RE: Explainer: Value Flows on Steem with SMTs [VIDEO]
No offense @w-w-w; but, you’re talking about increasing users; but the bottom line is increasing revenue.
Respectfully, how does putting out content bring in revenue?
Capitalism is built on offering a service, and receiving compensation for it. Per your suggestion, bloggers would be compensated for the service they offer; but, again, how will this increase revenue?
The way you’ve described your suggestion, the only benefactors would be the authors and curators. Support for the main element, i.e. the platform and those responsible for making things happen, is obviously missing.
In short, this is why the advertising industry remains so robust when newspapers, on and offline, are flailing.
No one wants to talk about the bottom line: GENERATING REVENUE.
As it is, Steemit is a ‘feel-good’ site, offering an opportunity for users to earn a little or a lot.
That’s a one-sided equation no matter how one slices it.
We have to steady ourselves for bringing in advertisers. They know we need them.
I’d like to think there’s an alternative. Well, there is; but, it’s not viable: Annual membership.
People want to receive; but, the thought of giving upfront, for a venture which may or may not offer them success is not likely.
This partially explains why the stock is so volatile. Investors aren’t sold on the shiny-gold lures being forecast for STEEM's future.
I remain cautiously optimistic for the continued growth and success for Steemit; but, in the back of my mind is the haunting reminder of the last time I got enthusiastic about a new platform for bloggers.
Peace.
Hi @spiritualmatters. Thanks for your post.
Actually, the way I proposed is mutually beneficial for everyone.
I wrote that the way Steemit (and thus Steem) becomes big is to use those two super advantages of Steemit social network: quality content + high rewards for content.
Steemit is the greatest unique thing so far, not Steem. These two advantages of Steemit are huge, as there is no social network targeted on quality content so far, and there is no way content creators may earn (especially new users) mostly depending on quality (inside other social networks). Youtube? No - lower earnings, only big channels earn and your account may be suspended anytime.
If Steemit platform uses those 2 marketing techniques I proposed, they will attract millions of users (currently only 30K active users per day). Users will make Steemit owners lots of revenue due to build-in advertising platform (the way other social networks make their revenue) + additionally Steem cryptocurrency will go up in price, making money to all Steem holders, attracting new projects to SMTs and other projects of Steemit founders.
P.S. You were concerned about advertisers? Done. Give more than 30K active users per day - advertisers will come. I will advertise here myself, everyone will. Advertisers are seeking for quality traffic. By implementing the proposed marketing ideas Steemit will increase quality traffic dramatically.
2 people are going to read 30,000 articles a day? That should keep them busy.....and then only award 30 people out of 30,000 ? seems like the idea of "anybody can earn" goes out the window - you may as well take your chances on the whales ....
Good question @jorlauski. Let me give some further explanation on this one.
They don't need to read all the posts/comments to find the best ones. On the first step a simple bot filters off 99% of posts/comments (it is really not a difficult bot based on criteria: for example, it is clear that bot will need to filter short comments like "good post!" or posts having a couple of "f*ck" inside, or posts/comments with lots of misspellings, etc. - doubtfully look like a TOP-30 candidate).
Then humans manually read the remaining 1%. To be even more fair, human curators will also look through all the top posts/comments already chosen by the community (based on # of votes & comments).
Award 30 out of thousands? Yes, why not? Quality is the key. Share deep life-changing thoughts and ideas! If you really do your hard work every day, then one day you will get your $250 upvote, and after such an upvote you will get your Reputation boost, followers, money to "Promote" your further posts... Don't you think it is a good motivation to spend your time on quality content? In fact it is almost impossible to get even a $10 upvote from the wales today (until you are a whale too) - but this stops thousands of new users to dedicate their time to Steemit!
I already see new authors getting upvotes like that every day from curation guilds like @curie and contests like #openmic and it has created enough excitement for those new authors to keep them on the platform and contributing.
In my view, you're just talking about another curation guild. How is that any different than what we already have?
Although posting the top posts on the homepage would be a good idea.
Thanks for breaking things down for me, giving greater clarity to your proposal.
With over 4K views, I am certain that Ned, et al will consider your suggestion with great thought.
It's clear we all want Steemit to survive; and STEEM to thrive.
Again thanks so much for making this clearer!
Peace.
I don't think so. remove Steem and you don't have Steemit.
Steem is the thing where Steemit is built on top of. Remove Steem and what do you get?
May I ask where does bitcoin or ethereum generate their revenue?
the point of cryptocurrency is to make it a currency no? a commodity...
As I comprehend it, STEEM is a 'stock' in the form of crypto, which its investors hope will grow 'to the moon'.
