Did i join steem/steemit as a mainstream audience and how was the journey like?

I can write an entire book (on-the-spot) answering the above question. First off, in deep truth, i do think a mainstream audience can fathom the extent steem's beauty and in some cases, way more than a tech-savvy audience can.

I do think a mainstream audience is easier to onboard onto steem too, than it is 'a tech-savvy audience' and there are valid testimonies to this.

I joined steem as a mainstream audience and i love steem like crazy. I joined when it was filled with bugs too. Flags were rampant and steem got as low as 7 cents. There were few communities, few whales and steem as a blockchain was an unknown concept as it was mostly 'all about steemit', then. I so loved it then, how much moreso now.

Listen to the undertone of my introductory post here....

I arrived on steemit and never read the whitepaper. The whitepaper and its every context declared and revealed itself, right here on steem (by virtue of its community), as i used it.

In the 43:43 mins video below, you will gain clear insight into my journey on steem, from the outset until now.

Yes, i was mainstream too, when i joined. I knew nothing about crypto, blockchain or tech overall.

From writing posts, i went into being a witness, offering a full RPC public node (256 GB RAM), creating steem-based projects e.g steemgigs.org, ulogs.org, macrohard etc and modeling an eventual teardrops smt

I am also looking to create a programming language that everyone can code in, though, i know nothing much about code. Well, 'these all' is tied to steem and especially tied to 'joining steem as a mainstream audience'.

I will now answer the questions below (posed by @whatsup).

I will keep my answers short but filled with context.

How did you hear about Steem?
When did you join?
Why did you join? (What was the attraction?)
Have you expanded your crypto life beyond just Steem.
How would you explain your current interest in Steem and Crypto in general?
Are you holding or investing (no judgment here, I am just wanting to prove or disprove the value)

How did you hear about Steem?

I was surpassing Google for years before i found steem/steemit. Well, i was going to surpassing google via the google search engine and steem was going to be the vehicle.

I found steem organically via the google search engine. I had started to re-invent my search queries at the time, seeking new information. Over the course of time, i had noticed that the internet was mostly recycled and i was looking for change.

In my search, i was looking for a new form of social-space, one that wasn't so mainstream. Yes, the mainstream internet was beginning to feel like outer-space, one where pokemon, superman, rich cats etc held sway and i was looking for a space filled with humans.

In my case, i was out to build dreams or at least keep my dreams alive in dream-bits, a place to evolve and rehearse these dreams into fruition and i needed a sandbox but this time, i was looking for a sandbox, where 'nations are locations'.

Depending on your locations, you will understand my context better.

In some nations, you end up turning to the internet (an inanimate entity) in a bid to experience a measure of 'level playing field'; yes, an internet where 'nations are simply locations'; but then, you arrive on the mainstream internet and find out that 'nation' was a factor.

In building dreams in these nations, there are mountains of odds, then, you turn to the mainstream internet and the odds due to 'nation' simply continues e.g

want to get a stripe account or a medium partner account and you are located in India or the Philippines; you will be turned down.
want to rank in google search for content posed at an audience in USA and you are in the Philippines; the hurdles are mighty.
want to relate your dreams to a potential venture capitalist in UK via Facebook messenger and you are located in the Philippines; facebook could delete your account.
want to do a fundraiser using gofundme or kickstarter or using the Facebook fundraising feature etc and you are located in the Philippines; you will likely on a lost cause.

There was also the general un-homely-type vibe across the mainstream internet e.g on instagram and twitter, i simply felt like 'a client' to everyone. On some mainstream internet, they would be so quick to tag you an abuser, or ban you etc without realizing that they may be crushing a dream etc

Steemit was different. It was home. It had reputable minds. etc...

