The Steemit $$$ Challenge: Prove To Yourself Why You Are Here

in #steemit8 years ago

If we're honest with ourselves, most of us are here because of one little symbol:

Many of us like to think we're here for a decentralized, peaceful revolution leading to a utopian meritocracy, but are we fooling ourselves? Anyone who's been around cryptocurrencies for even a little while knows we have a long, volatile future ahead of us with regards to the STEEM price.

Will you be here next week if the price drops, and you no longer see $10,000+ posts on the home page?

Is it really about community with quality, decentralized, uncensored content?

Here's how you can find out for yourself:

  1. Go to the Chrome store and install the Stylish extension. This lets you customize how you see other websites by automatically applying your own CSS style rules.
  2. Create a new entry called "no prices" for Steemit.com with the following code:
.FormattedAsset {
    display: none;
}

It should look something like this:

stylish69eeb.png

Turn it on. Browse the site.

How does that feel?

Does it change how you vote for content? Does it change how you feel about the content you read? Does the site keep your interest as much as it did before or will you gravitate back to Reddit, Facebook, or Twitter?

I'm not bashing our emotional responses here. They are very real and important. They help us survive and thrive, and we've been programmed by marketers for quite some time to respond to the all mighty dollar. What I'm asking for is perspective and clarity. We don't know what the price of STEEM will be in 2 years. We don't know what the price will be next week. If we focus too much on the dollar signs all over the site, we can set ourselves up for disappointment.

Things will be volatile.

I for one am very hopeful. I'd love to pay off my house with STEEM and be in a position to give generously to others. That said, that's not my only motivation here. I truly want to see this work. As I said in my explainer video, Steemit is a decentralized social media platform built on blockchain technology which pays content creators and curators in tokens of real value.

Regardless of what the $$$ amount of those tokens ends up being, this is an amazing experiment, and I'm grateful to participate in it.

The Challenge

I'm going to keep my Stylish no prices plugin running for a whole day. For 24 hours, I won't see the dollar amount of the posts I vote on or the ones I write. Will Steemit still hold my interest? I'm about to find out.

What do you think about the motivational psychology of Steemit? Leave a comment, especially if you're joining me in this challenge. I'd love to know what your initial impressions are of the site without the mighty $ attached to every post and comment you see.

Sort:  

I think it is safe to say that a significant portion of the current community indeed are highly motivated by the potential quick buck - and who can really blame them? But, you know, that is fine if it means people are willing to dedicate time and resources on expanding the platform and creating content. It works both ways though, indeed. I do feel it is important to note in this regard just how successful Reddit is and how there is nothing beyond the sacred Reddit Gold to be "earned".

You can moreover make the argument that Steemit, regardless of price, offers more than Reddit for content creators due to the simple fact that Reddit offers nothing. $1 on a single post is still $1 more than what a lifetime on Reddit could yield you. The incentive to post and contribute on Steemit will always be present - sometimes more lucrative than others. Similarly, creators from other platforms with existing monetization models would be able to post that content on Steemit as well and thus create an additional revenue stream with the potential of hitting jackpot, so to speak.

It is also worth noting how the rewards will increase significantly as more people arrive on the platform and accumulate power. However, we very much rely on the platform being finished so that we do not lose the game due to lacking functionalities or the like.

$1 on a single post is still $1 more than what a lifetime on Reddit could yield you.

Yes! I've been saying this since day one. It's amazing to me how quickly people will complain about getting only $0.25 on a post when, for years of their life, they have posted on other platforms and received a grand total of absolutely freaking nothing.

I'm all about this system making a ton of money for a lot of people. Value in money, to me, is a certificate of appreciation (that's not mine, it comes from Rabbi Daniel Lapin). Money is needed to hire developers, run marketing programs, handle PR, etc. This system has so much going for it. Time will tell what that ends up meaning for us all.

I totally agree @lukestokes. I regularly make $10 - $15 for just asking basic questions here. That's huge motivation for using Steemit. One user suggested this as a replacement for sites like StackOverflow. Couldn't agree more. Why shouldn't users who put in the time and effort to answer questions be rewarded. I could see code snippet challenges play out with bounties paid in real time!

