Why everyone (but especially artists) should quit FB&co and move to Steemit / My 1 month on Steemit celebration & conclusions

This post is probably more directed to those who are still not on Steemit, I hope that by sharing it on FB, it will help bringing more friends over from the dark side.

If you're still not on Steemit, but you've heard about it from people around you, it probably sounded much like a cult. I admit, it sounded like that to me as well before I joined :D Those sweet words, trying to convince you on the existance of the "promised land", where you make money out of thin air and everybody are happy and loving.
Yes, it sounds suspicious indeed. Especially to a sworn cynic like myself ;D
I was very sceptical and so it took my dear friend @bella-volen-art much convincing to get me to try this platform. And I'm so happy that she did!

Here are a few facts and basic things to know about it:

• You get money for likes. Yes, real money. For each like. It really is possible outside of Zucki's greedy advertisement mind-control world!
• You, and only you, own your content. The platform itself can never use it. It belongs to you alone. Oh and they also don't spy on you and don't eavesdrop on your conversations.
• Steemit will not block your profile or clean up all of your history & followers just because it feels like it/ you didn't buy ads from it/ you said something against it/ you uploaded a painted nipple/ or any other reason for that matter. Your content stays on the blockchain forever.
• You actually see everyone you follow on your feed and make actual interactions with them. It's not only the 5 friends FB decided for you to see. And not aimlessly liking any random shitpost on your wall. Here you see everyone and write minningful comments to them (oh yeah, those can make you money too!).
• Steemit is built in a way that forces you to be social. As of that, people are helping eachother, promoting eachother, teaching eachother, inspiring eachother and learning from eachother. It's a REAL community.
• Oh, and did I mention that you get money? Not only you're not being shoved with constant advertisements, but you are the one being rewarded for uploading your valuable content. Finally!

And this is why I wrote "especially artists" in my headline-

The last few years have been extremely tough for artists, in many different fields. Prices have sunked to near zero, clients not really willing to pay and so many artists who want the world to see their work are willing to publish it for free, or even worse- by paying the platforms / magazines!
As freelancers, it is anyway tough to survive, bills are usually higher and not always you manage to score enough jobs that would help you finish the month, not to talk about chasing clients for your payments, which happens so often...
The Steemit comunity values good content. It values art. It helps artists, both by rewarding them and by building up their confidence.
Since I am here, I've found such incredible support, that had totally overwhelmed me. I'm feeling appreciated & valude.
In this 1 short month that I'm here, Steemit inspired me to create more, to try different things, to share my art without hesitation. It helped me raise money for my favourite charity (which hopefully soon will have a steemit account of it's own) and helped me focus on my art, without having the usual financial worries.

I am grateful to Steemit for showing me that the world could be a better place, that better societies could be built. It kinda gave me a bit of hope for humanity.

And here is the place to thank those who are supporting me from day one here, their support means so much to me, as my wonderful Steemit experience would not have been the same without them: @mammasitta & @zeroooc of #team-austria & @techslut of team #israsteem . Thank you guys from the bottom of my heart! Sending you all big giant warm virtual hugs (though Austrians, I will get to hug you for real tomorrow! Can't wait for my first meetup ^_^).

And in the spirit of the Steemit community, now it's my turn to give back and that's why I posted my first Givaway yesterday (go check it out :) ).

I love the Steemit world & I hope that this post will help enrich the community with more amazing talents. I am willing to help with all of the newbie questions to the best of my knowledge! :D

Here is for the coming wonderful Steemit future,
Thank you for reading!

Happily yours,
Shlomit

Formation, 2016, by Shlomit Schatzmayr
This image was originally published in the Floodland issue of the art magazine Abridged and will also be included in my upcoming book "DreamLand". I found it most fitting to this post, as it is dealing with the forming of a new world.