If I could give this more than one vote I would. I'm a minnow so they don't count much anyway. At least not yet.
I am going to speak from the perspective of a new user who is not in the tech world and, frankly, I know little about crypto and I find the topic rather boring. What @jacobt has suggested is quite valid. He is suggesting that the new user experience be improved upon. And he is right. There are many social medias out there, why should anyone stick around on Steemit? I would go so far as to say that of the 250 that join each day another 250 or more don't bother and they don't come back. And they tell their friends to not bother.
I am only here because a whale shared so much enthusiasm I came in to see what it was about. Although I signed up early enough I did nothing with it and I'm okay with that. I may never do much with it. But back to the new user experience.....
I realize that Steemit is new and experiencing growing pains. However, feedback from users is valuable if Steemit (or anything for that matter) is serious about longevity. So here is mine:
- The site is not user friendly. There are no centralized areas of Help nor a contact to reach out to for help.
- The initial news feed is boring for anyone not into crypto or technical. I get it why his girlfriend did not stick around and probably won't come back. It would be more interesting if upon arrival I saw the tags/categories to select from rather than only a screen full of what the crypto/technical crowd likes.
- The follow function does not do a damn thing. I am not alerted when someone I follow posts something new.
Finding a user or a particular post is very difficult to do.
All of these issues come down to organization. How the site is organized. And this place needs some organization for sure. Steemit needs to hire me! LOL!
I plan to continue to visit for now and perhaps post some more but I am an older woman with patience and curiosity. I see that this could be the start of something wonderful.
Most people are not patient. And it WILL take people to make this work. Arguing that it is new or that the crypto/technology feed will drop away will not happen unless you get enough non-crypto/tech people to not only visit but to actually stay and become active.
Human nature is what it is and Steemit will not change that. Take some lessons from Facebook and other sites. You don't have to like them to learn from them.
Damn, I should have just made this a post! LOL!
I would give you a spiffy gif or something but I have to work at doing that and I'm too tired to bother tonight.
Thank you for the post @jacobt. You obviously hit a button with me! I seriously doubt that you and I are the only ones with these concerns.
Those are all valid points.