Steem : A great libertarian and community history !
More generally, it is true that I often remain discreet and silent when it comes to the involvement that I try to exercise on the Steem network. However, after many months of exploring the columns of this new platform of expression in your presence and as @francosteemvotes gets closer to its first year of existence, I'm getting out of my torpor a bit in order to give you, in all sincerity, my feelings as well as my own experience. As a preamble, this testimony is intended to deliver a message of encouragement to those who would still hesitate to remain among us, but also to potential members who have not yet passed the registration milestone. It's up to you to join us and find out what's hidden beneath the surface.
The discovery stage
Let's start by understanding what prompted me to spend most of my time here, while analyzing my journey on this new kind of network. To tell the truth, this pronounced taste for the community aspect did not necessarily come to me spontaneously. At first glance, Steem seemed more like an opportunity to express myself freely, without any constraints, on all the subjects I like more generally. All this for free, without having to pay anything for hosting your own blog. Having already experienced the amateur editorial environment within a team centered around video games, I was more than frustrated not to enjoy freedom of tone and speech or risk losing all ties with advertisers and other promoters. This led me to be reframed many times by the editor in chief then in charge of the editorial line, who was afraid of no longer receiving free games from publishers or invitations to various events. The financial aspect has also been a determining factor pushing me to definitively adopt this principle to be valued at the level of its services and to contribute to the gratification of the authors, offering content in adequacy with my expectations. Then freshly landed in the revolutionary world and a bit utopian crypto-currencies, I saw here the possibility of writing to the sandstone of my desires while enjoying a semblance of remuneration for this work provided. So it is with the deep conviction that the abolition of work by the leisure society finally materialized before my eyes (an anarchist's old fantasy) that I decided to experiment all this, one beautiful day in November 2016.
The beginning was rather timid and hesitant. I didn't know where to start or how to do it. Since the Francophone community did not exist at the time, it was quite difficult to create links and to understand concretely how this structure worked. However, driven by curiosity as well as a hint of tenacity, allowed me to quickly assimilate the workings as well as the codes of the community then raging in these places. I invested myself even more when I discovered all the wealth that this platform could offer, especially in terms of content. But more than anything else it was the revelation but also the meeting of various initiatives and members who were for me a source of satisfaction and more than ever of inspiration. So much so that my first source of information and discoveries about different subjects were made through the Steem platform. So I took it upon myself to develop this spirit of sharing knowledge and free expression, in all its forms, within the Francophone community, in the hope that it would take place in an environment conducive to the development of everything for everyone.
When development became a treasure
The arrival of more and more French-speaking members over the months was a blessing but also a source of personal pride. The community grows, develops, enriches and diversifies. Contributions and ambitious projects are gradually emerging. Links are forged, encounters take shape, strengthening the feeling of belonging to a pioneering movement in the field of entertainment as well as personal development. I cannot thank too much the actors of this new wave, who I hope will encourage many more people to take the lead and express themselves freely through the use of this platform. Even if the gain can prove to be essential, it is above all the interaction which prevails! Thus giving full meaning to the word community. Thanks to Steem, I would not have given of myself in a project that really matters to me, I would not have met these fabulous people who try to give as much, I would not have learned so much about science and technology, I would not have discovered all the hidden talents of these musicians, authors, amateur analysts. I just wouldn't have had the chance to know all of you.... The advent of @francosteemvotes and much later of @francosteemradio concretize this bond of belonging and this will to exchange.
I have no further advice for you, except to encourage you to persevere and get involved would only be a little bit. Because it's worth it. Even if the system of gratification and influence is in a pyramidal form, as we speak, the fact remains that all the salt of this blockchain is with its population more than ever active, showing a profusion of inventiveness. The future lies in the decentralization of the net but also in the ranks of this libertarian citizen movement. Steem has these two intrinsic qualities!