Steemit is beginning to bloom
I have seen the market go up, down, sideways, and flat-out haywire in the nearly 15 moons that I've been on Steemit. I truly see more action and progress now than I did when the markets were at the all-time-highs and everyone was mooning and high on the glorious irrational exuberance. I see more updates from @steemitblog recently that point to some really exciting features that are coming to the platform, as well as tools for developers to integrate apps with the STEEM blockchain.
Yet, even with the progress comes conflict and we have also seen no shortage of that here either. Some users feel that there is nothing that can be done to improve this platform. Ironically, many of them also refuse to leave the platform. Some people just love misery and spend their time online trying to find company who'll join them in their pit of despair.
If that has already turned you off, you might as well mash the back button because it gets worse... ✌️😆
Not a Developer? Not a Problem!
It would take an average guy like me, a non-developer, working class guy about 5 minutes to see there are major flaws with the Steemit platform. I suppose where I differ from others is that I do not allow that to rule my thought process. Problems are simply challenges waiting to be accepted. Too many people make it a topic of discussion and simply don't do anything else to provide solutions - they just keep talking about the problems.
Talk vs. Discussion + Solutions
I see quite a bit of talk about solutions. In the past few weeks, I have seen some witnesses really pull together and help each other in a way that is collectively good for the community and for the individuals who are dedicated to running this platform. For all the nonsense that goes on in the witness realm here, there is also a great deal of good that is derived from the actions of these dedicated humans. I happened to pop into MSP Waves over the weekend and heard some discussion surrounding upcoming HIVE and SMT updates.
created by @grow-proI have also had the privilege of chatting with @jackmiller a Steemit Witness himself, and he often writes about his position on important issues. He's one that I also see offering solutions and putting his words into action. Jack sees the issues that plague the platform, but like many other dedicated individuals and community witnesses - they continue to generate solutions. Of course, it is not that way for everyone.
We do not all agree - 'se la vì' (that's life)
There seems to be several perspectives that do not entirely agree on the path that the platform should take, but now there is real discussion about why not build your own?
That seems to be a great idea, actually. There are several front-ends in development that will run right on the Steem blockchain. This allows the creator to define their own sets of rules and determine the user experience by developing their own app to layer on top of the blockchain.
This blockchain is a beast
Battle-tested and takes a beating. If you have used apps like Busy.org, then you already know how vastly different the interface and user experience can be - all while operating on the Steem blockchain. The issue seems to be incentive when it comes to bringing new developers onboard, but we also have to remember that sustaining a healthy population of users during this bloom stage is absolutely critical. We want to see this beast bloom!
The following was taken directly from a conversation I had with @jackmiller several weeks ago:
"When people can come to Steemit, use it (in any capacity) and enjoy their experience = Steemit will bloom exponentially." @grow-pro
"Is it really all about the money? No, not entirely" @grow-pro
FB doesn't pay the users to get on there, yet they have Why do you think people still use it? Even knowing privacy is gone, trust of Company is gone, investors dumping, why stay and use it? People know people using it = herd mentality
Just like critical mass in growth, they will at some point hit critical mass in reverse
You can make money on Steemit (you probably won't come with anything and won't leave with anything)
But people are not having fun or enjoying the experience. Numbers and stats speaks volumes to that being the case
That's it. Period. Make the experience more enjoyable. We know it is not earnings alone that makes this experience
Since writing that, FB shares took a huge hit and I have seen some more discussion surrounding overall experience of users on Steemit. There are so many great curators groups out there and they are growing. If you are not familiar with some of these excellent curator groups - here are a few that I appreciate, but there really are some great ones I don't know of, so share them below in the comments!
Great Curation Groups That Improve Overall User Experience
• @curie
• @thealliance
• @canna-curate
• @steemsquad
• @robinhoodwhale
• @minnows-unite
• @minnowbooster
• @qurator
• @ocd
I also have to give a BIG HIGH-FIVE to one of my favorite Steemit curators, @goldendawne - a true staple and wonderful individual curator, amongst curating for several groups. Visit her blog and give a high-five for curating awesome content that hides within the depths of Steemit.
If you would like to add any that I missed (I'm sure I missed quite a few), comment below.