That's a great idea, @billbutler! A StackOverflow powered by Steemit would be amazing! Payouts would continue coming in years later as well. Brilliant.

Not really. If you make enough posts on reddit in the right sections, you'll probably receive a few tips.

Not uncommon to see $1-4 tips on the r/bitcoin section .

Reddit bitcoin tips are kind of an anomaly in the larger ecosystem of the Internet. Though I agree with you, the Steemit white paper goes into great detail on why micro tipping isn't as effective as this voting model. Thanks for pointing this out though. Some may not know about the tipping bots on reddit.

Lol. Quick bucks ? I have an average of $0.1 per post XD. And many times it took me even a lot of effort to make it. You earned more with your reply than me with ALL my posts together :-p.

The most amazing thing about this project is the fact that for the first time people started to truly believe that they will get the right appreciation for theirs contributions in something really Big...but still we have to take under consideration that this is still an alternative project in prototype stage ...so shall we expect unexpected? Time will tell...till then let it steem...

@dantheman thank you very much for showing your appreciation on my comment. This's my first decent SD I'll make with STEEMIT. It will motivate me to write better quality comments in order to boost quality of the whole project. Cheers

Let it Steem indeed! I've chuckled at how many strong opinions (including my own) are thrown around this early in the game. Time will indeed tell. Hopefully a pretty awesome story is being formed which is why I'll be doing #journal posts now and again so I can look back at the blockchain years from now and marvel.

Brilliant. Going to do this. Looking forward to the progress report.

Nice! I'd love to know how it goes for you as well.

Nice and I agree who's here just for the hit and run, and who's here to make the Steemit community better and help it grow.. and become a part of the next big thing :D

I made some posts about Steemit being a new digital world and then another one about how "sexy" images are starting to ruin everything and how we can prevent the site from becoming a porn site..

https://steemit.com/steem/@stealthtrader/steemit-has-created-a-new-digital-world

https://steemit.com/money/@stealthtrader/art-vs-not-art

Great posts, thanks for sharing! I upvoted both of them but have no idea how well you got paid on the first 24 hour payout. Isn't that interesting? Didn't change my vote, but I think it might have if my Stylish plugin wasn't running. I might have said, "Oh, cool, they got paid well, I'll save my vote for some new content."

Interesting indeed.

Why save your vote ? If the content is good , it shouldn't matter how well they got paid, no?

That's what's so interesting about this platform to me. Unlike other platforms where content that's older than a few hours is essentially ignored, old content here can be resurrected to popularity. Curation is rewarded because it's a valuable service to the network. If everyone just voted for what they like and didn't actively work to find great, under-appreciated content, we'd all miss out on something. I think we need both free, active voting and strategic, targeted curation.

Got it...so if i want an old post resurrected and i have enough swing i can just vote it and bring it back to life.

@royaltiffany: Yes, in theory... but you can only vote for a post once. Usually you already voted for your post once you published it. What you can do is use votes to alter the comments section a bit by voting for things you want to see spring to the top.

Well whatever they are complaining about , they should be more aware of the fact that , this site , needs exposure first , diversity second. And how do you get that exposure ? Why not a youtube make up tutorial ?! And the more people join, in time the power will be more equally divided. At least that's how i see it...

Can't reply to your last comment so doing it here. I am new here..and i am still figuring things out . I have seen so much content and comments about voting that i don't know what to believe anymore, i don't know if 2 months old posts are still right or if things have changed, so yeah. Thank you for answering :)

Speaking of targeted curation , is that what whales do , when they vote a post ? Like it happens with the famous make up tutorial that everyone is complaining about and i dont understand why they are complaining..

@royaltiffany:

i dont understand why they are complaining..

For some, it's greed. For others, they are concerned with the centralization of power represented in just a few accounts. Still others want a labor-theory-of-value meritocracy where posts that took 5 hours to create with world-class content and commentary don't get ignored, but instead get highly rewarded.

