The initial plan was to use the social rewards to bootstrap an economy built around the community that forms around it so it wasn't an end in an of itself. In part that is taking place.
In my opinion the success of the social layer depends on 3 factors:
- Scalability (needed to be able to onboard millions of users).
- Enticing social apps.
- Marketing
Steemit Inc did not follow trough and in hindsight was just an obstacle with the mismanagement of the development fund.
I think that it can be done but it's up to all of us now instead of a centralized entity to guide the process.
LeoFinance is a good proof of concept on how a social rewards platform can function.
!ENGAGE 50
ENGAGEtokens.I agree on your point of LEO.
I see it as an example to the Hive development team even.
I'm not so supportive of decentralised because heavy fragmentation works against a system/business. So what LEO are doing is a great combination. The users are committed to the engagement, yet the development isn't dependent on spit-balling ideas. There's a clear roadmap and a progression to achieving those goals.
The result.. well i's obvious.
Your 3 factors shows that even Hive isn't a success though. Because I personally don't see social here. The reliance on discord to stay connected is absurd. I don't see growth. Because user leakage is high. The marketing is non existent. Community initiatives to keep spamming Twitter is all that keeps repeating.
IMO, blockchain social with rewards was a good concept but very poorly executed. The technology not yet there to challenge mainstream and take from them significant amount of users yet people kept (and still try to) push that idea.
The platform/tech needs polish.
It needs to cater to a large audience and needs to retain their attention.
My 3 factors for that are:
Obviously easy onramp to the network (which LEO have done, but Hive is too proud to copy.) Once you have a much larger user base, you keep them on the platform by making sure there's no need for discord. Rewards chat activity by fractions. So a user that might never post content will still stay loyal to the chain. That also works as network effect and users onboard their contacts. Finally content is what maintains attention. Hive should be a Hub where people share the internet, just like reddit. Reward that sharing also. Then original content stands out and you can introduce revenue models like subscriptions, adfree experience, pro platform tools, etc.
This is just my opinion.
Hive depends too much on the community to make this go mainstream.
That's insanity. It didn't work with steemit because as I outlined above. So much was and still is missing with this chain. I respect that you're still here and believe in Hive but the fact the majority left should not be ignored. The system needs a major upgrade in order to compete.