Steem is the blockchain database which the social media platform Steemit plugs into. Created as an open source and publicly accessible blockchain database to support community building and social interaction with cryptocurrency rewards. In its release White Paper Steem declared itself as the first cryptocurrency that attempts to accurately and transparently reward an unbounded number of individuals who make subjective contributions to its community.[1]
Steem blockchain platform is designed to address the major barriers to adoption and monetization of a social media based economy. It mimics the same techniques used to grow major social media platforms (like Facebook, Reddit and Medium) to bootstrap a successful cryptocurrency also called Steem (see Steem Tokens).
In May 2016, before official launch and still in beta test, Steem and Steemit (the social media site that runs over Steem) co-founder Ned Scott declared to CoinReport that the uniqueness of Steem, where posts, comments and votes sit directly on the blockchain. This would allow Steem to be leveraged in a few new and different ways, including blockchain-based attribution, blockchain-based content rewards and blockchain-based reputation. The founders would like to see all of its potential leveraged and their goal is not just to create a vibrant social media platform with Steemit, but to see entrepreneurs from different walks of life leverage and integrate Steem as an open-source publishing platform.[2]
After more than a year after released a new version of the Steem Whitepaper was annouced in August 30th, 2017. It was more technically accurate based on the current version of the blockchain.
A few days after the Steem Bluepaper was released, it was designed to be a helpful guide to Steem protocol that could be comprehensible to the widest range of people. It integrates the feedback gathered since launch about what people felt was missing from the original Whitepaper, features that have been added, and links to more technical documents for those who want to dive deeper into particular aspects of the protocol. It too will be hosted on Github and the proposal is become a living document that can be updated and improved over time