What truly strange and wonderful times we live in. At the moment, it seems that whenever I vote on a post or comment on Steemit, it has a value of two cents.
I’ll be honest, I don’t understand much about crypto or the full use and etiquette of Steemit. What I do know is that I never in a million years would have thought that my contribution to anything would literally have a value of two cents! I almost don’t want to grow past this for the sheer beauty of the thing. It’s poetry somehow to me and it speaks to the idea of what Steemit is all about.
I was lucky enough to join a friend a few times several years ago, at the beginning of all of this, in Blacksburg Virginia where Daniel Larimer and his friends would have open discussion about their ideas on how to apply his crypto innovation. I remember being overwhelmed by the technical jargon and feeling quite out of my depth. Nevertheless, I knew that these guys had the goal to make what they were working on something that someone like me could embrace and participate in. I remember saying to them that I felt like I was inside Big Ben when all I really wanted to know was what time it is.
I asked them on several occasions how the average person without any experience or knowledge of crypto could make use of what they were trying to implement. I could never grasp 100% of what their answers were but I knew without a doubt that they were going to make sure that it would be possible.
The friend that was so gracious to invite me to these meetings stayed in constant contact with this group and has been in on it from the beginning. I, however, faded back into the background and would only ask him occasionally about the developments. Flash forward to today and here I am happy to be embracing Steemit and using it for the joy of it without any real in depth knowledge or insight into the crypto market.
They did it! They succeeded where no other crypto currency has succeeded, that I’m aware of. They created a platform for the common man to participate without the elitism of the formerly niche crypto world. I’m no economist but I’m certain that this is the recipe for success in any innovation of value. Imagine if you needed to know how to code to participate on YouTube? Imagine if you needed to understand the intricacies of marketing to use Craigslist. Of course, such knowledge will only help you succeed but it is not a prerequisite to participating at all or even exclusive to the potential of success on such platforms.
I am forever grateful to my friend for introducing me to this world so many years ago and I am grateful to Daniel and others who took their beautiful idea and ran with it, never looking back and always looking forward.
Thank you. Thank you all who created the platform and to all who create content. Thank you, Steemit community.
And that’s my two cents.