Hi all, 
I am just learning about Steem and trying to understand it better. Can you let me know if my understanding is correct? Any more comments? 

To me, the traditional media value chain model is: content creator <--> publisher <--> ad agents <--> ad buyers <--> content consumers. In other words, content consumers is the one eventually pay the content creator by buying the ad buyer's product or idea. All other parties in the chain are middlemen and benefit from the content creator's work. 

A new trend is that content consumer directly pay the content creator and the platform. This is popular in platforms such as Wechat and Weibo, who create a 'Reward' button under a post for consumers to reward the content creator if they like what they read. Another similar model is fd.zaih.com, where people can pay someone to answer a question. 

The Steem model is that consumers 'pay' creators by upvoting them. Both consumer and creator want to improve the platform and attract more users. The goal is one day there will be enough users that users use Steem coin as their payment methods. 

Is my understanding correct? Are there more revenue streams or potential revenue streams?  

Thank you! 

Please don't be harsh if I am wrong. I am just getting started. Thank you~  :)