Thank you for this informative post! I actually learned about the amount of Steem that is generated and how it is distributed among the users of the platform.

I fully agree with your post, it does take money to make money on here, and people who come on expecting quick riches usually don't make it in the long run because of their ridiculously high expectations.

Yes, we are somewhat at fault for marketing Steemit.com as a way to make money "doing what you already do for free on Facebook" and other similar hooks that people have used to get others onto Steemit.

Perhaps we can mitigate this effect by drawing them in with the monetary gain aspect but showing them and teaching them the community aspect once they've registered.

I know that's what I've been doing for all my friends who ended up joining Steemit after me, I direct them immediately over to MSP so that they can get a feel for the community and they can feel comfortable socializing and developing connections with others on here.

Once my friends started coming to Steemit, I decided it was time for me to put my money where my mouth is and invest in Steem. As of right now I've invested about a measly $200 but it's a start...I wanted to keep powering myself up so that when my friends finally came on my upvotes would be worth a few cents at least and they would see the real monetary value of my support for their creations.

I plan to continue investing in Steem for as long as I possibly can, every paycheck. I fully and truly believe in this platform and I know it will thrive if we can just treat it properly and help all the new people coming on to see/realize the community building aspect of it first.