A Beginner’s Guide to Steemit/Hive (Crypto Niche)
It is often quite challenging to get acquainted with a new mobile app, web platform, or social media. There is an overwhelming increase in the number of different social media platforms to choose from. Let’s face it; there is a good chance that you not a huge fan of either Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. These three platforms are the most popular social media, yet some of us have not yet understood how things work on either one or two of them. This trend becomes even more profound when looking at the niche-based social media platforms, and Steemit is not any different.
So what exactly is Steemit?
Steemit is a niche-based social media platform that is developed under the blockchain technology. Steemit has a distributed database that is based on blockchain technology and offers its users rewards in the form of cryptocurrency. It is a unique social network since it is designed to reward all its users using the sophisticated technology that lies underneath. Steemit combines cryptocurrency, social media, and blockchain technology to facilitate the creation and sharing of user content with the aim of building a community.
Over the years, Steemit has grown steadily and continued to attract new users across the world. And why is it so?
Well, good question.
Steemit is not like the usual social media platform. Unlike Facebook and its counterparts, Steemit pays it, users, to engage, create content, and participate in different site-related activities. How cool is that? Steemit rewards its users with two different types of cryptocurrencies known as Steem Power and Steem Dollars.
When starting on the platform, you can easily get mixed up with all the terminologies used on it. So to shed some light, let’s dive a little deeper into the platform and analyze how exactly they reward content creators and curators.
How does Steemit Reward its Users?
There exist three different approaches to making money on the platform. One popular approach is the vesting version. This implies that the user), agrees to hold on to the investment for some time. In this approach, the user is rewarded by the STEEM Power, also known as SP. The longer you commit to holding on to the investment and finally convert the investment to SP, you get paid a proportion of the growth of the overall platform. This system is replicated throughout the platform and, thus, the distribution of the rewards to the entire Steemit community.
Another form of reward is in the form of debt. These assets are directly pegged to the US dollar. This is why they are referred to as STEEM Dollars (SBD). These Steem dollars allow users to convert in the market for a specified rate to USD.
Finally, there is STEEM, which is the original stake of the crypto unit of the account. This is similar to other cryptocurrencies like Ether and Bitcoin. STEEM allows you to trade on exchanges and even transfer to others.
A quick guide around the platform
Assuming you have been patient enough (since it can take quite some time up to 5 business days to get your account ready), and gone through the signing up process on the website, let’s get to some of the fun elements of the website
All you will need to do on the site is to create content, promote your postings, and share it all over the platform. This is similar to how other conventional social networks operate. Just like it is on Reddit and Quora, you can upvote and leave comments on other people’s posts as well. All these activities help you gain a following which in turn will earn you more rewards.
You will undoubtedly come across Steemit terms such as Minnows, Dolphins, and Whales on the platform. These are terms used to refer to users on the platform, depending on the amount of SP they have. Although there are no set limits for each of these classes of users, it is evident that the Whales have the most substantial amount of SP, then Dolphins and finally Minnows with the least amount.
Now, the Steemit website has a couple of different pages that you will come across, such as the Posting Page, Permissions Page, Wallet Page, and Account Homepage. The posting page has nothing you have never met before since it comprises a generic word processor with editing elements to help you format your posts, right before publishing. The permissions page can only be accessed via the Wallet Page. The Permissions page outlines different keys you can assume on the account, such as posting key-used to post and memo key– useful in creating and reading memos. Other keys include The Active and Owner keys.
The Wallet page, as the name suggests, shows your balance. It indicates the amount of Steem, Steem Dollars, and Steem Power you have. It also shows the approximate value of your account as well as the transaction history.
Since the goal on this platform is to build an audience that will eventually follow and upvote your posts, it is sometimes necessary to promote your posts. Promoting posts makes it a bit easier for beginners to show their work to a broader audience. This, in return, gives you a better chance of getting more upvotes. To have your post displayed on the promotions page, you will have to pay with SBD.
How do they Reward posts?
Once you start getting those upvotes on your posts, you will be rewarded. The rewards system is structured in a way that the amount earned is dependent on the amount of SP of each user. Once you have a specific dollar valued earned from a post, it is split into two; paying out 50% of the dollar value and SP and the other half as SD. There exist two different payout periods, one lasts for the initial 24hrs of the post, and another is between 1 and 30 days of posting. Recently Steemit also introduced an option that allows users to opt for 100% payouts in SP.
Conclusion
Steemit is a legitimate social platform that allows its users to make some money on the side. Although it is relatively complicated in its core architecture, the UI has been simplified to allow users to have a more interactive feel. Just like any social media out there, it is a bit challenging to earn followers instantly. But with a little dedication, following some or all of the guidelines above, you will be able to enjoy the network and hopefully make some money.