Steemit and Other Crypto-Social Venues as Commercial Outlets for Artists

Part of my reason for creating this account in the first place was to explore the possibility of using this blockchain-based "alternative-currency" venue as a potential new outlet as an artist.

When I say "outlet," I mean another sales venue where the transaction is actually conducted completely independently of fiat currencies.

Thank you!

What's Already Here?

Maybe I am ahead of my time here, because it feels like many are excited about the potential of cryptocurrencies, and yet very few functional applications exist.

Steemit/Steem is attractive because there already is a substantial built-in user base here. Specifically, it's a user base materially made up of regular folks, rather than just the typical "blockchainiac" types that tend to be drawn to these projects.

Many of these "regular folks" also happen to be artists and creatives, themselves. Suggesting that I may not be alone in coming forward with this harebrained idea.

The question is, how do we get from the predominant current paradigm of this... technology... being mostly seen as a "high risk investment," to something where we are actually taking the promise of "a CURRENCY" and creating a viable form of payment?

Initiatives...

Frankly, there's not a whole helluva lot available in the current Steem ecosystem.

@steemshop was an early initiative here... it got started, fizzled, sort of got started again, fizzled again.

@steembay was — and remains — the brainchild of @schererf and @pollux.one and has been around for a while, but goes almost unnoticed... in spite of the addition of a separate app for trading @steemmonsters cards.

Most recent entry into this arena is @dcommerce, which started showing some signs of life as it arose out of the @dstors fiasco... but there seems to have been no activity there for about a month.

Of course, there's nothing to prevent any one person or artist from simply making a post that states "here's one of my things, it's for sale!" which brings us to the point of...

The Pervasive "Decentralization Issue"

The premise with Steem and other blockchain-based initiatives always comes back to the great attachment to the "Holy Savior of Decentralization."

So many projects seem to run on this utter distrust of anything "centralized." Which might also explain how come none of these attempts at creating commerce ever seem to go anywhere: Someone Has To Be In Charge.

Seems to be a sticking point, but can we really allow it to be?

The thing is, we don't live in a world where everyone is an independent-minded self-starter.

To use a metaphor I think most people might relate to, consider the simple task of buying fresh locally sourced food, and farmers markets.

We may really love the idea of buying our produce and goods from local growers (aka "decentralization") rather than the corporate farms serving grocery stores, but in the real world it's just not viable for us to drive to one farm for potatoes, another for eggs, another for handmade candles and yet another for lettuce and tomatoes.

Enter The Farmer's Market. Much like a commercial selling utility, a farmer's market gathers the independents in a single location for convenience, and simply offers a framework for trade.

That's all we're really looking at, here. And looking for.

Mainstreaming: Why This Is Good for us ALL

Some skeptics might say we don't need something like this... but I disagree, specifically from the perspective that a large part of many in this industry's plan is that we want blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies to become more of a "household concept" that's accessible to everyone.

But how do we do that?

We have to start with providing "entry points" that make sense to the average person on the street.

It's a lot easier to "sell" something like "because you can buy and sell your products with it" as a reason to get involved with cryptos than simply saying "because it's revolutionary new technology!"

Sure it is! But what do you DO with it?

Only leading edge visionaries and pioneers buy into concepts, the remainder of the world buys into functional applications they can use in their lives.

So that's what we need to bring them!

So Why Aren't YOU Doing This?

I almost wasn't going to add this last paragraph, but decided to at the last moment.

It's not me, because I am not a developer, and I have little technological know-how. I'm a sociologist, industrial psychologist, and a student of marketing and how humans use things.

In this particular context, I am an end user saying "I am seeing a need for a product/service that is currently unaddressed."

I'm not the one who's going to create and provide the service, I'm the one who's going to use it!

If I were, I'd be submitting something directly to a project like @utopian-io, but as a non-technical person, that is not an avenue for me... but if you are part of that organization, do please take this and run with it!

Thanks for taking the time to read this!

If you feel this is a worthy topic for discussion, I hope you will consider being part of the dialogue, and perhaps re-steem this to your own follower base. Particularly if that follower base includes developers and people looking for opportunities. We have to start somewhere, and out of brainstorming dialogues we tend to see action and innovation.

2019.02.05 AS-TXT-004
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