If Steem(it) do not change, it won't survive! Opening debate
As a Steemit members we are all biased. We use this network, we love this community and want to see Steemit as a new Facebook or Twitter. Some of the guys predicted that Steem will replace Bitcoin and Ethereum. Others envision Steem price of 10, 20, 50 dollars. But, in my opinion these are a list of wishes, not a reality.
I believe that Steem coin and Steemit community have problems. Also, I believe that they can be solved. But, these problems can't be "left" to founders and team. We, as a community, must take a part.
So, what is our role?
- We have to recognize problems.
- Debate about solutions.
- Help in implementation.
Problem 1: Wrong target
We can use Aristotle's syllogism (deductive reasoning) to describe first problem and argument.
- The future of Steemit depends on the activity of it's users.
- Activity depends on content sharing.
- We are all posting stories and comments (number of posts is increasing).
Conclusion - Steemit will develop and become the number one social network.
Do you agree? Do you find this valid?
Me neither.
So, where is the problem?
Many members are here to MAKE MONEY and become RICH. Not to read, research, share opinion and help, but to get as many Steem power or Steem dollars as possible. So, their strategy is to publish anything that will bring them votes or followers (which will in future upvote for them).
Result? A lot of blog posts are poor and useless. I came here to engage and help, so I read a lot. What I found are tiny stories with only one or two paragraphs, blogs with one link or picture (without any explanation).
But, on the other side I do understand their incentives. Only way to make real money is by posting your own content. On the other hand, the majority of the users that read, comment and upvote (that is making content go viral) receive tiny amounts of Steem.
Solution?
COMMUNITY MEMBERS
Do not upvote and follow members who do not publish valuable content. Give money to those who invested their free time to write and share something with you. Also, try to have fun on this platform. Share your thoughts and emotions, less corporative like, more friendly like.
DEVELOPERS
Change incentives - put higher rewards on sharing and commenting.
Problem 2 - Steem coin use
Steem is a coin and that coin has a market value (in dollars or bitcoins).
You can use Steem to buy Steem power and that will get you even more Steem by posting and curating content.
That means you can use Steem coin to earn more Steem coin and than sell it on exchange.
But what is the reason to buy Steem if you do not want to invest in power? Is there any reason you would like to have this currency? As you may already know, there is no many people and companies that accept it as a payment for goods and services.
Solution?
Get out of the box (Steemit). If it is a currency, it has to be used. In my opinion Steem future is depending on a real world need for this coin. Do not focus on manipulating the appearance of its value, but on accepting Steem as payment for real goods and services.
So, in my opinion, the biggest question is if Steemit will get into circulation. If not, I do not believe it will survive in long term.
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I think you have a fair opinion but on some things, I do not agree with you.
Many say it will replace Bitcoin and Etherium. I know this is not your direct opinion but I'll comment any way :) Highly unlikely and would not make sense. Bitcoin was meant to be used as a currency, Etherium as a token to pay for running lines of code on a blockchain and Steem as an incentive for people to write content built on a blockchain. So intrinsically they are three different beasts.
I would not want it to replace any of them to be honest. What I would want is for Steemit to become the number one blockchain based social media network/ blogging platform. And that is one of the things that will bring the value of Steem up.
I like to think of Steem coin as a share in steemit that can also be used to trade within the Steemit platform. Just like any other share its value is based on the actual/perceived value of the company. In this case steemit. The difference between say facebook and steemit in regards to monetization is that whatever value is generated is divided between all those who contribtued and the miners.
It's true that many people are here for the money and as long as they write good content they get paid for it. Seems fair enough. Those who write rubbish content do not get upvoted and don't get paid so it does not really matter. Well, maybe it does cause a bit of spam. You could simply flag people if they are clearly misusing the platform. So we already have a say in that.
I cannot agree more with this. I have seen so many people writing "follow me and I will follow you". It's sad really.
The good thing is that these people only came for the money but they are not doing it the right way. They do not want to have a valuable following made up of people who are actually interested in their content. The outcome would be spending a few months (probably less), see that they are getting nothing out of it and quit. Then once again we will end up having only the people who enjoy sharing good content posting and those who enjoy reading it and commenting.
I don't agree with your solution for developers. Increasing the incentive for sharing and commenting would reduce the rewards for creating original content and I think it would be unfair on the content creators. Popularity again will solve this issue. The more people that join and use Steem the wider the spectrum of interests. This would result in more content being meaningful to more people. Posts will be upvoted more and more people will end up commenting and commenting on comments and upvoting comments. Look at all the big social media platforms. None of them pay people to do anything but people like, share, comment and post like there is no tomorrow.
Regarding Steem coin use. As I said above I consider it more like a share than a currency per se. Having people and companies accept is a great idea but these companies will need to want to accept it. Basing the future of steemit on this is really undervaluing it's true potentian. I would be happier knowing that people are choosing to leave facebook for steemit rather than having it accepted as a payment method at Amazon for example.
There is a lot of potential for Steem coin to be used directly inside steemit itself. Maybe they could include an advertisers section where people can buy adspace using Steem coin and the content creators earn money everytime someone sees an ad on their post. Who knows what we will start seeing integrated into steemit after it comes out of beta.
How to write a comment on this awesome (blog) post. Let me try @nimda
Firstly, I was sarcastic when writing about replacing Bitcoin and Ethereum. Of course I do not believe it will become number one cryptocurrency.
Secondly, if the Steem is a share than it have to be written and treated like that. (meaning more information but probably more regulation)
Thirdly, we will agree that we do not agree about incentives. What I am saying is there will be no (enough) members that are crucial (read, comment, share, upvote). This guys and girls do engage and help, so they have to be awarded according with their contribution. In this Steem distribution the only incentive is post, post, post and in my opinion that won't help Steemit to develop.
Yep I posted something along the same lines as this some time ago. I'm glad ither people see the problem too. With not enough reward for putting in the time and effort for a decent post, posts have becone shorter and less imformative. I'm hoping that I can get a yesr or two out of Steemit. Beyond that, I dont think it has the legs to last, if it doesn't evolve into something more content friendly
I got the same idea with your problem no.1 as what I have just posted yesterday.
Check STEEMIT CAN GIVE YOU WAY MORE THAN WHAT YOU THOUGHT!!!! if you wanna read.
Red it. Upvoted it. Good points. Thank you for sharing with us.
Please consider resteeming this article. You would help me a lot. :)
I agree with much of this post. I definitely think development of a steem market is hugely important to long term viability. I would put one together myself if my coding skills were not so stale.
I have something to say about posting quality though. As a photographer, I feel sad when people say "just a photo" or anything like that. Most of my photos represent hours, days, sometimes weeks of preparation to execute. Just because the moment of capture only takes a fraction of time is irrelevant. Not even to mention the monetary investment.
If I post a photo with no explanation, it is a creative choice. Not a sin.
.end rant.
Dear @davidwilliams you are right, I wasn't clear enough. I totally agree with you. When I was writing, I had in mind selfies, pictures from vacations, flowers from the garden etc. In other words, I was thinking on pictures that are made by clicking the button, not those which are made professionally. My mistake. Apologies.
I do agree with both issues.
Steemit should promote valuable content, and reward those authors accordingly. The value of the platform is in direct correlation with its content.
Second issue is as pressing and important as the first, without the use of the coin to purchase goods and services the future is questionable.
This article having only 3 votes after three quarters of an hour perfectly explains what's wrong with Steemit. Good Quality content is ignored while anything that someone with a rep of 65+ posts is rewarded with 10s of dollars. Being a cute girl also helps. Although I am happy for people earning good money, it will end in disaster when Steemit grows.
Peer review of content would be an idea. Thrash and reposts be gone. And perhaps a limit on vote revenue per article.
I sound like grumpy old man 😄
hahahahaha @wikel this is a good one.
Agree with your recommendations.
Love this post because it is so true. I've always made quality posts (mostly what I call articles) but I have never made over $100 on one until the HF19 change. So in my nearly year of being here I have one post that went over $100.
It really shows that short and sweet is what pays well here. So no surprise that is what this place has become.
Correct. I used to spend hours doing long original articles and earned pennies. Now posting a photo or two and a tune or two gets the same reward....so why spend hours doing something that no one reads....
I checked you out, yeap a photo or two is bank for you. :/
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STOPThis is a Fantastic post we agree with several of your points. We believe over time the community will grow to millions of new Steemians and Rewards will be distributed to people that are posting quality content. We can downvote posts and comments we don't agree with.
I am glad we agree @adsactly. All members should discuss and express opinion about this topic. Can you consider resteeming this post? Thank you in advance.
Yes there is a lot if crap on steemit, but those people will get bored when they don't earn the money they want and either leave or improve their quality. I do think comment rewards should be better, I comment a lot (like this) and I try to add value but people do forget to up votes comments a lot. I think curating should be looked at on one hand you need huge steem power to earn anything from curating and you need to be in the first 5, but clearly we don't want to make an upvote platform and there are already a lot of bots up voting rubbish.
In terms of replacing Bitcoin or Etherium with STEEM I think the whole notion of one crypto is not only a really bad idea from a cryptocurrency resiliency perspective but is not even needed. I see a time with AI multiwallets that will look at your holding and your transaction an decide which currency is best to use. Building an economy is hard, but as the network effect grows the economy will evolve on its own, this just needs time.