To me, it's all an experiment. Who knows what we'll happen, where we're going, or what path we'll take to get there. To me, it's pretty damned exciting.

Your a rockstar man thank you I will continue to return the favor :D


There should be room for everyone!

As much as I'm not a fan of Che Guevara, this image gets me every time. :)

I allowed myself to upload your style to userstyles.org

After installing stylish extension, you can just left click its icon, choose "find more styles for this site" (while browsing steemit.com, of course), click on "no prices" and then "Install with Stylish", "Ok"

All done in 3 seconds :)

Really interesting idea. Most of us don't want to know such things about ourselves though.

Most of us don't want to know such things about ourselves though.

Ah, now there's an interesting philosophical/psychological point. For me, so much of my thinking lately has ben influenced by Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. As we move up the pyramid, we not only care about these things, but we can also position ourselves to make important changes to improve the world around us.

maslow-pyramid06280.jpg

I'm really amazed at how many people come here and think of yet another great way to use what they've built. Like I said in one of my earlier posts I love seeing 100 people getting ten bucks for their thoughts but I step back a bit when I see one person get 1000 for a thought. Maybe your idea will change my experience that much for the better.

Then again how would it feel to pour yourself out there for a week, and come back to find that everyone said 'meh'?

I guess it doesn't really matter either way -- we were all fine without outside affirmation the week before joining steemit and we haven't changed.

we were all fine without outside affirmation the week before joining steemit and we haven't changed.

Or maybe we just worked cheap? Maybe a like or a favorite was all we needed to keep our fragile egos from crumbling.

Don't get me started, 'psychological needs' are my favorites.

Perfect post. I have been thinking the $ sumbol should really be replaced by the steem symbol.... it keeps it less money focused while still showing a rank that becomes more like a badge in perspective. I encourage people to do just this and stop following in the wake of whales!

Is there a STEEM currency symbol? That would be sweet.

I guess I meant the actual steem symbol on bittrex, or upper left hand corner in my browser. Sorry for inaccuracy.

As the freakonomics guys taught year ago, incentives drive behaviour. I've always thought about blogging but never did it, until now. I never thought about buying crypto currency, until now. So assuming there's more people out there like me, I think Steem has a future. But you have a valid point about price movements. To be purely financially driven, it requires a long term perspective to keep posting. Any idea what percentage of people start posting and then stop?

Hey Jason! Incentives do drive behavior, but I also find interesting the research on intrinsic verses extrinsic motivations and how rewards can actually decrease creative activity. I haven't read Punished by Rewards by Alfie Kohn yet, but I've read some of his other stuff. It's really interesting.

Will initial excitement fade if it becomes harder and harder to get noticed? Will it fade if the price of STEEM drops through the floor? I think it will for some, but I also think there are a lot more people out there just like you.

I think Steem has a future as well.

I've been personally motivated to start fresh. I've had a tough year in Eugene and am looking forward to starting over on my move to Nashville. There are many "friends" in my Facebook network that I no longer want to keep in touch with. Those people base most of their life choices on shocking others. I'm shocked out. I intend to base my future on intentional and genuine communication.

The bi-product of spending time on Steemit, will be educating myself on alternate types of currency. I enjoy working while traveling, and I expect to get paid while I'm in Thailand this winter. Paypal is nice and easy for my clients, but it's limited. Bitcoin is out of the question, I might as well ask them to ship me gold coins.

I'm noticing the quality of content on this site is more useful than Facebook, most people are aware that time spent generating good content will return good search results. (Like SEO strategy) I like your challenge to hide the dollar amount. I might apply that filter on my own browser some day, right now it's a key factor in the network's dynamic.

There's a lot going on, it may take me some time to get ahold of how Steemit works, and how the developers are planning to grow the network. If I weren't a web designer, I might have some trouble with the lack of hosting jpgs and such. Seems like a basic feature of a social networking site has been omitted. In fact, I still don't understand how my profile image was generated. I guess some day I might have time to search for an answer. Today is not the day, I have to prepare for my move!!

Hey Terry! Great to see you here! I'm looking forward to hanging out in Nashville together. So far, the community here has been pretty amazing.

