This is a stake based platform. Is your vote 5 dollars? No? Ok. is it worth 50 cents?

Well, very simply, those with more stake are going to earn more in curation than those with less. To have a 50 cent vote requires 65,000 Steem at the current prices.

So, for the 5 dollars, it would take votes from about 650,000 Steem. if 10 people all had the 65k, they would have the ame 50c vote. But, there are factors in play including when one votes and in what order, with generally those voting earlier (but not too early) getting benefit from those voting later. It is designed this way to try and encourage people to find and share posts that others will also like and vote on, therefore rewarding the earlier finders.

I won't get into it any more than this as you are leaving anyway. For your next investment, it is probably best to understand what you are investing in, before you buy. You can also buy into a traditional index fund or stocks, but beware the trading fees as they can be excessive in comparison to crypto, some as high as 25 dollars per trade, which is about 150 STEEM at these prices.

Good luck out there.