Actually, it's Steemit hitting the news this time.

Three days ago, I wrote an article Crypto hitting the news! because I saw an article about Steemit.

I've just read another article about Steemit - SteemFest2 to be precise. Here's my article on THAT article.

The article I read can be found Here

"Ooh!" I thought. "This is about SteemFest2! I must read it!"

Hmm...

Ned Scott, a 27-year-old former-financial-analyst-turned-tech-entrepreneur who looks remarkably, well, normal.

This remark is what first caught my attention. The writer of the article seems to have gone to SteemFest2 with the pre-conceived ideas that he’d be like a fish out of water because he’s ‘normal’. I’m not quite sure what he’d be expecting… perhaps a crowd of pale, socially awkward introverts who don’t get out into ‘real life’ often?

Quite a lot of this article rubbed me the wrong way. Maybe it was that first observation that did it – or maybe it was the rest of the judgmental comments?

I’ve spoken to a few members of this Steemit journey and I haven’t encountered many (if any) who has the sole ambition of becoming as rich as Ned. Yeah, of course it would be awesome, but so would winning the lottery… and almost as unlikely.

The writer goes on to say how much we all paid to attend SteemFest2 as ‘devotees’. What he doesn’t say is that most didn’t hand over that fee in actual fiat $ - it was, by and large, earned on, and paid for, using the platform itself. My pocket wasn’t hit to the tune of $1500, that’s for sure!

The crowd erupts in whoops and cheers, raising their phones to snap photos of Steemit’s leader, who looks down fondly on his flock.

I actually verbalised my opinion at that – “You condescending TWAT!”

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And I think I’ve found the cause for this viewpoint.

Plus, we’ve been posting on Steemit for little more than a year and our estimated account value sits at around $1900.

Right there.

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Still, even if our contributions to Steemit eventually earn us just a single, shiny dollar, that’s a gold coin more than we ever earned posting memes on Facebook.

Finally, a point that is not made enough.

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Here, virtual greed is good, and if you can convince yourself that a website built on a cryptocurrency is going to change the world, then you’ll fit right in.

Went and spoiled it though…

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Then we come to the crux of the matter.

It was Scott who reached out to invite GQ to Lisbon, where we’re due to host a Q&A session with him. He kindly offered to cover our airfares – in Bitcoin – but in the end we opted to take the money in US dollars. It tends to be a bit more stable day-to-day and also happens to be accepted by Qantas.

I bet they are wishing they’d taken the Bitcoin, knowing that right after SteemFest2, Bitcoin and every other crypto currency went to the moon (and almost got there).

Not only that, but the generous offer to help with travel costs that the organisers of SteemFest put in place would have meant that they would have made out like bandits by January. Oh, if only…

Before the Q&A session on day two of Steemfest, GQ meets Scott near the bar. From time to time, people wearing Steemit shirts come up to introduce themselves to him and it’s easy to find yourself second-guessing their motives. If you happened to run into Mark Zuckerberg, you aren’t likely to leave any richer than you arrived. But if you meet Ned Scott, that selfie you took with him might just attract enough votes to boost your Steem wallet.

My jaw dropped at this comment. I had thought the writer was a little condescending before…

Sorry Ned, it seems that this guy believes that all anyone wants from you is an upvote. Some of your money. Your time, wisdom and insight is not worth the effort.

Personally, I spoke with Ned at Amsterdam SteemFest and I thought he was a humble, clever, kind young man with a great sense of humour, and I enjoyed speaking with him. At Lisbon, I didn’t have as much time to speak with him, but he never dismissed me out of hand. I thought he looked less care-free than he had at Amsterdam, but as he said, the work had become harder and more intensive, and that makes for the tired-looking young man at Lisbon.

We can almost feel the group’s anxiety to reach for their phones, to be the first to post a comment on Steemit and make a few digital dollars before the person standing beside them has a chance.

Wow…

Then a case-study of ‘Rupert’ from Idaho. Again, there’s a hint of disdain in the writing.

He dresses as you’d expect a middle-aged man to dress, seeking comfort over fashion.

After several days of talking about cryptocurrency and its alleged world-changing potential, here’s a humble, quiet guy who just so happens to have invested his family’s entire cash savings into cryptocurrencies.

Hindsight being 20-20 vision, we now know that if ‘Rupert’ sank all of his money into Bitcoin and/or Steem/SBD, and sold at just the right time, his future and the futures of his descendants will be assured.

My summary on this article is this:

I think it must have been exceptionally difficult for the writer of this article to produce an unbiased piece of journalism – writing about SteemFest and the people that attended – while looking down his nose at the attendees.

I got the feeling that he had nothing but disdain for the attendees and more than a little envy for Ned. I’m not sure if the writer has a hankering for writing about fashion, but the descriptions of clothes and appearances of people attending SteemFest2 took a little too much space in the article.

Written with more than a hint of a sneer (in my opinion), I found the article one-sided and not at all objective.

I’m not sure how many people the writer of the article spoke to, interviewed or got to know, but I hope he makes a return visit to SteemFest3 with a better outlook than he did for SteemFest2.

Yeah, I’m biased, I’ve attended both SteemFests and thoroughly enjoyed everything about them. From meeting people I’ve read and upvoted, to the seminars, talks and learning opportunities, and on to the cultural experiences, SteemFest is by far the best ‘Internet Meet’ I’ve ever attended.

It is well-worth the money spent on tickets, travel cost, accommodation cost and food and I’ll be trying my absolute best to get to SteemFest3.

Please be aware that these opinions are all my own and are not necessarily shared by Steemit.com, creators, employees and contributors.