I have been on steemit for roughly the same amount of time that you have and I couldn't agree more! There is so much potential on here not only to earn money but like you said develop out other skills. On average every one of my posts has writing, photos, gifs and a video forcing me to develop all of those skills, learn about new software and technology and understand where my weaknesses are.

Steemit is still in beta but the potential for it to change the way media and social media operator is undeniable. To the future!!!