Steemit is a separate platform which is trying to build a means to consistently grow in value, too, which will benefit the value of STEEM.
Currently, bloggers are sharing content and receiving compensation. However, they are not generating enough revenue to keep things as are; thus, the current plan for Smart Tokens.
As with life, it's all about growing towards being the best we can be.
Hope this makes sense! Hope this helps!
Peace.
Yes, I think annual membership is not viable if we are to consider members who may not be able to afford it (paying upfront). From what I remember from the white paper, it's one of the o things that Steemit addresses - Fees are a Barrier to Entry (page 20 of 32).
The way I see it is bring people in, earn value (subjectively) for the content you bring, then learn and adapt.
Bring people in and then let the community help each other learn about the system, add to that the concerned members (community) to fight off the spam.
@eastmael With all due respect, the bottom-line for developers is the survival of Steemit with the least disturbance affecting its decentralization theme being the resulting decision.
Unfortunately, money will be the tool for keeping this ingenious platform from biting the dust. Considering it’s anti-capitalism foundation, it’s not likely WS backers are going to step in and say, here’s billions. Let the entrepreneurial spirit thrive.
Truthfully, it seems most Steemians have already begun making peace with the inevitable ads muddying the page. You know it’s a likelihood when some of the more prominent whales have already begun discussing what it will be like when….
One last thing, the downside of advertising is people will have to accept that diluting freedoms of speech come with this price. YouTube and Facebook are great examples.
Peace.
There seems to be a consensus in this great discussion (for me anyway, and thanks to all you contributors) that annual membership is not viable, there should be low fees or no fees, and the acceptance of advertising should be frowned upon. (The latter is not explicit the discussion but I ‘get the feeling’ from the remarks.) My question is this: in that combination of conditions where do you get the revenue to survive in the long term?
And the SMT proposal will not contribute to survival unless implementation rolls out quickly and SMT projects are successful quickly; because the currency is tokens. Survival inevitably gets us into needing access to fiat money, unfortunately.
If someone came along and told me that I must make a reasonable financial contribution in order to gain access to some of the content and the networking available at Steemit, I would pay without hesitation. Why is that? I have already put my hand in my pocket locked away several hundred dollars in Steem Power. I have already written off the money. If I get a financial capital gain from it I will be very surprised, so in effect that's my version paying an annual membership.
Lot’s of publishers have memberships where all members have access to ‘free’ content, and paid members get access to special content. So we could keep a strong ‘free content’ section rolling to make sure we enhance the networking power of Steemit.
SMT proposal will not contribute to survival unless implementation rolls out quickly and SMT projects are successful quickly
Interesting observation on the SMT. It seems to have cooled off since the first launch of the white paper. I agree that swift success will be crucial to it gaining traction.
If I get a financial capital gain from it I will be very surprised
I will receive as a vote of confidence that your continued investment in STEEM is your belief in its long-term success.
paid members get access to special content
Yes, paid content on some YouTube channels, seems to be effective.
Perhaps, Steemit could give a select feed to paid subscribers, of the highest rated, non-auto-vote posts by topic. This would prevent people with a paid membership from scrolling hours through hit-and-miss posts.
Thanks for your very insightful perspective.
I really love the idea of paid memberships receiving special content; while, allowing those growing the channel with consistently active posting; and, is a far-better solution than advertising.
Perhaps you could detail an original post re: your paid members’ idea. What would you consider a good base-price for annual/monthly membership?
Hopefully it will get the attention of the CEO @ned.
Thanks again.
Peace.
Thanks, and I certainly hope that the leadership looks at the comments on this page carefully and especially one mark in your response to me. In the-increasing concern about capitalizing on the arrival of quality content, it is a real source of worry that this kind of content is uploaded and seems to disappear into the ether in almost no time.
And the answer to this is not to follow particular individuals. It is at least to have a built-in bot that everyone can use to provide a set of key words that would cause the links for particular types of articles to be brought to their attention and not allowed to scroll off the screen a few minutes after their upload.
I feel we are going to have to bite the bullet on some kind of advertising and payments from people who don't feel that they need to get remunerated financially for participating. Please go here to see related discussion: https://steemit.com/smt/@lestatisticien/synopsis-of-steemit-community-members-views-on-issues-to-address-in-roll-out-of-smts#@alexmavor/re-lestatisticien-synopsis-of-steemit-community-members-views-on-issues-to-address-in-roll-out-of-smts-20171010t195321010z
provide a set of key words that would cause the links for particular types of articles to be brought to their attention...
Wow! You continue to have added insights to helping the platform grow upward.
Thanks for the link to a summation of the topic. Great work!
Peace.
Thank you, spiritualmatters, and good luck on your projects!
✌