The way I frame it to myself (and thus to others) is to pull back and place Steemit participation in a wider context of learning about and experimenting with blockchain technology use cases.
I remember accessing the old web search engines (remember Alta Vista?) via dial-up (1200 Baud!!!). At the time, very few people could predict a Google being accessed by smart phone (I know these people existed; I was not one of them). The folks who invested (at the time “wasted”) time and effort bumping into dead ends were the ones I subsequently saw jumping on the first e-comerce opportunities, the web consulting gigs, the new models for publishing, and inventing a widget that got bought by Yahoo!.
So my pitch for Steemit Beta would be something along the lines of: This could be a loser, and so could Bitcoin for that matter. But blockchain technology is here to stay. This moment when you get to play with the “embryonic stem cells” of new economic models will pass. The winners will eventually consolidate their positions by using the power of money and intel to lobby for government-enforced moats. (Yeah, I know… decentralized freedom for all… but I am not holding my breath. In the end, rivers and ports will still be able to be blockaded by navies, so government will always have a role.) SO… use the Steemit Beta moment to do your blockchain use-case-reconnaissance in a tangible way. Keep thinking about what steemit is and is NOT as you participate. Perhaps you will have gotten in on the ground floor of a Google. Perhaps you will have gotten in on the ground floor of a pets.com. No matter. In participating, you will clarify your future investment insights, your ability to discern what is great about Steemit’s next competitor, your own app that rides on the blockchain.
Also, as a creative (decidedly NON-tech guy), it gets me off my ass to just put some product out there without just handing ALL the value over to Facebook.
Great perspective, thanks for the comment :)