My harsh and straightforward take on why FB has nothing on Steemit in terms of potential
That's why if there was only one casino there would be less people to gamble
Can only be so many losers in a building at one time
Social media platforms that make people upset: shitty user experience, lessened retention, limited use
Reasons there's ten thousand sites
Not one can house the world properly, too close for comfort
FB is war zone for social mud slingers and the lay person to share their lunch and duck lip faces
Purpose? Fck no, there is no fkn use and no money made
Why the fuck do 4 billion people have FB? Hahahahahahaha
Because they get tiny bits of gratification
Thumbs
And people they know are there
That is what FB has over Steemit, in my personal and brutally honest opinion. Which I have to say is really nothing but a huge user base. I do not feel that Steemit is ready for that level, by any stretch, but I refuse to believe it cannot one day become a mammoth, fully bloomed platform.
Ask yourself: Do I want everyone from FB on Steemit?
Answer: NO, NO, NO YOU DO NOT.
We want to cherry-pick the crowd and bring people here who make FB a fun and enjoyable or entertaining experience. It is literally the people that make the experience, not the platform. Even a poor UI on a network with a ton of people can be a highly used platform - just ask Google (before they ruined G+) 😂
I am not trying to bash FB, they do well enough undermining their own credibility on their own.
I am not trying to disregard the fact that Steemit has serious progress to make prior to hitting a critical mass of users. The developers can create a wonderful outlet for us, but it is up to community to guide new users and educate. You actually can earn by doing that here, so it is also why I place it into comparison with something as giant as FB.
STEEMIT IS BEGINNING TO BLOOM & FB IS LOSING LEAVES
When people can come to Steemit, use it (in any capacity) and enjoy their experience = user base will bloom big time. There is no magic update or UI change that will generate that alone. Let's face that fact and get to work.
Facebook is a mega-giant of social media. What do they pay their users out of that $40 billion dollars in revenue? What about their shareholders?
Steemit users have captured $40 million + from virtually the same actions as FB users in just over 2 years. Not to shabby...
I'm just putting it out there in my own personal way, so if anything I hope you can appreciate where my heart is. We don't always agree and that is beautiful. We don't have to agree, we just need to coexist peacefully. Jack is the beam of encouragement that pushed this rant to become a post for all to see. Might as well offer the community a chance to respond and discuss what we can do to continue making progress.
Why do you think people still use FB? Even knowing privacy is gone, trust of Company is gone, investors dumping, why stay and use it? People know people using it = herd mentality
Just like critical mass in growth, they will at some point hit critical mass in reverse
You can make money on Steemit
But people are not having fun or enjoying the experience. Numbers and stats speaks volumes to that being the case
That's it. Period. Make the experience more enjoyable. We know it is not earnings alone that makes this experience
We have much work to do yet. Until people are willing to stay, we have not yet done our job of offering them an enjoyable experience. Don't give up now, this baby is beginning to bloom!
Come for the money, stay for the community
We have to understand that most, if not all of us, came here for the potential to earn. That, for a while, seemed to be a shame point for veteran users to shame those who came to Steemit in hopes of earning. Who are they to judge when not everyone got in at 0.10¢ and gamed the early system to hell and back (which is why we are where we are today...cough) and amassed huge amounts of Steem-power.
We all can offer our own unique contributions to the community
Let's not forget that it is up to us to enhance the overall experience here. Not all of us are social butterflies who leave 200 comments per day, but we can all strive to make progress. I often feel that I do not comment enough and interact the way that I really should in such a great community. Micro or not, perfect or not, it's a great outlet for what it is and far better than any other platform that I know of. I can create more here on Steemit than any other platform out there. That's something special and this flower is just beginning to bloom.
Let's spend our time doing something great, my friends.
What the World Wants: Social Media! People have spoken, now let the stats talk!
2018: growth of social media
After stumbling upon this great site called SmartInsights.com and then having my mind blown by the popularity and demand of social media in 2018, I thought 'this is something worth sharing'. The usage of social media and the internet had grown exponentially in the past decade.
The new 2018 Global Digital suite of reports from We Are Social and Hootsuite reveals that there are now more than 4 billion people around the world using the internet...
