Can You Really Earn on Steemit?

Now that we’ve understood the basics of how Steemit functions, the next question is: does it work from a content producer’s perspective? The short answer is yes, but there’s a lot more to it than that.

Before we delve further into Steemit’s merit as a content platform or investment vehicle, it’s worth noting there are some question marks regarding Steem’s launch. One article alleges that the initial distribution process of tokens was rigged and that Steem is not truly a decentralized network (Dash, anyone?). Whether or not this is true remains debatable – read the article and draw your own conclusions.

Despite the arguably questionable nature of some of its history, Steemit is by no means a fly-by-night operation or a scam. It is working and people are getting paid. The question is how well is it working? Are users satisfied with it?

The answer to these questions seems to depend on who you ask. One author claimed to have made around the equivalent of $2,300 in about 4 months:

Can I participate in an online community for rewards and actually make money that can really buy stuff or pay bills? YES… the answer is yes. The process isn’t super fast and has a few steps involved but it absolutely can be done.

Another author chimed in:

There is definitely A LOT of money to be made on Steemit but to be honest you’re going to have to work the system to see any success.

On the flipside, you can also find far less satisfied users:

Out of 230 articles roughly 5 had any noteworthy returns, none of which offset the cost to write them. They also have a shelf life as long as a tweet […] I’m going to have to give Steemit a ‘D’ for content creators. There’s a lot more you could accomplish on your own site in less time, other platforms are more robust with stronger monetization, stronger tools, more resources for those new to the community.

So there are anecdotal pieces for evidence pointing in both directions, how can we make sense of this? You can always try it for yourself or take a closer look at the fundamental dynamics in play.

Starting from scratch on Steemit is undoubtedly a challenge. The odds of organically growing a following on the back of nothing more than quality content is a long shot that requires quite a bit of effort upfront.