The value of your network is the square of the number of people using it. - Gary Hamel (American consultant)
How many people are currently using Steem, and are they effectively defining its value ?
What is value in terms of a long-term investment decision? Would we invest in Steem if we knew that it was supposed to become the no. 1 Social Blockchain in the world?
As discussed in my recent article The Future Of Online Is Offline, some believe that the true value of blockchain technology lies in its ability to be integrated in real life scenarios.
Let us consider #theinternetofthings (IoT) for instance, a concept that is supposed to connect devices with each other in a way that they're able to communicate directly and in an autarkic way.
IOTA (currently among the top 15 coins) has already created a lot of impact in the media where large cooperations with the automotive industry were announced.
It's a concept that not only has the potential to impact how we live but also how we work. - Jacob Morgan on IoT forbes.com
How would Steem be able to create a similar impact on our lives and already existing industries?
I do think that Steem needs a hit. Something big. Something ballsy. Something out of the box. Something that kinda knocks off people socks.
I read that comment in the SteemBlast discord channel today's morning and it actually inspired me to set up this article.
Are SMTs going to be ballsy ? Will Hivemind blow our minds?
IMO the value of these addtional protocols and services will be defined by its usage.
Here's my theory: The true value of the Social Blockchain Steem lies in its integration potential.
@surfermarly visiting her future neighbors, standing on her piece of land paid with Steem
Impact
Independently on how one effectively uses the Steem blockchain and on which purpose, what matters is the impact.
Steem is able to improve our lives and business standard in many senses; now the question is how valuable are these improvements?
The Steem blockchain...
- enables to transact peer-to-peer wordwide in 3 seconds
- hosts a community of ~50,000 active unique users daily
- offers a wide range of already operating social dApps
- rewards its users financially for interacting on the chain
- excels any other existing blockchain in transaction capacity
Is that enough?
It probably depends on who's asking.
From an investors point of view, one of the most interesting questions might be: Who else did already join the party? Does Steem have any showcases of businesses to present that took off after being implemented on the Steem blockchain?
Most of us would probably point a finger at @steemmonsters now, the collectible card game that generated over $200,000 worth of card sales only within the first two months.
It's definitely a great showcase for investors and developers as well as the games industry.
Why? Because Steem Monsters is a true innovation!
We need more of it!
As we stated in the beginning of this article, the value of a network is defined by its usage.
Steem Monsters is definitely one of the projects on Steem that provide a true (monetary) value for both its developers and those who use it.
Also, it's a project that encourages everybody (even the smallest account) to re-invest their Steem in the ecosystem.
It's something truly ballsy (as we called it above).
If there were enough demand, would we still need to worry about how much we are allowed to supply?
I'm going to shortly refer to my own personal Steem success story, since I'd like to verify if it's still contemporary.
As some of you may have witnessed, I bought a piece of land mostly financed by Steem back in January. The related video statement became my most successful blog post on Steem to date.
What you need to know is that in the earlier stages of Steem it was quite popular to leverage Steem in order to improve your own standard of living, to travel, to invite friends for dinner or even to buy cars.
Lately I've been critized a lot for having powered down ~30,000 Steem over the past 8 months and especially for having invested them into a real life project.
Considering the ~280 million Steem that are currently circulating, my 30K are not even a drop in the bucket. However, the common belief is that those who use their Steem outside Steem's boarders do not consider it being valuable.
How does that match with the vision that cryptocurrencies are supposed to change people's life all over the world?
It's gonna be hard for crypto to achieve mass adoption, if we want it to keep being a closed circle.
I'd love to get back to my initial theory now:
The true value of the 'Social Blockchain Steem' lies in its integrability - the ability to be integrated in and have an impact on industries and lives.
Thoughts? The comment section is yours :-)
Much love,
Marly -
Steem Ambassador
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This blog was created in July 2016, aiming to provide thought-provoking content for open-minded people who go on adventure, step out of comfort zones and embrace the new.
Thanks for being part of the journey!
PS: All my blog posts are created and submitted via eSteem Surfer 1.1.12 - my favorite Steem desktop client that was developed by @good-karma's @esteemapp team. Check out their account for more information.
Original content. Quote found on quotefancy.com
Yeah, completely agree. It seems to be a combo of the network effect (users) + integration capabilities + some showstopper of an application or business to jet power steem from here.
Steemhunt seems to be one of the best examples of what's possible along with steemmonsters right now but we need more to get more attention and engagement.
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Hey Steve, good to see you again! :-)
It's surely a combination of many factors (as always). Also there's not been much PR done around Steem, something other blockchain projects have definitely been doing better. So there's still a lot to learn and improve, hence 2019 is not going to be boring at all :-)
Hope you're enjoying a great start into the weekend!
Sure am! :)
Wow. I love the land you bought with steem. That is insane and huge congrats.
I can just imagine how wonderful that must feel especially since it is on the beach (at least it looks like it) your favorite place.
So happy for you @surfermarly and so grateful for all you do and contribute to this awesome community.
Have a great day.
