I joined Steemit just over a month ago. Someone on Ello mentioned the site a couple of times, and I wanted to check it out for myself. So, here I am! Thanks, @pixelfan 
At first, I spent some time reading posts from current users, to see what sort of content was being posted, and checked out a few of the posts in "introduce yourself" to see what sort of people were using the site aside from that one person I knew. I’ve never been one of those people to blast into a place, guns blazing, so to speak, and wanted to be sure I would fit-in.
The blog entries I read were good. Some folks post photos, some post artwork, some share links to music they like, and some post words from the heart. I’ve kept blogs, off-and-on, for a dozen years or so, and this looked like a good place to blog. I view earning cryptocurrency as a perk — it would really be nice for it to come rolling in, but it is not my primary reason for being here. I am here to blog and interact with people, and there are quite a few who do exactly that, and it is wonderful! 
Because we Steemians are spread-out all over the world, it gives us a perfect opportunity to learn about each other’s cultures and experiences. I am finding some wonderful photographs here from places I will never be able to visit, and it is an extraordinary thing! Through Steemit, I have seen sunrises in East Timor, sunsets in Kuala Lumpur, waves lapping the shore in India, a colony of mushrooms in Germany, autumn leaves in a forest in Russia, amazing architecture in the Netherlands, stunning mountains in Pakistan, and woke up in a yurt in Kazakhstan. I have read the stories and musings of a gentleman in southern Texas, inspirational posts from someone in South Africa, and learned a bit about the country of Ghana. I have encountered others who do digital artworks, like me, and have been able to share a couple of recipes with others here. 😊
There are still many questions I have, and it is a bit confusing trying to sift through all the posts that attempt to explain how all this works. I suppose all will become clear in time…? Perhaps...?
I’m probably using this site differently than many people do. I have seen advice such as, ”Don’t upvote any post until you have checked with steemworld.com to make sure your vote is going to count!” Another tidbit said that upvoting 40 times in a day would exhaust your voting power for the day, so any additional upvotes won’t count. Yet another user suggested that it is only between 30-minutes and three-hours after a post is made that upvoting is worthwhile. I refuse to sit with a stopwatch or count the times I upvote posts in a day. If I see 45 worthwhile posts in a day, then darn it, they’re all getting an upvote from me, even if I stumble across a weeks-old post that I think is worthy of a vote! If nothing else, I figure the author of those posts will find those upvotes worthwhile, even if I don’t get rich from them!
And I think the power of comments is huge. I am grateful for any upvotes my posts get, but I am more grateful for comments. Because, again, interaction is special! And, hopefully, I won’t talk everyone’s ears off while I am here! If so, I will try to upvote you enough SBD to get a new pair… 
