It was a year ago today that I was looking into doing some Ethereum mining. I set up a bittrex account and happened to notice this currency called steem was at like 120% growth. I asked myself "what is that?"
I ended up at steemit.com and read that you could get paid crypto-currency for posting, commenting, and voting. That sounded too good to be true. Yet, it didn't cost me anything. In fact, they said they would give me $10 worth of currency to start out.
Source: Affiliate-101
I started with 10 steem power. I am from a poor family. I never really have had spare money to invest in crypto though I have been very aware of it. I tried a post. Look at that... I'm getting some votes. I'm getting money... Or at least supposedly. I still didn't have that steem, steem power, steem dollars difference worked out.
I told my family about it. Nathan, my son @theanubisrider signed up the same day I did and also got 10 steem power. My daughter @kellywin21 waited a day and only got 5 steem power. Why? The value of steem doubled by then. So $10 worth of steem only bought 5 steem power.
My wife and some others took longer and I think got 1 steem power, maybe 2.
I kept at it. I paid attention. I saw crazy makeup tutorials making $31,000 for a post when steem was worth $4 per post. I saw the rush of other people joining doing the same thing.
I was here to see the rush of spam bots that for awhile (most of a week) made it so 9 out of 10 posts were spam where the bot would grab and image from somewhere and a paragraph from an article and would make a post. 1 out of 10 would be a non-bot post.
@cheetah made by @anyx came to the rescue, but it was overpowered by the army of bots that were self voting each other. The reputation system was implemented and suddenly @cheetah could silence those bots. Most spam was suddenly gone and we got back to doing things.
I've seen people upset and the wars over flagging/down voting which resurgences from time to time.
I've grown to care a great deal about this community. I've engaged with it and talked about so many things here that my wife has even told me she is jealous as I'll talk with this community about things she and I used to talk about. I spun that as a positive for her. I told her due to how filled up her time is caring for her elderly parents (way more challenging that caring for the 6 children we had that are now all adults) at least she can read my steemit posts and see what I am thinking and be able to still come talk to me about those things in the rare moments she has free time. This did make her feel a bit better.
She and WE to a degree have both put large parts of our life on hold while we care for her parents. Their health and age is too fragile for us to go places and take them with us. So we do not do a lot of things.
We also were tight for money. There would be months it was tough to give me $50 from my own paycheck due to bills, and we might argue over that when I'd see her buying cigarettes for someone a red bull when I couldn't even afford to spend my own paycheck. Well steemit solved that problem. I honestly stopped caring about my paycheck. The money I spend on myself, on tools, and on things I want all comes from steemit now and has for awhile. In fact it is beyond my wildest dreams.
I've heard the calls about Ponzi schemes... to which I tell those people. I didn't have to pay anything and they've given me a ton of money. If that is a ponzi scheme or a scam then PLEASE sign me up for more.
I've seen people talking about it being unsustainable, yet all I've seen it do is grow.
A month ago my account (just the steem power) was worth over $40,000. It adjusts as the value of steem adjusts. It is currently at a little over $32,000. I've also spent somewhere between $5,000 and $10,000 on tools, games, clothes, food, books, etc. I've helped family, and done many things. I haven't spent a dime to get here. I've just posted, and treated people the best I can.
I've found a community I know and love. I've committed myself to helping make steem succeed and keeping the environment a positive one that we've come to love.
I've realized some profound things. One of those was that steem while being one of the fastest blockchains out there (only EOS may be faster) is also the only currency I know that is actually backed by something.
ONLY CURRENCY includes gold, storj, and other things.
Gold has value due to its scarcity and because we give it that value. It also can be used to make non-currency things. It is a scarce resource and all scarce resources have some intrinsic value.
Steem on the other hand is something new. It is intrinsically linked to OUR creations. We write poems, music, stories, art, and you name it. We create. We share ourselves. We store it in the same blockchain that drives the currency. The currency is backed by our creations. Think about that. When you think of your house catching on fire, is it the money that was in your wallet that your mind flashes to? Is it the TVs and other things that insurance that can help you replace that your mind flashes to? I suspect what goes through your mind is the things you cannot replace such as those stories in a notebook in the closet, the love letters saved, the old home videos on DVD or VHS, the photos in photo albums, and the things you created with your own mind and hands that are irreplaceable.
