Why does storing references (not pointers) in containers in C++ not work?

Question

In my program I have a STL set.

set myStrings;

To improve the efficiency of my code I changed it to hold, only pointers. (I d

Answer 1

Containers store objects. References are not objects.

The C++11 specification clearly states (§23.2.1[container.requirements.general]/1):

Containers are objects that store other objects.