I joined Steemit(Hive) in 2017. My friend Karchi introduced me. Then it was easier to exist because of steem price at that time. It didn't matter if I earned $2 on a post, because 2SBD then was #6,000.
I'll speak for me though, it was easier to commit to Steem(Hive) because I had nothing else I should have been doing. I had just graduated from college, I had all the free time in the world.
I think those set of people(with lots of free time) are the easiest to onboard.
But then in Nigeria today, everyone's busy. It'll be hard to find people that'll commit to being active on a platform, without sure promises even if you show them that it is promising.
On my own end, I've tried to onboard loads of my photography colleagues. Told them how it has sponsored some of my gear purchases, and how it sustains me during SAPA period. Most of them signed up, some made few posts, then they left.
I've said too much, the truth is, you can only preach the Hive gospel, conversion is up to them. The ones that'll stick will stick.
I find it funny how people who are struggle can be so uninterested in something that can make their lives better but they can opt for other social media platforms where they earn nothing.
True that but I think some things can change to improve user experience.
Yes, some things can be done to improve UX on the blockchain. But I think the bulk of the work to onboard people is off it. And I think it'll be very effective. However, the execution is dependent on how much you are willing to stake to onboard people; Nigerians in this case.
Here's how I joined Steemit;
My friend Karchi made a post on Facebook. These were her words paraphrased: "Do you want to make money from your smartphone simply by making posts as you'll do on regular social media? Send a DM"
Now, I'm skeptical about online ventures to make money. But Karchi was a smart lady, so it had to be legit. I sent her a DM and she added me to this Whatsapp group "Steembees". It e=was an offline community for Steemit.
In that group, there were pre-existing users keenly interested in brushing newbies up. We were taught how to make posts, format them with markdown styling, the dos, don'ts of the platform, etc. At the time too, we had people in the community that had links to whales and the rest of them; @surpassinggoogle for example. So while we were coached offline, we were gingered by results online.
Then there were offline giveaways, games, competitions, etc. That means even if you weren't excited with happenings on the blockchain, the activities offline were sure to keep you engaged.
Another thing that was doing was evangelism or steemvangelism 😁. Some people took it on themselves to host physical lectures about Steemit. Took it to schools and churches. And people joined. Hubs were created in Uyo. I think Uyo had the highest number of Nigerians on Steemit. Many of them are my friends until now.
Are we willing to do all that today? I don't know. With increased knowledge about blockchain tech, it shouldn't be necessary to do all that that was done in 2017, but it's worth a shot. But that's based on how pressing the need to onboard people is.
Phew! I've made a comment long enough to be a post. Btw, if there's an offline community on Whatsapp, I'd love to be part of it. Discord seems a little distant for me, the notifications from airdrops dey taya me.
Thanks for the feedback. It is appreciated.
Well, I think I have some ideas in mind but I will need time to settle. I think in the past, offline activities spurred the growth of the chain and so I will be looking towards that direction. We don't have a vibrant community currently I will admit but I am hoping to change that soon.