Hey fellow current and future Steemians!
I'm Alexander, and in 2006, we created a Youtube channel vlogolution where we developed several themes such as HotRoast, moMoneyTV, and PassMeThePork with the hope of educating and sharing a bit of wisdom and insight through satire, parody, and entertainment. Because of the constant "flagging" and "harassment" issues we seemed to have with our more "libertarian / classical liberal" political stance (especially after google took over YouTube), we eventually tried moving away from that sort of content and focusing on our Naughty Tipples Cocktail Recipes show (hosted by @michellectv who just recently also joined steemit).
This video was from 2008?! Sounds like it could've been 2016!
By 2011, our channel had nearly 100,000 subs (when that still meant something) with some pretty decent revenue. However, around mid-2011 our best viral videos were flagged down again, and this time (for no apparent reason at all) YouTube Support decided that many of our videos were no longer "appropriate" for the site (ie. we disagree with your politics). One video alone had over 30 million views, and still exists on copycat channels that YouTube never took down despite multiple requests (apparently, our videos were only "inappropriate for YouTube" on our own channel). Worse, all our new videos were often quickly flagged and rarely allowed to be remonetized (talk about targeting), and our monthly revenue collapsed. "YouTube Partner" meant squat.
It got so bad that soon after, we gave up producing new video for our channel altogether. And YouTube didn't just uphold the demonetization of these videos, they even blocked a bunch of them completely! At which point, all their views also disappeared from our channel. At first, I was shocked that channels such as Alex Jones, Milo, Steven Crowder, Mark Dice, Blaire White, and others managed to survive and seemingly flourish on the site. And then, YouTube pretty much came after all of them too. As Mark Dice says in this video, "if you work at McDonald's, you're probably making more money now than a YouTuber with 1 MILLION subscribers!" He also describes many of the "tricks" YouTube used with us years earlier, back in 2011...
Is there no hope?!
We've been searching for the ideal next generation "censorship-resistant" platform ever since. In the past year alone, the censorship and banning of "dissenting opinions" is worse than ever not just on YouTube, but across all major social media. And even reaching your own subscribers has become more difficult than ever. However disgraceful this banning and censorship may seem, it again points to the impending demise of fully centralized social media platforms, and the importance of migrating over to new censorship-resistant models.
STEEMIT, while still constantly improving, excited me as the first alternative to address censorship and monetization in an entirely new and unique way that may finally be able to compete with these entrenched "regressive left" centralized mainstream behemoths. It even inspired me to once again test the waters, do a bit of posting, and dip my toes back in the game.
And the opportunity to be rewarded for the privilege of doing what many are already doing for free on other platforms, it's all the more just extra frothy whip cream on your deliciously creamy hot chocolate!
A Light at the end of the Tunnel?!
For others who see the writing on the wall, consider sharing this and other incentivizing STEEMIT articles with your fellow suffering YouTubers and other friends across social media as one more reason to "make the leap". As more people realize there's really no downside, and worst case they may still end up with a few extra bucks in their pockets to boot, a critical mass will be reached and they'll start flocking over in droves.
I mean, just for some perspective, let this sink in for a moment... I'm so proud, I finally got 
Link: Michelle - I'd like to introduce you to my Naughty Tipples and more...
It's also important to note that I didn't start out as a WHALE or DOLPHIN on STEEMIT either. I literally started from scratch, learning the subtle nuances of the platform, trying to be a good community member, and sharing content that I believed others would also appreciate and enjoy. Additionally, I quickly learned that STEEMIT has an amazingly passionate culture and community of people that believe in it and support it, which is critical if the platform is to ever receive widespread adoption.
And to think... my "measly little STEEMIT channel" is now already worth considerably more than "chump change", and has just hit over 250 followers, literally just doubling again the past few weeks alone! Getting that first 50 or so was the hardest part and seemed to take forever. After that, it sort of skyrocketed from there. Note that this was done completely organically, without using any bots or old "twitter tricks" such as following thousands of people, hoping to gain a small percentage of them as "follow-backs" (a trick I've noticed a bunch of newer steemians using now).
So THANK YOU fellow steemians for your "vote" of confidence, and appreciation of my "work"! STEEMIT in 2017 feels very much like when we first started on YouTube in 2006, when it was just a budding platform with no monetization whatsoever... EXCEPT that now, we're ALREADY MONETIZING!
Finally, in Conclusion...
On STEEMIT, I've also come across a bunch of truly "intriguing" characters sharing ideas from all walks of life, and producing some really excellent, thought-provoking quality work. I look forward to getting to know even more of you, sharing a few more ideas, and seeing where this new platform can go. And if we can figure out a viable way to monetize older content (including music, videos, etc) with STEEM as well... seems we're getting sooo close to potentially turning this into "the next big thing"!
I suppose I should also mention I've been a trader and investor for over 20 years. I built and programmed the tymoraPRO tradeSCAN trading platform, offering unique trading tools, execution, and proprietary trading and decision-support algorithms for stocks, futures, forex, and options traders (myself included).
And here I am again, singing "Ron Paul is a Virus!" in support of Ron Paul's 2008 electoral run: