Imagine a world where we (the individuals) get to choose what ads we see. Imagine also getting some reimbursement for viewing ads.
Imagine a world where freedom of speech exists...where physical harm is understood to be infinitely worse than mere words that could be spoken or written.
Imagine a world where you and your online friends routinely pool your attention together toward certain real world goals.
Imagine a world without middlemen adding friction to everything in our lives.
Imagine a world where it is not mainly the rich who have investments...where being a part of a community grants you an investment (however small) in that community.
Block chain technology allows us to bypass the middleman.
Steemit encourages freedom of speech as nothing can be deleted from a consensus built block chain.
Steemit allows us to pool our resources (our attention) toward real world goals. Steem Park is one example of this, but charities are also bound to benefit from the attention model. If you're curious about Steem Park: https://steemit.com/steempark/@hitheryon/steem-park-is-official-steemit-s-first-crowdsourced-marketing-project
With Steemit, all users get an automatic (and growing as you earn) investment in the Steemit Platform. Users who prefer to make consistent withdrawals can still do so. Up until now it's been difficult for many people to invest. More people buy lottery tickets than actually have investments. Having a social network with a built in default investment could be a game changer for many users.
Why does Steem have value? Where is the money coming from? It's investors who make this possible. Investors are not saints; they just try to predict future success.
So the real question shouldn't be "where is the money coming from?", but instead "why do investors believe Steemit will succeed?" Steemit investors believe that the attention economy is the future. Each of us who use Facebook are worth real money to the company, but we don't see any of that. I'm not promoting an attitude of entitlement, but instead suggesting that if we as individuals hold real world value in what we do in our free time on social networks, maybe..just maybe we should be the ones who see a direct benefit from that value.
Pictures used here were found from:
https://steemit.com/steemit/@demotruk/steemit-and-the-attention-economy
http://www.thehypemagazine.com/2016/04/5-startups-that-give-to-charity-in-innovative-ways/
https://socialmediaandteenagers.wordpress.com/2012/01/28/who-has-the-power-cutting-out-the-middleman/