Putting the images up can be a bit confusing, but basically you just use an image hosting site and past a link to the image or use Markdown syntax. Takes a little getting used to, but once you get it, you're good. Since it's only storing text in the blockchain, the images have to exist elsewhere. As to your profile image, it was probably brought in when you registered via Facebook. The avatar images next to comments aren't configurable yet.

I love that you're testing your own psychology! You are truly an out of the box thinker, an open minded individual. I'm looking forward to a functioning follow button.

Wow, thank you!

Right now, the $ in my wallet is mocking me.

Cue Buzz Lightyear gif...

"You're mocking me, aren't you?"

I like the experiment, but I don't care why people are initially here. People are creatures of habit and if Steemit becomes a habit, let the tent grow, regardless of ideology.

Well said. I'm looking at this more as a self-actualization process. Why am I really here and does it align with why I think I'm here? So far, it's been interesting. I've been voting much differently, that's for sure.

im here because i like the whole Bitcoin technology aswell as the philosphy behind it, im not a blogger and never had faceboook(only made 1 to sign up here) or reddit account but i like the idea that steem is not dependend on those big corporations, i want steem to succed because im invested in it and i believe it can work, it has some real life use, but if not life goes on, there is another big thing coming up, so well hell

You just blogged. It's that easy. :) It doesn't have to be some major insight, it might just be a small post or a comment.

I was very much drawn to here for that lovely big dollar sign! However, I won't lie; it is still a consideration but I am also loving being able to post things without that whole faceboook coworker or extended family worry thing. Just being free to post, comment and vote and talk to some great folk whilst being about it. Big up the Steem!

Imagine a future where we are all free to be our uncensored selves. That future might be starting right here.

Good idea don't be in it for the money be in it because you enjoy it.

Money is just a tool we use to gain other things we want in life like security, prestige, influence, resources for living, etc. Ideally, used correctly, money should help us enjoy life. Unfortunately, many rich people are miserable. I like how Steem might enable us to think about both. Doing what we love (being social online) while getting paid value we can use to improve other areas of our lives. That's pretty exciting stuff!

I am in because I want it ALL , enjoying & promoting , teaching , learning and rewards and if no cash I still can live well

This is brilliant. I'll try it. Yes I am partly here for the $ but I don't think not seeing the payouts will change how I upvote.

Let me know once you turn it on. I'm surprised how much my voting has changed. I find myself upvoting old great content that probably already got a great payout. I don't care, because it's good content and I want it recorded in the blockchain as something I liked.

Smart Idea. I wonder if steem would incorperate this idea as a toggle-able feature one day?

That would be pretty sweet. Actually, to take it a step further, why not show SP instead? If this thing really takes off like many of us believe it will, we won't need $ anymore.

MatrixBitcoind18a4.jpg

I already dont want Steem Dollars and SP is becoming REALLY expensive..

I was going to deposit $20 of bitcoin and it was only like 4 SP :(

Is this what the early bitcoin adopters felt like? I got involved with bitcoin when it was already heading above $20. What did they feel like when it went from $0.05 to $1.00?

What will we (or could we) feel like when STEEM goes from $1-$3 to... a lot more?

Interesting times indeed.

I'd imagine so @lukestokes. I think STEEM has to go higher. Essentially, demand for new account registrations will increase demand for SP and SD. This will force the price up and will essentially give those who don't feel they have much power, much more power. For instance, a user holding only 1000 SP right now doesn't lend much $$ weight to a post, but if STEEM were at $20, it would be a completely different story. While their vote weight is the same, the dollar value is now significant attributing anywhere between $0.20 to $20 to a post.

I think we can assume it's possible that with the amount of people who use Facebook and Youtube.. and those people coming to Steemit the value of STEEM POWER can and probably will go A LOT higher :D

Hey I just did my first real vlog besides my intro.. if you get a chance will you please check it out?

https://steemit.com/new/@stealthtrader/steemit-vlog-2

@stealthtrader: done, commented, and voted. I know all about the kids making too much noise. :)

@billbutler: Indeed! If this coin has legs (and I think it does), it might even challenge bitcoin. If the coin itself goes way up in value, what we consider "dust" now might be really significant later.

