I joined STEEM only a week ago. What have I learned so far and what do I think about it?
First time I came across with crypto and Bitcoin was way back in 2014. I got into it enough to try to get as many computers mining as well as I bought couple of smaller ASIC miners. All of it just for fun and without investing much money in the endeavour. I tried to keep my investments (if you can call them that) to a bare minimum as I have never been a big fan of gambling. After playing around with all of that for a few months I lost interest and sold my little gadgets. It all balanced out and I ended up where I started - no loss, no gain. All I had was a few fractions of a Bitcoin here, some odd Doge coins there and a fraction of a Litecoin. All relatively worthless in 2014 standards.
Fast forward to a the end of 2017 when Bitcoin made it to the news again with its record high prices. Reminded of the crypto I used to have, I looked up all the private keys I still had and was I surprised that all what was just a pound or two had become just about £125 - I consolidated all different bits from different accounts and currencies all to my Coinbase account to keep an eye on it and then decide what action to take. Withdraw or keep. I kept it all in form of the crypto currency which in the hindsight was bad idea as in the next month or so it all crumbled down and stayed on a value around £30. Life could’ve been worse and since I technically didn’t lose any money I left it as it was in hopes that maybe, just maybe it could happen again. We all know how that’s been so far…
Couple more years later, having a look at the value of my coins every now and then, I had a surprising jumpstart to my interest in crypto and blockchain again. I had an interview in a management consultancy company what specialises on blockchain startups and other companies trying to get into blockchain. I researched a lot in preparation for the interview and what I was finding out about was just amazing. Blockchain has become something much more than just a Bitcoin and altcoins. It has developed into a new industry. All those new shiny dApps and platforms and projects what are powered by blockchain - just amazing. This is how I came across STEEM.
I got my account just a week ago. I was going by the free account route and was willing to wait for a week or two as it’s all for fun and I didn’t think paying for the account I might not even use would be wise. I received confirmation email about the account creation in less than 24h and I dived into a whole new world of decentralised social media.
After a week I am sold on the idea. It is different, it can be rewarding in different ways. I have been researching more and more about the available dApps and ways of using the platform. All of it has been an eyeopener and all of it has also been a bit of a learning curve.
As a beginner it is not that easy to grasp the idea about the resources and how easily they deplete. Understanding that every action on any of the dApps will use up your resources will not come easy. I had to learn it the hard way. As a beginner one of the coolest dApp to start using on STEEM is @Actifit. Can you imagine not being able to post your daily report just because you upvoted and followed a few users? I had such an amazing walk and had more than 20k steps to post and brag about. I researches some more to find out about how much resources are needed and how long it will take to regenerate to that point. I waited past my bedtime - this is where we have come to. It is funny to think about it.
Another one of my favourites is 
Overall, I like STEEM a lot and see the potential. Hopefully I will be an active member for a long time.
How did you come across STEEM?