Money Is Steemit's Problem
I'm going to speak from the heart on this one because I would so much like to see Steemit succeed. I still consider myself new (being here little over 1month) and realistically I would have probably left weeks ago except I got a reward on a couple posts. The money is cool, well getting bitcoins is pretty cool, I still haven't cashed them out and don't plan to, but If I didn't get a reward, I wouldn't hang around long. If there were only $1 rewards I probably wouldn't hang around either, even if I make more here than posting on Reddit I don't care. There has to be MORE to this site than just making money to keep me and probably other new people from showing up and posting.
INTERACTION
There is an absolute Minimal interaction between users. I rarely get 1comment on my postings, weather it makes 0 cents or 20$ maybe 1 comment. It gives the impression that nobody gives a shit! Oh but if this guy @dantheman makes some crazy posting about god knows WTF he was talking about, everyone and there god-damn crazy uncle come crawling out of the woods to make a comment.
Seriously, it looks retarded.
What looks more retarded is to get paid when nobody even cares. Pretty much I understand that after 1month here there are these curation groups that go around and up vote shit without even reading them. I probably have been hit by them, and I guess the sole purpose has been reached by keeping me here, but honestly I don't like it. Yeah I like the payout, like I said, without it I would be gone. But I personally think that it just looks stupid when a post gets $20 and nobody even bothers to make a comment... or maybe 1 person comes by, makes a quick comment and never shows back up.
IS THIS SOCIAL MEDIA OR A CULT?
By now, I doubt 1 person has even made it this far in my post but if you have, in order to provoke you to make a comment, I will give the first 3 people that reference this part by saying "CULT" and I will give you 1 steem. Yeah just like that, as a test to see if anyone even reads the post.
But realistically, a social media shouldn't have to operate this way; it’s not really a social media site at all. Just a small group of people that engage with each other and the rest are left wondering what the hell is going on.
It feels like a cult organization and I have said that from early on and my thoughts haven't changed. The Idea behind a social media is to be social. Sure you don't know who I am and I don't know who you are but making connections to masses is a big deal. I'm not sure if anyone agrees with this but
Social media is about being Social...
Maybe I've lost you but if you’re still hanging on, I have one more section to consume your time with.
SOCIAL PROFILE
Where is it??? How can a Social Network even call itself Social when you don't even have a social profile with demographic and other boxes to fill in with random bullshit to tell the world who you are!?
I see we just got avatars. But the pictures are so tiny you cant even get a feel of what the people look like, Obviously the avatar could be just a tiny big larger.. don't you tink?
Chatting and Messaging is key to a social network since 1950. Even before computers people messaged eachother, and ever since Myspace there was messaging. WTF. For real? Yeah, I have heard of rocketchat, but that is rediculus to have to go over there for a 1995 chatroom. Nobody wants that anymore! The only people that still go on chat rooms are those child molestors you find on Dateline. What is needed is a In-Steemit.com messaging system. That would be awesome! I'm just shocked that after being opperational for 6months that this hasn't been done yet. Please tell me I'm not the only one wanting this. Even a Profile message board would be cool for now. Something for users to engage with the people they are following.
Basically there is no user profile besides The user Wallet.
Back to the money problem. The only profile people care about is the wallet and how big they can grow it. Yeah, I noticed @dantheman has a shit load of SteemPower like a baller, but some of his shit sounds like he pounded some heroin and has been blown out listening to Hendricks’s. But fuck why not, getting paid 100+ for getting fucked up and spilling your tripped out thinking to the world is pretty awesome.
But it looks bad and even rediculus that the people with large amounts of Steem are being rewarded with larger amounts of Steem no-matter the post. This place is the Literal "Rich get Richer" in full effect.
Back to the social profile. Wait, we found that. The wallet... Ok good.
A better profile system would likely help, but I think the biggest issue is just that building social circles takes time. Aside from the original community that's been here since the beginning, I think most people are joining one by one rather than with people they already know.
It is a good point, but people need tools to connect with.
I get that it takes some time but after 6months, I would expect a "social site" to be more "social". Messaging system, and profile page besides how large someones wallet is. It would be nice to connect with people around my area, but I have no idea where anyone if even from. I'm going to follow you, thanks for commenting
Decentralized and secure direct messaging systems have been a problem for a long time. They tend to be a bit slow and battery hungry.
It would be interesting if the home feed added some content from people you'd interacted with even if you hadn't deliberately followed them, but I don't know if people would like that.
We are a few thousand users in total. If the number was a few millions, then interaction potential would go 1000x. And if we were a few hundred millions, it would go 10000x.
What I mean by that, is that you have to put things into proper perspective. The analogy here would be like complaining that FB in 2005-6 didn't have your old classmates. Yes, well, you first have to gain momentum and then the vacant system starts to fill up, interaction multiplies etc etc.
