Since my last post, Steem has gone from 1$ to 1.5$, and I have seen many new users around here on Steemit, making it an ever-increasing, thriving community.
Many around here have used Reddit and probably loved it, because of it's structure which rewards content that contributes to reddit, and discourages to oblivion the content that doesn't. It is called the Front Page of the Internet because if a link goes viral there and makes it to the front page, it goes viral everywhere relevant. Reddit posts appears in search results of the Big Giant Google, and people lurk in the posts hunting for movie recommendations, scrolling through memes, reading book reviews, and so on.
So how did Reddit make me smart? The reasons?
Let me break them down point by point.
1] Free speech and anonymity
On Reddit, you can have an opinion but not as your real, known self. You can be anyone on the internet, from your typing dog to a genius human and still be anonymous, with nobody knowing your location to trace back anything to you in real life. On Social Media like Facebook and Twitter, if you are a celebrity and have an opinion that some people do not like, you can get in trouble. On Reddit, you don't.
With extensive use of free speech because of this anonymity, I was able to speak on matters otherwise not welcome on Social Media, where your good old Granny can come barging in on your timeline if you share a dank meme.
I was able to participate on discussions I had an opinion on, and there was nobody who could track me down. It felt like democracy, it felt safe.
2] The various subreddits
Social Media is limited to a few topics, be it funny posts, celebrity posts, news, etc. But on Reddit the topics were so many it took me a year to discover some. Many subreddits, while existing on the same platform, were opposites of each other and seeing viewpoints of both the peoples gave you an unbiased knowledge of the topic. Ofcourse, there is confusions, as to who's right and who isn't, but it is irrelevant as long as you know both the sides. Most times, there is no greater side.
The topics
I was also able to get into geopolitics, know International Politics, the Middle East fiasco and know the opinions of people on it. It also helped me with the cryptocurrency discussions, where quality discussions took place and shitty posts found the bottom of the abyss.
3] Knowing the world
It was like, democracy, but all over the world. You could jump into any country's subreddit, know what's hot there, and what people think about it. There were otherwise obscure topics such as all the wars taking place in the world, and people following the news everyday. Like a proverbial frog living in the well of social media, I never had thought I could know it all.
There were many many small and big topics concerned with history, politics, sports, wars, science, space and I participated in many.
I was overwhelmed with information.
You could even say I was addicted to Reddit.
So, then, why do I think Steemit is going to make me smarter?
The short and simple reason is that Steemit is a better platform.
Why?
1] The rewards are better.
On Steemit, the upvotes you get on your quality content reward you with a substantial appreciation, a toke of thanks, Steem.
Say, on Reddit, a user asks you about the history of Vikings, and you are an expert on it. You are a real fan of Odin and know the wars fought by his ilk, their conquests. So you write a long 5000 word essay on it. Sure, you are helping out of goodwill, but the most you can get is a thousand upvotes, and the honor of writing a top comment.
On Steemit, such great content will obviously have greater rewards. A thousand, money-making upvotes, blessing you with a token of thanks that you can use in real life - Steem. A token come alive.
2] Long, composite posts
On Reddit, not all posts are meant for discussion. On Steemit, they are. Long blog posts with as much input as you want, to encourage quality discussions. The key is quality over quantity, and Steemit has that advantage over Reddit.
You can basically blog here and blog all you want, discuss about it, and make others discuss. The quality over quantity has a better advantage on the longer run.
3] The Community Aspect
Steemit is a community, while Reddit is not. Here you can make friends with people interested in the same things as you and blog about similar things. You have the liberty to write what you want, and can contribute to the betterment of the community, all the time getting substantial rewards as you work.
Add that to the democratic aspect that what the community likes, trends and is talked about. You relate to stories of others, and others relate to you.
All this is what makes Steemit better. It has Reddit's strong points inculcated, but only made better. There is still much to learn and much to imbibe, ideas that can make Steemit even better, to learn from mistakes - and it feels good to be a part of it.
There are many topics to introduce and talk about, new people to introduce to Steemit, and make it the best social media platform, which one day it will be.