I would contend that those irreplaceable things have vastly more personal value than things we can replace. That is the type of thing that backs the steem currency and that makes it HUGE. I expect it to go to huge places. For me right now this is the best crypto currency on the market. I am watching EOS, but all others pale in comparison to steem in my mind.
I've been here a year and it is one of the best things to ever happen to me. I plan to be here as long as I can. I plan to support the community, make friends, and to create.
Thank you my friends, and steemit... I look forward to many more years. Let's change the world together!
Oh and for those of you that see steem as a bad investment. I started with 10 steem power given to me for free. I now have 17813 a year later without spending a dime, only my time. That is a 178,000% growth! Sounds like a pretty good investment to me. However, if all you do is approach it like a traditional currency and BUY it, sit back, and don't participate then it may not seem like a great one. It is perhaps the greatest crypto investment out there if you engage.
So you should make your first happy birthday to you with steem and we can make a party in here haha @dwinblood
This comment has received a 0.14 % upvote from @booster thanks to: @hamzaoui.
The beautify of Steem is that it's simple to use, but complex enough to keep you on the edge of your seat at the same time.
Awesome story. I just recently joined. About two weeks ago. The first week was alright. During the second week I found that the way people were upvoting changed drastically. No longer people upvoted my posts or my comments... instead they mainly upvoted their own comments.
I hope this behavior gets addressed and fixed in some way. Helping each other by rewarding upvotes on good content or comments is what it's about in my opinion. The platform needs to grow still in the curation game. Guess that's why Steemit still is in beta.
Yes, it is a challenge as it is totally new. Nothing like it has ever existed before. This means it also has new problems. Those people self-up voting their own comments have been noticed. It will not go well for them in the long run if they keep at it. I'd not worry too much about them. Keep writing things you enjoy to write. Many of my early posts made $0. This was at a time when people getting over $10,000 for a post was not uncommon. I just kept writing. I stopped worrying about how to make money. I instead worried about what I wanted to write about next. I wrote about whatever inspired me, and if it made money great, if it didn't I still had something of me stored in the blockchain. Some of my personal favorite posts I wrote made almost nothing, and some of them did make nothing.
I have found an awesome community in my three weeks here. I'll follow you valderrama, and i'll upvote you if you write stuff I like.
My main social media platform until now has been Twitter, which is all like retweet like like, retweet like retweet.
I have found it a bit hard to acclimatise to Steemit, to be honest (see my post https://steemit.com/steemit/@drwom/original-content-vs-resteeming#@drwom/re-bulleth-re-drwom-original-content-vs-resteeming-20170706t205532872z for example!) but I'm trying a few things.
I really want to get 500 Steem in my power up, so I'll be able to better divide up my upvotes. At the moment, I can only upvote 10 things a day at my full 0.10 upvote - and if I upvote more than 10 things, my upvote power goes down ie to 0.03 or something. And then it takes days and days of being really frugal to get back to 100%.
With enough steem power behind me, I'll be able to better allocate my upvotes, because you can set the amount of upvote you want to give.
Anyways, hang in there. I look forward to reading something from you.
Oh I will continue doing exactly that. Writing about whatever comes to mind whenever I got the time for it. And I'm curious to find out how steemit will evolve. It's a lot of fun to be a part of it.
Thanks for your upvote, I appreciate it.
Sometimes too the votes just are worse for a week or two, due to bad luck or timing or whatever. I know of my posts earn way less than I expect, even after 6 months, but then others earn very well.
Love your story. I myself am also playing with steem and trying to see how far I can take this investment through organic growth. Thanks for the post. It gives me a lot of hope.
great article @dwinblood, and amazing story of how STEEMIT has changed your life for the better as well! :)
What a great story :) There have definitely been some interesting phases here on Steemit but you're absolutely right about the sense of community—it's unmatched! Super cool to hear how your account has grown and you've been able to pay for various things here and there, all while helping others out along the way.
YES. Let's do it!
I'm new to seemit and just learning the ropes. I haven't posted any content yet but soon i will.
Post what you like, be inspired. Don't force it. Be genuine. Be yourself and don't try to imitate others. It starts slow for most of us... and with effort it grows.
Thanks for the advice.
Super Awesome! I have been on board since February. Still find it fascinating and rewarding! Thanks for sharing!
It's true that life changes. I like the atmosphere here, the people are friendly. I feel part of creating something new where it is good to live
Wow what a great story! motivates me to put all my effort in steemit. Really inspiring. Nice return btw! If I imagen where you would be in another year after this one, thats just crazy! Keep up the good work! Upvoted and following!
