A Simple Idea That Could Change Steemit
I just want to state that this post will pay out in 100% STEEM Power.
Displaying The Monetary Value Of A Post
This graphic was created by me: 9/29/2016
What Am I Talking About?
Recently me and a few friends ( @derekareith, @jbouchard12 & others) have been talking about SteemQ. @furion, along with a small team have begun work on a video hosting service for the Steem block-chain that will act as a replacement for YouTube. This is a fantastic idea, I know I was thinking about this a while ago but I don't have the know how to implement it. I mean I can create the UI and I'm good with UX and database implementation working with block-chains is still very new to me and I have no idea where to begin with compression algorithms. Anyway getting off topic.
The most interesting feature planned for SteemQ to me is that they don't plan to display the monetary values with the videos. The video may have have made $300 SBD but you won't know that until you look into that users wallet.
This graphic was created by me: 9/29/2016
Why Is This A Good Idea?
In theory hiding the amount of money made from a video will encourage more fair voting. So, instead of voting on something that seems to be gathering steam quickly (all puns intended) just to get curation rewards, this should encourage people to vote according to whether or not they like the video. Also this may even result in vote accumulation after the first day, which is rare here on steemit, although the resteem feature has made this more common as of late. I fully believe in this idea. I've spoken to many members of steemit who say they've read posts and gotten to the bottom and seen that the post has made, we'll say $400, and decided that user didn't need their vote. I can only imagine that this is a more common attitude then most would like to admit. At the same time I've seen posts that really don't add anything to the site and yet they'll hit $30 within the first 30 minutes for whatever reason, and then the votes begin to sky rocket because people think it's going to be a hit and they're trying to get in on the curation rewards. I'm not saying that, that is not within their rights on steemit to do so, but it can be aggravating sometimes.
This graphic was created by me: 9/29/2016
Applied To Steemit
This model could definitely be applied to Steemit and with great benefit for the community, in my own opinion. I think this could even the playing field a bit and get people to read more articles rather than voting blindly for personal gain. This site is meant to support authors and promote good content and an involved community. The problem is that if there's money involved it will always reflect humanities natural tendency of greed. Minimizing the appearance of money on the front page of the site may help to quell that greed among some of the community. I understand that is a good deal of the attraction to the site but I think hiding the monetary value of a post before you've read it is a good idea.
If the community shows enough interest in this idea, one way this could be executed is by hiding the monetary value in the summary when browsing posts on the site. Only after you've opened the article and up-voted it would the money that's already been accumulated be displayed. I do think the number of votes on an article should stay where it is as the number of votes a post has doesn't necessarily reflect how much money is being made on it.
Let me know what you think in the comments. Is this a good idea, or could it ruin the site? Please try to explain why you think what you do. I will try to respond to comments in a timely fashion but I do have school tonight so please be patient. Hope you guys enjoyed this piece. Take it easy.
Justin
It's a very controversial idea. A lot of people really like having the payout amount shown. It is one way to filter out 'bad' posts, by looking for ones that already have some interest.
Also, since the information is available on the blockchain already - most users that want to use it will just end up going to another interface (like steemd or steemstats) to view it. It would put the curators that only use Steemit at a disadvantage.
True, I realize this but I think of this as more of showing that the "follow-the-leader" voting is frowned upon. I get that it's part of the site but if that's all you're doing, are you really here for the community and content or are you just here for the money?
Also, as I said, you should always be able to see how much someone made on a post. I just think there should be more of a reason to actually view the post.
Yep, i think the hiding of the monetary accumulation is a good idea until after the upvote. Although There might be a temptation to only read blogs If the steemer has a high ranking, say 65. That would put alot of minnows blogs under the radar! Dont you think curation awards are half the fun ... says me who has earned about 1 Steem power in 3 weeks!
That is a good point, but I can only speak for myself when I say I don't look at reputation when scrolling through posts. I understand that many users probably do but some of the better content I've read was from newer authors. And yes I do think curation rewards are half the fun but I don't believe that should motivate you to vote on a post. I am in no way saying we should get rid of curation rewards.
I think that would be a good idea. Follow-the-leader voting is not what this platform should be about, I think, however much I appreciate the Steem.
If the financial information is still in the blockchain, however, somebody somewhere will write a tool to get it out again.
Yes they will, and honestly anyone creating a mobile or desktop app could put it right back where it is now on the apps pages. I wouldn't want to get rid of the records completely, part of the idea behind this site is transparency. Being able to see how much others are making and where it's going is a piece of the site that needs to stay intact.
The goal is to at the very least curb the "follow-the-leader" voting. I think if we could just hide the monetary value of the post until after you've opened and voted on the post maybe it will do just that.
Thanks for the comment!