Brian,
You hit home some really good hard points in there.
One of the real difficulties of on-boarding the facebook friends, and perhaps friends from other networks (wechat and weibo in my case) is that the barrier to entry remains some-what high.
High in that it takes a considerably more amount of time to produce content on here, than it does on other platforms like instagram or even facebook (would you even call the posts on facebook content creation?)
There is a degree of cognitive dissonance due to the misconceptions of what Steemit actually is all about. This I imagine, is due to the platform still discovering it's own identity as a social hub, or a content creation / content consumption platform.
There are few people who would be considered successful on Steemit who behave the same way they do on facebook, or use Steemit the same way they use facebook. Yes, there are people who write lovely blogs, in their notes on facebook, and frequently write long in-depth status updates, as well as share pictures and video, but notice, these are for the sake of interacting with their friends, and not strangers. People do not use facebook to 'make' new friends. They use it to connect and engage with their existing ones.
A sub-group of users on facebook users use it in a similar way to Steemit, and those are the people with public facing accounts which are separate to their personal ones. Content posted there is largely intended to find their way to people they do not yet know or perhaps don't even care to know. They just want the internet to discover it and have their content be seen.
I was recently talking to a friend of mine who I introduced to Steemit (but has largely lost motivation to keep posting) about what their goals are. As you said, yours is to try build a certain amount of following which could lead to an increased amount of rewards and thus Steem Power. Meanwhile, my friend dreams about wanting the prestige, the ability to socially influence, and to be known by millions of people (yes, the money would then become a self fulfilling prophecy in that case). However, In her case, she doesn't dream of making good money on Youtube nearly as much as being a person watched by millions of people on youtube. But here's the catch, it's not because she's covered her financial bases and doesn't require money - quite the opposite.
Steemit is not (yet) a mainstream platform, so a content creator who wishes to be 'known' and potentially recognised by people just by walking in the street will not get here. Ironically, they are even less likely to get that on Youtube unless they have particularly outstanding work.
This brings me back to your point about the effort required, and people's expectations of what they think they should be entitled to for remuneration on their work. If a facebook user comes to Steemit and has to overcome the initial barrier of spending hours to produce content which may not get rewarded or seen, then they would rather spend less time and take the personal victory of posting something that takes no time to produce on their facebook and have it applauded and liked by people they know.
To make the whole process better, there needs to be a gradual maturing of the platform which does not ostracise people for behaving in exactly the way they would on facebook (as well as the platform providing the UI to do so). But then, the site would just be a facebook wannabe.
Typical Facebook users, and typical Steemit users are not birds of a feather, and thus, aren't likely to flock together.
I really appreciate your detailed response and I agree with you. For most people it is very intimidating to get on this platform and try to produce the level of work that seems to get paid. I often wonder how some people are able to get their post up and looking decent. I have a lot of knowledge of web development and have to go to the HTML view to tweak things. I don't imagine that most of the people are doing that but when I look at the way the system is set up when I go to post I would assume it would be frustrating and difficult for the average user. Plus crypto currencies are difficult to learn and wrap your head around the concept. I have a crypto currency background, a web development background, and a content creation background. So in a way Steemit is made for me.
I'm OK with the following not being super huge and people not recognizing me on the streets from it. I've sort of made peace with that being the reality on Steemit even if I become popular on this platform.
I can understand your friend who really wanted the fame. I too have always wanted to be famous and have had small doses of it in my life and I really enjoy entertaining whether it is in an athletic setting or on camera. I have always been upset that I was never able to really commit to having a YouTube channel that had subject matter that was capable of millions of subscribers. I make money from YouTube from smaller niche channels but I wanted the fame as well. I just knew it is an unprofitable thing for a couple of years and a person almost has to be subsidized or have the money to float that process until they get big enough to sustain themselves. My bills are far to high right now to do something that I'm not going to at least be able to sustain myself during the process.
I have always wondered how you found out about Steemit and also what attracted you to it instead of taking an approach like your friend who is more interested in platforms that have the power of magnitude to reach millions?
I think there are cases where people are just slow bloomers but have the right mix of skills, knowledge and personality to make it big. By what i've seen in your really unique pool meetings, you absolutely are one of those people, I didn't even need to know that you were into crypto-currencies, web development and content creation before to see that!
As for me, I found out about Steemit through a friend on WeChat who basically posts non-stop about anything and everything to do with crypto. I largely ignored it until I saw a post about a 'new social network that pays you to participate'.
