RE: Steemit Update
Like I said I have no problem if people, steem, or steemit, want to monetize, as I said if the only way forward for the internet is through advertisements and subsidies, at some point people are not going to continue to subsidize it. Then the internet will get to be back where it started out as a tool for researchers in Military Industrial Complex. How many industries must be subsidized before it all becomes owned by the state. We have seen how well that has worked out in other countries.
When flashing ads start to appear on steemit in every available pixel of white space, then I will be leaving steemit, as I have left a lot of other media that relies on advertisements.
The way to monetize that is through ads and paid promotion.
If that was the original intent, then waiting two and a half years to explore and find a ways and means of that paid advertisement has been a complete and utter failure and with that then steemit will go the way of Compuserve, AOL, genie, netscape, and a lot of other early internet companies and die an ignoble death due to the inability of its leaders to look ahead and see where they and their company are headed.
I, and the other users of steemit are not the ones that caused the failure. Attracting Advertising, and advertisers is not the answer to everything that is wrong with steemit.
It keeps getting pointed out the immutability of the blockchain, and the security of it. There are a lot of of tax preparers in the United States, that have records they must maintain for 7 years or more. Same with accounting companies, and tax laws have been changed to where digital copies are valid for use.
The failure of steem.io company is it's inability to reach out to the people that would benefit from their technology. They seem to be to focused in one direction, and not paying attention to what is going on in and around their blockchain.
Look at what Steem Monsters has done. Look at the shear amount of information they must save and process for their silly little game to work. 90% of what they have done can be so easily translated into other fields and industries, yet where is the Vision?
Yes I cave to all the masses drinking kool-aid, the answer to everything on the internet is ADVERTISEMENTS
What you're describing is pay-to-play. And that's a perfectly fine way to bring in revenue. That can exist alongside with advertising revenue as a source of income.
You have stated your personal distaste for ads but the vast majority of Internet users do not share it. Social media is still a growing business and it's funded to an overwhelming degree by advertisers. All the Internet giants, including Google, get the vast majority of their revenue from ads. Gargantuan value is supported by ad revenue. It is nothing to scoff at. (And, no, it doesn't have to be 1990's style blinking banner ads on a white background. And there is much more to paid promotion than banner ads.)
All options need to be on the table and tried. We should also consider a referral program. It's time.