My Reason for using STEEM is...

...because I needed a place to leave shards of documentation that, to me, represent what my life has been.

Now, I know that does not interest many people other than myself, but with the world changing as fast as it is, the speed at which our personal records are created and deleted electronically, and how likely it is that our personal "paper trail" will be tossed out with the old newspapers after our demise, I now have a solution.

By now, any cognizant being probably realizes that STEEMIT's distributed Blockchain is going to be around for a very long time. It was a moment of enlightenment when I realized that STEEMIT is a perfect place to keep the more harmless part of my archives; those parts that may be of interest to distant relations someday. Imagine a hundred or more years from now when some distant offspring could read about you and learn something of your life and your environment, including the daily not-so-interesting drivel we all put up with without even focusing on it. That would be a gold mine to a distant relation doing research on their family or friends!

I have been doing genealogical research on my family and have been constantly frustrated at the missing records - even official ones destroyed through deterioration, accident, war, or just plain lost. While doing that, the little light bulb over my head came on and, "STEEM", I thought. Why not make apersonal archive on Steem? No one will bother reading it anyway, so why not make better use of my time and create a personal archive and story on STEEM?

This platform is ideal for keeping documentation for routine things. Just as for Edgar Allan Poe's Purloined Letter, the best place to keep something important is in plain sight with other visible things. The decision seems too obvious, but I don't have to worry about how to create my own niche on the Blockchain: just ignore what everyone else is scrambling for and do something worthwhile to me. That sets my modus operandai.

Now, if there is anyone who wants to read my postings, maybe I can find a few genuine followers and new friendsi with the same interests. The opportunity is there for everyone since each person knows something unique about his or her own life and does not have to resort to reporting the daily market statistics or technical news along with fifty others doing the same thing. Besides, those things have a lifespan of about one minute before they become useless clutter.

Yep, there will be those who think it's a dumb idea, but it is also not necessary to share that opinion with me. There are also quite a few who just do not like to write and that's okay. Then don't.

Those of us who are new to STEEM will probably never be on top of the reputation list because those who started at the beginning - the Whales - will remain at the top of the food chain, so don't waste your time. And by all means, ignore all the bots wanting to "give" you upvotes and make you highly popular. Don't worry about earning a fast, easy fortune, because you cannot. The chase will lead to frustration and you may lose interest in this opportunity. If you don't have a technical background, you cannot compete with the gear heads because they play in another game you do not have the skills for. If you do not have piles of unneeded money, you cannot compete with those who buy their meaningless reputation numbers here. Forget about all of that.

What you do is to focus on doing the things you know about, and that is yourself, your own life, and your own surroundings. Tell about those things and it will be new to everyone else because they are not YOU.

Meaningful, interesting content appeals to everyone. Your life is far more interesting than you may think, especially to STEEMIANS who live in another country.

Rather than looking around to see what everyone else is doing, you do what interests you because you will be better at that than at anything else. Don't try to be someone you are not. That gets too confusing...just remember that Blockchain content is going to be there long after you wish you had not added some of it into your permanent record (a threat from my early childhood education).

Do what YOU do. Don't waste energy copying other people. Everything you do is part of a picture of yourself, so let your brain be your inspiration and start sharing!

STEEM ON!