You  may be thinking, that Steemit is just a big scheme made for the owners.  But it is not. I'll tell you why it is not and why the value of Steem  will thrive in the long term.

what is this "STEEM" backed by?

Isn't this whole Steem thing just another pump and dump scheme, with no tangible value behind it?

well:

STEEM IS BACKED BY THE COMMUNITY, AS WELL AS THE ORIGINAL CONTENT THEY PRODUCE.

Whenever someone contributes content to the community, he is paid. On  the other hand, he also generates an asset that all of Steem can  appreciate. Original content is what makes Steem valuable. And as more and more people join the Steemit revolution, they are  generating more and more value for the system, by writing and  participating in the Steemit community. And all of this value will  reflect in the price of Steem. This is why I'm betting all I've got on  Steem going up in the long term.  

 Steemit is a legitimate company, with a legitimate  community, with legitimate people with compassion and empathy!

And it is THESE VERY PEOPLE that make Steemit a worthwhile project. And it is THESE VERY PEOPLE that make STEEM valuable!