To put it simply, what has given me the greatest value on steem has been the people I've interacted with and all I've learned from them.
I agree! I notice that in your list of helpers are many of the same people and entities that have ehlped me along here. Thanks for giving credit to so many of the folks I have come to love.
I'm more than a year behind you on this site, but the stuff I have learned has enriched my life in ways I never imagined: I'm writing and taking photographs, neither of which interested me before my entry to steem. I go for longer and longer walks. I cook better food. I gather wild plants to use as medicine. These are just a few of the ways steem has transformed my life.
I see everything with new eyes and a fuller heart.
I don't care about the money, except insofar as it draws readers to me and leads me to readers - I'd be here happily if no currency at all were involved. Alas, it is, and on steem that seems to be going the way of all things in the 20th and 21st century - you have to have money to make money.
Your post is a treasure trove of good information that I am so happy to have.
And I am delighted to have met you.
peace
Hi owasco
Sry it took me so long to respond to this comment, I missed it in a bit of a hectic three days last week.
This is music to my ears to hear that people still feel this way about steem 🙂
Unfortunately, I think you're right. This is what needs to change in steem as it's impossible for steem to retain its best content creators if the current culture of cliques and vote selling continues. Although money is the secondary benefit of steem, the fact that these financial incentives are there creative an expectation that quality will be rewarded. Unfortunately, bidbots and shifty whales self voting and circle jerking give the impression to the new user that something rotten is happening.
Hopefully HF21 can address these issues 🙂
Thanks again for your insightful comment 👍