When I joined Steemit in late December, the SBD was reaching for USD13. That's been a good incentive, of course, but it was not the main reason I joined Steemit. It's was not a reason at all.
Matter of fact, I had no previous experience with any crypto currency and at first I kinda thought SBD was like an internal reward system, like the Superuser medals or something similar.
After a few chats with the helpful crowd at the Homesteaders Online Discord server I got to grips with the system and started posting regularly, taking photos, even made my wife (@bghandmade) join Steemit to share some of our handmade paper work.
Fast forward a few months and I found that the initial enthusiasm has drained completely.
The main reason is the fact Steemit makes your work's value seem so volatile, so temporary.
I suppose my disappointment stems from the fact I came to the platform thinking it was some kind of a knowledge repository with an honest reward system for people that really do contribute.
In time I came to realize Steemit is more like Twitter or Instagram, a flock of fleeting moments, insignificant the week after. So I'm very much amazed at all the curation initiatives that encourage people to create great and meaningful stuff that will literally loose its value in a week.
I don't understand why a love poem from 5 years ago couldn't resonate with a whale or get you "a Curie" even if it's not written the last week.
Right now Steemit seems to me like a day job - you must spend a few hours each day "catering" to the platform and the audience. Otherwise the income from Steem will crash down to 0 in 7 days. That's not to say one cannot or should not enjoy the process, but it still remains a process that must be upheld, otherwise you're out of luck.
While I admire the epic efforts of many favorite Steemians in posting great daily stuff, that's not everybody's game and as I came to realize recently, certainly not mine.
The time commitment is something I cannot currently manage and what's more, making something obligatory by imposing the 7 day limit takes away the spontaneous desire to create a meaningful and lasting post.
I'd really like to see a wikipedia-like platform that uses the Steem incentive model, but not limited by arbitrary time-bombs. Like the article I just read on the hummingbird hawk-moth, created step by step by a group of people that would all benefit from my "Like" or "upvote" or whatever.
Now that's something I could really enjoy contributing to, in the gardening and permaculture section at least!
So I've decided to stop posting on Steemit for the time being. Later on, I plan to start using it as an Instagram feed via @Steepshot, which I find quick and easy to use. And I think perfectly aligns with the current Steemit model and the quickly expiring content.
Cheers all and a special thank-you to my Steemit mentor - @pennsif!