RE: Do people buy Steem? What is the "actual" value of Steem ?

I think the fact that the gains are in the platform growth and not the actual currency a good thing. Unlike other cryptocurrencies I think Steem will be a stable option. If confidence drops in the currency, the platform could compensate with other means of funding such as 'ads' on posts until Steem regains some confidence. I think during growth ads should be avoided but once the platform has a very large audience and a high usage equivalent to Twitter a method could be introduced to make cash by including ads in your posts.