I think for someone starting out the answer is easy. Since the app itself is run on programming designed by an outside party, functionality should be essentially the same and the community built here at steemit, where you have contact with members, all the way up to the founders and a completely transparent ledger, showing you exactly how stable the economy is,makes it unique. As to block chain, I am sure there are intricacies I fail to understand, but it seems to me, that provided the system is stable and secure, the rest will work itself out, since it is directly in the interest of every member to improve the system, since they directly benefit from it.
As a side note, I think Heat Ledger may have close up shop, so it would probably not be in contention for your future projects.