The Steem token is pumping - but, what is Steem and Steemit all about?

It always looks good when a token is pumping, and maybe you have seen the token Steem pump on cryptocurrency exchanges such as Poloniex and Binance. Often that makes people curious, what is Steem and Steemit all about? Is it worth investing in? I will not answer the latter question in this article, but I will share briefly with you what Steem and Steemit are all about.

An introduction to Steem and Steemit.

Steem and Steemit are blockchain-based platforms that were designed to enable content creation, curation, and social interaction while rewarding participants with cryptocurrency tokens. Here's a brief overview of each:

1. Steem:

   • Blockchain: Steem is a blockchain, which means it's a distributed ledger technology similar to Bitcoin and Ethereum. It was developed to facilitate social media interactions and content creation while using a cryptocurrency token called STEEM.
   • Cryptocurrency: The STEEM token is used within the Steem ecosystem to incentivize and reward users for their contributions, such as creating content, curating content, and participating in the platform.
   • Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS): Steem uses a Delegated Proof of Stake consensus mechanism, where users vote for a set of delegates (witnesses) who validate transactions and secure the network.
   • Fast Transactions: It is known for its fast transaction processing times, enabling microtransactions and quick content rewards.

2. Steemit:

   • Platform: Steemit is a social media platform built on top of the Steem blockchain. It was one of the first and most prominent applications to use the Steem blockchain.
   • Content Creation and Curation: On Steemit, users can create and share content, such as blog posts and articles, and other users can upvote and curate the content they like.
   • Rewards: Users earn STEEM tokens based on the popularity and quality of their content, as determined by the community's upvotes and downvotes.
   • Decentralized: It aimed to provide a decentralized alternative to traditional social media platforms by allowing users to have more control over their content and earnings.

It's important to note that the popularity and success of Steemit and Steem have varied over time. They faced some controversies and challenges, and the cryptocurrency space is rapidly evolving.

Steem went through a giant fork splitting the chain into Steem and Hive. Both are now living different lives and the connection is close to nothing between the two platforms. Since then, Steem has connected to Tron (which own the Steem blockchain), resulting in Steemit users also earning TRX tokens by publishing at the platform.