I am an environmental project developer and writer living in Ecuador. Many of my friends are writers and activists and they suggested I try out Steemit. When I first looked at the site I wasn't sure what it was about but after some research I discovered its quite a pioneering project. I registered recently and after just two weeks here on Steemit, I had to withdraw what was in my wallet, I was terrified to do this and reluctant to but need to pay the bills so I followed these very helpful instructions courtesy of @illidans https://steemit.com/steemit/@illidans/how-to-cash-out-your-steemit-dollars-to-usd
I am an idiot novice for sure when it comes to cryptocurrency, so I was a bit perplexed after following @illidans instructions how 130 Steem dollars could turn into 5 British pounds, I'd obviously done something wrong. What happened was Poloniex sent only a small portion of the entire amount I requested to be transferred to Coinbase, then @theoretical from the Steemit community advised that I double check my Poloniex account and low and behold I found the rest of it sitting there in Poloniex, duh! Theoretical was correct. For any other floundering novice, I suggest you double check your account at Poloniex as it doesn't send the entire amount you requested straight away, you have to keep checking and send any extra bitcoins left over that you want to convert to Coinbase. Keep checking in Balances, Deposits and Withdrawals in Poloniex. As it turns out converting my Steem dollars to Bitcoins then to British Pounds via Poloniex & Coinbase gives me more value than if I went to a bank and swapped dollars for pounds. Here is proof that if you stick with Steemit you will be rewarded, the Steem dollars really do work, they will in fact be worth more in the future as Steemit grows bigger, isn't that awesome
Like many people when they first join something that sounds too good to be true, there is skepticism there as most things are too good to be true. So I have been very skeptical with Steemit, I even told Steemit to stuff it last weekend, (which I feel really bad about now, I was having a bad day in general, I am not usually so quick to judge, It was a combination of not fully understanding the system and how it works and me just being disgruntled because I think everyone should prioritize environmental topics, blah, blah). I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to Steemit and explain to other newcomers why Steemit is truly AWESOME and a great opportunity especially for activists and writers. I have seen the end product in a very short time span of a few weeks and the rewards of how Steemit works. I am quite amazed at how cool the whole system is, not only that but for a long time I have been wanting to get into cryptocurrency but have never had any spare cash to invest because I am an environmental project worker and have never had any extra funds. Steemit is the real deal and not too good to be true, so leave all skepticism here right now and let's go full steam ahead and learn why Steemit is so amazing!
ONE. Steemit is an incredibly empowering tool and opportunity especially for activists and writers that are passionate about the causes they are dedicated to but rarely get offered a good contract for their work. Being an activist and writer are two things that usually go hand in hand and its tough out there for those of us that are dedicated to our cause. Most social justice or environmental journalists or activists are expected to write for free for NGOs and most websites only reward you by promoting your article and either don't pay you or think that providing a link to your website will help. Steemit is the place for activists and writers of all kinds.
TWO. On Steemit you can publish what ever you want (as long as its your own material) and you will get some revenue from it, some articles may do better than others, it takes sometime to understand the system but for the most part it will be worth your while reading up on how it all works. Here is a good introduction on Steemit made simple courtesy of @mindover
https://steemit.com/steem-help/@mindover/steemit-made-simple-everything-you-need-to-know-to-get-started-updated-and-expanded
THREE. Steemit is open source, therefore unlike Facebook, you will not get censored for what you write and you still generate currency for yourself, some anarchists have generated thousands of dollars from just one single post, that is truly testimonial to how open minded the Steemit community is, where else would that ever happen on the net? Steemit also promotes kindness and caring for the community, everyone wins in the Steemit community.
FOUR. Everytime I have ran into a technical problem, people are always quick to help, its a proper community and people do care. If you have any technical issues, either do a search in Steemit as most of what people find as an issue has already been solved by someone else or just make a post about it, last week I had some issues with actual posting and someone commented and helped solve things straight away. And today, I was very nervous to withdraw from the Steemit wallet in case any fuck ups happened and when I got stuck I made a post and asked the Steemit community and another kind person advised me to. So people here are very quick to help.
FIVE. There is no where else on the internet that supports writers and content creators from all walks of life in the way that Steemit does. Steemit is empowering a community of creative geeks, visionaries and entrepreneurs. Not only that but you meet some amazing people on Steemit, I have met some incredible people here already.
SIX. Steemit promotes creativity throughout its community, it is not only an empowering tool for writers and activists that are censored elsewhere on the internet. Steemit is about rewarding everyone who is part of contributing to the social network and is designed to reward all who join and participate in the Steemit community, people who join to read other articles can earn Steem dollars as curators of good content by Upvoting or Downvoting and commenting is also valuable on an article, curators get rewarded as valuable members of the community, everyone that participates in Steemit gets paid in Steem Power and Steem Dollars which can then be converted into Bitcoin or other cryptocurrency as well as to USD, Euros or Pounds Sterling.
SEVEN. If you are living in a foreign country as a writer its often restrictive as to who you can write for if you are not working in your home country. With Steemit, it doesn't matter where you live, you can still earn from your writing. If you have lived on tortillas and beans for ten years in some third world country like me, because you have been dedicated to a cause, you will find that Steemit is an amazing way to survive from writing about what you love if you are working on some social justice or environmental project in the middle of nowhere, if you have access to the internet you can still earn writing about your work or project which would provide a more steady income than a once upon a time crowdfunding venture.
EIGHT. Steemit is the best way to introduce yourself to cryptocurrency. Most people are terrified because they don't know how cryptocurrency works to invest or dabble in it. The Steemit community are extremely helpful in supporting you to learn how to do this, if it wasnt't for joining Steemit I would have never have learned my way around sites such as Poloniex or Coinbase if it wasn't for other contributors explaining how to do this on Steemit.
NINE. Steemit is a lifeline out of destitution for activists, a lot of activists are financially targeted or marginalized by those trying to repress their work or the cause they believe in. I wrote a book last year which I self published about how corporate corruption is driving ecocide and how Free energy could end ecocide and poverty, since then I went into complete destitution. I know now that Steemit is my lifeline and am so grateful for this.
TEN. Disengage from the archaic machine of mainstream society that rejects those that have solutions, innovations and visions that go against the agenda of the 1 per cent elite. Join the Steemit revolution! If you join Steemit and stick with it, you will be part of something that is rapidly building momentum and will be very powerful and that is opening the eyes of novices like me, to the awesomeness of cryptocurrency at the same time as empowering people who love writing and allowing everyone to have a voice. Full Steem Ahead. Lets put the Unity in Community with Steemit!
Steemit promotes kindness
by Carlita Shaw
Ecologist, Author, Activist
The Silent Ecocide, a crisis of human consciousness is a book available on Amazon in hardback or kindle
https://www.amazon.com/Silent-Ecocide-Environmental-Crisis-Consciousness/dp/1512365718