Why do you Steemit?

I've been reading a lot of posts on the current low value of Steem, and how that effects post output. Like Steemit depression by @sweetpea and alternative ways to make Steemit more profitable for newbies by @glenalbrethsen. Then @drwom wrote on playing the long game on this platform.

It makes me think about what I'm on Steemit for, and what do I hope to achieve?

I'd also like to ask you - why are you on Steemit and what do you hope to achieve?

For me, I'm fortunate I guess in that I don't need any income form the platform. In fact, I haven't taken anything out of my account, and I power up any Steem that I earn. I have even put in some of my hard earned.

My participation in this social-crypto-experiment is mostly for my enjoyment, and partly as a long term investment. I'd love to pay off my mortgage with the earnings from Steemit, but I also realise that's not pretty likely in the short to medium term.

I'm happy that this platform has incentivised my creativity. I've created videos, looking forward to posting them on Steemit to publish my creations. I've re-learnt guitar songs to play them on Steemit. I've written poetry, I've written heartfelt, authentic blogs, and I've written thought pieces like this one. And it's been fun. So mostly, that's enough of a return for me, though I can't deny that the potential payout of a big crypto reward in the future is what got me started, and keeps me coming back.

It's also about investment diversity for me. Apart from a mortgage, I've got shares in my super, and if the world financial systems do end up having a big shake up and crypto becomes a major world-wide exchange, then I'm in the game early. That it doesn't have to cost me anything to be on here and earn some crypto is a big incentive.

I notice that when the price of Steem is high, then more newer accounts come online, and more posts are made, albeit perhaps lower quality. Then when the price dips, everyone seems to go on holiday... I've taken to @drwom's advice to post something daily. Sometimes i'm very proud of the content I've created, and other days perhaps it doesn't have the same feeling for me. But it's like a digital-crypto-blockchain journal. I look forward to looking back (ha!) on what I've written at a later date.

It would be interesting to see data on the number of posts on Steemit against the value of Steem for the same time period. @datascience - could you do something like this?

I understand that for some less affluent countries that income generated on here could make quite a difference to a bloggers wealth creation... And I can understand that at a certain tipping point then it may be financially better to spend your time elsewhere rather than on Steemit. Maybe I'm being naive, but a few USD through Steemit in Nigerian Naira is several hundred Naira... I assume that makes a difference in quality of life in Nigeria? Perhaps my new friend @meemee can set me straight on this. But that's another benefit for being on Steemit - I wouldn't be able to see regular writing from Nigeria - decentralised, untwisted words, many other ways.

Perhaps my circumstances or my "bubble" prevents me from seeing other perspectives on the relevance of the value of Steem to post productivity - simply because I am in the fortunate position of not needing any income from here.

That being said, I've taken to using the available tools to hasten my growth on the platform - like @minnowbooster. Using minnow booster has made a big difference to my weekly growth which I'll admit I enjoy seeing and creates a positive feedback loop to keep creating content.

So - please let me know why you Steemit? What are your goals for being here? I'm genuinely interested in a discussion on the topic.

Cheers, Peter