Excellent well constructed post - agree with you that hard work goes a long way, but the motivating factor should always be to do the right thing for the right reasons.
Steemit is the first social medial site I have used because it respects my privacy. Just hope it stays this way and does not go after the biggest whale of them all-advertising
I wouldn't think so, because it has a foundation on cryptocurrency, hence the "adverts" would cost them too dearly at the end of it all.
Will be interesting to see how steemit develops in the coming years - once it reaches a critical mass I can see it being commercialised and follow the same path as youtube etc. but fortunately it cannot(?) be sold off at it's developmental stage like WhatsApp.
No need for it to be "sold off", it is a crypto manufacturing plant, hence selling it would be insane.