Every day I hear and read that Steem is going to moon and that everyone will be celebrating and high-fiving in the Steemit streets and ordering matching Lambos. I wonder though, looking at how people use the platform and how they interact with it and other users, if they really are serious at all.

I am relatively sweat equity invested at Steemit and I see this as having the potential of providing me with a debt free future. It may never make me extremely wealthy but it sure could ease a lot of pressures if, and only if, the various platforms and the Steemchain are successful. 

https://i.imgur.com/lCOvawk.jpg

In some countries, ten dollars is a high amount whereas in others, it is relatively insignificant. This means that some are able to take decent benefits now with relatively minimal effort whereas others in another part of the world cannot do the same. For the same level of gain, they must make thousands. 

But, this is a missed opportunity for those in cheaper countries also as with a little investment, they would not only be able to add a bit each week to ease their suffering, they would be able to build a significant future. They potentially have the most to gain from Steem price skyrocketing as it would have an incredible effect on their personal and local economies.

Those in more expensive countries are likely to have less of a boost to their own economies but, it would still be significant and has the potential to pay off credit cards, loans, mortgages and education costs AND still provide a continual source of secondary income. For me, this is a massive benefit and is perhaps why I spend so much effort creating content and throwing ideas out in the hope some will be caught and built upon. 

With a world where job security and technology are reducing employment potentials, secondary income sources are going to be crucial for many people to survive, let alone prosper. Steemit offers a gateway into learning all kinds of useful paths and skills while creating secondary revenue streams early. 

On top of this, it introduces people into the world of cryptocurrencies early where they will be able to learn, practice and test how to manage all things crypto and become about as close to the first adopters as one can these days.

There are so many benefits large and small to be continually gained whilst the Steemchain, platforms and hopefully price, matures. People want it to boom now but they are not seeing that unless they are already well established, they are unlikely to be able to take any large advantage.

This is not just from a held coin perspective, it is from all aspects of the process from content creation to market understanding. So many, get in and cash out while they can get something but it makes it like a real world job, the moment the income stops, one is stuck in the same position again looking for the next watering hole to drink from.

It would be much wiser to take the short-term risk (if one possibly can) and build it into several long-term income streams so that it gets to a future point where the platforms are largely working for you and giving some returns without having to invest huge amounts of energy each day to do so.

But, this takes potentially heavy early investment. Not just into good content production (which should be a given for anyone looking long-term) but into building the community, removing the harmful weeds and engaging in behaviours that will add value, not remove it. It is in this kind of environment that potential can be realised.

When the clutter and nonsense has been cleared away, there is the space to think, create, test, play and learn so that ideas, developments and innovations can cycle quickly through many iterations and evolve them into places that can support mass adoption.

But, this takes the majority of users to metaphorically *'grow a pair'* and stop bickering, sniping, shit posting, spamming, scamming, vote selling and a whole range of other behaviours, and get serious. If this was a company, it would have already happened but the 'problem' is that it is decentralized, which means there is no authority to force it, it is up to the community to develop the Steemit gardens. We are the company.

So, this is why I wonder and ask how serious people are about using the blockchain to disrupt traditional industries, improve charitable interactions, reduce middlemen and really sending Steem to the moon? By the looks of things, the pool of long-term seeking, serious users is a lot smaller than the group of those only serious about what is in today's pool.

Unfortunately, without more people getting serious and investing themselves into learning what *could* be, there is very little chance of it ever *being.*

Taraz
[ a Steemit original ]