Thank you so much for returning the positive vibes @joalvarez! :-)
It's not directly located on the beach, but only 5 driving minutes away... So I may even smell the salty breeze from there :-)
Have a great day, too!!!
Last year I got to meet the founder of bithope.org. He was one of the first people in Bulgaria that got into the crypto world. I remember him mentioning that he does not own any Bitcoin and that the true value of the crypto technology is the impact it can have on the way people trade, using solidarity economy. Service for service without the need of money even.
The other thing that came into my mind when I read your article is of an interview with a famous actor. He explained that for him holding onto money is like holding your breath for too long and being like "Look how cool I am" , but in the same time to be suffocating.
It is a wonderful thing that Steemit allowed you to buy a piece of land. Personally, what I love about it is the way it motivates me to improve my skills. The payout is just a bonus. I have said to myself that if I get to $2,500 I would withdraw them and go on a trip to South America (per say). I also had the pleasure to make an article about a festival I went to and the payout that I got from it was equivalent to the money spent.
This can only make me grateful for the platform!
First of all, thanks for taking the time to comment in detail @gabchik. Your thoughts really resonate with my perspective.
A currency can only be a vehicle, unless we're talking about speculation. Then a currency becomes a product. Yet, I don't think Steem was created for such purpose.
Keep on dreaming, whether of South America or any other goal.
Btw do you know which title I chose for my very first blog post on Steem (without even knowing anything about Steem or crypto in general)?
Crazy! Haha
If people are really making money on Steemit, it is a mystery to me. For me it has not paid anything...guess because I don´t want to sign up for services run by The Clowns in America...so one does not get visibility...unless one signs-up for such services...
With great content, hard work, discipline and a good amount of interaction with other users you should start to have some small income. Those who make good money here put a lot of effort. Even if you do have great content, if you do not interact enough with others it is normal not to have any income. I have not invested a dime, only my time and slowly earned did some $700. Don't be a hater :)
Baloney.
It sounds like just interacting with people without good content and without using any fancy tools indeed is baloney.
Thank you.
You are welcome.
Discord?
Discord also runs on the platform of Google, controlled by The Clowns in America....
So what clowns do you prefer? Russian? Chinese?
I hate clowns in general, they freak me out... =)
/FF
Have you heard of The Clowns in America?
I’m sharing your post because EVERYONE SHOULD READ WHAT A POSITIVE ATTITUDE IS LIKE 😊
Thank you 👊😊
Hehe, sweet!
Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it in such way :-)
Huum, if people are really making money on this it seems it takes time to figure out how... and one is forced to sign-up for Google services...Google is run by The Clowns In America...figure that...to get views, one becomes tracked by the clowns....
Well there are 280 million Steem tokens being distributed already. Someone's gotta possess them :-)
I don't use Google service, so I have not take on this one.
It seems a few hoard them and the rest make nothing.... if one does not sign-up for the Google connected services, one does not make any money or earn any tokens here.
Well that Google thing is new to me, and still I have earned a couple of tokens so far...:-)
Well done!
/FF
You never signed-up for the Steemit promotion system that uses the Google plug? I dobt it. It does not say Google when you sign up but Google runs as a script. You probably signed up for it and did not even notice. Ha ha ha ha ha.
What is a Steemit promo system? Never heard of it...
Can´t remember the name of it, but everyone is asked when they join to sign-up for it. I did not sign-up so don´t remember the name...
After being absent for a number of months from Steemit, I am happy to see new developments like Steemmonsters. I think that the Steemit platform is already there. It depends on how it can be utilized to bring more value to Steemit and businesses
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Of course in future the steem coin will be the Most valuable coin.
Hence we can say that we can make house on Crypto.
You got criticized for powering down to help buy somewhere to live? Yeesh. Money is a tool not a goal. You have to have a roof over your head so congrats on managing it just on crypto.
Will be a while before I manage one but I'm not going to knock other people for getting there before me.
Well I wouldn't ever dare to tell people what they should to with their time or money either. But you know... some just seem to be bored :-)
That's a very "diplomatic" way to put it :D
lol - I've called them names far too often and it's all gonna be on the blockhain forever, haha!
@surfermarly
Congrats on the land ownership...
/FF
Thank youuuuu :-)
Keep on steemin!!!
Did you sell your drone?
/FF
Not yet :-)
Well, I wish you good luck with that! =)
/FF
How long until people realize that Steem vastly outperforms Ethereum and we have a flippening? Or is it already happening?
Really cool post, love your insight and positive attitude.
Nice, I didn't know that you were building your own house @surfermarly - very cool. 🤙
wow at buying a house with steem! real world usage really is the key to our next phase of adoption. it's time to merge blockchain and the physical!
that's nice would you like to participate in this? just try your luck.
I'd like to share this to you KuCoin will have their anniversary competition check this out, this got my interest, i'll participate what about you?
No, thank you.
positive thinking is good :) keep it up
really cool post !
https://jack-review.com/
I could build a house on crypto today if I could build a house for $2,000
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We built our Teepee for FREE ... luckily found some canvas to re-cycle. Best home I ever had ... the views of Lake Superior were spectacular
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hahahahahahahahaha.. lol