![photo5028428898932729779.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmWNA8fybDfvt5r7bedjnUCnXDhLvQQjJ4wGW1T3NVBevT/photo5028428898932729779.jpg)

## I was invited to speak about Steemit at a local tech Meetup

I have been on Steemit since June of this year. Not that long ago, but it seems like it's been longer than that because of how much I've learned since then. I'll be sharing what I've learned, both about the technical aspects of Steemit and the social nature of platform. It's very different that Facebook or Twitter, but has some things that are familiar to people who have been active on social media websites before.

This post is an overview of some of the things I'll be sharing. The tech Meetup usually has between 10 and 30 people attending each week and I'm looking forward to sharing Steemit with them.

## Blogging to learn

This is my primary use of Steemit. I'm challenging myself to make significant progress in improving my skills as a programmer. I'm currently going through a Udemy course on Node.js. I made the money to purchase the course by blogging on Steemit... and I'm now I'm earning more by writing about my progress through the course.

## It's not (just) about the money...

The thing that is initially appealing about Steemit is the potential to get paid for posting. That's something that's very different and surprising to most people who haven't heard about it before.

However, Steemit is much more than just throwing posts up and hoping to get paid. It really is social. I've already benefited greatly by connecting with other programmers all over the world. Many of them read my posts and respond with helpful comments. If I have a programming question, it's extremely likely that I get a comment on my post that answers that question. 

## Incentivized social interactions

You would think that having payouts for social interactions would lead to a lot of fake posts and fake enthusiasm. There may be some of that, but I think the majority of the interactions that I've had on Steemit have been genuine. There's a real incentive to not be a jerk and be helpful. I can upvote comments (and others can, too) and give a tip to people who take the time to write and respond to my post.

These incentivized social interactions work. People go out of their way to be helpful. I think Steemit is powerful because it can change habits for the better. Honest interactions are best, but even if people are "faking" being helpful it will turn into a real habit over time.

## The money part

The tips are given in crypto-currencies. I'll describe my experience with crypto and the details of how Steem, Steem Power and Steem backed dollars work in my talk. I won't go into detail here... because most of you on Steemit already know a lot about it.

The part I will mention for sure is that there is a process to get it out and spend it. It doesn't just magically show up in your bank account. That's a good thing, but not easy to understand right away.

Also, just that you can get paid *anything* for posting on social media is astonishing. I'll be showing off the trending page with the high payouts... but I'll also show how much my posts usually make and some of my successes (and also show the big payouts on some of my wife @ch4nel's posts)

## Markdown and Tech Details. 

Since this is a tech Meetup, I'll be talking a bit about what I like about Markdown and using it on Steemit. I'll also be talking about how the data is stored on a blockchain, but accessible through APIs and the web interface.

## Did I miss anything?

Feel free to comment about anything else you think I should mention. I'll be making another post letting you know how the talk went.

#### Thanks for reading!

--- @matthewdavid