Can Steem become as big as Facebook?
I'm a new user on Steemit and I'm still getting to grips with everything. I can see great potential, however the Facebook monster is powerful and greedy. I love Steem, the businees model, and the community we have here - and I want it to succeed. However in this post, I'm going to talk about some three negative aspects of Steemit that I believe will make it difficult to become mainstream.
1. Usernames instead of real names.
I think that one of the reason Facebook became so popular was that it made people use their real names. Before this, sites such as Myspace used strange usernames like NiceGuy1997. I think using real names makes the site more personal and less intimidating for non-techy people. At the moment, most people on Steemit use random usernames, which I think will make it difficult to attract a billion people.
2. Complicated interface
To really succeed, Steemit needs to not only attract early adopters, but also non-techy people. Facebook did this well, in face so well that even my parents have a page. One attraction to Steemit is its unique pay model, however I've been using the site for a few days and I still don't understand how it works. Steem, Steem Power, Steem dollars, upvotes, etc. If we want to attract billions of users I think the interface needs to be more intuitive, so my parents and grandparents can use the site easily.
3. Difficult to find friends
Any social network depends on creating connections in order to be successful. Facebook easily lets you import new contacts from email or your address book, and lets you send invites to people who haven't joined yet. This means that people who open an account instantly have some friends, which makes it easier to get started. At the moment, once you start on Steemit, you don't really know what to do to get things moving. I think some kind of Friend Finder, or a way to suggest connections would really help Steemit to go to the moon.
Conclusion
I see so much potential in Steem, and I'm in it for the long run (hence 100% SP in my posts!) Rather than hating and making fun of Facebook, I think there are some things we can learn from it - and then improve on them. Can you imagine Steem with a billion users? I can't right now, but I think we are on the right path.
What do you think?
Fully agree about the editor for non-tech people and also they should something about the password.
I do find it difficult to create a community. But all the people I connect I have never seen before, which broadens my horizons.
Yes, the password is another potential problem for non-techy users. Let's hope the Dev team continue making improvements.
Good post and I agree with all of your points - but in fairness, Steemit is still in beta and it is improving compared to when I first joined in June last year and was completely lost as to how it all works!
The growing ecosystem around it like DTube, Steepshot, Smart Media Tokens etc will help too.
True, it's still in beta. Let's hope it keeps getting better and more intuitive to use.