Hahaha, all i have been saying is that, i found steem organically via the search engines. When i found steem, it was as if i was searching 'steem' all my life. Alas, i didn't join steemit the first time i found it as i didn't connect with the author of the post that i had found and yes, the very first steemit post that i found via google, 'covered the experience of someone who earn thousands of dollars via steemit'. I joined steemit some months later, the second time that i found a steemit post organically via google, not only because the name 'steemit' stuck with me the first time but also because i connected with the author of the second article.

I am very grateful that i found steem and you may not know this, "i am grateful to Ned Scott's mum, who helped Ned in deciding upon the name 'steemit'; because that word sticks.

*Footnote*

See one my use-case for steemit from the past.......

Even when, i wrote about Ned in the past, i was building a dream. Recall where i said, that i didn't read the whitepaper? It was because i went to seek the man 'Ned' out. Note also that Ned voted on that post and at the time, the payout of the post was 0.11$

2. When did you join?

I joined around August 2016

3. Why did you join? (What was the attraction?)

In this part, i will cover also why i stayed (staying then was almost synonymous with joining). It was dead tough to stay on steemit in the earlier days. Even the learning curve then for a mainstream newbie was extremely higher because everyone was trying to learn. There were no apps either. Ofcourse, there were few tools.

I could rank regardless of IP location both on steem and in the search engines. (Nations are locations)
It was a CCTV into the truest state of the world. (It was bare even though it was private)
I could learn 'to give' but more importantly, i could learn to receive. (Transfers felt magnificent & steem wasn't money)
I felt the presence of humans, more than anywhere else online. (Even the bots had heart e.g Cheetah)
I could contact strangers from any location and they were like brothers. (Nations are locations)
I received steem from @sykochica @steemit-life @benjojo @papa-pepper (They heard of my dreams and looked to inspire me)
I could exercise my 'reaction to stimuli' e.g (exercise reputation, life, human virtues, relationships, courtesy etc)
It had a community of reputable great minds
I could mine my mind, brain but more importantly 'the human'.
It rewarded value (Content being only one form of value)
It explored a variety of rewards as opposed to 'just money'.
I could post even my drafts and jargon
I could become my own audience
I noticed amazing talents and un(dis)talents
I could own an entire bank. (My wallet on a blockchain, felt like an entire bank. It was a valid illusion)
I could get unadulterated feedback from people i didn't know and use that to evolve my dreams into levels of spanlessness e.g i had a contest under #untalented with more than 1,000 post entries, then went on to #teardrops and #ulog, which bore forth ulogs.org)
I learned more on steem (even from the outset) than in my entire life outside steem. (I started a lab and dream factory where i curation/storing content)
It felt like a home away from the rest of the internet.
Steemit gave me signs (I applied a real-life paradigm in my interaction with steem etc e.g someone drew my entire dream with the teardrops smt obliviously and i considered it a sign. I signed my first autographs here on steem.... See three examples: 1, 2, 3)
I could model my dreams, evolve it and rehearse it into fruition. (starting with a simple post and on and on and onto hashtags, then onto communities and eventually, steem-apps)
etc

Me signing autographs........

4. Have you expanded your crypto life beyond just Steem.

I arrived on steem without a dime and till date i have no dime (fiat). I mostly have staked steem.

It is true that i take care of my dad who is ill and i am ill and that my dad's daily meds alone, is 50 USD. Even so, i have had no dire desire of expanding my portfolio. For the most part, i am very tired, function-less and weak.

Lately, i am trying to buy some crypto however as it is becoming necessary but in general, i am very weak and tired. Overall, i am not very keen on building keen of building a crypto-portfolio.

You will soon see why......

My mindset even from 'way before steem', when it comes to 'money' is, "money is the smaller things". I believe that money should seek you and should want to be hosted by you, where you tell it that 'you are its daddy' and where it realizes that, without a doubt. My aim thus, is to 'evolve' especially in my substance, to where i am 'daddy'.

Learn more....

