My Steem Experience As An End-User That Wasn't Into Crypto Prior To Steem // Answers to Questions Put Forth by @whatsup

This post is inspired by @whatsup's post which you can view Here.

There is often the discussion on Steem regarding how we can reach mass adoption. Some people say it can't be done because the mainstream doesn't understand, or is even scared of Crypto in some cases.

The point of @whatsup's post is to gather information regarding users who have had no previous experience with Crypto.

@whatsup asks the following questions in her post:

1. How did you hear about Steem?
2. When did you join?
3. Why did you join? (What was the attraction?)
4. Have you expanded your crypto life beyond just Steem.
5. How would you explain your current interest in Steem and Crypto in general?
6. Are you holding or investing (no judgment here, I am just wanting to prove or disprove the value)

She wants to test a theory that we have, in fact, attracted and retained users with no previous understanding of Crypto.

I am one of those people and I know several others on here who are as well.

I heard about Steemit through The Husband, @swelker101 (The Shane).
He was checking out Youtube videos about the Keto diet and came across a video by @andrachy. During that video, andrarchy briefly mentioned Steemit.
Shane's understanding of crypto was a sad tale of mining Bitcoin back in 2013, then having it stolen on an exchange (Mt Gox).
That was the extent of his knowlege.
I knew the word cryptocurrency existed, but that was about it.

Shane joined Steemit in May of 2017 and I joined about a month later.

I knew nothing about Crypto or Blockchain technology.
All I knew is that I could post content on here and make money.
That was enough information for me to be excited about it.

I will say that it was a tough learning curve for me regarding wallets, passwords, exchanges, the difference between steem, sp, and SBD, etc.
But, I learned along the way while making money and friends.

When the value of Steem and SBD was high, we did invest in some Bitcoin, Litecoin, and EOS.

I haven't powered down any of my Steem and I don't plan to.
I believe I have invested about $200 over time, but the rest of my Steem is from post rewards and my work for Steem Monsters.

I am not exaggerating when I say that Steem has changed my life.
Prior to joining I was feeling lost.
After joining, I found something that I could do every day that I actually enjoy while also making some money.

I love the people and the discord communities.
I love that I can actually make money from some of my music.
I love helping people on here so that they can be a bit more successful....which ultimately helps us all.
I love that I actually got a job creating music for an online game! (Steem Monsters!)
I'm excited for the future of Dapps and our active community.
I'm excited that Steemit ranks number 1 on this list, and Steem Dapps make up 5 of the top 10.

I've seen a lot of negativity regarding Steem along the way, but I've never been more excited.
I see the Steem Blockchain as the future.
We are still in the early stages and the best is really yet to come.

So, if the Steem Blockchain can attract and retain a musician who knows absolutely nothing about crypto, then I have faith it can continue to do so.

If you would like to share your story, please check out @whatsup's post.