FOR THE NEW STEEMIANS - - Kindly read and share your thoughts

Steemit is a social news service which runs a blogging and social networking website on top of a Blockchain database known as steem.

HISTORY

The steemit website was launched March, 2016 and has grown to have over 170,000+ members as at may 2017. The language content is mainly available in English language and some other languages.

Steemit was founded in 2016 by Ned Scott and Dan Larimer, creator of Bitshares. On March 15, 2017 Dan Larimer announced his resignation from the company.

CONCEPT

Steem also reaches decentralized consensus differently than Bitcoin. It uses a method called 'delegated proof of stake' where block-creating accounts, called witnesses, are elected by Steem stakeholders. Instead of relying on proof of work to find blocks, the Steem network actively schedules these accounts to improve the time between blocks to 3 seconds. Block producers are given a small part of the rewards created in each block; the rest is paid to authors and curators.

Steem has no transaction fees for rate limiting or to pay its block producers. Instead, accounts uses bandwidth, which replenishes fast enough that a typical user is not affected or limited.

While steemit.com is the first and reference front-end website interface for the blockchain content of Steem, the network's open and permissionless nature allows third-party websites and apps to connect and interact with the Steem database.

The Steem blockchain has two tokens: STEEM and Steem Dollars.

STEEM

The Steem token is the network's base token. It is traded on multiple cryptocurrency exchanges and markets. Its market value determines the value of the pool of rewards paid by Steem. Its value also backs the value of Steem Dollars.

STEEM POWER
Steem Power (commonly abbreviated SP) is Steem that has been entered into a smart contract and represents the amount of influence an account has compared to the rest of the network. The more SP an account has, the higher influence its vote has on posts or comments. SP also determines an account's weight for witness approval voting.

Accounts are created with a small amount of deposited Steem in the form of SP. Content creators have the option to choose post rewards of 100% SP instead of the default 50% liquid currency (a combination of Steem and Steem Dollars) and 50% SP. Users and investors also have the option of converting liquid Steem into Steem Power, called powering up.

SP cannot be transferred or traded directly, but the account owner can choose to withdraw liquid Steem in weekly payments at a rate of up to 1/13th of the account's total SP This is called powering down. The account will lose its voting influence in proportion to the Steem withdrawn.

STEEM DOLLAR
The Steem Dollar (commonly abbreviated SBD) is an asset intended to be pegged to the United States Dollar. Steem Dollars can be traded at cryptocurrency exchangers, and used for payment for goods and services.

There is an internal market on the Steem blockchain and integrated in the Steemit website where Steem can be traded with Steem Dollars and vice-versa. Steem Dollars can be converted into an equivalent-value amount of Steem in a process that takes 3.5 days.

Steem Dollars which are held receive an interest rate. This rate is set as a variable collectively by Steem witnesses. As of March 2017 this rate is 2% annually. If Steem Dollars are being traded below parity with the US dollar and the supply of Steem Dollars is not too high relative to the liquid Steem supply, the interest rate may rise.

Wallet
The Wallet page on Steemit shows the tokens belonging to an account. The web-based wallet allows network transfers of Steem Dollars and Steem. Additionally it has controls for powering up or down, transferring liquid tokens to and from savings balances, and conversion of Steem Dollars to Steem . Savings balances are provided as a security measure and take 3 days for a withdraw.

Rewards
Post and comment rewards are split 75% to the author and 25% to the curators. A 50/50 split of Steem Power and liquid tokens are awarded to authors and commenters 7 days after a post or comment is made. 100% Steem Power rewards are optional for posts. Post authors can also choose to decline payouts.