How Steemit helped me beat my Facebook addiction (by replacing it with something stronger)

It's only been a couple of weeks since I first tried Steemit, but my goodness, this is some powerful social mediacation we have here.

If religion is the opium of the masses, and if facebook is the social media equivalent then what on Earth is Steemit? My friend today wrote a post describing how bitcoin is actually God...

https://steemit.com/life/@eco-alex/finally-the-answer-to-the-meaning-of-life-the-universe-and-everything-or-must-read

...but I'm starting to wonder if Steemit is not in fact the social media equivalent of freebase crystal methamphetamine, crack cocaine... If facebook is smoking opium in a pipe , Steemit is shooting up heroin into your vein.

Because of course we are all vain. And everyone wants money, after all. This is a dangerous combination, so all I'm doing here is advocating for a bit of caution.

I'm not saying that Steemit is good or bad. Like any of these technologies and developments, it is essentially a tool, and much depends on how you use it, what you use it for, if ultimately it fulfills it's higher purpose.

Did you know that heroin isn't in itself addictive? If your granny goes into hospital for an operation and she needs a strong painkiller, they give her heroin - purer than any she'd get on the street. But you don’t see loads of heroin addicted grannies on the street looking to score, do you? It's the social isolation that causes addiction.

Here is a very interesting five minute video about addiction. It's not what you'd expect -

But back to Steemit vs Facebook...

Since starting to use Steemit, I've completely lost all interest in facebook, which is quite something, because I've been quite a heavy user of facebook and have found it hard to give up, though I have tried on a number of occasions. But now? It just seems so boring and pointless.

The other day, I experienced the rush of receiving quite a large (for me) payout for one of my posts. Evidently a 'whale' had liked what I'd written, so instead of the usual couple of cents I tend to get for my posts, I got hundreds of dollars. Well come on! What are likes (or even 💓 loves) on facebook compared to dollars in your pocket?

What remains to be seen is how this Steemit is going to unfold, develop, evolve. I hope that my friend is right, and that we are taking part in a big social change - something amazing and new, that's going to revolutionise the way we live, democratise economics and help bring about the great shift in consciousness needed for the future survival and progress of humanity and life on Earth.

But let's just be careful, ok? This is some kind of powerful shit we're dealing with here. Let's use it well and be aware of the dangers. Otherwise we'll end up creating a virtual reality which is populated by junkie grannies on the streets, desperately seeking favours from fat cat 'whales' who hold all the power, money and influence but are morally bankrupt. Not a pretty picture, I'm afraid, but a real possibility if we're not careful.

There. You have been warned!
Now, full Steem ahead!

Peace ✌