Steem/Steemit cemented this even further, establishing that there are bigger things than money. The steem currency itself isn't money (how i saw it) and till date even in its lows, still has more impact than money (FIAT). Steem as a currency carries 'influence' when staked and it is acknowledged by its community as such as well as, for its potential value as a currency. Some even value it more than 'FIAT on hand'.

This and more....

I think i was on steem for some 6 months before i tested the 'transfer' button and when i started trying the markets, it was way more comfortable staying within steem's internal market (between Steem and SBD). Infact, if SBD stayed pegged, i may hardly have tested an external exchange. Where steem eventually has its decentralized exchange filled with SMT-tokens, i doubt that i will visit an external exchange.

I got my first bitcoin cash, courtesy of steemit. I read a post at the time, speaking of an impending BTC fork and tried the instructions in the post out, for the sake of learning. I bought some 0.2 BTC at the time and ended up with some 0.2 BCH, which rose in price.

In general, steemit just devalued the essence of 'revered FIAT' even more, by removing barriers from 'giving and receiving' as well as created 'an internet world' where, for the first time, 'free money' is possible e.g with the recent byteball token distribution for SP-holders etc

What i am saying is, 'steem' became special to me as a currency moreso for what it represents, its people, its story, its role in my life etc and 'bulls or bears' had negligible consequence on the currency (in my eyes).

Besides, the small cryptocurrency that i gather in past, either got lost or got spent during the times my mum died and from then on, when i had to relocate my dad (who is really ill) to live with him.

Steem as a currency succeeded, whether bulls or bears because humans where involved.

Lately, i have been looking into gathering some tokens outside steem but in small measures. This has been happening lately as i have had to do research, for ways to sustain myself and my dad for a few months, where my large focus is here in bring my projects ulogs.org, steemgigs.org and macrohard to completion along with the teardrops smt.

5. How would you explain your current interest in Steem and Crypto in general?

While there are bulls or bears, i am interested in the humans.

The teardrops SMT for instance, should succeed whether bulls or bears. According to me, steem has succeeded and it succeeded in my eyes from the day i found it, because it helped me find you.

Look at my exact words in this video:

Compare my sentiments in the above video, with the words in this old post (from 2 years ago), when i was still new to steemit.

Steem doesn't have to do many things for me, for me to intensely love it. It simply needed to do one thing. It ended up doing many things.

Till date, there is no where on the entire mainstream internet that feels like home and if you find one, it is steemians who are there. If you doubt me, think thrice.

I tell you this, even as a legit illiterate; 'no books involved'.

6. Are you holding or investing (no judgment here, I am just wanting to prove or disprove the value)

I am very ill, so there no energy to do stuff

Lately, i am trying again to get a few tokens. I am still very much in research-mode.

Besides being weak and all, my tiny influence oN steem and my history on it, has influenced my decision-making even when it comes to other networks outside of steem. This is especially because i care the people on steem and about how perceive of steem and of me in relation to my love for steem and i care not to want to sway people's decisions, especially those who look up to me or follow me on steem; and several do!

You will notice that my first power-down occurred more recently, after more than 2 years of being on steem. I didn't power-down when steem got to 8-USD-HIGH

My projects are here and are my main focus and each of this projects has a 'steem-growth' paradigm. 'Steem' is something i want the world to know about, through my projects because steem is indeed awesome.

I don't have 1 dollar of FIAT. I mostly have steem.

When my mum died and my dad relocated to live with my in the Philippines, it changed everything. From the day i heard of my mum's leukemia etc money simply kept finishing.

As for investment, i want to hold and love the teardrops SMT for what it represents. An 'emblem of human' and 'breakthrough token' to reward 'proof of tears', mineable by 'mining the human'.

Suffering, which has been my daily bread and all the other(s)' suffering that has ever taken place, must now have essence.

Suffering for fun simply has to abate.

'Light' must enter right into every tunnel. No longer do many in the tunnel, have to wait 'till the end of the tunnel', for there is now light even therein. There are dates now!

