So it is my third day here on Steemit and I am still learning about the steem ecosystem, blockchain, and crypto as a whole. To be one hundred percent honest I am not completely sure how I feel about it just yet. While I do have a general support of new and innovative ideas some ideas hit the mark and other ideas fade away into oblivion to be forgotten with the passing of time. The reason that I am here in the first place is because I got tired of the biased behavior and censorship that is happening on Facebook, YouTube, and other more "mainstreem" social media sites. This lead ne to do some research on alternative sites and that lead me to create my Steemit account as well as an account on Minds.
Within the first couple weeks of waiting for my account on Steemit to be approved I spent quite a bit of time on minds. I know Minds does not use "real" or standard cryptocurrency at this point in time, but that isn't all that important to me at the moment. What is important is being able to post my opinions, discuss them with both those who agree and disagree with me and work on building an online community where interaction, conversation, and a true free social network. Within a day or two I was able to join a couple groups and post about different topics that appealed to me. I commented on others posts and they commented on mine. I liked shared and in a relatively short amount of time I got some followers and some very interesting conversations took place. That gave me very high Hope's for Steemit and all of the other applications on the steem blockchain.
In the time that I was approved however my initial excitement has toned down a little for steemit. I uploaded some photos since photography is one of my passions although I will admit I am a total amateur in the hobby. I commented on some videos, had a few interactions, and while I was really starting to get into it I found that I couldn't post anymore... I refreshed and tried again and then took the time to read the pop up message that I mistook for just an error message. Apparently I had used up all of my steem power. It said I could pay or wait for it to refill so I waited and waited and.....waited.
It struck me that I was in a manner of speaking being censored from speaking or interacting with others. My viewpoints went being censored, but my speech altogether was. This lead me to do some research and eventually as a new member or minnow whatever the rediculious terminology is not only was my vote or opinion not as important as others, this doesn't bother me that much I am fine with building up status based on quality interaction and content, but my ability to interact with others is also greatly hindered compared to someone that has been here longer.
What if what I share or my opinions aren't liked as much as others will I forever be a minnow in this pond no matter the quality of my contributions? Do I have to pay to be heard or voice my opinions? I defended the long account approval process to people off of steam, but how can I defend this? It is not very welcoming to new members and makes it extremely difficult to engage others and get your content out there.
I have noticed that a lot of the videos and blogs that are getting a lot of buzz are about blockchain and crypto. Does a blog or other content have to fall into those clicks to be popular or successful on stremit or is their room for others here? Does the steemit community wish to grow and adapt pulling in artists, poets, creators, thinkers of all walks of life or is it happy with the current status quo. I'm not saying all content on the steem blockchain is about crypto or the blockchain etcetera, but a lot of it is and these are some serious questions that I have about steemit.
I went into my settings and changed everything over to steem power and I will continue to research and learn about the Steemit community, but I welcome opinions on this topic. Should someone that is not as concerned about crypto be on steemit or should I go elsewhere? I am not trying to bash steemit or the community I would just really like to hear feedback and advice from others that have already walked down this road.
This blog post is also failing to load due to being out of steem power. It is just odd having something telling me to keep things free they will limit my posts, but I can pay to talk!