Steem seems to be gaining steam! (1000 followers update:)

(I felt like sharing a lil of my work on this post.. So.. Here's one of my pride and joy images, however this is the raw unedited version so there's some lines and a lot of defects and the colors aren't quite right.. I should work on this image again soon cause it's a great shot in my opinion!)

Hey peoples who happen to read this.
Just reached 1000 the other day and as usual I like to make a post on here every so many followers to sort of express my thoughts on the platform and my personal experiences so far.
I've noticed quite a few people tell me they appreciate these posts I make, yet I'm not sure if I should use the #introduceyourself tag anymore cause I saw a bot warning someone else not to.

And.. I really dunno what the rules are in regards to that? Can anyone tell me? I thought it was okay for certain exceptions and I thought one of those exceptions was when you get a certain amount of followers.
Perhaps that's not okay anymore? Maybe it never was and I just thought it was and copied other people who I saw do it first?
I'm not sure..

Anyways.. Moving on.
Took me almost a year to get to 1000, I signed up this previous September and apparently I saw someone else on here who got that within a month!
So.. Lol.. Guess I'm not doing that great, but I'm keeping at it.

Furthermore.. When my account is worth around $6,000 I have two friends..
One that signed up a month or two after me and one that invited me to the platform who I think was already here for a month or two before I arrived.. And both of their accounts are worth around $20,000 when mine is $6,000...
So.. Really confused on that one! I feel like they must have bought some steem with physical dollars.
Just not sure how both of them could have almost like 3 times as much.. But.. Maybe I just don't watch their pages close enough and they're really killing it.

It's hard to figure out how well I'm doing on here sometimes and perhaps I shouldn't compare myself with others that much, but I do wanna figure this stuff out and understand it more.

And now it seems like steem is gaining steam cause I check other blog posts on here pretty often and I dunno what the stats are right now but..
A lil while ago people were claiming thousands were signing up a day.. And I think there's around 200 thousand active users? I could be wrong..
But.. That's still quite a ways from Facebooks 2 billion active monthly users.. Yet it's exciting to watch it grow, and I have a feeling it will some day compete with other big social media.

It's especially cool to see some big YouTubers and people from other social media jumping on board, sometimes those people have more followers on their respective media than steemit has active users all together!
So.. There's definitely a lot of room for growth and I think it will grow.

However.. I am still slightly suspicious. Where did the original funding for steemit come from? I asked at least one before and never got an answer.
I admit this could be one of the most genius scams ever, but I don't believe it is.. Or else I wouldn't have advocated it to so many people and encouraged them to join.
Yet I still think it's possible there could be something deeper going on here that most people don't realize and perhaps don't WANT to realize because they are making money.

It's very common for people to lose sense of right and wrong when they are benefiting. They often look the other way so that they keep benefiting in those ways.
Some people think steem and other crypto currencies are here to lead us into a cashless society which they fear.
They claim those in power will be able to shut off anyone's account at the touch of a button.. Yet.. I think it's sort of unavoidable that we're moving in this direction and I'm not scared like those people are.
I welcome new better technology, though I do think we need to be careful and wary as we go into new territory.

I'd like to ask again.. Does anyone really know where the initial funding for steemit came from?
Is there a name or names for these wealthy investors? Or are they kept secret? I'm curious. -.-

I think the recent hard-fork helped a lot! But I still feel like there are some problems with the whale system and I've seen some very valid complaints about how some people seem to be gaming the system.
Hopefully those things can be worked out, I think this is a beautiful idea and would be saddened to see it ruined by the vultures and predators and selfish manipulators.

I never made a penny on Facebook or anywhere but YouTube and only made like $4.00 on there in around the same amount of time I've been on steemit!
When my account was worth the most it was $6,500, that's insanely more than I ever made on YouTube.
Definitely not enough to make a living on even if I could pull it out at will.. Yet, clearly superior to YouTube.
And it's amazing to get something back for all the energy I put out all the time.
I did all this stuff for free and never really expected any money back, but now that it's happening.. I'm like heck yeah! :D

Thanks a bunch to roadscape who helped a bunch recently with my fathers images and mine.
I don't know if you're suppose to thank the whales or if that's sort of taboo.
I imagine that a number of people game the system by befriending whales, yet.. I don't wanna give the impression that I'm doing that.

