Like so many anonymous content creators, I labored endlessly on mainstream social media networks, just for the (very) off-chance that I might spark an open door. Unfortunately, I was competing with farting cats or other inane materials that suffocated any opportunity to be heard.
This is a familiar theme to the unheralded analysts, artists, scientists, and storytellers. We want to share ideas, innovations, and the broad wonders of our universe. Instead, we are faced with the harsh reality that unless your surname is Kardashian or you have a flatulent pet, your probability of making a modicum of progress are minimal at best.
Steemit and the New Reality
I was introduced to Steemit by a good friend, 
Nevertheless, I jumped on board -- I had nothing to lose. I quickly realized that Steemit was a social media network unlike any other. In rival platforms, the end-game is to have subscribers -- through their own volition -- contribute content without compensation. On Steemit, the end-game is the content itself. To get there, a self-reliant economy was created to incentivize attractive, utilitarian contributions.
Commerce Changes Everything
One of the early criticisms of Steemit is that it would eventually devolve into a hub for useless junk. You can read such negative feedback here -- https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jul/12/steem-digital-currency-steemit-value-soars Unfortunately, they badly miss the point.
Through its incentivized content system, only the most intriguing or useful sets of posts will generate earnings. If your intention is simply to write nonsense in the hopes of making money, you will be sorely disappointed. This is not another Yahoo comment forum; this is Steemit, and this is the future.
Commerce absolutely changes everything. When you have zero incentive to hold back, you might not. But when your earnings are tied to your reputation or behavior, you have a wonderful self-censorship mechanism. Yes, I can say or do something untoward, but that would negatively impact my future ability to earn. Instead, what most people choose is progress -- whatever is profitable, that is incorporated, and whatever is not, is quickly filtered out.
Open Source with Incentives!
This is the opportunity and the fallacy of an open-source platform. A misconception exists that people will self-police themselves in an uncensored forum. That's simply not true.
What prevents humans from acting like jackasses is money. Specifically, if the economics of future earnings is at risk, any behavior that is linked to that risk is lessened or eliminated. Inevitably and universally, we humans operate under the free market ethos. Those that want, do. Those that do not, should blow off.
As the Steemit experiment proves, the vast majority of people choose the former. And this the central beauty of the Steemit community, and which is why I will continue to support this wonderful platform!
STEEM On!