Why would people be on Facebook, I have found myself wondering ever since I have found my footing on Steemit. I confess, I have a Facebook account too, that I check everyday. But something has changed.
I have noticed overtime (especially in the last 3 months), my time on social media has reduced drastically. Previously, I used to log into Facebook nearly a dozen times a day, and spend at least 15 minutes or so scrolling down the news feed each time. Today, I checked it only before I started writing this article. I shared one of my Steemit posts, checked the notifications, and I was out of there. My Facebook usage time has been about 10 minutes today.
What had happened, I wondered. From being Facebooked in the past, I am Steem-heading into the future.
The amount of time I spend on Steemit has increased in the last 2 months. I have written a considerable amount of posts, and one of them even made it to the trending list on the India tag. The more time that I have spent on Steemit, the more ideas I have gotten for writing posts that I believe will add value to the community, apart from my regular travel, photography and art posts.
Which brings me back to the question: Why would people want to be on Facebook rather than on Steemit?
The reasons I mention below are my own observations and may not be complete or necessarily agreed upon by all. Some of the things written below may be at one extreme or the other, but that probably is true for some, if not all people we know who are on Facebook. Anyway, lets start!
#1 All your friends are on Facebook
Your social group is there, and you can get to know what most of them are doing most of the time. Why not be constantly updated about them, and share stuff with your friends too? There is nothing wrong about doing this, but how much can you share and how much can you like? Infinite, in the case of some people, apparently.
Steemit is new. It is a world that is strange and mostly none of your friends are on it. Only strangers with weird, random and crazy and helpful ideas. It may also make you money. Scary.
#2 Instant gratification
It is easy to post pretty much anything on Facebook. A selfie of you when you have not woken up yet? Yup, that's 10 likes right there! (maybe more?) I have friends who constantly check Facebook every other minute to see how many likes and comments they have got on their posts and shares. It kind of eats them inside when they do not make a minimum number of likes. We have kind of becomes slaves to the idea of instant gratification. Sometimes, it is mindless scrolling down the feed without any intent.
Our generation is constantly looking out for instant gratification and short term successes, Facebook is the drug of choice, along with Instagram.
#3 Effort required is nil
Facebook and Instagram are instant gratification objects. Likes and hearts make us happy. Might as well get more of it and post even more to get even more likes. It is damn easy to post too. Why not just take a selfie of a pouty face and see people comment all sorts of compliments if you are a girl? If you are boy, all sorts of slang will fly in the comments. Fun for all who are reading and commenting.
There have been only few people who I follow on Facebook who post interesting, whimsical or funny thoughts and idea. That's like 1% of my friend list. Currently it is at about 800 friends, and only 8 of them are interesting? What joy!
Take my money, Facebook. or rather, make money off me! I used to be guilty of it too. But not anymore.
Steemit, on the other hand, requires work. Consistent work. It is not easy to write a decent blog post, and then hope for it to be upvoted by strangers you hardly know. What if it doesn't get enough upvotes? All that hard work of writing is a waste. No instant gratification too. Might as well stick to something that gives it.
#4 Ease of access
It is very easy to scroll down a never ending news feed or someone's profile on Facebook. You get all sorts of information (crap included) in the feed, and it is the best place to spy on your ex as well. Sharing on FB is done with the click of a mouse. It is that simple.
Steemit on the other hand has a news feed based on your following and most of the posts require you to open and read them, rather than just upvote blindly. (As you have only a limited amount of steem to upvote everyday before your vote means squat) Someone else has to resteem your blog post, and you cannot share everything you see or read.
And your ex is not here. Whom can you spy on now?
Likes and hearts are infinite.
All you need to do is click on that thumbs up icon, or double tap on a perfectly edited photo.
#5 A good distraction
I am sure we are all guilty of this. It is easy to open Facebook during a class room session, office meeting, or even when you are just bored and stare at the lives of other people and sometimes wondering what the heck you are doing in your life. Everyone out there is always doing something, and you, poor soul, are stuck in class, office, a traffic jam or at home.
The last few days, I have been like the people in the image above, but I've been browsing on Steemit
On Steemit, everyone is pouring ideas into words, and doing creative stuff. They are not doing the fancy, awesome and make-you-jealous things (if you know what I mean). Who wants to see that and realize that everything is okay. It is just not okay to feel okay, right?
And of course, it is easier to scroll down the news feed or the photo feed and not pay any attention whatsoever to what is in it. You cannot do that on Steemit, because the good articles demand to be read, and thought over.
To finish up, I've been on Steemit for the last 10 months, and I've been actively participating, writing and upvoting for the last two months. Now, I consider Steemit to be my primary place of obtaining information, from Tech, to lifestyle and new ideas. Of course, there is a bunch of junk, but I have separated some of the wheat from the chaff. It is getting better day by day.
I have found out that my thought process, ideas and writing skills have improved considerably over the last two months. Now, my mind thinks about what the next article could be, and what I should write in it. It is on a constant quest to write better articles the next time.
Plus, I make some decent money off it. My mind stays sharp and alert. I read stuff that isn't crap. I learn more about the people and the world. These are big incentives to continue being on Steemit and working towards making a better community for the future. Let's Steem on!!
In one of my upcoming posts, I will write about why you should rather be on Steemit than on Facebook. Let's admit, the advantages are many, and the disadvantages are a minor few.
If you liked this post, please upvote, comment and resteem. I appreciate your votes and comments. If you like similar articles, or articles on travel, photography or art, do check some of my original work and travel posts in the links below:
Drawings by tribal kids show that creativity and imagination have no bounds
How a high speed crash taught me the two biggest lessons of my life
Illustrations in black and white #2
Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man artwork in black and white
Follow me 
Until next time,
Excelsior!