Steem is a social publishing and content sharing app which works in a very similar way to websites like Reddit. Users submit content and vote on content submitted by others. Although content is published via a decentralized blockchain, the interface is currently limited to a centralized website.
The big difference between Steem and Reddit which serves as the unique selling point is that users earn Steem tokens whenever their content is upvoted, and can even earn coins as a successful curator by being among the first to upvote popular posts. Users who own more Steem tokens give greater earnings to others when they upvote, and also earn more themselves from curation rewards. Bots are able to post and curate on an equal footing with humans.
Steem also features an investment option whereby users can hold the network’s tokens or ‘Steem dollars’ which are pegged to the same value as USD, and earn interest.