STEEM, as an example, is meant to be given to people for posting, upvoting, and commenting...that is the utility and how people can earn them.

Ok, whew. That was the conclusion that I came to after looking up the actual terminology, but it seemed a bit too...straightforward? for explaining utility for something technically complex. Gotta work on my confidence for the amount of time I've been putting in to understanding the technology. Still, looking forward to checking out more valuable content.