Thanks for asking that **@whatsup!**

I'm just a few days from my 2nd anniversary here, and I wanted to take on this topic because I believe it's important that we overcome a possible misperception that Steem and the Steemit community is just about developers and cryptocurrencies and blockchainiacs... and not for "real people."

If we're going to present some kind of "mass appeal," we have to present this place through the eyes of *"regular social media users."*

So, with no further ado:

<p>
<img src="https://i.imgur.com/7IrpWro.jpg" alt="Sunset" /><br />
<em>The beauty of a northern sunset</em></p>

## *How did you hear about Steem?*

Friend of mine was exploring various Universal Basic Income initiatives and asked me to take a look at an article. He sent me a link, and the article just *happened to* be published on Steemit. 

<p>
<div class="pull-left">
<p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/Y0fY4he.jpg" alt="Flowers" /><br />
<em>The promise of spring</em></p>
</div>
</p>
At this point, I don't even *remember* the name of the UBI project, but I found myself intrigued by the high quality level of interaction in the *comment* section and decided to poke around here, a bit. And was further intrigued.

*Ironically,* I reported back to my friend and asked, *"Yeah, but what about this STEEMIT place?"*

*"Nah, that's scam,"* he replied, *"stay away from that!"*

I asked him *why* he thought it was a scam... and evidently, he'd been part of the (then) recently closed down TSU community, and had decided that *any* site offering to pay contributors for content was *"a scam."*

## *When did you join?*

January 29th, 2017.

## *Why did you join?  (What was the attraction?)*

Several reasons. 

After a long hiatus, I was ready to resume *"general interest blogging"*, which I did quite a lot of between 1999 and 2006. I was a mainstay on Xanga, which was a pretty amazing *"Social Blogging"* community that actually hosted 32 *million* blogs at its peak. The genre was pretty much destroyed by MySpace, but more significantly by Facebook... because those two basically took the *content* out of social media and turned the entire genre into fluff.

<p>
<div class="pull-right">
<p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/MHUIqcc.jpg" alt="Flowers" /><br />
<em>Bright yellow calendula</em></p>
</div>
</p>

So I was basically *ready* to start a new blog. With that said...

Steemit had the "feel" of that type of Social Blogging. Not just fluff. Above average level of respect and interaction. Intelligent discourse. Alternative viewpoint existing side by side... rather than the petty infighting and skirmishes I had grown tired of on Facebook... especially in the wake of the 2016 US Presidential campaigns and elections.

The other attraction was the suggestion of the blockchain as a *"permanent record."* 

Part of what had put me off starting as a contributor on yet another content site was my experience that they all seem to fail and shut down after a few months of years. And — as a *content creator* — I'm *sick to death* of constantly backing, up and porting my stuff around... and then having to *start all over.* 

## *Have you expanded your crypto life beyond just Steem?*

Before joining Steemit, I was mildly familiar with Bitcoin having been introduced to it as "digital money" in 2013... when I determined it was *"too technical"* to deal with. I was also peripherally aware of Ethereum because a friend worked briefly on it.

As for expanding, I have a small amount of Bitcoin and Litecoin. 

As a side note here: I never held any of these as an *investment,* I held them in anticipation of them growing into *true currencies* that would become a method-of-payment on a broader scale. 

In many ways, I think the entire industry needs to do a lot of *"image repair" to shed the perception in the broader public that cryptos are purely *ultra high risk investments,* not something more functional and tangible.

<p>
<img src="https://i.imgur.com/s0dbj1V.jpg" alt="Sunset" /><br />
<em>Sun reflecting on water</em></p>

## *How would you explain your current interest in Steem and Crypto in general?*

In many ways, I am still true to the roots of why I got here:

1.	I believe in the idea of social content communities where contributors get rewarded for content.
2.	I believe in systems that can facilitate some variation of Universal Basic Income
3.	I am interested in developing "alternative economies" based around peer-to-peer commerce using something other than fiat and a bunch of intermediaries.
4.	I really like the potential of cryptos to "bank the unbanked" in parts of the world experiencing political/economic instability.
5.	I still like the idea of the Steem blockchain as a permanent repository for some of my creativity. I like the idea that my grandkids — at age 50 — might be able to look here an get a sense of *What G'Pa was doing 40 years ago.*
6.	I would like to see our community expand into something that includes an internal eBay/craigslist/Amazon-like marketplace where we can all trade goods and services with each other, independently of the fiat world.
7.	In a *small* way (and this is *SEVENTH ON THE LIST!*) I like the idea of "building stake" as a sort of long-term savings account that also enables me to reward other content creators for providing value to the community.

<p>
<img src="https://i.imgur.com/CnoSJVu.jpg" alt="Sunset" /><br />
<em>Another pretty sunset</em></p>

## *Are you holding or investing  (no judgment here, I am just wanting to prove or disprove the value)*

I guess by your measure I would be *"holding."* 

My "investment" is in *community building* and trying to create economic/financial systems for the future. And when I say "future," I mean 5, 10, 25 years down the road. 

If I actually *had* any money to invest, I'd probably toss $10K or so in here simply for the purpose of having more voting power to distribute to a larger circle of worthy contributors. 

Unfortunately, I *don't* so that's not really *on* the table. But asking the question in a hypothetical situation where I wasn't on food stamps and public assistance, *yes, I would invest.* 

***Clarification:*** "Investing," to me, means buying something and holding it for the long term. It does NOT mean *"seeking current income."* ***/end clarification***

---

OK, I believe that hits your main talking points. 

I'm taking the liberty of tagging **@elipowell,** our new "ship's captain," and **@andrarchy,** whom I think still checks in now and then... because this community is *very diverse.* 

Thanks for reading!

***Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation!***

<p><center>
<img src="https://i.imgur.com/KqTEpgi.jpg" alt="PHC Logo" /><br />
</center></p>

*(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for Steemit)
Created at 190123 17:15 PST*
***0860***