Очень интересная идея. Но я думаю людей больше деньги привлекают.
translate: Very interesting idea. But I think people are more attracted to money.

Yep. I think they are too. This is part of the reason this challenge/experiment is so interesting to me. Is it even possible to transcend money?

I think we can. I've seen it happen in various contexts. Though they were extraordinary circumstances, separated from typical experience. Money is really a very new thing to humans. We certainly didn't evolve using money or anything like it. And it is imaginary, anyhow... We have items that fill in symbolically, as representatives of whatever it is we call money. But the substance of money is an abstraction. It's a peculiar way of framing our social relations.

I've read a bit about various gift and sharing economies. It's interesting stuff, to be sure, but I also value and love technology. So far, technological advancement comes about via capital. I think it brings future potential to travel the cosmos and live extended lives. Ideally, those lives should also be filled with increased fulfillment and well-being too. Some like to glorify our pre-agricultural days (and they have many valid reasons for doing so), but I also think some anarcho-primitivists would actually hate living off the land. Not all, of course, but some. Watching Naked and Afraid is a good exercise for those who thing nature is a beautiful, wonderful, peaceful thing.

Nature is a bitch.

I've been using my bicycle to go camping for the last 10 years. When you are miles from civilization, you become very aware of how fragile the human body actually is. The last thing a biker wants 100 miles from home is to twist their ankle stepping over some logs. I have loads of respect for the anarchists living off the grid in the Oregon state parks. Not only are they reducing their amount of fossil fuel use and clear-cutting in the state park, but these people are willing to miss out on career opportunities in the city.

In a similar fashion to your Steemit hack, our anarchists are hiding the currency symbol every day of their life. I appreciate that commitment and see them as real leaders in a society that is currently lost, looking for a purpose.

I'm not advocating anarcho-primitivism. I just want to abolish money.

Hi all... Please help me comment and vote

comment back your link and i vote your blog too

steemit.com/steem/@ahay/awal-mula-saya-mengenal-steem#

Hello Ahay. You may not be aware of this due to the language or cultural differences, but what you're doing by linking to your content with no context and asking for people to vote and comment with no regard to the quality of the content (i.e. the "follow back" routine) isn't helpful for this platform. It's actually spam. You'd do much better by adding relevant, quality comments and only link to your own content when it directly adds value to the conversation.

Very well written post! I do agree with you, it is still new and experimental and i think your right that the $$$ is what is attracting most of us, especially since alot of us are already involved in cryptocurrency. I value steem much like shares in facebook. Its really the value of the company. I hope the system gets refined and that we can keep a level playing field here. It is still early days, but we could be on to something exciting here that rewards people more fairly than what google pays youtube channels for example.

Thank you! In the short time I've been here, I've already seen quite a bit of refinement. I'm pretty impressed so far.

I love thoughtful posts like this. I'm 100% with you that user behavior would be totally different without the $ signs on this website. The reason the $ is there is simple, it's the only incentive that makes people anywhere in the world excited enough to try Steemit.

I'd like to see Steemit incentivize quality discussions. It's easy to gather a lot of upvotes reposting a breaking news article, which is valuable to know that a news post is worth knowing about, but is that really where the value is being created? I personally think that a thoughtful posts with quality discussion would be creating just as much if not more value, even if it doesn't have as many upvotes.

I wrote about this in my recent (and first) post title "DISCUSSION: How will Steemit change the social media landscape and the internet moving forward?" Please come by and share your thoughts with me! Cheers dude. https://steemit.com/steemit/@ynotplay/6wmgmr-discussion-how-steemit-changes-the-social-media-landscape-and-the-internet-forever

Just upvoted and commented on your post. Great article!

I agree that thoughtful posts and meaningful discussions are where the value lives, but at the same time I have to recognize my own preferences. I use social media differently than many people I know. I've had numerous people tell me how much they enjoy following along with the Facebook discussions we get into because they actually matter, whether we're talking about philosophy, voluntaryism, morality, artificial intelligence, etc.

