"The Power of Steem" : Help us teach Cyprus about Steemit!

Steemians we're translating this article into Greek to teach Cyprus about Steemit! I've been commissioned by @patrickm to write an article and we have a network of more than 100 000 young adults in Cyprus through our combined social networks.

I'm taking care to keep the article informative yet also explain the amazing benefits of the Steem blockchain in a simple way.

The Future of Money

Have you ever considered the possibility that in the near future you could choose to earn your salary in Bitcoin? Or that you could buy clothes with Etherium? Or have you considered that you could make some extra money posting your videos and music on Steemit?

If you have no idea what I'm talking about then you're not alone. I urge you to prepare yourself, though, because for better or worse money is changing forever. A new type of money called cryptocurrency is gaining momentum. Bitcoin, the world's first completely digital currency has been around for more than 10 years and it's gained a widespread acceptance across the globe.

^{There has been a massive increase in cryptocurrency trading
Source: coinmarketcap.com}

In April 2017, Japan recognised Bitcoin as a legal payment method and soon other countries will follow. The world is starting to recognise that cryptocurrency is here to stay.

I wanted to invest, but at that point I didn't understand how it worked and where the money was coming from. I had a lot of unanswered questions and I didn't have much disposible income anyway.

The Power of Steem

Then one day, I found out there was a way to earn cryptocurrency without spending any money at all. Honestly, it sounded way too good to be true. I was curious, though and I figured I had nothing to lose, so I decided to look a little closer.

Steem is a social media based cryptocurrency. Basically, you can post your photo blogs, artwork, music and video and you can earn money for it.

^{I wrote the story of how I became a divemaster}

I was skeptical at first about this "magic internet money" as Rolling Stone calls it, but my friends Patrick (@patrickm) and Matt (@starkerz) convinced me that it was the real thing and so about a month ago I joined the Steemit community.

^{Rolling Stone}

I was determined. I've always wanted to write about my travels so I put a lot of time into my introduction post and it was amazing to finally have the chance to tell my story.

When I wrote about how I became a divemaster, the story hit the trending page! Obviously I was elated, but soon I realised it was not so easy to repeat the process. I kept posting and I had some success, but for a week or so I was a bit lost and unsure how to continue.

^{The reply to my blog about} @platonicsironic

I posted one of my old animations and I only got one meaningful comment, from @artwatch. The fact that someone had watched and enjoyed my work inspired me and helped me realise the thing I'd been missing the whole time. I needed to connect with the community.

As soon as I changed my attitude I started connecting with people. When I did a feature on @platonicsironic, she even responded with a comic.

^{** Totally original doodle by @platonicsironic**}

I've written 10 art blogs so far and they were all successful. Even the posts that took a lot of time and didn't make a lot of money still rewarded me with new friends who actively look out for my posts and support me. So is Steem the future of money? Maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but either way it's a bold step into the future.

^{My 10th Art Blog}

Most recently I've been doing the graphics for an exciting new video series, called Decentralize in 5 to teach the world about cryptocurrency. Please have a look and support this project - follow @starkerz for new episodes every week.

Introduction video: https://steemit.com/introduceyourself/@starkerz/decentralize-in-5-introduction-spreading-blockchain-tech-to-newbys

Thanks for reading, please resteem, upvote and tell me what you think in the comments.