You boy Terry, whether bulls or bears

@surpassinggoogle

The article above is a response to questions posed by @whatsup in the post below:

Are You An End-User That Wasn't Into Crypto Prior To Steem?

Kindly participate by leaving her a comment or doing a related post under #mainstreem (double 'e')

I Still Have Open Task Requests

I have a total of 620 additional steem for ulogs.org related task request. The original task requests are findable here:

However, i am gradually simplifying the posts above and breaking down each task into tinier components. You can find the ones i have written so far here:

If you love to contribute codes to steemgigs.org, you will find open task requests here:

Task Development: Help Us Add 'Refine Search' Capability To The steemgigs.org Search & Other Tasks.

I am working hard these last few days in January. Each day left in January counts and matters a lot, so if you help me, it matters. If you create development-posts related to these tasks via utopian, there is likely curation from utopian.

There has been recent development on steemgigs.org, which you can track on our GitHub and by visiting steemgigs.org to explore the site. We are hoping that it re-launches this January and never stops working from then on.

You can support the development of my projects

To send me FIAT with debit/credit card click HERE or you can send Steem/SBD to '@surpassinggoogle'. You can also delegate Steem Power to '@steemgigs/@ulogs' using this tool.

my "Thank You" is hefty.

Inspire Me

I am Terry, 'your boy terry' and i implore you to kindly buy out time to watch the entirety of my 43:43 mins video below:

If you can buy out more time, please see the entirety of this video:

If you can buy out more time, please see the entirety of this post!

Special Note

If you are a developer or anyone who passionately loves these projects e.g ulogs.org, steemgigs.org, macrohard the teardrops SMT etc and would like to help build it and see that it comes to life, kindly send an email to comsilbronze4@gmail.com

There is a lot to build.

If you are a potential advisor and one who can help with directions, suggestions and connections, please join in too by sending an email to comsilbronze4@gmail.com

Kindly vote for the "steemgigs" witness.

Dedicating My Entire Steem/Steemit Journey To My Mum

If you want to support an extra witness and you support mine "steemgigs", it will be really helpful.

To vote my witness, simply visit https://steemit.com/~witnesses and upvote "steemgigs" or simply click Here to do it on one click!

Become A Certified Ulogger

Disregard if you have participated!

Hi family, note that the whole ecosystem for the Teardrops SMT will be built around "certified uloggers". It will reward "proof of tears" or "mining the human" and will be used also as a token of influence on 3 steem-based interfaces i.e steemgigs.org, ulogs.org and @macrohard; all of which are modeled to "mine the human" into its awesomest version and all of which will be built around "a growing list of certified uloggers".

It is time to grow this list and gather now.

Note that the teardrops smt will seek to reward "past deeds" too. The @teardrops token should be loved and succeed, "bulls or bears" because "human" is involved. Thus, we will build this token around "certified uloggers" as these ones are "true celebrities", who are also "true fans" of human and of the "teardrops token", which is "an emblem of human".

It is time to gather now.

Kindly help me participate by going through this google form and filling it up, if you have done a post at any time, under any of these tags: #ulog #untalented #steemgigs #teardrops #surpassinggoogle.

https://goo.gl/forms/jR5sPPoqkwM8zzvl1

If you have never done a post under any of the tags mentioned earlier above, please read this form carefully and participate, by filling it up:

https://goo.gl/forms/G1GmCp83lcmM5xeZ2

Consider contributing a video ulogacy for uloggerstv

We will gradually be sending out a URL linking to exclusive chat-rooms for "certified uloggers". We will send this in an email.

Please share appropriate form to any friend or acquaintance, who has a steem account.

Subscribe to us on YouTube: UloggersTV

Subscribe to us on Youtube: TeardropsTV
Like our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/UloggersTV
Kindly join the communities on Discord & Telegram

@whatsup Asks: Can We Use The Steem Blockchain Directly, To Onboard MainStream Users To Crypto? - My Answers (As A Legit Illiterate).