I've been using Steemit for over a year now and I want to share with you what I have learned so far, and some personal observations. Let me start by saying that this is not another milestone post about how grateful I am that I've found Steemit and how it completely changed my life for the better, because, in reality, I can honestly say I envisioned it to become something different, something better. And no, Steemit didn't change my life and I'm still the same person I was last year, the only difference is that I have some crypto in my wallet and I met a couple of new cool people.

This is not a rant, this is an observation.

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Steemit is (no) different.

From Myspace, to Facebook and all the platforms in between, I've always been an active social media user. Some are good, some really suck, but what really gives value to these platforms are the users and how they interact. Steemit is no exception. Yes, Steemit is different, you can make money with it, it's supposed to be decentralized and it holds some unique features, but really, 99.99% of the people who use Steemit come for the money. Please don't forget that! Nothing wrong with it, no need to pretend, it's a simple fact.

Code is king.

Every social media has an official blog or video channel that is updated daily with news about the platform: what has happened, what is going on right now and what to expect in the future. The fact that even after a year online Steemit is still failing to deliver any kind of "direct" news channel just tells me they have no clue what they are doing and they prefer to keep quiet as we try to guess what's going on. It's nice to code and play with computers all day, but where is the social factor social media developers are putting out there? Have they heard of public relations, ever?

Advertisements? Ain't no one got time for that!

Another thing that bugs me is the fact that Steemit does not invest in advertising. It's cool when steamians run ads campaigns on other websites, but this is hardly enough. How do you expect to get noticed and reach millions of new users when no one knows you exist?

$$$: It's not about quality or quantity, it never was, it never will be.

Be honest, how many hours a day you spend reading blogs and interact? One hour, two, maybe three? Maybe you don't have a life and spend all day on Steemit, just like someone who is hooked on Facebook or Instagram? (You do know that's not really healthy for you, right?) Time is precious and it's unrealistic to think people really read every line of your posts. Maybe 1/10 of what is put out there really gets the interaction it deserves. There are simply not enough readers VS authors. In fact​ other authors are your readers.

If you have 10 upvotes, 1 or 2 people really read your posts. Sorry to break it down to you, but if you are not one of the chosen ones, no matter how hard you try you will never reach the trending tab, be a Steemit celebrity or become a whale. You always will have your small crowd of supporters, be thankful you have them. As I mentioned, it's all about the money, and who controls it. Steemit is a blockchain, its purpose is to move money around, while you blog. You can also make big money without posting a single article or comment, just invest in the platform and hope the price will jump.

It's a game.

People will always try to game the system, no matter what. And guess what? There is an elite group of Steemians who run the whole game. Just look at the distribution awards for proof. It's always the same authors that collect the fat payouts even if they post random shitposts. There are so many great authors out there who are using Steemit from the beginning and bring only quality and original content and they struggle to get 20$ out of a post. It's an unfair game, just like in real life: 1% holds 90% of the wealth. Surprised?

Steem is no longer cheap.

Another thing, if you haven't figured it out already, the sooner you join the platform the easier it will be for you to make money. With each passing day, it becomes harder to get bigger chunks of the rewards pool because the elites take away most of it and the fact that the platform is getting bigger is contributing. I used to make 100 Steem from a post worth about 15$. Good luck making 100 Steem now. A year from now it's going to be even harder.

So many nice posts and bots.

A typical Steemit post right now consists of 70% "nice post, follow me" comments, 20% bots and 10% real interaction. I'm not even going to comment on that.

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I think I'll stop here. As with many things in life that sound too good to be true, Steemit is no exception. After one year I still enjoy using it, sometimes something really cool comes along, that blows my mind, and I know Steemit is the only place on the web where this could actually happen. There are many positive things going on around the platform, but they happen mostly because of the communities who get involved. I'm still going to use it, and try to contribute mostly by supporting my favorite authors, but as time passes and more users flock I realize, my best Steemit moments are behind me. I really wish that after one year from now I would be wrong.

Steem on!