Blogging on Steemit: Are you in it for the fun or the money?
I'm curious. Do you create content for some intrinsic reward (it's fun, it teaches you something)? Or do you do it for the money?
Why do I ask? As part of my research on decentralized companies, I'm reading a fair amount of academic literature on the economics of open source projects. The literature is fine and good, but I want to make sure I stay well grounded in reality: how do actual users on actual innovative platforms like Steem.it really act and think?
One of the seminal papers on this topic was von Hippel and von Krogh's 2003 paper, which asked the following question:
Why should thousands of top-notch programmers contribute freely to the provision of a public good? (empasis added)
The open source phenomenon seemed completely at odds with traditional economic theories of innovation, which largely focused on monetary rewards (intellectual property) and controlling free riders. How could open source projects -- which offer no monetary rewards and is open to contributors and free riders alike -- produce innovation like Apache server software and compete against huge companies like Microsoft?
Well, as von Hippel and von Krogh pointed out, the phenomenon was not necessarily at odds with economic theories. The economic incentives were just a little less obvious. Network effects. Quick diffusion of ideas. Reciprocity (i.e., I give my ideas away for free, but so does everyone else, so I often get more than what I put in).
Of those non-obvious economic incentives, perhaps the most interesting to me were the intrinsic rewards. Von Hippel and von Krogh note that for many people, the award for contributing to open source projects is simply the enjoyability of doing it. This idea rings true to me; I'm sure many of us have those friends who get off on editing obscure Wikipeda articles for fun (or maybe that's you).
Enter Steem.it. You write an article, and you can immediately start refreshing the page to see the direct monetary payoff that the content gives you. Obvious economic incentives are back in the picture.
This is where I get curious. To what extent are you (Steemit users) just creating content for enjoyment and learning, and to what extent are you doing it for the money? Is Steemit changing the way we weight pleasure vs. rewards in our decision to create content? In other words, if Steemit's reward scheme went away, would you still keep blogging as much as you do now? Will Steemit make us greedy and less willing to post content for free on other platforms?
I'm guessing the answer is somewhere in the middle. The intrinsic rewards are definitely at play, but the money sure is nice too.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
Pretty much in it for the fun now: not surprising, as I'm one of those folks who's posted infrequently but commented frequently.
For money, I"ve got a lot of STEEM in the form of Steem Power; I'm counting on that.
I've been blogging for years in a Wordpress blog and never made money out of it. For me it's more about sharing. But I don't want some big centralized company to make all this money out of my work. This is why I like Steem so much.
Agreed.
I think there is a mixture of both. As an artist I love creating purely because I enjoy it and am passionate about doing it. Also I understand my art is worth something . If I'm not getting paid to do it then it's not a big deal but like I said I still understand the value that I could bring. The same way people use steemit. Some enjoy curating, blogging or just soaking up great content but also there is an understanding that these things bring value and help others. So I feel it could be both.
Great points. I think Steemit is such an interesting experiment because it quantifies value that has previously been hidden. I know how much I value my work, but what dollar amount does the market peg it at? Obviously Steem isn't perfect at it yet, but IMO this is one of the most interesting aspects of the platform.
I try to write only when I think I have something of value to write about. Sure, I love it when my work is appreciated (comments, reshares, steem). And there's one rule: what I write, is it me? In the sense that : does it represent who I am?
Thanks. This seems like a good litmus test for posting content.
I used to post regularly on G+ for free. Now I actually post less but write longer, and I see the votes as some indication that my writing is being read. Sure some of it is bots, but I get enough comments to know that people are reading it too. But mostly I write here because I want what I write to be more safely stored than those other places might be.
True. I hadn't thought about the storage aspect much, but good point.
I like the diversity here on Stemmit. Writing and getting things out was my first inclination, than came the money. However to really earn steem needs too much effort and time, for me at least.
Thanks - I'm a fan of the diversity as well.
I write on other platforms that don't offer money. I write because I feel I have something to say. I feel I've experienced things in life that others are going through and I would like to encourage people. I do, however, like the added bonus of earning money here on Steemit. To a degree, I feel as if the comments, upvotes and money earned work as sort of a cheerleader to remind me that what I am writing is being read, enjoyed and hopefully helpful.
Awesome. Thanks for being genuine with your content.
For me it's both. There's the writing practice I get
https://steemit.com/success/@plotbot2015/every-post-is-practice
and there's the exposure to my other, paid writings.
http://www.intergalacticmedicineshow.com/cgi-bin/mag.cgi?do=columns&vol=randall_hayes&article=_index
But there's also the social aspect. I put a lot of stuff out there on various platforms, and have for years now, but Steemit is the first place people have written back and tried to engage at any level, really. The crypto-currency is just a little bonus hit of dopamine. I haven't even tried to figure out the cash-out options yet, although seeing the little numbers go up is definitely a form of reinforcement.
Yeah, the practice was/is a huge motivation for me to get on the platform.
I would be active online regardless. First it was CompuServe, then AOL, then Facebook. If I can make money at something I'd do anyway?
No Brainer.
Haha, agreed.