Is this a better title? Does it count as a click bait? But let’s work with this title today!
Sorry this became a rather long article. Please take the effort to read it through, cause it will explain the real meaning of Steem! And I do feel that we all need to understand what Steem is about! No it is not about the money, the money is a nice side effect for most of us.

Social Media

First let’s start with some history! Sorry, I need to do this, to place things in perspective!
Most of us grew up with mainstream media. Like television, radio and newspaper. Even older folks had to it with the news item shown in a movie theater before the movie started!
But these were one way communication channels. They were broadcasting, we were only receiving! Okay, you could write a letter to the newspaper, but it was their decision if they were going to publish it or not.
This gave the controlling entities the power to brainwash the people! Their news was the news and it was the truth!

When internet came around (yes younger readers, it wasn’t always here) things started to change. People had a platform to express their opinions, to create communities, to interact with people all over the world. This things are grouped together under the term of Social Media!
The key characteristics of Social media are sharing and interacting. There are normally no editors or a controlling body! Due to lots of abuse, things did change and moderators came into place and controlled some of the platforms like a real dictators. Censoring people, giving direction and started to brainwash people again (take a look at the bans of Google, Facebook and so on about crypto and ico related adds)!
The most know social media where forums, blogs, Facebook, twitter and so on!

The Steem blokchain!

And then Steemit came along. Not a new idea, but it did lift the idea of a social media platform to a higher level. A real decentralized platform without forced censorship. The community itself could regulate some kind of censorship with the means of down voting! People do get rewarded for their efforts with the Proof-Of-Brain concept!

The early adaptors where interactive, did support each other and shared knowledge. Almost all posts were read and did get noticed. Then it did attract more people and these new ones where perhaps too much focused on the money part! They had the idea that they have the same rights as the whales and do expect the same share of the pool! But they forgot to interact and that’s where it did start to go wrong. Wintered Steemains were/are trying to protect their income/status, new Steemains were/are complaining about the whales. Hence even whales are fighting!

2 different types of Steemians!

Beside the whales and dolphins, plankton or red fishes, there are in my opinion 2 types of people needed, to lift Steem to a next level!
The first type are the real content creators. They write excellent post and make us think about topics. These are the fuel of Steemit! Why do you ask?
Well they are giving the second type of Steemians a platform to interact. People can react on the post and even react on other comments on the post. But the creators do also need this interaction. This interaction is what makes a post genuine and is the most appreciation an article can get! It should lift a well written post to the Trending or Hot pages! We cannot all write like Dostoevsky, Shakespeare or Hamlet but we all do have an opinion. Cause opinions are like assholes, everybody has one! And no, not all of them stink!
If there wasn’t any interaction, we could turn back to the mainstream media, hence a single communication channel! Of course the authors appreciate an upvote, but a real genuine comment is like hitting the jackpot. An upvote can come without that the curator did read the post, while a genuine comment is impossible without reading the complete post!

The hidden Gem!

Well this is the chapter where you all have been waiting on. (If you did manage to keep on reading )
The hidden gem on Steemit is to interact with each other. Use the possibility that authors give us! And beautiful things can happen. Let me give you a list of things that happened to me!

• Most of my Steem Power is build up, by placing genuine comments! Don’t place a spam comment, don’t expect to get an upvote, do expect an answer or reply!
• I did receive free delegations by just placing genuine comments. People do get to know you and your ideas and if they have the power they will give you a push in the back!
• I did get 100% upvotes, worth more than 1.5 Steem power. What about that? I would have taken me 10 post to get this kind of pay-out!
• I did get SBD donations, just as a vote of confidence!
• And most important of all, it did lift the number of followers. Each follower is a chance on interaction!

So, if you are new on Steemit or a wintered user, see the money as a nice side effect and focus on INTERACTION.
Interaction is what Steem is all about! This is the hidden gem of Steemit. This will get you noticed, this will increase your Steem Power but most important of all this will make Steem great!

Witness Votes

For the ones who don’t know what the witnesses of the Steem blockchain are, these are the one who keep the blockchain running, they mine the blocks, make sure that the timestamps are correct and they decide/debate about the future of Steemit!
Each one of us, can cast up to 30 votes! Depending on the Steem Power you have, your vote will have more weight. But every vote counts.
I am not the person who do ask to support something, besides interaction, but take a look at a new fresh witness. @steemcommunity
They do think that engagement is the one of the most important things on Steemit. So, if you do find engagement and interaction important, give them a vote. Cause they could have/should have a voice in the debates about the future of Steemit!
Voting can be done via https://steemit.com/~witnesses , just fill in steemcommunity in the field, where you can vote for a witness outside of the top50.

The verdict!

Do interact with each other, don’t look at the reputation of an author (as long as it is at least equal or above 25), don’t look at his/her Steem Power!
Let’s make Steemit an real social media platform!

Do you agree or disagree, I’m happy to start an interaction!
If you really believe that interaction is of utmost importance for Steemit. Feel free to re-steem this post. It will be very much appreciated. Get the word out there!
If you like the post but are running out of Steem Power, just don’t upvote but place a genuine comment! Both will be great, but I do understand that we have to use our voting power at will!
Encourage each other the do the same!

Keep the faith,
Peter