Steemit, the leading decentralized social media platform, has wrapped up its first-ever public event in Europe, SteemFest, which was held at the Volkshotel in Amsterdam from November 11–13.

Attended by over 200 enthusiasts from across the globe, SteemFest Amsterdam focused on a number of topics including Steemit’s growth, the rise of cryptocurrency and blockchain, and the impending mainstream adoption of decentralized social media. Many of the participants funded their travel from posts made on Steemit, as well as CEO Ned Scott and author of The Game, Neil Strauss. The community-organized event was so successful that weekly meet-ups are planned in new cities around the world every weekend.

“SteemFest was hugely successful, with more than 200 active Steem users in attendance representing more than 30 countries around the world.  In my estimation, there has ever been a blockchain or social network community event like this with so much energy and so early in the platform’s history. In fact, if we are just looking at cryptocurrency users, I believe this is one of the biggest events to ever occur that has gathered actual platform users".

According to the official release, the most discussed topic at SteemFest was the current shift in social media consumption. This is observed as a growing number of millennials and Generation Z users are moving away from current giants like Facebook and Reddit and opting for decentralized, uncensored, rewards-based social media platforms.

This shift has been further evidenced by a recent survey by whurk in which 350 college students from around the U.S. were asked what social media trends they are seeing at school. 62.9% of participants indicated the decentralized social media platforms will soon become the norm, with 52% agreeing that people should be paid for their contributions when it adds value to an online community.

As reported by Business Insider, Facebook recently came under hot water for hiding certain advertising material from certain ethnic groups. 69% of students said that Facebook should remove such tools, and 79% indicated large social media sites are prejudiced in what trending news they publish. Steemit said that such censorship is impossible on a blockchain-powered platform like its platform itself.

“The current privatised giants like Facebook, Twitter and Reddit are taking our time, our work, our creativity and our energy, and leveraging that along with our data to create value for their shareholders. But with the point system embedded in Steemit – we have created a boundless social economy where users are receiving the value for their contributions and time”, Scott said.

Only six months since launch, Steemit has over 110,000 users and almost a million monthly uniques. Neil Strauss, who made a public address at SteemFest, has begun posting articles and blogs on Steemit, contributed to the site’s community book club, and also wrote about his lucrative experiences in Rolling Stone.

“It has been amazing to meet fellow Steemians and Steemit Book Club members here. It’s such a great community of people, with so many diverse interests yet so much in common too. Big respect and awe to @roelandp for organizing this with such professionalism and excellence. Everyone’s expectations were far surpassed,” Strauss said.