Something else to consider is this: If chatting goes on in "side-channels" like chatting functions, then obviously it will not occur in the comments. If I wrote these in a chat, telling you hey, this and that, then the same material that would be in a chat, wouldn't be here as visible interaction.
I understand the low user base resulting in lower interaction. I just thought that when a post receives a significant reward like $20 it looks kind of stupid by not having any comments or basic social interaction.
The idea on chating is interesting, maybe your correct because it would take away from blogs...
but there should atleast be a way to directly message a user on this site; mailbox? I would take that. Or a message board with a profile page.
Thanks for commenting. I'm fairly blown away by the interaction this post has recieved!
I read every word and here is my comment: I agree with much of what you said. The bot and bot chains run the vote, if the entire community voted for you at this point (-top hundred accounts) I wonder what the payout would be. I don't know, but maybe someone will do the math.
Thank you for showing me real people do exist. I don't like the whole bot thing, except the payouts I guess, but it's pretty lame that more users don't show up to comment. I get it if the post sucks, but atleast on reddit someone will actually come by and comment that you suck... Here it's just silence and crickets, and then your forced to wonder if you don't fit in here or if people just don't read your stuff.
To get the social end of this group, I hang out on SteemSpeak radio. We talk about all sorts of things there.
Where is SteemSpeak Radio? If that is where users should go, why isn't there a direct link on the Steemit page for this. Stuff that is important isn't included and It blows my mind.
https://discord.gg/nbbNh - There is also https://steemit.chat/channel/general
It's not cult, but when money is in game people start to act different. Greed I would say. On the other side you think this way: I can vote 40 times per day, so I need to read 40 posts and then write at least 40 comments. But I have my life to live also. I have full time job, 6 days a week, I need to eat and sleep....
I like to upvote and help newcomers and also get some rewards- I hate bots. It's just impossible to do all that work. Hope you understand other aspect.
I kindof forgot to get into the phsycological effects of money being involved, but yes greed is here for sure. And Yeah I don't expect everyone who votes to comment, I do that all the time. But atleast some-one especially when there is this greedy money attached to a post. $20 on 1post is awesome in my eyes, but with that money I would expect some "social" interaction from the post, not just the money. Hope that made sense. Thank you for commenting. I'm surprised, maybe I spoke to soon about the interaction piece...
You see. Not as bad as you think. I'd read couple of days ago in Venezuela monthly pay is 24 $. Imagine if some guy get 20 $ per post?
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! Steem the currency and steemit the "social" app are less than a year old and there have already been a lot of changes. More are on the way. The IM or chat is almost ready, from what I've read.
I think Dan spends crazy hours coding the Graphene system that powers steemit, so he lets his mind wander to philosophical issues when he has the time, and he shares his ideas here. I do hope he gets to listen to Hendrix in his downtime too!
It is good to be visited by the vote bots, I agree, but better to also have humans commenting. Looks like that happened this time!
Yes, I liked seeing everyone show up. I was getting scared most users were bots. That makes sense about Dan, staring at a computer forever can make you go crazy. I followed you!
Cult.
I'm new here, too, and I've been thinking about the same as you wrote. The intention is great, but what's happening here is not great. I'm afraid that Steemit's life will not be so long...
Oh, with the money involved and the following of "rich" people I'm sure it will be around long enough to have a chance. Thanks for reading!
I hope so. I see quite many positive comments to your post now. Good to know there are some ordinary people here. By the way thanks for 1 steem. I didn't expect that :)
I didn't expect people to actually read it :)
Good thoughts to be sharing, and many know exactly how you feel.
If you check out the post I made yesterday about SUCCESS, You'll see more interaction on comments and some fun stuff going on, so know that it does happen, it just depends on where you are.
Many are pressed for time, and do not comment (or even read much) before upvoting (or not) and moving on.
We are all still working on making steemit better, and people sharing their thoughts and feelings like you just did is what helps in that process.
Thanks @justiceforall!
Yeah, I understand your posts getting attention. Your a rare type unique guy with a massive following. I get that your posts get money, but the sad thing is that my posts have recieved payouts like yours but I dont even get 1 comment... It's irritating like that. Thanks for commenting Papa! Good luck getting a buck!
Like @papa-pepper said sometime I don't completely read the post, and I want to vote for it, but I'm sometimes to lazy as well to leave comments on every post I read. Your right though it sucks with no comments cause you don't know if they liked the post or just voted for the curation reward. I guess, back to your point, I should be more mindful of leaving comments on posts more frequestly, than just a vote. Thank you for the post! I also just started following you. I been here just 1 week.
I got the buck!
Also, I've found that the more interactive I am, the more interactive others are with me.
Just keep it up, and thanks for the compliments.
nice true content started following u :D Please see my blog and follow back if u want :) U need to get more followers to be more noticed
Followed you back! I'll check your posts out and up vote.
CULT
Thanks for reading, I apreciate it!
I did receive your Steem. Thank you very much.