Happy Thanksgiving to those celebrating today! Before I stuff my face with more pumpkin pie than any one person should eat - I wanted to make a quick post to hopefully start a discussion.

STEEM

Steem is a marvelous beast of so many different things, that sometimes it’s hard to explain to people. It can mean something completely different depending on who you ask.. and that’s something that makes it quite special imo.

For me it’s special as it was my bridge to the crypto world. I wanted no part of bitcoin, it was confusing and overwhelming.. but Steem was easy. It allowed me to experience and learn about crypto in a way that I was comfortable with.. and it made me a crypto and blockchain believer. I’ll always be thankful to it for those reasons and see the ability of it being a similar bridge to the masses as one of its biggest values.

But what are the facts?

I see many times people say how great Steem or STEEM is, not only here, but all over other social media platforms.. but when someone asks “why” or gives push back, the individual doesn’t know how to respond or chooses not to.

I think word of mouth is extremely important, and so is perception. So when I see a great post about #steem and then see responses like this go untouched it can have a negative impact on the overall perception of a project -

Or this reply -

While sure many may just say “they are just negative” ... or “you’ll never change their mind”.. to me it’s not about them, it’s about all the people reading it that aren’t them.

In my opinion not responding or not having the facts to respond with, makes them right in any outsiders mind who reads it.

Steem Facts Sheet?

Now imagine if we had a simple and easy to read fact sheet that empowered community members to answer questions and respond (in an intelligent way) to this.

While we may never change the minds of the people who responded initially, those reading it who have no set in stone “ideas” very much may benefit.

Which then helps the overall perception of STEEM.

So what are the facts about Steem or STEEM?

Sure we know about fast and free transactions.. but how does that work? Would increased transactions change this fact?

Is it decentralized? What about distribution? Dapps?

These are all questions that come up often.. and as someone who has discussed Steem to many outside the echo chamber, I’ll tell you that if you can’t answer these questions than you won’t get far.

The thing is that whether we want to admit it or not, Steem does not have a great reputation in the outside world based on its past.. and that’s something we must overcome.

Now we can call anyone “negative” or a “troll” who questions it or doesn’t immediately jump on the empty hype train, or we can actually use the facts about this place as a rebuttal.. I think the second is much more beneficial for longterm success personally.

Let’s Empower The Community

We have a great and passionate community here and it can be used to spread the word of #steem, but I think they would be much more successful if we empower them with the tools or information they need to do this.

While I have learned a lot about the inner workings of Steem in the last few years - I’m just a normie. I’m not a dev, an economist, a coder or an expert on cryptography or cryptocurrency in general.

There is a ton of stuff I don’t know, or perhaps don’t know the technical aspects to.. and that’s why I think making a fact sheet as a community is the best option.. as we are quite diverse and can work together to make something beneficial for all.

Drop Them Facts!

So my goal is for the comments of this post to be a place we discuss these facts and then they can be compiled in a future post for easy access.

Now, I don’t want only your opinions.. I want the facts behind them.. tell me the WHY.

I’ll be bugging some of the “experts” on chain to weigh in too..

Where To Start?

Well I think as the discussion persists more will come up.. but just to get it started, let’s talk about some that first come to mind to me (please add in more in the comments and I will edit when needed to add them)

What is Steem? Is the tech superior to say EOS, ETH or bitcoin? If so, how? If it’s not.. why is it needed? Does the chain actually need its own currency?

What are the “fast and free” transactions? Will transactions be free forever? How does that work?

Is it centralized? What is the distribution look like compared to in the beginning? What makes it “decentralized”?

What makes it unique? What are the use cases it offers that are not found elsewhere?

How is “tokenizing the internet” even beneficial? What value does that add? Who does it empower or help?

What has changed since its inception? What improvements have been made? (If any).

How is it scalable? Will it run into the same issues as we are seeing on other chains if traffic was the same?

DPoS- pros and cons?

Inflation- inflation is seen universally as “bad” when it’s too high. STEEM inflation is thought to be “high”.. what benefit does the inflation add (if any)? Is it high in comparison? Does that inflation also add value? How?

Rewards pool - good or bad? Why? Would Steem exist without it? How?

Answer one, answer all.. or ask another question.

I think the community here, the human aspect, adds tremendous value.. but I want to focus on the tech of this project we are all so passionate about.. these are the facts that will empower our community to be Steem Ambassadors across the globe. Which is a win-win for us all.

I hope this post starts a conversation that will morph into a resource that can be beneficial for all.

I also want to welcome criticism and bringing to light flaws in the project, as this is how we improve.. being stuck in a “everything is amazing” echo chamber won’t get us to where we want to be.

So let’s hear your thoughts - good or bad.

Much Love,

Justine