What a remarkable experience, we late comers missed a whole lot of actions.
Happy Steemit Anniversary My Steemit Community Neighbor!
They haven't opened it completely to the public yet. You're not a late comer. Just later than me. :)
hehehehehehe, but i still missed all the BOT-SPAMS and all
@dwinblood... Thank You 4 sharing Your own personal experiences over the last year.. OH... and I did see that makeup commercial done by the twins... OUCH !!
UpVoted & been following 4 a few weeks now, really like reading people that have been on STEEMiT for many months, who did not give up in frustration. BIG Kudos to You and many others !!
Happy Anniversary... Have a Good Weekend !!
Crazy awesome! Hope to be there to a year after going active. congrats
I've only been here for a couple of weeks and love the concept. Still getting my head around how it works.
I sometimes wonder if ur faster at writing it than I am at reading xD Seems like u already had a great journey behind u on Steemit, a little jealous here hehe.
It's a journey we take together. You're here now. You are part of the journey.
Thanks for a great post. I really enjoyed this read. It really helps to reassure me that I'm in the right place. I joined Steemit recently, wanting to enjoy the platform for it's idealistic potential. Your post sounds like a success story of the type I enjoy hearing, not just someone attempting to abuse and manipulate the system strictly for monetary gains. Not that we don't all enjoy that aspect. Just knowing the community looks out and lifts up those that perhaps have the good karma work put in. I'm happy to hear about your improvements in not only your own life but the ability to help others in your family is wonderful beyond measure. That is incredible and just another reason I love this community. Reading posts like this make me thankful to have discovered Steemit. Thanks again for the great post!
You are indeed in the right place. :) Engage, be civil, and things will ultimately be good. :)
I liked the educational part of the story. Good to know some of the milestones in the history of Steem.
Wow
Thanks dwinblood
There is so much in this post that is worthy of acknowledgement. But I'll run with the idea that Steem is backed by our creativity.
That's something I can believe in 🙂
Thanks for sharing with us. This is inspiring. I just have to keep pushing. I have a lot of great content and just want everyone to feel a part of it. This definitely pushes me to keep at it.
Somehow haven't come across your blog until now, but this is a great story. Steem on!
Thanks for words of advice and positivity. Love your style.
Happy Anniversary!
Your views have been very much appreciated in the last year, even on those points we disagree on
May they remain few and far in between!
Happy aniversary mate! Keep up the good work!
We're lucky to have you here @dwinblood! I appreciate what you contribute to the platform and really agree with your perspective here about how Steem is intrinsicly connected to our creativity. We have a very special ecosystem here, let's keep it that way:)
AND, happy Anniversary!!
Re-steemed. Your page is one of my favorites for true quality! Thank you for the inspiration and high standard.
Congrats. Happy to hear your story. It made me feel good about joining Steemit which was just reasonly, last week. thanks for sharing....followed n upvoted
That was just an awesome post! I've read several posts where this site has evolved into a good community. I'm excited for the future with this site. It's been engaging and I'm able to read a variety of things that interest me. Thank you so much for the post!
Nice u're so lucky=) i hope after a year I will become like u =)
I hope after a year to see that YOU. :)
thx =)
So what you are saying is I should start doing makeup videos. Now that I think about it, I should have been doing that from the start. Thanks.
Tons of people tried it mostly didn't work out. @roelandp's first male makeup tutorial was done as a parody of that one and it did pretty good but it was pretty damn funny.
The key is don't copy people. Be you. :)
Here is @roelandp's post if you want to see it... pretty amusing:
https://steemit.com/beauty/@roelandp/the-first-steemit-male-makeup-tutorial-bringing-youtubers-to-steemit-roelandp-is-back
Love this article. I gives me new hope. I just joined a few days ago and honestly I'M sucking at it. After reading this my hope has been renewed. A heartfelt and hardy thanks from this dog.
You may not be sucking, it just takes time to build up momentum. Enjoy what you write, be inspired and write that, and let what happens happen. Be genuine. People will follow you, and you'll steadily get more votes. My posts are not mainstream enough for most people I am most definitely not writing trending posts after a year of being here. So just keep going and don't let the money worry you.
Thank you. You are an inspiration.
"Steem on the other hand is something new. It is intrinsically linked to OUR creations."
That's it! As long as people value creativity and ideas and conversations, Steemit will have some value. It might just have a lot of value, in fact.