Actually, I fit into the category of wanting a lot of people to see my stuff too. I was early into weibo, but I focused on using it for my first business which was acting as a luxury goods agent for clients wishing to purchase luxury goods either unavailable back home in China, or wanted it cheaper. So by doing that I basically learnt how to take nice fashion style pictures for clients who wanted the items to be modelled on a real person to see what it would look like.
All the while, I wanted to become a Wang Hong (basically every girl in China) If you wondered what a "Wang Hong" is
I didn't do it for the money, because as you might have guessed, I'm extremely lucky to have been brought up in a family where finances were never really an issue. I just wanted people to take an interest in me as a person, what I have to share, and my escapades (still do).
I realised that timing was a crucial factor, all other things equal (yes I can acknowledge that having substantial float will help a great deal) , for getting traction on a social network. For me, I believe that being at the beginning of something makes the real difference, and I missed out on pretty much every other 'hot' social network for that. Instead, I decided to be the big fish in the small pond, instead of the small fish in the big pond. And hopefully through growing myself both personally and on a platform early on, I could hope to reach a wider audience.
For me, I feel that I have some key advantages on Steemit because of the way content is delivered here :
Despite giving off the air that I might be some ultra socialite that can mix with people at a whim, I'm actually quite a book worm, and I prefer interactions with people on a more one to one basis.
Even though i've studied English since first grade, it wasn't until I studied at University for my BSc and MSc that I ever had the chance to really speak it with anyone. You will be surprised how difficult it is for me to pull together sentences under pressure. With Steemit, I can leverage my strength which is writing, and take my time to think about what to say, instead of having to say things 'on the fly'. (vs livestream , youtube etc.)
Most other girls in my position of relative financial freedom, value their time too much and would never go into the extreme lengths which I go through to share their content in written form, nor spend anywhere near the time to carefully produce more engaging content.
Supplementing the above point, few Chinese girls are willing (or even able) to transfer cultural defaults between languages. Even though my travel / food blogs are probably the more well known topics people know me for, it is my posts about Chinese culture, such as my Idiom series which showcase this ability the best.
I think that right now, China is probably not quite ready for something like Steemit, or rather, Steemit isn't quite ready for China, but either way, I hope that my story (of hopefully success on a foreign platform) will allow me to reach the very magnitudes of millions you speak of in China, if only to serve as an example of how tenacity and hard work can prevail. China often likes to promote people who are able to penetrate into western society and be 'successful' and those who are able, will blow up instantly over night.
I guess I'm hoping that someone important in China will notice me and that day will come.
Thank you so much for that response! I read the article about Wang Hong and WOW! That blew me away what some people were earning. 46 Million. That is crazy.
I understand the feeling you describe of wanting people to take interest in your life and your adventures. I was the same way and started uploading videos to YouTube in 2008. It was very frustrating. I have various levels of traction but it was never good enough for what I expected based on the work I put into some of the videos. I just knew what it was going to take. Grinding 12 to 14 hours everyday to build it right and I didn't have the money to survive if I tried to do that. When you have to chase after the next dollar it gets hard to play the long term game.
Your responses have answered a lot of questions I have had for awhile. It is good for people to have questions. Part of your success along with your good looks is that there are many mysteries about you. Curious people will be pulled in to find out more about you. I was curious about you for a long time but didn't want to be rude by asking you questions that seemed too private. When you first appeared on the site I figured a few things. That you probably had an American or Australian boyfriend who was taking the pictures and writing the posts because you guys figured you would get more attention then if he was in the posts. One thing that was very interesting was when you randomly met @ned in Hong Kong. That made you a lot more "real" to me and I'm sure many others. As you posted more and more it became more apparent to me that you had to be rich. It was all still a mystery because your English is so good.
I also find it interesting that you said most people in your financial situation wouldn't put in this kind of work to produce this type of content. That is actually the case with 99% of people no matter what their financial situation is. They give up too easily and they aren't willing to work for it. I respect the hustle. Most people don't have it
I also find it very interesting your perspective on being first to the platform for people in China. It makes a lot of sense and I feel the same way even about myself. Eventually there will be more people with similar type interest. If everyone doesn't know us on this platform then we have failed in a way.
A smart person once said, "If you aren't first, you are last!"
Was just having this discussion with my significant other. I personally hope the FB crowd never comes over as it would ruin the unique community. But I agree with @sweetssj the barrier to entry needs to come down some to ensure the platform can reach a critical mass for adoption in the long run