...and say something about what I'm up to here on Steem. I am a writer, poet, musician, care provider, and firm believer in the importance of decentralized solutions like the one we're using right now. My favorite color is green. My home is the Pacific North West, aka Cascadia. My intent here is to join the conversation and share my musings, art, and a bit of what I've learned along the way.
A view from my corner of the world, taken on San Juan Island
Steem excites me because social media is broken. I avoided it successfully for 5+ years before getting plugged back in recently as a professional necessity. Working in the legal cannabis industry in Washington State has highlighted the problems of centralization: Facebook can delete any account with impunity, restrict access to "boosting" (paying to be seen by all followers, not just some), and generally do whatever they want with the value created by their users.
Blogging is broken too. True, it does represent a big step forward for democracy. But it's also something that we typically pay to do, whether by allowing ads on our site or through a subscription fee. Rewarding authors for the value they create is tricky (am I really going to remember to use that Amazon affiliate link?), and typically indirect. The possibilities for decentralized publishing fueled by cryptocurrency are really exciting to me.
That said, web 2.0 has had incredible outcomes. Communities like Reddit, StackExchange, and Quora work very well to curate content and reward users symbolically for promoting quality. In a way, the shift to web 3.0 is like moving from school to work. Before, performance was rewarded with gold stars and high marks; now, we can pay out cryptocoins as well. And that is awesome.
I've been lurking around Steemit on and off for a while, sifting through posts and engaging in a bit of dialog. The diversity, civility, and creativity present here is impressive and inspiring. So, it's about time that I add my voice to the mix and publish some shit!
Still with me? Great. Stay tuned for stories from getting started as a freelancer, instructions on fermenting foods, reports on exciting decentralization projects, and reflections on life, the universe and everything. That's the plan so far, anyway. Oh yeah, I'll be throwing in some poetry, original DIY music recordings, and perhaps the occasional piece of short fiction. If that sounds groovy to you, please drop me a comment to let me know what you're most interested in.
Finally, a funny little poem for closing:
Steem is a beautiful thing
Where human beings their content can bring
When you're voted up
You can sit on your butt
And watch the money roll in while you sing