Hi Hive account@dexolmoguis.

I just checked your blog, and I can see that you have some questions about how Steemit works and how it generates value for your account.

There are three types of "value" that you can have in your account. The first is STEEM. It's the currency that the platform is built on, so you'll see that balance first thing on your wallet page. Next, you'll see STEEM power. This is what determines how much voting power you have across the platform. The higher your STEEM power is, the more your upvotes will be worth. STEEM may be converted to STEEM power via a process called "powering up," and likewise, STEEM power may be converted to STEEM via "powering down." The last type of value is STEEM-backed dollars or SBD. These attempt to track the value of a US dollar, so generally 1 SBD is worth 1 USD. These may be exchanged for STEEM through the internal market or by transferring them to an exchange.

Therefore, to address your question about the free STEEM, the 0.5 STEEM that was given to you when you opened your account was given in the form of STEEM power, so when you look on your wallet page, you'll see a value of 0.5 beside your STEEM power.

To get started with Steemit, you'll need to get involved and follow others with similar interests. Give some upvotes and meaningful comments, etc. This can be the overwhelming part to learn about, so I want to provide some helpful links that I always provide for new users on the platform:

• Familiarize yourself with the way the platform works by browsing the FAQs. Everything I explained above about STEEM and STEEM power is available in much more detail here. This also explains voting, voting power, and curation rewards.

• Check out the Steemit Etiquette Guide for tips on how to interact with others in the community and how to introduce yourself to everyone. A quality introduction post usually can get you some attention and some great earnings to start out with.

• If you'd like some advice on how to make your posts great, take a look at this guide I posted about polishing your posts.

• Finally, when it comes to commenting, check out this guide that will get you on the road to becoming a comment expert!

There's a lot to learn, so it can be overwhelming, but there are plenty of resources available to you and neat tools that you can use to improve your experience on the platform. My best advice is to go check out other people's posts, read them fully and then comment with your genuine thoughts. People enjoy seeing real responses, and you'll get some followers that way.

If you have any other immediate questions, please let me know. I'm happy to help!