If we add this together for all 4 billion of the world’s internet users, we’ll spend a staggering 1 billion years online in 2018.
I cannot even wrap my mind around that statistic, seriously. A billion years?!
4.021 BILLION Internet Users and 3.196 BILLION are using social media! {reference}
Plenty of Internet Users (and growing) + Plenty of Social Media Users (and growing) = MASSIVE POTENTIAL
All we need is synergy
For the Steemians with Balls
(Yes, Byteballs, get your minds outta the gutter)
what is funny is that I am reading more and more post related to this very same subject. I wonder if that is because steem is way done and the engagement level has waned. The idea behind steemit is a great one but there are so many aspects that are holding it back. Some of its greatest strengths are also it greatest weaknesses. I hope it succeeds but wonder if another platform will learn from its mistakens to out pace it in the months/ years to come. I hope that it does not because the myspace of the blockchain community but at this point, I can't seem to think it might.
By the way, I am a big fan of @goldendawne and have even been highlighted in a newsletter or two.
thanks
Well said. I for one, have noticed it maybe back in January. Many others have written about it as well. I have a feeling that steemit, maybe just an experiment - maybe just a way to attract other app developers to build on it. Time will tell.
Thank you @liquidtravel!!! I love curating, and working with @qurator!
Now that is one heck of a dedicated Steemian!
While all around him there are people having fun get skiing and enjoying all the other water sports made available with mother natures floods
While Gamers are doing their thing, no matter what the situation:
@grow-pro is Steemin' on!
😆😆😆 You know me too well, Captain Jack!
We are dealing with some record breaking rain here and I can't say it has been easy (or affordable)...LOL
This made me laugh so hard! I really needed that. Keep coming back to it and laugh every time
Steem/Steemit still has a lot of hurdles to overcome. Some do not trust the developers to deliver the promised improvements and may disagree over whether these will fix the issues. There are also the various issues with people plundering (I don't like to say raping) the reward pool.
Despite these I also see the potential as I did from the start. I've not seen another platform work the same combination of features. Not everyone here is out to purely enrich themselves.
Facebook was able to reach a critical mass where everyone could find some friends there. They also allow for some degree of privacy (from other users). Steemit had a lot more competition and it's harder to stand out. We have to persuade people it's not a ponzi scam or pyramid scheme, but also not exaggerate what they can make.
I had hoped 2018 could be the year of steem, but that may be premature. We need to be patient, but also keep fighting to make it better for those who stand to benefit.
Some people wait for solutions..not believing that they themselves can do and provide solutions.
I totally agree with you.
Like I said in my coment here. We should bring happiness to the platform and not just seek happiness here. When we all contribute happiness, there'll be enough to share!
One can bring a lot, imagine a few.
What more if everyone will?
But don't wait and just start.
It will rub it in at some point😂😁
I agree with the arguments here largely @grow-pro.
For there to be a widespread global adoption of steemit as a preferred social media platform, there must be a collective effort from both users and developers. User experience should be made easier and friendly. Quality and creative content should be promoted by those in power (SP).
We all should bring happiness to the platform and not just look for happiness here.
Well said, @luxx. Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts!
This is exactly what connects us and makes this platform of value. It is a fine balance that we seek to achieve and we cannot leave this solely on developers and engineers to construct or we will have a platform built for engineers and developers.. 😆
Love this
That is 💯 accurate, in my opinion. It's up to all of us. This is a platform that relies on PROOF OF BRAIN so as long as we keep rattling thoughts around, we are doing something right.
It's refreshing to read something positive and optimistic regarding Steemit! Thanks for putting this together!
Thank you, @mikeycolon. I see a great deal of potential for Steemit and I still reserve optimism that we, the community, can realize the potential of this platform. It is in bloom, my friend.. 😉
THANK YOU for the shout out!!!! So happy to see when my curations get others involved!
I would go further to say that we don’t need it to become Facebook as STEEM has the potential to become much better. It is vastly flexible given the amount of apps that are being built on top of the protocol. The potential of the blockchain is exponential as long as we build it as a community. This could bring knowledge, entertainment, memories, wealth and much more to many that don’t have the access to it today. Its all about the big picture.
