Today I purchased a mobile app for 2.99 USD. I took some time to consider this purchase, and after weighing the cons and pros for a few months (!), I eventually clicked the button to buy the app and rewarded the developer for the product I got. Shortly after, I read and upvoted a Steemit post at 100%, giving the author close to 13 SBD in payout without spending more than a second considering it.

Why is that?

Giving without giving away

I am not great at math, but even I can see the difference: I invested a lot more time considering the reward to the app developer than I did my upvote, even though the reward to the Steemit post author is significantly bigger. The reason for this behavior is quite obvious, but also interesting.

Unlike a business transaction, in which I give money to another in exchange for some form of value, on Steemit I can allocate a reward to a content creator without paying a cent from my pocket. And that's awesome in many ways.

Steemit presents a very unique content monetization mechanics that is different from ones we are familiar with as content consumers. Instead of donation buttons on blogs, annoying ads or a mass of affiliate links to keep the publication running? On Steemit authors and publications can thrive by doing what they do best: creating and marketing content, giving the community the opportunity to reward them with money that, at first glance, seems to be coming out of thin air.

It's simply easier to be generous with rewards when it doesn't cost you but rather PAY you (with curation rewards). And if it somehow does "cost" (you exchange your earning for steem to power it up), it's still easier than paying fiat, at least for me.

Magic coins and financial anxiety

I have a strange relationship with cryptocurrency in the way I perceive it in relation to fiat. It might be an outdated view of finances, but to me cryptocurrency is not money until it turned into something I can pay the bills with. In my mind, Steem Dollars and Bitcoins are nothing but the potential for money. A potential I am quick to forget and a little scared to remember.

The fact I have never invested fiat in cryptocurrencies, and my first encounter with this mad world was through Steemit, makes me perceive Steem and other cryptocurrencies a bit differently that people who've bought their way into it. It's easy for me to send a 50 SBD donation to an initiative I support, or talk to an artist about purchasing something for 90 SBD, and even use some of my earning to launch my own bitshares token for the fun of it. But when I convert these sums to dollars in my head, they become REAL MONEY, thus turning my decision that much harder.

I don't know if other Steemians like me, who've had no previous relationships with cryptocurrencies, treat Steem the way I do. To me, the imaginary magic coins that multiply in my wallet a week after I publish a post are not as easy to hand out at upvotes, but still much easier for me to spend than fiat.

Your take

That's my story, and my Steemit psychology. What's yours?

Do you have a perceived difference between Steem and fiat? Why?
Do you have an easier time handing out upvotes, or do you consider their monetary value in terms of pool reward distribution?
Do you prefer to hold Steem till you need the cash or convert everything to fiat as soon as you can?

Let's discuss!

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P.S. Who has 2000 followers and pink hair? This girl! Thank you all for not getting sick of my ramblings! <3