Some people just want to see cat photos and tits.

And that's okay. It really is okay. Social media is just a tool and people will use it to bring joy to their lives. As long as they aren't aggressing against others, I'm all for it.

@ynotplay: For more meaningful discussions, be sure to follow my blog. :)

I can see the point of hiding any amount but you know the site and you know there is money to be made so even if you don't see it immediately, you know there's gonna be a little bonus waiting for you when you turn it back on.
Anyway nice experiment worth a shot.

I'm less than an hour in, and I can tell you for sure, it has drastically changed my voting habits. I find myself back in Facebook Like mode, just voting for all kinds of stuff that I think is really good. My voting power is going down, but, for today anyway, I don't care. :)

Ok maybe I'll give it a try

Cool! Let me know what you think.

Really good writing Luke, you make some excellent points and you are being rewarded for that, I hope to see more $$ on this post before payout.

Also great info about the Stylish extension, I shall check that out!

CG

At the moment, I can't see any $, but I did notice this post made it to the home page trending section.

Weeeeeeee!!!!

Joking aside, so far I've really enjoyed the experiment. The site takes on a different feel to me when I'm not constantly bombarding my response mechanisms with $. I've voted much more freely because of it (though my voting power is lower than it's ever been... around 88%).

You want a spoiler ? AHahhaahhah

Don't do it! My wife @corinnestokes already teased me at breakfast this morning. She's all, "I looked at the price..."

Heheh.

The funny thing is, because I committed to 24 hours, I may never see the actual $ amount (though I could figure it out with some math once it pays out as SBD and Steem Power). When I woke up this morning I almost accidentally hit my blog page on my phone and then caught myself.

I'm in two minds - I create content here because I can make a good amount of money, but similarly I can link to anywhere that I want to without getting slammed like I would on other sites. I think I'm highly motivated by monetary gain though.

As for commenting and engaging then that's different to me. I really appreciate a good article, like this one. So I'd certainly upvote a $0 post and comment and engage - whereas I would definitely miss out a $10,000 post that adds no value to my life :)

But that's just me - I have no problems with people using this how they see fit, because in the end, our community is what it is :)

Why don't you try the challenge and see what comes of it? Just 24 hours. I agree, people can do whatever they want, but this, for me, is mostly about helping people find out more about themselves.

I think most of the people who are here i just trying to test a new thing, a new revolutionary thing that can change the world as we know it, if they can make money in the road, then for sure it will work out.

That's how it starts... and then you get HOOKED! Then it's like, "I could sleep... or work on that next post I was thinking about!" Heheh. Either way, it's a super fun ride.

I'm using Steem partly because of the monetary incentive (even though I doubt I'll ever make more than a few cents per post) and partly because I find this concept interesting.

If you write good content others appreciate, you will make some SBD and Steem Power. That's real value. And yes, I find it super interesting also. :)

What a great idea! I'm going to try this experiment. Please let us know what you think about the change in your voting patterns without the "$."

I'll probably do a follow up post, but I've sprinkled some thoughts throughout the comments here already. It's been really interesting.

I haven't written my introduction post yet but I plan to. While money is certainly a motivation (and I hope to make a lot), I understand that it's risky with crypto and anything this new and revolutionary. But recently I've learned that cryptocurrencies are something that interest me very much because, in many ways, they are the intersection of computer science (programming), economics, investing and even entrepreneurship and more (like government and systems in general). It's a good fit for me because I'm a software developer, amateur or aspiring economist, novice investor and I'm an entrepreneur.
The Steem blockchain and Steemit community seems like it might appreciate what I have to say and share, so I plan to write/share for the sake of writing/sharing. It has the added benefit that I could make money from it so that's great and all the more motivation. It seems to me like a no brainer to blog on Steem.
I only have one small rant so far ... I wrote my first post Diversification 2016: Still The Only Free Lunch In Investing, and I was encouraged by the results. But I think it might have done better because I posted it right before the site was put into read only mode the other day. Then it was taken out of read only for a moment and put back in. And now Steemit seems to be fully functional again, my post seems to have been lost in the noise.
But it's all interesting, this is what comes with a currency combined with a social network software project and more. It's all very interesting.

