Steemit will introduce society to a new form of discourse at a level and quality that would previously have been impossible. In the same way “The Wealth of Nations” changed the world with the introduction to modern economics, Dugald Stewart , who basically introduced Adam Smith to the world, believed:
“Commercial Society was not just more civilized or more productive or more rational than its predecessors; it was qualitatively different form every society that proceeded it. “
(p 229, How the Scotts Invented the Modern World)
Steemit is not the first user curated social media or blogging platform. Steemit is, however, the first platform that pays users through intrinsic value and has removed the bonds shackling all other social media platforms to a traditional advertising industry. For those that aren’t aware yet, at its core, Steemit is a hybrid of Crypto-Currency and a Reddit like Curation system. By removing traditional advertising and essentially becoming an entirely crowd funded site that actually increases curator and submitter wealth, the creators of Steem hoped to achieve the following goal:
"Freedom of speech is the foundation of all other liberties and any infringement upon freedom of speech undermines the only peaceful means of reaching consensus: discussion. Without free discussion voters cannot be fully informed, and uninformed voters are a greater threat to society than losing the right to vote. Censorship is a means of stealing votes through limiting public discourse. Steem is committed to enabling free speech and building a free society" (steemwhitepaper p 42-43).
Steemit, unlike previous social media sites, has two distinctive valuations:
- Steem, at any given time, is valued against other currencies and tradable for them. Thus, the numbers in a Steem wallet are actual numerical representations of their ability to, in eventuality, pay for goods and services.
- Steem’s second valuation is its ever growing content library, which is paid for by time, both from the reader and the writer.
This is unlike traditional social media like Facebook, where, in general, users create content and Facebook makes money from advertising. Facebook creates its user interface and curates content with the main goal of increasing page views, not quality. Steemit users are rewarded when they curate or create good content as valued by the Steem society at large.
Is Steem going to cash out?
While there is no doubt that Steemit has generated a lot of wealth for its creators, that wealth disappears the second society devalues Steemit. If Steemit is devalued, then people will no longer wish to buy Steem and the massive holding of the whales would quickly become far less valued. The whales have faith in Steemit and so should the minnows. Take a look at this link - the whales aren’t selling:
https://steemit.com/steemit/@robertgiacalone/whales-holding-strong
Traditional media has always had the same Achilles heel: money. Social media was thus the next logical step, and with anonymity of the internet, even people in totalitarian states have been able to express their ideas with less censorship than ever before. Though some have been persecuted for their beliefs, a large portion of the world has been able to express ideas in a way not previously available. The problem, of course, is as more and more people turned to social media, so did advertisers. Owners and shareholders running social media platforms were more than ready to accept their dollars.
Turning Points
If we look at history, we see several major turning points in the availability of free exchange.
- The freedom of speech and religion during periods of the Roman Empire
- The birth of religious liberty and freedom of speech
- The resurgence of freedom of speech in the 18th century
- The rise of the internet and the social media revolutions
What is yet to be determined is if Steem will have the same kind of transformational impact. Will Steemit become an extension of the internet and social media revolution - a footnote - or a new monetized version of freedom of speech? One of Steem’s major vulnerabilities is greed, pure and simple. There are many articles about how Steem is a Ponzi scheme.
Currently at the top of the trending list is a video depicting this very debate:
https://steemit.com/steemit/@blakemiles84/the-great-steemit-debate-tone-vays-vs-blakemiles84
Many Steemit adopters are and should be concerned about developer cash outs, greed, bots, insincere people just trying to write a story for cash, and whales helping whales (although I personally believe whales have Steem's best interest at heart, otherwise they would have started cashing out by now). Don’t forget the impact Steem has on real life, I am personally admitting I am addicted.
Steemit is driven by the Steem society, crowd valuation and crowd contributions. Steemit will be qualitatively better than all its social media predecessors if it is able to overcome its innate vulnerabilities. Since the power of Steem is in the crowd, the crowd must guard Steem’s integrity.