Great topic for a new competition, I really like it. Upvote and resteem.

See, that's what I mean with "I judge people by the stories they have to tell". Great read, thanks for this. Give us more! :)

I came to Steemit to be a part of the experience of building a social media platform based on blockchain technology. I think blockchain is THE wave of the future and I did not come her to make money. There are easier ways to get rich.

 I noticed you made references to you age..I'm "old" too, in relation to probably the majority of Steemit users, but being GenX makes me look forward to, and be willing to do the work.  I enjoy reading long posts and interacting with the community created here, and I find this technology fascinating despite all of the single posts with only one image or a video, and no content.  I think those activities will fade away as folks looking only for a quick buck learn the hard way. Cheers to us in the Pacific Northwest, too, @demarkguy!

I believe the idea here is that if they get rich quick, they can then become richer because people follow the money. I suppose to some extent that is true, but the one thing they have not built by taking the short-cuts is the social aspect of this platform. What they have created is a following that is just like them... only after the money and nothing more. I believe that money is just a small part of being happy. We are social creatures, so to have real friends that you can interact with and support each other is worth far more than a quick buck.

Those who made their following with the short-cut method will find that in times of trouble where they may have lost all their money, their following has also disappeared. Real friends will be there for you even if you don't have 2 cents to rub together!

Thanks for the information sir.

It seems the steemit veterans are posting more and more about this very topic.. 
> *let people buy results, rather than earn them through time*

I couldn't agree more with you. Some hold a strong belief that the quicker we grow the more likely people are to stay. Others argue the slow growth allows for development of better writers. It also  reveals which  members are here for the long term gain despite the short term pain. 

I see it as such, those that take the time to find true readers will succeed regardless of who comes and goes. You for example write excellent contest with thoughtful questions and receive comments some of us only dream of receiving.

>  I compare it to my post  and find mostly bots upvote or auto votes and actual readers are minimal. 

Which is great because it tells me that I still have work to do, I still have to spend time curating and meeting new people on the platform to contect with. 

It also tells me that the auto votes are little tokens of encouragement that keeps me motivated despite the slow grow. 

I really like this community and its potential. I also understand it's a virtual world. I want to be balanced and not put to much time and effort in one and allow the other to suffer. 

So to end my ramble, i think this community attracts users that will stay and users that will go. However, I have notice that those that stay at least a year have learned the value of hard work and benefit from it each time they post.

Do you agre? What are your thoughts? Am I missing the point?

Yes Einstein was right, Re("The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result."). The dissaperence of the ancient tradition like passing down information by the older generation, is more or less gone today, or al least not very effective seen from my perspective. That is what this ever changing world/society has ended up as!, and I think this is a very dangerous rute for our World/society to take, because that means we will probably do the same mistakes again, because we never got the knowledge by the "elderly people" or older generation. Parallels can be drawn for the creation of a good steemit invironment with long lasting value. I agree with you denmarkguy and I think the "steemit community" need to listen when wisdom is shared :-)
Thanks for posting an important topic

I like the way you think, this is a fantastic way to look at steemit. I would much rather have something of long-term value and am definitely finding that is much more to my style here!

Maybe I'm just getting OLD-- or "old fashioned"-- but I just don't see how you can expect to build something permanent and of lasting value through the use of a bunch of "quick gimmicks" and "schemes."

The part of my "being old" that perhaps could be characterized as "wisdom and experience" looks at that and says "It has been tried a thousand times before, and it didn't work THEN... and it's unlikely to work NOW."- I completely agree with this. To produce a meaningful and lasting change, you need to work towards a goal consistently and constantly work hard. I don't think using gimmicks is bad but yes I do believe, these shortcuts often distract you from quality and make you focus on quantity only which is why many of us who work hard to produce good quality work don't gain the recognition they deserve. One thing more, how fast we achieve results also depends on how fast we want to get there. If someone wants something real bad, he is likely to put in more effort than someone who wants it 50% less. As for me, I like to leave a permanent mark on the world and for that I make sure to do something meaningful consistently. Blogging here on Steemit is one of those things. Really liked your post btw!