Welcome! Go write that intro post. :)

Yeah, I've seen some great posts with detailed content go completely unnoticed (I just upvoted yours, btw!). It'll take time for the individual communities to develop and for the site to grow so big that people interested in investing will be seeing content like what you put together front and center. As you said, it's very interesting.

I mostly try to vote for post with little reward

I've been doing honest voting for ~2 weeks, mostly because I believe in the experiment and I want to see it grow to a real thing, instead of letting it go down the spam drain.

Results so far: Started with 10SP, now at 10.7. YMMV but I'd love to hear about your results :)

As far as my voting results, I have a post about that over here. I think it's important to understand the system before creating expectations in it. If you only have the starting 10SP, your votes aren't going to matter much. I personally invested some bitcoin into this after reading the white paper and spending some time in the Slack channel to see how things work under the hood. If you read the white paper (and the release notes of the various hard forks since then), you'll see how important having reputation power is here. It's not just about voting, it's also about who is doing the voting and how much have they personally invested (in financial terms, technical know how, early adopter knowledge, etc) into Steem. It's an incredible system, but there's much, much more to it than just the $ signs.

Virtual currencies may hold long-term promise, particularly if the innovations promote a faster, more secure and more efficient payment system

The interesting part of this isn't the time you don't see the amount. Because you will come back and be active and full of positive, eager and interested emotions. Because there is something you will get: a result. The interesting part of this is to see your face when you display the amount again and it shows about 1/10 of the amount you thought you would have. Because when it is higher than expected you will feel positive either way. But when it is significant lower.... well... I think thats when the true colors come apparent. Because then you will realise you are not here for the content or better quality or a movement or whatever.

I've commented a lot here about expectations and the importance of keeping them in check. It doesn't matter what the number is because, as I mentioned, we don't know what the long term value of Steem will be. My motivations, as far as I can tell, are about value. Many forms of value, including monetary value.

And the hide prices Plugin is now disabled!

$673.94, eh? Not bad at all. :) What's more interesting to me is the SBD and Steem Power values:

blogging reward of 336.972 SD and 97.868 STEEM POWER for lukestokes/the-steemit-usdusdusd-challenge-prove-to-yourself-why-you-are-here

Also interesting is how two comments (along with the OP) were noticed and upvoted by @dantheman as follows:

blogging reward of 87.127 SD and 25.305 STEEM POWER for lukestokes/re-stealthtrader-re-lukestokes-re-belfordz-re-lukestokes-the-steemit-usdusdusd-challenge-prove-to-yourself-why-you-are-here-20160718t231646923z
blogging reward of 89.473 SD and 25.987 STEEM POWER for lukestokes/re-jsteck-re-lukestokes-the-steemit-usdusdusd-challenge-prove-to-yourself-why-you-are-here-20160718t233157901z

I'll publish more thoughts in a separate post. Thank you all to everyone who upvoted and especially to those who participated as well! I'd love to know what your experience was not seeing the mighty $ on steemit.com for a whole day. Let me know in the comments.

@lukestokes are you saying that I should keep the "no prices" active and this would work?

I'm just checking

are you saying that I should keep the "no prices" active and this would work?

Can you help me understand what you mean by "this would work"? Work for what? All the "no prices" stylesheet does is hide the prices. If that's what you mean by "works" then yes, it works. If you think it will somehow do something different or more than that... Then I'm not sure what you mean. You can see my blog for the follow up post here: https://steemit.com/money/@lukestokes/steemit-without-usdusdusd-the-24-hour-challenge-follow-up

Many of us like to think we're here for a decentralized, peaceful revolution leading to a utopian meritocracy...

Funny how there is a Utopian meritocracy with the name of Utopian right now. Steemit used to be such a generous place when it all began. I started blogging in early 2016. I so wish I had known about Steemit at that time. I'm glad to be here since June, 2017 though.