only money, but they are also getting a chance to be educated in different aspects of the internet and technology. They are getting the chance to become well-versed in crypto. What more can you ask? A website that educates you, provides you a platform to speak up, to discuss and take part in discussions, eh? Sign me right up! Oh wait, I'm already signed up..
Importance of Steemit.
Steemit is currently the most important platform not only in the cryptocurrency world but also in the social media industry. It is the one to look out for. If our recent success proves anything, it proves that we are a force to be reckoned with. Can you name me a crypto-currency that has seen such extra-ordinary skyrocketing, accumulated such an readership and audience and is well on it's way to become the next big thing? It's hard but one name does come to mind. Steemit.
Think about it for a change. The estimated worth of Steemit has risen up nearly $2 million. It's global alexa rank is 21,589. It has become the third most valuable crypto. All of these and more in a week. If this does not attract investors and proves the potential of Steemit, then frankly, Steemit is above us all.
It's importance does not only lie in it's life, STEEM, it lies in it's worth as a social media platform. Steemit can be the first real social media for average people and crypto-coiners alike to discuss crypto and even life. To me, it sure looks like that Steemit is on the road to become this very thing.
Conclusion
It's pretty self-evident that Steemit has proved it's worth. It does not need to prove anything else. The only thing that it needs to do right now is to innovate even further and keep improving. At this point in our lifecycle, it is most important for us to keep improving. As long as we keep improving, well, nothing can stop an unstoppable force.
People who gave Steemit a try in it's early days knew that they had come across something wonderful, a hidden diamond. The devs created it, the very early-adopters found it, now it's up to us to refine it.
The improvement of Steemit is not the job of only the devs. It's ours too. It depends on us much more than it depends on the devs. Sure, the devs develop and take decisions which keeps the company going forward but ultimately it is our job to make sure that it actually moves forward.
It's the userbase that propels the website forward by getting it the exposure that it deserves and even developing it's own little pet projects which compliment the platform and make it easier for others to use it by providing additional facilities that the platform has not yet been able to provide.
So, where is Steemit headed? That's up to us. Up to me, up to you. Let's decide it together and transform Steemit into something inspirational to everyone.
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