The problem mainly is user experience, they come, make a post - wait for upvotes and comments - generally get neither. Get bored after a few repetitions and leave. The question is how do you make it more obvious for people joining Steemit how to progress? Retaining users has to be about helping them understand from the start how to progress and grow on the platform - we have so many great initiatives for new users like @helpie, @welcomewagon and the work done by @surpassinggoogle and yet new users are treated to Trending, New, Hot and Promoted as their primary directions? They need to find communities - and making communities easily found has to be the solution to user retention.
#thealliance #witness
I agree, there is somewhat of a 'cycle' that the average seems to go through upon arrival. When I came Steemit, it was mostly robots and automated messages that greeted me. However, there were some who offered their thoughts, advice, and helpful knowledge of the platform - not to mention offering support like any great mentor would. To be perfectly honest, I came to Steemit knowing literally 1 other human on the platform and it was very difficult to locate information and identify communities that were relevant to my interests.
That handful of people gave me the most encouragement to stay and continue creating. It only takes a person or two to really make a meaningful impact. I think that any user with some understanding of the platform can become a mentor. I think we can agree that there is an abundance of information, but it is not 'right there' for the new users.
A simple feature could be built into the platform to compile these resources (already compiled) in a way that makes it more accessible for new users. Let's face it - if we make it hard to locate the basic resources and information needed to progress on Steemit - we are setting new users up for failure.
If all new users can see is that trending page or hot section - we are embedding a false sense of hope in them from the very start. Many with misunderstandings of how these 'popularity' mechanisms/algorithms work, will mistakenly set their expectations far higher than the results they will realistically receive.
I feel that the community features will hopefully make it much easier for like-minded people to help one another, share information that might be often overlooked, and really begin to show the true value of this platform. It is a great community of determined people, so I have no doubt in my mind it can get better and it will. We are all just learning on the fly @c0ff33a.
That was indirectly mentioning something I saw you doing for a fellow witness, which among other instances I have seen, really stuck out to me as a very positive sign of the strength and bond that this community shares. I really found a lot of optimism through observing the actions of several really incredible users on here and you are most certainly one of them.
Like I said, that statement in my post was written with your actions in mind. If more people functioned out of compassion and dedication, like you have shown this past week, I have no doubt in my mind that Steemit will progress and flourish. Sorry for the text wall, my friend.
Good job @enginewitty reminded me of this one, I was going to reply to your comment but then I ended up having a fight with my Witness server to get it updated to v0.19.11 - which I am happy to report I did manage and the joint Witness of myself and @derangedvisions were among the fastest to update from v0.19.10 to v0.19.11 .
I'm humbled you see me as "one of the incredible users on here", my goal has only ever to be enjoy the content on this platform - and help share it around and gain the upvotes they deserve. With the little time I have available I try and get around as many posts, people, accounts and generally appreciate content and let people know the posts they worked so hard on are appreciated by somebody.
VERY well written! There is really nothing that makes me feel the need to go back to facebook any more after becoming deeper engrained in the Steemit community: and the reward of being part of a passionate community is so much more rewarding.
If I could recommend anything to Steemit it would be to become more "new user" friendly.
Something like a basic tutorial with a quick overview of starting communities to join, and curated content to read.
This simple step is also key to the success of many video games seeking to grow their user base.
BIG HIGH FIVE, @corpsvalues!
There is a sense of community here even without any official community feature. (yet). I think it is hard to locate these communities if you do not know where to look or know how to navigate Discord and other tools.
However, I also think the average user does not necessarily understand crypto. Having new users on the platform is great, but it is a crypto-based platform, so crypto education is absolutely essential in terms of user retention. FB manages to retain users even as the largest privacy rights violator on the planet Earth!
That says to me that people stick around for the people - not the platform itself. They certainly aren't staying for the privacy and from what I have seen friends share on there - users certainly are not staying for the 'kind words' shared on there.
I agree that some sort of feature could be implemented to help new users navigate the intricacies of Steemit. A quick tour feature would be more than enough to introduce the new user to essential features, listings to communities and an overall synopsis of the compiled info that exists.
