Hi, I think that we may have gotten off on the wrong foot.
I was one of the first few people to trickle in here when it began. I attempted mining, but had a few error messages that I wasn't able to tackle, so with an healthy air of skepticism, I began contributing my first posts to a site that I just knew was too good to be true.
My effort was minimal. My attitude, rather smug. But I kept trying. I even sparked some good drama with at least 3 or 4 whales when I first found @fyrstikken's crypto blog, which I just thought was comedy gold, and proceeded to copy/paste one of his articles without sufficient credit being given to the original (it was buried at the bottom of the post). I shared the article on http://wavesplatform.slack.com and naturally fyrstikken saw that I had monetized his writing before he'd had a chance to do so himself. My inner troll said "Dog eat dog" and I proceeded to antagonize his completely reasonable stance against me.
I whole-hardheartedly confess, I was being a complete troll.
@fyrstikken has since posted about the experience describing with all the awesomeness that you've come to know him for, how it was really my trolling that got him to come here out of the need to defend his work; to henceforth be sure that he is imperatively the first one to share his original content right here on Steemit. We are all fortunate for his tireless contributions to this place and the world of crypto.
He had made a point - as did the others who piped in during Steemit's first (and most entertaining) battle of intellectual property rights, who, as it was 3 months ago, were all whales who've only increased in power and reputation. They made some great suggestions about the value of creating unique content.
This experience changed me. I began to focus entirely on original content. I assembled my links and connected my stories to the pictures that would verify my genuine creations. I've created crypto news articles, shared my original photography and told my stories. And even though they haven't paid much, I have been having so much fun meeting new people like @drinkzya :). But I think it has really been a struggle to recover what reputation I must have lost that day, and I am here to request forgiveness. I hope that my apology is accepted :)
I don't need to tell you how big of a deal this place is. I know now, and perhaps if I had delayed my skepticism, things would be slightly different for me. I just want to say thanks for destroying my inner troll and making me into a better person and a more engaging writer. I am being more honest with myself, more open with you and more passionate about creativity and information of all kinds. I used to be a redditor like many of you, but that's all in the past as well. The value of properly curating the content and the incentive to create quality is the heart of Steemit, and I can't think of a better community to stand with.
This place is legit and I am really excited to be a part of it. I'd like to start off on a new foot.
Here's to a new beginning!
Thanks for reading!