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Currently, most of us use a social network. Either to inform us, keep in touch with our friends or family, to share our day-to-day experiences and find advice or support, and even to share and promote our art or boost our company. The fact is that  social networks are already part of our life and daily life.

Essentially, we can define "social network" as a platform on the Internet that we access through an explorer or application, to share interests or activities in general, allowing the exchange of almost any type of data, privately or publicly. Among  the best known  we can think of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram with 1,900, 328, 1,000 and 700 million users, respectively. Each one focused on different types of content. So it was only a matter of time before  distributed accounting  touched this area.

In this context Steem emerges, the blockchain on which the social network  Steemit is based  . In this article we will take a walk through the most important aspects of this network.

STEEMIT

The Steemit network has as its main difference, in terms of other social networks, that it rewards its users with cryptoactives, or, in other words,  the participants of this social network could earn money by sharing, creating and voting content.

We do not need to be experts in blockchain or cryptoactives to use  Steemit , just constancy and creativity, because the main goal of this network is that the content is useful and attractive to other users. It is very similar to a blog: users write publications to which photos or videos can be added, as well as links or mentions to other accounts within Steemit. There are even some  tools  to facilitate some related functions.

Basically, to make a publication we click on "Submit a Story", and there we are shown a simple box in which we will write and develop our idea. We also have a simple text editor.

Then, we can only promote it through the chats, tags (labels) and channels that Steemit has for it. For this, we can include other social networks and share our content with more people, expanding the Steemit network.

It is worth mentioning that  the post will have seven days to be voted and generate income , then it will be registered in the  blockchain  forever, so we must be sure of what we will share; although, yes, we can edit after the publication - if you were wondering. Creating or voting valuable content (being curators) is the way to earn STEEM (the network's cryptoactive). However, we must know a little more about the platform if we want to take advantage of its full potential.

HOW DOES STEEMIT WORK?

 On the platform  there are three types of rewards for publications:  the cryptoactive  STEEM  and  Steem Dollar , and the  STEEM Power . The first is used for the operation of the network and to be marketed in  exchange houses such  as Poloniex, Open Ledger, Bitterx or ShapeShift, where STEEM could also be purchased with other cryptoactives, as well as Steem Dollars; with the difference that the latter will always have a value close to 1 to 1 with the US dollar. For its part, the STEEM Power is the measure of influence that the user will have to vote or publish: the more power a user has, the more rewards he can receive. Additionally, STEEM Power can be purchased with STEEM or Steem Dollars.

In order to claim the reward, however, we must wait for the seven days available to Steemit for the publication in question to be voted on and disseminated; also with the comments. The percentages of the publication reward are usually divided between 50% STEEM and 50% STEEM Power, although there is the option to charge everything in STEEM Power.

On its operation it must also be said that, at a technical level, the blockchain Steem differs from others such as  Bitcoin  in that  instead of "miners" it  uses "witnesses", who are rewarded with STEEM Power  to produce the blocks; so no, you can not mine. In the protocol, called " delegated proof of stake", only 10% of the produced cryptoactives are assigned to the witnesses, while the other 90% is granted to "content producers, curators and owners of STEEM Power" . With this system, which is also open source , a new block is produced every 63 seconds.

At the same time, the community will choose the "witnesses" that will make the network work, produce blocks and act as a kind of government. There are 20 witnesses who each produce a block in each round of 63 seconds, and a number 21 that will serve as a reserve. The user has 30 votes to choose the witnesses he prefers.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

Of course, the first advantage is that we could make money simply by sharing the content that we probably already share on other social networks. Second, it is transparent, thanks to the blockchain technology, giving us greater security. We also have freedom of content, because through the correct labels we can expose almost anything, as long as it is legal. And, finally, it is decentralized, which means that  no state entity or government can control it.

Of the contras, in the first place, is that after the aforementioned 7 days the content does not generate income and only remains as information - comments can continue to generate if they are new, since they function as another small publication. Second,  everything is recorded forever in the blockchain , which depending on how you look at it can be an advantage; but we run the risk of regretting to publish something and already when it is registered  there is no way to eliminate it , although it is possible to edit it and hide it from the Steemit interface.

Here it is worth mentioning, surely as an extra advantage, that the network has been under the gaze of some famous and enthusiasts of the Bitcoin ecosystem, who have become  steemians  (as users are called), such as the singer Tatiana Moroz, or the writer  Neil Strauss , also known as Style and Chris Powles; who accompanied  Ned Scott , the CEO of the platform, in the first Steemfest .

ARE THERE SIMILAR PLATFORMS?

The immediate answer is yes, although many are in their early stages. In fact, Steemit is still in its Beta stage. There are some other networks of this type, but they focus on another kind of content, such as  music and multimedia content  or  art . Along with these, stand out blockchain platforms that specialize in rewarding just the creators of content (whether artistic or not) and in enforcing  copyright .

Of which we can name, are Akasha , which is an application that combines Ethereum technology with the so-called "Inter-Planetary File System", where users can publish and vote content and also generate micro-payments; and Voice, a Russian platform that using Steemit as a template is intended to give a voice to the Russian people in their language.

Both the latter and Steemit can be combined with other systems, which while not social networks, aim to  decentralize the Internet in the same way that Bitcoin has done with money . Of these systems highlights MaidSafe, which in 2016 already launched its  alpha version  of SAFE (Secure Access For Everyone), platform with which it aims to improve the protection and storage of data and cyber attacks, and prevent massive surveillance by the agencies of security. Sia, meanwhile, seeks to offer the best decentralized storage service in the cloud, and just this July  received $ 400,000  to boost their projects.

Finally, the picture seems to indicate that both decentralized networks and a decentralized Internet in general have many benefits and good possibilities to become part of the day to day in our future. And Steemit, with its  latest measures  to improve the platform and its decentralization plans, does not intend to be left out.