The information is all there, we simply need a better way to present it. An effective means would either be an email upon sign up, but more effective would be a 'tour' feature to physically show the user how to navigate and seek their own information, while sharing essential details and resources available.
I totally agree that it makes sense to extrapolate effective methods from the gaming industry. Steemit is a tokenized platform, so GAMIFY things!! There is a prime opportunity to make this experience far more enjoyable. Think about the things people do for likes and thumbs... WE HAVE FAR MORE TO OFFER THAT SAME USER ALREADY. It is a matter of how we present it which determines how it is ultimately received.
We cannot entice people to come here to drop twitter-length posts in order to strike it rich and be rolling in crypto. That just isn't reality, but you'd never know that as a new user staring at the Trending page..😆
Thanks again, @corpsvalues for taking your time to share your thoughts
Great thorough reply! Users like yourself have a good grasp on what is needed for the community to grow. Communities of users like Curie are already doing what is necessary to push the content that should be the face of our authors to the forefront. All we need is a consensus from the dev team that lets the work already being done do more to be the face of Steemit for the new user than the "trending" page and welcome spambots.
Personally I think that the "promoted" page is dead. I understand that it was envisioned to be a way to take Steem dollars out of circulation, but I don't think it is doing an effective job of that. I would like to see a way for that feature to get replaced by a curation channel. This might require some sort of "centralized" effort that might offend some of the purists, but I think this will end up being necessary for the good of the community at large.
just a note..... FB is NOT easy to use for older people.......or safe when they first make an account.....but that doesn't stop people that don't know anything about computers and internet safety from using it because , as you say, all their friends are there.
Don't even ask how many times I have had to 'fix' my Mom's FB and how many times I have tried to explain why add's and strangers posts show up in her newsfeed that she has no idea is called a 'newsfeed'
so shitty sights can work and make tons of money because it is already happening......
point being it doesn't take MUCH to make a site 'easy' to use.
but that is a whole post unto itself.......
Great post!!! and great graphic's!!
Thanks, @snook! I have been off of FB for nearly 10 years and it was not very friendly back then. It wasn't until just a year or two ago that my Mother decided to get on there. We have lots of work to do before we get her on Steemit..LOL
I agree that making a site 'easy' to use is hard to do! Mainly because an engineer is developing it, not an average user. This is the case with so many platforms and it really does make it difficult for users to really capitalize on the features. Especially when they change features constantly! Like Pinterest changed their app every 2 weeks for years and now it is unrecognizable from what it was intended to be. Too far from a usable and enjoyable platform now and who knows what bright ideas they have lined up next. They simply do not understand that we, regular people, do not want to relearn the same platform every two weeks and we want to have some level of expectation when we use something we know.
Steemit is going to change in major ways going forward, much will remain 'unseen' to the average user, however, it will open doors for new opportunity. That should give us all an advantage to incentivize new users and make a more enjoyable atmosphere.
THANKS1,000,000 @snook!!
My MEGA-POST is out on the loose and it is a wild one!
Investing in Crypto WITHOUT Money • Verified Methods • 'Proof of Time' Investment Strategies {extensive read}
35+ pages of content hit the chain in the last 12 hours, so safe to say @grow-pro is FIRED UP 🔥
\does #nopants dance since Pants are optional
I think you have brought up the part I enjoy most about Steemit, its community-driven, much of what happens on top of the platform and blockchain is powered by what the community builds/wants to see. In the long run, I think this means the platform will ever adapt to new technologies and people. There will be growing pains but it will handle them better than a static platform. I contine to watching it grow and can't imagine where it will go!
Well said, @prlndra. It really is all about community and what we do with this platform. The tools are there for us to build and it essentially becomes whatever we make of it. I think it will continue to evolve, but we need people in the top 20 witnesses that will allow it to become a better platform, rather than remaining stuck on how it used to be. It must be allowed to grow and we must continue to monitor it like a child learning to ride a bicycle.
We can leave the training wheels on a while but must continue to progress forward. There are possible opportunities still unexplored and we must be open to change if we are determined to make Steemit into a stellar example of a social media platform. I think Steemit will become much more enjoyable as high-demand features are integrated, communities being just one largely demanded feature.
