So, someone has just sent a link to you to come and view this article, to check out Steemit. You don't really know why, but for some reason they seem a little more excited than usual.

They may be throwing words around like 'bitcoin', 'blockchain', 'reddit'... get paid to post, get paid to 'vote' on posts. Your bullshit'o'meter is sending alarmbells ringing at full tilt.

...what the hell is Steemit?!

In the simplest terms Steemit is a version of Reddit or Facebook, a social network where people exchange value. 

Ask yourself why Reddit is worth 4 billion dollars or Facebook's worth more than 320 billion?

It's because of YOU, you create content on those sites, you spend your time there, you create that VALUE. 

...what if you could be rewarded for that value? 

What if there were some way that what you've written and created could be rewarded financially based on its popularity and value? ...

...not only that, what if you could vote or 'like' content, be a curator, spot the best posts, and actually be rewarded for finding that great content early? 

That's what Steemit is pushing to be, it's trying to remove the middleman, the corporation. All of the financial rewards are given to the users based on their contribution.

Why should Uber drivers pay 30-40% of their fare to Uber? 

Why should we pay 100% of our value to social media sites?

...what are the next steps?

Steemit isn't perfect, there are still issues of fair allocation among users to work out. Who's votes count more! There's also long term ad revenue generation. But right now, you can potentially be an early adopter in something that could  genuinely disrupt social media and really give people a voice.

Why not take the jump? Introduce yourself to the community, the introduceyourself section is one of the most consistently rewarded areas to be in.

https://steemit.com/trending/introduceyourself

Why?... If you're willing to take the plunge and make the effort to honestly present yourself, the users of Steemit will value you. After that, try to offer some value to the community, everyone has something to offer, if your first post fails, try again. Make your voice heard!

Good luck!

Hopefully this has opened your eyes to what Steemit is on it's way to accomplish. If you're interested, I'd recommend reading the link below to really dig deeper. 

One of the early users @teamsteem has created a guide for new users with a list of useful posts.

A great place to get started!

The ultimate guide to Steemit

https://steemit.com/steemit/@teamsteem/the-ultimate-guide-to-steemit