Just(in) STEEM

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Finding Water In The Desert.

I have heard STEEM been called many things since my arrival in July 2016. Many of my former co-workers, family members and friends called it a ponzi scheme, a lottery and most of them, who are now long gone, felt that STEEM was extremely unfair. Mostly due to the insane rewards we could see back in 2016.

A long time ago, I gave STEEM a chance, despite my lack of knowledge. I had no blockchain or crypto-knowledge at all. I gave STEEM a chance because I was looking for something different. I had already removed my Facebook account and I was tired of all the bullshit. I am not some anarchist living in a basement somewhere trying to give the middle finger to the government. I am literally just an average "Bob".

I am the average user. The same type of user we see on other social medias 24/7. I actually don't really care about owning my content or not. I am used to platforms like Facebook and Twitter, like the majority of the people, so what I was looking for the most when I joined, was a way to earn something extra.

  • That's right, I said it.

My sole reason to join STEEM was in an attempt to earn something extra... And I did. I had crazy success when I first joined, and without knowing better, I cashed out as much as I possibly could.

I earned a months salary with 3 articles. I was working as a full time freelancer at the time. I was my own boss and I set my own hours. I worked my ass off, but I did something I enjoyed. On top of that, I was extremely active in a bunch of various internet marketing forums. I shared my knowledge, gave away ideas, tips and tricks for free.

When I suddenly stumbled upon STEEM and realized how easy it was to cash out hundreds of dollars per week, I was sold. It felt like I had finally hit the jackpot, and instead of "keeping everything to myself", I quickly started to promote STEEM in various ways.

I brought in hordes of people, but most of them quit within days. None of them had the amount of luck I had, so they felt deceived. I failed in my attempt to be a splendid advocate for STEEM...

I failed despite the insane rewards we could see. Thousands of dollars for an introduction post with a lousy photo. $30K for a make-up tutorial. Hundreds of dollars for a short comment.

  • I failed.

Shortly after, or at the same time more or less, I realized that STEEM was far from easy. The hundreds of dollars in rewards I had previously gotten vanished. I struggled to keep myself motivated and I started to build relationships instead. Just like I did in my freelancer career. I made friends. I started to talk with people off STEEM, and ultimately became rather close friends with more than a handful of awesome people.

With time, I learned more and even though I am far from an expert today, I understand things better. I continued to struggle. I continued to produce content and "build my profile" despite the value of STEEM and despite the rewards I earned. I kept doing things because it felt like I had a chance.

  • STEEM gave me a wonderful opportunity.

I will never forget all the uplifting comments, the wonderful chats and discussions I've had or the incredible people I have met because of STEEM. I will never forget the insane luck I had in the early days, and I will always be grateful for the impact you've had in my life.

I might not be as active as I once where, but I am still here, because STEEM will always be my second home. Even though it might be broken.

The Users Are The True Power.



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6 comments
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"Came for the money, stayed for the people" is one of the best description of steem :)

It's gonna take time for the crypto industry to realize how valuable steem is because of it's community. It wont make everyone here rich but it will allow people who want to build to build here (Paulo Coelho TM).

Also I guess this post is no longer valid?:)
https://steemit.com/crashandburn/@hitmeasap/so-glad-i-stopped-spending-time-on-steem

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That post is actually very valid. I am extremely glad that I haven't spent much time on here lately. Unfortunately, I am usually dragged down by this type of "drama", or whatever we should call it, so I am actually very glad that I have missed most of it.

However, I have Discord and I talk with many of my "Steem friends" outside of STEEM, on a more or less daily basis, and we often talk about other things than STEEM, so that has worked out perfectly for me these last few weeks.

That being said, this post could've been very different. It started out differently, but I changed it. I didn't want to "talk shit" or be 101% negative, so I tried to go a different route. :D

But yeah, "came for the money and stayed for the people" is often a very good description of STEEM. I just wish that some of the people claiming to have stayed for the people would show it in a different way sometimes.

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Me too. I imagine there are quite a few other lurkers who used to post more often. I will be here until Steem blows up or fizzles out.

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These recent events have given STEEM some exposure too, so I guess we have both newcomers and lurkers on here. :)

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I also cane for the money but I met so many cool peeps and I believe In thsi tech and once it’s more refined I want to use it for my business! I think we’re sitting on a gen here we just need to get our shit together

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"we just need to get our shit together"

Very true words... :D

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