Will it be easy? NO
But what is easiest is seldom worth doing, especially if your intent is to innovate change that enhances the world. Thanks for reading & sharing your thoughts. ✌️😎
On Facebook, you tend to know the people you follow and who follow you. Maybe not so much any more but I haven't been on that platform for 5 years. Perhaps that is the difference.
It has been nearly 10 years for me since I have used FB. I still communicate with those who I knew from Facebook, but not nearly as much (which is ok by me). Most users who have FB also have a phone - the same one they use for FB - so they can just as easily call or text. It boils down to ease of use. People can send a message on Facebook to friends and family and not have to respond like they would a phone call or text. This strongly suggests, to me anyhow, that people use FB because it is easy and their network is accessible on demand. If people could respond to text messages selectively without any argument from the peer who sent it, like they can on FB, here on Steemit - we would have 4 billion users too. Once there are enough people here to substantiate the need for users to be here in order to access their network - we will see a massive influx of new users.
How we get to this critical point is a balance of community engagement and reducing the learning curve necessary to use this 'futuristic' platform. It will come in time.
Aye great minds think alike, I just did a post like this but a take away of what my intrinsic value for this platform is... puts on his captains hat I’m going down with the ship if that ever happens.
Posted using Partiko iOS
right on, @d00k13! That's how we make sure there is no chance of revival..LOL Once it is at the bottom of the sea, we know it is sunk. Only real way to see a project through and walk away knowing you did what you could to save it. This is a place that is about to really get interesting once the community begins to roll out new initiatives and tools geared toward HIVEMIND updates and SMT. Big ol' window of opportunity is about to open wide... STEEM ON!
Steemit will boom but I don't think it will ever have consensus of being great. Too many people with different opinions will always squabble about the product.
I must disagree, simply because there will be new layers and SMT's to come to this blockchain. Steemit is just one layer on the chain and might not be the best way to use the chain in the near future. Opportunity will attract those in power here to other projects and then the next dedicated generation of user will arrive in that position. It is happening, from what I see. Consensus or not, there will be great new ways to access and use this blockchain and Steemit is making progress in attempt to provide more features, right here.
Love the optimism about the platform. I feel the same way for the most part. I can’t wair to see this community really thrive!!
I think we are well on the way, @blewitt. Bumpy ride, so hang on to the 'oh shit handle' but we will cut through the brush soon enough! We have to keep our eyes set on the prize, my friend. We are what make this place worth sticking around when the money slows down. I say come for the money, but stay for the party!
We are just getting the DJ booth set up, so this party has yet to start..
I’m ready for it!!! Primed and ready! I agree. I don’t think we are out of the woods yet but I do believe that we will look back at these days and be shocked at how quiet it “was”.
It was very good to read... so I go and read one more time :)
Took FB a good 5 years to even bridge the gap of acceptance on a massive scale, STEEM has barely been around approaching three. We are still in the infancy of it. New things are scary LOL! As for new fronts, @thekittygirl is raving about one called STEEMPEAK. May want to look into that.
Solid post. I am of the perspective that we need to make it fun. Just recently I have started participating in the comment and engagment leagues. Think about this - how can the platform work if everyone just posts their content and hopes to earn? Who is the audience? So I am commenting and interacting more than ever recently, and happy to find out that we are now playground mates in the alliance!
Except you never go to the playground....
I have just been admitted, @ecoinstant! Left a wave of text for all to parse and judge me by. Although, actions speak much louder. I'm overwhelmed with some property issues at the moment, but I must admit Steemit is a great outlet for me and one that I truly appreciate. Rather than posting as much as I'd like, I would like to start commenting more as well. My issue is keeping under the avg post length 😆
So many people inspire me hear. Some directly and many indirectly. I observe much more now in my 30s than I would have a decade ago. I really need to work on my comments, but my resteems have always been something I try not to neglect. Great curators make it much easier these days, so I have no excuses left 😂
See around the playground, fam
See you around indeed!
Have you checked into @abh12345's engagement league? You can see your stats each week and potentially get rewarded, just drop your name in this post if you haven't already.
I have been thinking about this as well, we can't all be only bloggers, we all need an audience too!
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