You knew I would be commenting :)

When I first saw Steem I could see it had potential and offered something different. I'll admit that the potential to earn was attractive, but so was the idea of a decentralised platform that did not rely on ads. Over time I've got to know lots of cool people so that I would like to hang out with them even without rewards (honest!). What I have made would equate to a pretty crap hourly rate, although a while back my Steem was worth almost $100k. It has paid for a nice guitar and two trips to Steemfest. I am powering everything up so I can help others.

As for other social media I use:

• Facebook to stay in touch with a few friends and some groups I am involved with.
• Twitter is generally a bit meh. Maybe Hive could do short-form too. The platform can do it, but will users accept it?

I don't have time to be on anything else.

Others treat it more as investment. Some have spent thousands on building up their accounts, but may be running at a loss for now.

Some of the witnesses have invested a lot of time and money in their systems, but won't be making a profit yet.

I see many from countries where making an extra $5 is a big deal, whereas for us it's a fancy coffee. There are lots of different perspectives.

Please do keep complaining. We have to point out what the issues are. No system is perfect, but Hive still offers an alternative to centralised systems that can shut us down at any time. I raise issues with engagement and reward distribution. Of course we have to be aware that Hive is tiny and is not growing fast.

But you are still here!