It's interesting, there's this cycle of thinking that all of us new Steemit users go through that I've witness several times now. It all starts at that misleading Trending page. You see the post that are making hundreds and think "I can do that!, I can do it a lot better than that actually!" Then you learn how things really work and you have a choice to make.
To your original point, it's definitely something I've thought about. I've seen several people here from Venezuela, which as you may or may not know their currency is basically fucked, and the small payouts that they make here can go a long way, whereas I live in San Francisco, and on a bad day LITERALLY the guy at the corner shaking a cup did better than me.
The reason it specifically makes sense for me is because I'm posting my artwork. I'm a professional artist and I create personal artwork regardless, so this gives me a way to monetize something I'd be doing anyway. On a bad day, it gets overlooked and makes anywhere from .05 to .50 but on a good day I might make a few bucks and I've been lucky enough to get touched by curie a couple times and those made around $50 and $30.
The other reason I'm here is I'm not really thinking as much about the value of STEEM today. I'm investing in STEEM, as I've invested in other cryptos. The reason I like STEEM the most is I have a means of earning more STEEM without just putting in my own fiat. I do that as well, but this way I can be pro-active.
Many crypto's have that within their design(the ability to earn it by doing something), but most aren't released yet. There are a few on my radar, but even still, with my skill set, I think STEEM and Steemit are the best fit for me personally.
PS I found you from your comment on yallapapi's post and I gotta say
Thanks for commenting. I would love to know of other coins doing similar things like this. I have a list of a few as well. I'm also (sort of) investing. I put some of my bitcoin in and we'll see what happens this year. What I find interesting is seeing what I have to do to keep my initial investment worth the same. That's where I realized something is up. Aside from that point, the original point stands true. There's currently more incentive for other countries to use it and it's rapidly changing the landscape— which is fine. Also, the new apps are changing how it's used. Where you would be highly valued in a blogsphere, here-now, a meme copied from Facebook is getting a lot of tips. We can only wait and see what's going to happen I think.