This entire almost year here I've mostly only had two whales regularly upvote my stuff, and I haven't seen the other one in a while.. berniesanders.
I wonder if I scared him/her off with my weird conspiracy posts! Heh..
But either way.. I am very grateful for their support, especially roadscape's recently, it made a big difference in my morale to see my fathers art work given such respect on this platform.

I don't know when I'll cash out, and at first I wasn't thinking about it at all and planned to hold it for like ever, but... It's a dream of mine to pay off my father's house which he owes around $100,000 on the mortgage..
So if my account ever gets to be worth that much.. I'll be really tempted to cash out, even though I feel like.. I wanna hold it even longer.
I feel like steem might eventually be worth much much more. And if I sold it then at $100,000.. I could lose a lot of potential!
Though.. I would really love to pay my parents back like that.. They gave me life and taugh me good morals, and I think most kids wanna help their parents in a way like that.. To buy them a new house or something.. I'd just like to help them pay off the one they already have! If I could do that for them, it would be one of the most important things I ever did in my life..
So that is on my mind, and if my account ever gets worth that much I'll probably get really nervous! Lol.

If that ever does happen, and I do end up paying off the house from my efforts here on steemit.. Then I would say steemit was one of the most important things that happened to me in my life because it helped me reach one of my most important goals..
I've seen others pretty much crying and breaking down in tears because of how much steem has helped them..
This system really could in my eyes be an amazingly revolutionary idea that changes the lives of countless people for the better.

I hope that is what happens, to an extent it already has! Though as I said, I am still a lil uncertain and questioning of all this stuff. I'm a very skeptical person and it takes a lot for me to say 100% about almost anything..
Though.. What's clear right now is.. Steemit has already helped a bunch of people.
Even if it ends up being one of the most genius scams in the history of the world, then would still be a scam that helped a lot of people.

I've seen people with their steem efforts buy new computers, pay for their rent and medical bills and emergencies and all kinds of things..
It really does seem like a miracle idea at times and it even gives me some hope back in humanity and in a world I see as being in a very dark place.
Maybe steemit will help us move into a more free and fair and beautiful new world.. I am hopeful and optimistic and very open to the possibility!

And even if steemit did end up being some sort of scam or conspiracy.. I've met so many awesome people on here..
And shared my artwork and ideas to receptive people who then also helped me learn and understand the world better..
I mean.. It's just been totally worth it. Even if I never cash out and I never make a cent.
Just being a part of this community.. Is a prize and a reward within itself that is extremely valuable regardless of any other attached component/benefit.

So.. I guess to end this update.. Thank you to all of you awesome people here on steemit who have made me feel welcome here.
Coming from other social media like Facebook, this is just a totally different world.
I've only interacted with a few people who I didn't get along with well on here and they never were so immature or stooped so low that they trolled my entire page like happens on Facebook.. Or elsewhere, like YouTube.. The trolls are horrible!

This place is almost troll free,(AT LEAST IN MY EXPERIENCE, I have seen others deal with some trolls) the nature of it almost seems to promote more respect and principled interaction.. It's beautiful. I love it.
This site is worth it to me just for that alone.. Just for the awesome people. :)
Cheers to all of you and thanks for being a breath of fresh air!

(A picture of me when I was younger.. I didn't really know how to smile back then..)

(A more recent picture, I know how to smile now. :)

PS.. If you didn't know.. I mostly post nature photos and random thoughts about life, but I also make movies, if you'd like to check one of them out I will put a couple links below!

And I hope to have AYOT part 2 out soon! Plus a number of other videos, I've been working hard and looking forward to sharing some more good content before too much longer! :) I also want to release some no copyright videos in the future that anyone can use for their stuff, but that's going to take a lil while.
Mmmkay.. I think that's enough for now. Seeya later!